This chapter will shed some light on textures, which is a very interesting part of the 3D computer graphics study. Texturing is a technique by which the surface of a 3D mesh model is painted with static images. In our previous chapter, we described the procedural and image texturing technique. The former uses a special algorithm to calculate the colors of the fragments in order to generate specific patterns. On the other hand, the latter one uses static images, which are wrapped onto the 3D mesh or geometry.
This chapter is all about image texturing that explains its various applications in the field of 3D computer graphics. We will begin this chapter with a simple recipe that demonstrates the UV mapping to render a texture on the 2D planar surface; moving ahead from single texture, you will learn how to apply multiple textures on 3D objects. OpenGL ES 3.0 has introduced many new features. Among these, nonpower of two (NPOT) texture support, ETC2/EAC texture compression support...