Book Image

OpenGL 4.0 Shading Language Cookbook

Book Image

OpenGL 4.0 Shading Language Cookbook

Overview of this book

The OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) is a programming language used for customizing parts of the OpenGL graphics pipeline that were formerly fixed-function, and are executed directly on the GPU. It provides programmers with unprecedented flexibility for implementing effects and optimizations utilizing the power of modern GPUs. With version 4.0, the language has been further refined to provide programmers with greater flexibility, and additional features have been added such as an entirely new stage called the tessellation shader. The OpenGL Shading Language 4.0 Cookbook provides easy-to-follow examples that first walk you through the theory and background behind each technique then go on to provide and explain the GLSL and OpenGL code needed to implement it. Beginning level through to advanced techniques are presented including topics such as texturing, screen-space techniques, lighting, shading, tessellation shaders, geometry shaders, and shadows. The OpenGL Shading Language 4.0 Cookbook is a practical guide that takes you from the basics of programming with GLSL 4.0 and OpenGL 4.0, through basic lighting and shading techniques, to more advanced techniques and effects. It presents techniques for producing basic lighting and shading effects; examples that demonstrate how to make use of textures for a wide variety of effects and as part of other techniques; examples of screen-space techniques, shadowing, tessellation and geometry shaders, noise, and animation. The OpenGL Shading Language 4.0 Cookbook provides examples of modern shading techniques that can be used as a starting point for programmers to expand upon to produce modern, interactive, 3D computer graphics applications.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
OpenGL 4.0 Shading Language Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Creating a particle fountain


In computer graphics, a particle system is a group of objects that are used to simulate a variety of "fuzzy" systems such as smoke, liquid spray, fire, explosions, or other similar phenomena. Each particle is considered to be a point object with a position, but no size. Often, they are rendered as point sprites (using the GL_POINTS primitive mode). Each particle has a lifetime: it is born, it animates according to a set of rules, and then it dies. The particle can then be resurrected and goes through the entire process again. Generally, particles do not interact with other particles, or reflect light. The particle is often rendered as a single, textured, camera-facing quad with transparency.

During the lifetime of a particle, it is animated according to a set of rules. These rules often include the basic kinematic equations that define the movement of a particle that is subjected to constant acceleration (such as a gravitational field). In addition, we might take...