Daniel K
Computer science MSc
DanielKahsu317@gmail.
com
Chapter 2
Introduction to The Rendering Process with
OpenGL
Chapter Contents
Define what is OpenGL
Explain why OpenGL
Features of OpenGL
The Role of OpenGL in the Reference Model
Coordinate Systems
Viewing Using a Synthetic Camera
Output Primitives and Attributes
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Graphics Software
There are two broad classifications for computer-
graphics software
1. Special-purpose packages: Special-purpose
packages are designed for nonprogrammers
Example: generate pictures, graphs, charts,
painting programs or CAD systems in some
application area without worrying about the
graphics procedure
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2. General programming packages: general programming
package provides a library of graphics functions that can
be used in a programming language such as C, C++, Java,
FORTRAN.
Example: GL (Graphics Library), OpenGL, VRML (Virtual-
Reality Modeling Language), Java 2D And Java 3D
NOTE: A set of graphics functions is often called a
computer graphics application programming interface
(CG API)
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Coordinate Representations
To generate a picture using a programming
package we first need to give the geometric
descriptions of the objects that are to be displayed
known as coordinates.
If coordinate values for a picture are given in some
other reference frame (spherical, hyperbolic, etc.),
they must be converted to Cartesian coordinates.
Several different Cartesian reference frames are
used in the process of constructing and displaying
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First we define the shapes of individual objects, such
as trees or furniture, These reference frames are
called modeling coordinates or local coordinates Then
we place the objects into appropriate locations within
a scene reference frame called world coordinates.
After all parts of a scene have been specified, it is
processed through various output device reference
frames for display. This process is called the viewing
pipeline.
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The scene is then stored in normalized coordinates.
Which range from −1 to 1 or from 0 to 1 Normalized
coordinates are also referred to as normalized device
coordinates.
The coordinate systems for display devices are
generally called device
NOTE: Geometric descriptions in modeling coordinates
and world coordinates can be given in coordinates, or
screen coordinates floating-point or integer values.
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Example: Figure briefly illustrates the sequence of
coordinate transformations from modeling coordinates
to device coordinates for a display
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Graphics Functions
It provides users with a variety of functions for
creating and manipulating pictures
The basic building blocks for pictures are referred
to as graphics output primitives
Attributes are properties of the output primitives
We can change the size, position, or orientation
of an object using geometric transformations
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Modeling transformations, which are used to
construct a scene.
Viewing transformations are used to select a view
of the scene, the type of projection to be used and
the location where the view is to be displayed.
Input functions are used to control and process the
data flow from these interactive devices(mouse,
tablet and joystick)
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Introduction to OpenGL
OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is the computer
industry's standard application program interface
( API ) for defining 2-D and 3-D graphic images.
Most widely adopted graphics API
Easy to use, well documented
Cross platform and cross language
Everything is primitive (can accept only simple
shapes and sizes)
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Why OpenGL?
Device independence
Platform independence
SGI Irix, MAC, Linux, Windows
Abstractions (GL, GLU, GLUT)
Open source: Hardware-independent software
interface
Support of client-server protocol Other APIs
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Features of OpenGL
3D Transformations
Rotations, scaling, translation, perspective
Color models
Values: R, G, B, alpha.
Lightning
Flat shading, Gouraud shading, Phong shading
Rendering
Texture mapping
Modeling
non-uniform rational B-spline (NURB) curves,
surfaces
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What is RENDERING
Rendering - is the process by which a computer creates
images from models. These models, or objects, are
constructed from geometric primitives – points (pixels),
lines, and polygons - that are specified by their vertices.
The final rendered image consists of pixels drawn on the
screen; a pixel is the smallest visible element the display
hardware can put on the screen.
Information about the pixels (for instance, what color
they're supposed to be) is organized in memory into
bitplanes.
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A bitplane is an area of memory that holds one bit
of information for every pixel on the screen; the bit
might indicate, for example how red a particular
pixel is supposed to be.
