I am updating a Maya 2016 plugin (C++) to Maya 2017. This plugin is displaying OpenGL shapes (VBOs) in the standard 2.0 ViewPort, and was working perfectly in Maya 2016 with OpenGL 2.1.
Now Maya 2017 comes with OpenGL 4.1 and before doing any opengl action, the glErrorString executed in the prepareForDraw function gives Invalid Operation (code 1282).
This seems to come from the fact no OpenGL context is available. Do I need to manually create an OpenGL context or has Maya a function to create it for me, or should I link an existing Maya context to OpenGL ?
I can share some code if need be, but not sure it would be relevant at this stage.
The issue came from an old define I had:
#ifdef __APPLE__
#define glGenVertexArrays glGenVertexArraysAPPLE
#define glBindVertexArray glBindVertexArrayAPPLE
#define glDeleteVertexArrays glDeleteVertexArraysAPPLE
#endif
removing these lines made the errors disappear
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I am a student learning c++ and opengl for 5 months now and we have touched some advanced topics over the course of time starting from basic opengl like glBegin/glEnd to VA to VBO to shaders etc. Our professor has made us build up our graphics engine over time form first class and every now and then he asks us to stop using one or the other deprecated features and move on to the newer versions.
Now as part of the current assignment, he asked us to get rid of everything prior to OpenGl ES 2.0. Our codebase is fairly large and I was wondering if I could set OpenGL to 2.0 and above only so that having those deprecated features would actually fail at compile time, so that I can make sure all those features are out of my engine.
When you initialize your OpenGL context, you can pass hints to the context to request a specific context version. For example, using the GLFW library:
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CLIENT_API, GLFW_OPENGL_ES_API);
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MAJOR, 2);
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR, 0);
GLFWwindow* window = glfwCreateWindow(res_width, res_height, window_name, monitor, NULL);
This will fail (in the case of GLFW, it returns a NULL window) if the OpenGL library doesn't support ES 2.0. Your platform's native EGL (or WGL, GLX, AGL, etc.) functions offer this functionality.
I just started programming in OpenGL a few weeks ago, and as people suggested to me, I used GLFW as my window handler. I also used GLEW as my extensions handler. So I go through the whole process of making a vertex buffer with three points to draw a triangle and passing it to OpenGL to draw it and I compile and run. No triangle draws, presumably because I didn't have any shaders. So I think to myself "Why don't I lower my OpenGL version through the context creation using GLFW?" and I did that. From OpenGL 3.3 to 1.1 and surely enough, there's a triangle. Success, I thought. Then I remember an article saying that vertex buffers have only been introduce in OpenGL 3, so how have I possibly used an OpenGL 3 feature in a 1.1 context?
The graphics driver is free to give you a context which is a different version than what you requested, as long as they are compatible. For example, you may get a v3.0 context even if you ask for a v1.1 context, as OpenGL 3.0 does not change or remove any features from OpenGL 1.1.
Additionally, often times the only difference between OpenGL versions is what extensions that the GPU must support. If you have a v1.1 context but ARB_vertex_buffer_object is supported, then you will still be able to use VBOs (though you may need to append the ARB suffix to the function names).
I am using Visual Studio 13 with Nvidia NSights 4.0. In my application I am doing a mix of different types of rendering but, for the purpose of testing the proiler, I did a simple rendering of a scene. I opened the graphics debugger and, when I open the GUI and press spacebar to capture the frame I get this error:
Cannot enter frame debugger. Nsight only supports frame debugging for
D3D9, D3D10, D3D11, and OpenGL 4.2.
Reason: glEnd
I am using a GT540m and I checked my OpenGL version and it is 4.3
If I, then, try to use the performance anaysis tool and trace OpenGL (following the instructions) I always get some percentage of CPU frames and 0 GPU frames.
I have no idea what am I doing wrong. Is there any solution to this or alternative ways to profile OpenGL?
