I'm looking to buy an OpenGL book, but I'm not sure which one. I'm considering to wait for the release of this book: http://www.amazon.com/OpenGL-Programming...0321356527

Is this the "Red Book", just with Mac OS X support (for windowing and input)? Would it be a wiser choice to buy another work, as I know enough Cocoa that I would be able to handle all the window and input stuff without a book.

So, any books people have found good for learning OpenGL + Some basic 3D graphic techniques that can be applied else where (on other 3D graphic APIs) I would love to know ^_^

Thanks

The OpenGL Superbible is rather good.

I'd recommend Beginning OpenGL Game Programming (Dave Astle & Kevin Hawkins) and OpenGL : A Primer (Edward Angel), although it all depends how much knowledge of OpenGL you already have...

sealfin Wrote:I'd recommend Beginning OpenGL Game Programming (Dave Astle & Kevin Hawkins) and OpenGL : A Primer (Edward Angel), although it all depends how much knowledge of OpenGL you already have...

Pretty much zilch

Zwilnik Wrote:The OpenGL Superbible is rather good.

Agreed, as that's what I used to learn. You have to be on your toes, though: there's a few mistakes, but they're easy to catch if you understand the rest of the stuff.

Hmm, thanks! I'll probably buy the SuperBible tonight since I'm going out to my local mall

Before I go off though, would it be worth it to buy both Beginnning OpenGL Game Programming and The OpenGL SuperBible? Both look like they have their advantages. Are either very dependent on platform specific code?

The Red Book worked really well for me, but it seems it doesn't work as well for everyone... though I did need a bit of help from #idevgames setting up an OpenGL context on the Mac for the first time. After I got over that hump, pretty much everything in the Red Book was relevant.

Edit: Just pre-ordered the book you linked in the first post. Looks awesome!

Just be aware that the way in which openGL operates will change later this year

ferum Wrote:Just be aware that the way in which openGL operates will change later this year

[sarcasm] Which means there's a remote chance that Apple might implement those changes in a few years. [/sarcasm]

Yes, it seems unlikely that Apple will be hot off the ball on that one, and even if they are, it seems unlikely that the new scheme will be available for cards less than the GeForce 6600 and Radeon X1600, if even those.

As much as I don't like the idea, it seems likely that we'll be writing OpenGL as we know it for a couple of years yet.

The Red Book is free online as a pdf somewhere. I don't see much sense in buying it.

I'd also recommend the OpenGL SuperBible.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I did decide to buy both the The OpenGL SuperBible and Beginning OpenGL Game Programming I'm sure I'll be in other parts of the forum asking for clarification or help soon enough

The Red Book that's available online is the OpenGL 1.1 edition, so recent editions do cover substantially more functionality.

On the other hand, documentation for that additional functionality is usually available online as extension specifications...

Can someone clarify if the book I linked to in my first post, as a "Mac Version" of the Red book?

The Red Book is completely platform-independent.

I doubt the book linked in your first post contains any information about OpenGL itself; only the Mac-specifics of interacting with it (OpenGL Profiler, OpenGL Driver Monitor, GLSLEditorSample, AGL, CGL, NSGL, etc.)

Of course, since it's not released, and there doesn't appear to be any information about it, it's kinda hard to know