New to OpenGL

Can anybody recommend a good tutorial and/or book for OpenGL on the Mac?

Thanks.

If you haven’t discovered NeHe’s OpenGL Tutorials (http://nehe.gamedev.net/), then check them out. They were originally written for Windows, but all but a few have been ported to the MacOS using either GLUT of AGL and DrawSprocket. I wrote a tutorial on writing MacOS OpenGL applications using AGL and DrawSprocket, you can find it at (http://morgan.n3.net/). I’m in the middle of re-writing it due to some compatibility issues, but it’s still a good place to start after you have played around with NeHe’s tutorials a bit.

Morgan

I am using the OpenGL SuperBible written by Richard Wright, Jr. and Michael Sweet. It’s mostly platform independant using GLUT. All the example code is on a DOS formatted CD, but thats easy enough for a Mac to read. I don’t know of any Mac specific books. The only difference about programming OpenGL on the Mac is setting up the OpenGL context. However, I would advise using apple’s OpenGL Draw sprocket example. It sets up an OpenGL context for full screen rendering using the AGL and DSp libs. Once you have the context, the rest can be gotton out of any book.

You may also want to check out Morgans sample code. Haven’t seen it myself. But it may better suit your needs.

OH! the first book I got was the Complete OpenGL Reference Book, or something like that. I hated that book! all it was a listing of the OpenGL API calls and thier parameters. No discussion on what the functions did or how to use them. I also found the exact same information on one of the OpenGL web sites once, so if you only need a pure reference book look online before wasting money on this book. Sadly, I don’t remember the address.

If you haven’t already, download the developer OpenGL SDK at www.apple.com/opengl

Aside from the Nehe tutorials and other resources listed at www.opengl.org
I’d also recommend if you want to get serious about learning OpenGL, definitely get the OpenGL Programming Guide by Mason Woo and others, version 1.2. It might be online too I think.
It’s not the same thing as the reference guide mentioned above.

I also have the OpenGL Superbible and it is great from a Windows perspective, but it would be better if there was a book like it oriented towards the Mac.

Lastly, I would also definitely recommend you first check out the FAQ. Bookmark it and revisit it, because it has tons of info. http://www.opengl.org/About/FAQ/Technical.html

Very lastly, I would recommend you check out the OpenGL coding contests where you can find some sample code for doing real things with OpenGL. Some Mac coders are entering samples there occasionally, too. http://oglchallenge.otri.net/

Also, http://www.flipcode.com/ and some of the online game developer sites are nice resources.

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