Are you using immediate mode drawing? Ie. glBegin(..); glVertex<> ; glEnd()
From the Nsight User Guide's Supported OpenGL Functions page:
NVIDIA® Nsight™ Visual Studio Edition 4.0 frame debugging supports the set of OpenGL operations, which are defined by the OpenGL 4.2 core profile. Note that it is not necessary to create a core profile context to make use of the frame debugger. An application that uses a compatibility profile context, but restricts itself to using the OpenGL 4.2 core subset, will also work. A few OpenGL 4.2 compatibility profile features, such as support for alpha testing and a default vertex array object, are also supported.
So, replace the immediate mode rendering with newer drawing functions like glDrawArrays and glDrawElements that vertex array objects.
Better yet, create a core profile context to ensure you aren't using deprecated functionality.
My advice: stay away from outdated tutorials online and read the latest edition of the Red book (OpenGL Programming Guide), which only covers modern OpenGL.
You can also try the more basic GPUView tool that can be found in Win 8 SDK
UPDATE:
As for why 0 GPU frames are retrieved, are you sure that your GPU is on the list of supported hardware. I had the same problem where NSight was mostly working (was able to profile other aspects) but 0 GPU frames were collected. Later realized that my card was not officially supported.
Now available Nsight 4.5 RC1, works with cuda sdk 7 RC, and among its features, now support openGL 4.3 !
I'm writing an cross-platform renderer. I want to use it on Windows, Linux, Android, iOS.
Do you think that it is a good idea to avoid absolute abstraction and write it directly in OpenGL ES 2.0?
As far as I know I should be able to compile it on PC against standard OpenGL, with only a small changes in code that handles context and connection to windowing system.
Do you think that it is a good idea to avoid absolute abstraction and write it directly in OpenGL ES 2.0?
Your principle difficulties with this will be dealing with those parts of the ES 2.0 specification which are not actually the same as OpenGL 2.1.
For example, you just can't shove ES 2.0 shaders through a desktop GLSL 1.20 compiler. In ES 2.0, you use things like specifying precision; those are illegal constructs in GLSL 1.20.
You can however #define around them, but this requires a bit of manual intervention. You will have to insert a #ifdef into the shader source file. There are shader compilation tricks you can do to make this a bit easier.
Indeed, because GL ES uses a completely different set of extensions (though some are mirrors and subsets of desktop GL extensions), you may want to do this.
Every GLSL shader (desktop or ES) needs to have a "preamble". The first non-comment thing in a shader needs to be a #version declaration. Fortunately for you, the version is the same between desktop GL 2.1 and GL ES 2.0: #version 1.20. The problem is what comes next: the #extension list (if any). This enables extensions needed by the shader.
Since GL ES uses different extensions from desktop GL, you will need to change this extension list. And since odds are good you're going to need more GLSL ES extensions than desktop GL 2.1 extensions, these lists won't just be 1:1 mapping, but completely different lists.
My suggestion is to employ the ability to give GLSL shaders multiple strings. That is, your actual shader files do not have any preamble stuff. They only have the actual definitions and functions. The main body of the shader.
When running on GL ES, you have a global preamble that you will affix to the beginning of the shader. You will have a different global preamble in desktop GL. The code would look like this:
GLuint shader = glCreateShader(/*shader type*/);
const char *shaderList[2];
shaderList[0] = GetGlobalPreambleString(); //Gets preamble for the right platform
shaderList[1] = LoadShaderFile(); //Get the actual shader file
glShaderSource(shader, 2, shaderList, NULL);
The preamble can also include a platform-specific #define. User-defined of course. That way, you can #ifdef code for different platforms.
There are other differences between the two. For example, while valid ES 2.0 texture uploading function calls will work fine in desktop GL 2.1, they will not necessarily be optimal. Things that would upload fine on big-endian machines like all mobile systems will require some bit twiddling from the driver in little-endian desktop machines. So you may want to have a way to specify different pixel transfer parameters on GL ES and desktop GL.
Also, there are different sets of extensions in ES 2.0 and desktop GL 2.1 that you will want to take advantage of. While many of them try to mirror one another (OES_framebuffer_object is a subset of EXT_framebuffer_object), you may run afoul of similar "not quite a subset" issues like those mentioned above.
In my humble experience, the best approach for this kind of requirements is to develop your engine in a pure C flavor, with no additional layers on it.
