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

Getting started with modern OpenGL (3.2 or higher)


Continuous evolution of OpenGL APIs has led to the emergence of a modern standard. One of the biggest changes happened in 2008 with OpenGL version 3.0, in which a new context creation mechanism was introduced and most of the older functions, such as Begin/End primitive specifications, were marked as deprecated. The removal of these older standard features also implies a more flexible yet more powerful way of handling the graphics pipeline. In OpenGL 3.2 or higher, a core and a compatible profile were defined to differentiate the deprecated APIs from the current features. These profiles provide clear definitions for various features (core profile) while enabling backward compatibility (compatibility profile). In OpenGL 4.x, support for the latest graphics hardware that runs Direct3D 11 is provided, and a detailed comparison between OpenGL 3.x and OpenGL 4.x is available at http://www.g-truc.net/post-0269.html.

Getting ready

Starting from this...