Book Image

OpenGL Data Visualization Cookbook

Book Image

OpenGL Data Visualization Cookbook

Overview of this book

OpenGL is a great multi-platform, cross-language, and hardware-accelerated graphics interface for visualizing large 2D and 3D datasets. Data visualization has become increasingly challenging using conventional approaches as datasets become larger and larger, especially with the Big Data evolution. From a mobile device to a sophisticated high-performance computing cluster, OpenGL libraries provide developers with an easy-to-use interface to create stunning visuals in 3D in real time for a wide range of interactive applications. This book provides a series of easy-to-follow, hands-on tutorials to create appealing OpenGL-based visualization tools with minimal development time. We will first illustrate how to quickly set up the development environment in Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Next, we will demonstrate how to visualize data for a wide range of applications using OpenGL, starting from simple 2D datasets to increasingly complex 3D datasets with more advanced techniques. Each chapter addresses different visualization problems encountered in real life and introduces the relevant OpenGL features and libraries in a modular fashion. By the end of this book, you will be equipped with the essential skills to develop a wide range of impressive OpenGL-based applications for your unique data visualization needs, on platforms ranging from conventional computers to the latest mobile/wearable devices.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
OpenGL Data Visualization Cookbook
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Setting up a virtual camera for 3D rendering


Rendering a 3D scene is similar to taking a photograph with a digital camera in the real world. The steps that are taken to create a photograph can also be applied in OpenGL.

For example, you can move the camera from one position to another and adjust the viewpoint freely in space, which is known as viewing transformation. You can also adjust the position and orientation of the the object of interest in the scene. However, unlike in the real world, in the virtual world you can position the object at any orientation freely without any physical constraints, termed as modeling transformation. Finally, we can exchange camera lenses to adjust the zoom and create different perspectives the process is called projection transformation.

When you take a photo applying the viewing and modeling transformation, the digital camera takes the information and creates an image on your screen. This process is called rasterization.

These sets of matrices—encompassing...