um.. I have GL_POINT_SMOOTH enabled.

i use glPointSize(1) with no problem.

but when I use bigger points, they are square. I'm using a G4, and I've heard this is a problem with openGL itself. Is there anything as fast as drawing points that, well, draws circular points?


grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

first, a quick checklist -- for smooth points, you need:

* blending enabled
* blend function set to SRC_ALPHA, ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA
* point size within the range returned by glGetDoublev(GL_POINT_SIZE_RANGE,...);

secondly, yes, points suck. draw textured quads instead.

Points suck.

that article seems to imply that OpenGL sucks.. haha

too bad Quartz is insanely slow

dave05 Wrote:that article seems to imply that OpenGL sucks

If you care about pixel precision, yes.

If you care about rendering speed, and can make some compromises in consistency and precision, no.

I'd like to get an opinion related to the link posted by arekkusu.

I noticed that openGL's Lines have vertical endpoints for lines between -45 and 45 degree rotations and horizonal endpoints for lines between 45 and 135, rather than rounded endpoints or endpoints with slope perpendicular to the direction of the line itself (it was difficult to word that question, but hopefully it was understandable to some degree). It seems also that glSetLineWidth(float) may not actually have any effect, depending on the graphics card.

I'd like my lines to have flat endpoints, but it's important to me that the endpoints have the appropriate slope. Would it make any sense to use a texture of lines of various widths, and stretch them horizontally to match the line length I desire? This shouldn't take to long to code up; I'll let everyone know of the results.

dave05 Wrote:Would it make any sense to use a texture of lines of various widths

No.


more letters.

Yes, if you want explicit control you will need to draw lines as triangle geometry with textures stretched appropriately.

Don't forget to handle antialiasing on both the line body and line endcaps.

And line stipple if you need it. And textured lines (see, it isn't easy if you want to completely replace the built in primitives...)

Wow, that page really shed some light on the subject. I had no idea that hardware-graphics were so unreliable. Definitely clears up some issues I've been having throughout the years.