The bitplanes are themselves organized into a
framebuffer, which holds all the information that the
graphics display needs to control the color and
intensity of all the pixels on the screen
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OpenGl Libraries
Several libraries are built on top of or beside OpenGL to
provide features not available in OpenGL itself. They
include:
The OpenGL Utility Library (GLU)
The OpenGL Utility Toolkit (GLUT)
Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL)
OpenGL User Interface Library (GLUI)
OpenGL Extension Wrangler Library (GLEW)
OpenGL Easy Extension library (GLEE)
Fast, Light Toolkit" (FLTK)
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Preliminaries
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Example
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OpenGl Utilities Toolkit ( GLUT )
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OpenGL: the core library, it is platform (i.e. hardware
system) independent,
glut:
The GL Utilities Toolkit, it contains some extra
routines for drawing 3-D objects and other
primitives. Using glut with OpenGL enables us to
write windows-system independent code.
glu:
The OpenGL Utilities, it contains some extra routines
for projections and rendering complex 3-D objects.
glui: Contains some extra routines for creating user-
interfaces.
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Coordinate Systems
In graphics program, we may need to deal with a number
of different coordinate systems, and a good part of the
work ( and the cause of many headaches ) is the
conversion of coordinates from one system to another. list
of some of the coordinate systems you may encounter:
World Coordinate System
Screen Coordinate System
Object Coordinate System
Viewport Coordinate
Viewpoint Coordinate System
System
Model Window Coordinate System
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World Coordinate System –
Also known as the "universe" or sometimes "model"
coordinate system.
This is the base reference system for the overall
model, ( generally in 3D ), to which all other model
coordinates relate.
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Object Coordinate System - When each object is created
in a modelling program, the modeler must pick some
point to be the origin of that particular object, and the
orientation of the object to a set of model axes.
For example when modelling a desk, the modeler might
choose a point in the center of the desk top for the
origin, or the point in the center of the desk at floor
level, or the bottom of one of the legs of the desk.
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When this object is moved to a point in the world
coordinate system, it is really the origin of the
object ( in object coordinate system ) that is moved
to the new world coordinates, and all other points
in the model are moved by an equal amount. Note
that while the origin of the object model is usually
somewhere on the model itself, it does not have to
be
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Viewpoint Coordinate System- Also known as the
"camera" coordinate system.
This coordinate system is based upon the viewpoint
of the observer, and changes as they change their
view.
Moving an object "forward" in this coordinate
system moves it along the direction that the viewer
happens to be looking at the time.
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Model Window Coordinate System :- Not to be
confused with desktop windowing systems ( MS
Windows or X Windows ), this coordinate system
refers to the subset of the overall model world that is
to be displayed on the screen.
Depending on the viewing parameters selected, the
model window may be rectalinear or a distorted
viewing frustrum of some kind.
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Screen Coordinate System :- This 2D coordinate system
refers to the physical coordinates of the pixels on the
computer screen, based on current screen resolution. ( E.g.
1024x768 )
Viewport Coordinate System - This coordinate system
refers to a subset of the screen space where the model
window is to be displayed.
Typically the viewport will occupy the entire screen window,
or even the entire screen, but it is also possible to set up
multiple smaller viewports within a single screen window.
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Viewing Using a Synthetic Camera
Synthetic camera A type of rendering technique that
seeks to replicate the characteristics of a real camera
or the human eye, rather than the perfectly sharp
neutral pictures usually produced by computer
graphics.
Graphics generated images may not be visible to
camera or human eye (may have hidden parts)
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Other Description
Imagine you are taking a picture with your camera
Objects in the room may be best described in a local
coordinate system unique to each object
They also have position and orientation in the world
Your camera also has a position and orientation,
which determines where it is looking.
our camera has settings, such as size, field of view,
and resolution, which help define how the final
picture is rendered
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The synthetic camera model used in computer graphics
mimics this process, using transformations between
different coordinate systems to render an image.
These transformations are implemented using matrices.
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Output Primitives and Attributes
The inputs to the Graphics Rendering Pipeline are
geometric primitives such as :
Triangle, Point, Line and Quad which is formed by
one or more vertices.
OpenGL supports three classes of geometric primitives:
points, line segments, and closed polygons.
They are specified via vertices.
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Each vertex is associated with its attributes such as the
position, color, normal and texture.
OpenGL provides 10 primitives as shown in the next Slide.
Sphere, 3D box and pyramid are not primitives.
They are typically assembled using primitive triangle or
quad.
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End of chapter one
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