I am the main developer of PATRIA 3D engine which is based on the basic principle you just mentioned in terms of portability and we have achieved this by just developing the tool on basic standard libraries.
The effort to compile your code then on the different platforms is very minimal.
The actual effort to port the entire solution can be calculated depending on the components you want to embed in your engine.
For example:
Standard C:
Engine 3D
Game Logic
Game AI
Physics
+
Window interface (GLUT, EGL etc) - Depends on the platform, anyway could be GLUT for desktop and EGL for mobile devices.
Human Interface - depends on the porting, Java for Android, OC for IOS, whatever version desktop
Sound manager - depends on the porting
Market services - depends on the porting
In this way, you can re-use 95% of your efforts in a seamless way.
we have adopted this solution for our engine and so far it is really worth the initial investment.
Here are the results of my experience implementing OpenGL ES 2.0 support for various platforms on which my commercial mapping and routing library runs.
The rendering class is designed to run in a separate thread. It has a reference to the object containing the map data and the current view information, and uses mutexes to avoid conflicts when reading that information at the time of drawing. It maintains a cache of OpenGL ES vector data in graphics memory.
All the rendering logic is written in C++ and is used on all the following platforms.
Windows (MFC)
Use the ANGLE library: link to libEGL.lib and libGLESv2.lib and ensure that the executable has access to the DLLs libEGL.dll and libGLESv2.dll. The C++ code creates a thread that redraws the graphics at a suitable rate (e.g., 25 times a second).
Windows (.NET and WPF)
Use a C++/CLI wrapper to create an EGL context and to call the C++ rendering code that is used directly in the MFC implementation. The C++ code creates a thread that redraws the graphics at a suitable rate (e.g., 25 times a second).
Windows (UWP)
Create the EGL context in the UWP app code and call the C++ rendering code via the a a C++/CXX wrapper. You will need to use a SwapChainPanel and create your own render loop running in a different thread. See the GLUWP project for sample code.
Qt on Windows, Linux and Mac OS
Use a QOpenGLWidget as your windows. Use the Qt OpenGL ES wrapper to create the EGL context, then call the C++ rendering code in your paintGL() function.
Android
Create a renderer class implementing android.opengl.GLSurfaceView.Renderer. Create a JNI wrapper for the C++ rendering object. Create the C++ rendering object in your onSurfaceCreated() function. Call the C++ rendering object's drawing function in your onDrawFrame() function. You will need to import the following libraries for your renderer class:
import javax.microedition.khronos.egl.EGLConfig;
import javax.microedition.khronos.opengles.GL10;
import android.opengl.GLSurfaceView.Renderer;
Create a view class derived from GLSurfaceView. In your view class's constructor first set up your EGL configuration:
setEGLContextClientVersion(2); // use OpenGL ES 2.0
setEGLConfigChooser(8,8,8,8,24,0);
then create an instance of your renderer class and call setRenderer to install it.
iOS
Use the METALAngle library, not GLKit, which Apple has deprecated and will eventually no longer support.
Create an Objective C++ renderer class to call your C++ OpenGL ES drawing logic.
Create a view class derived from MGLKView. In your view class's drawRect() function, create a renderer object if it doesn't yet exist, then call its drawing function. That is, your drawRect function should be something like:
-(void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
if (m_renderer == nil && m_my_other_data != nil)
m_renderer = [[MyRenderer alloc] init:m_my_other_data];
if (m_renderer)
[m_renderer draw];
}
In your app you'll need a view controller class that creates the OpenGL context and sets it up, using code like this:
MGLContext* opengl_context = [[MGLContext alloc] initWithAPI:kMGLRenderingAPIOpenGLES2];
m_view = [[MyView alloc] initWithFrame:aBounds context:opengl_context];
m_view.drawableDepthFormat = MGLDrawableDepthFormat24;
self.view = m_view;
self.preferredFramesPerSecond = 30;
Linux
It is easiest to to use Qt on Linux (see above) but it's also possible to use the GLFW framework. In your app class's constructor, call glfwCreateWindow to create a window and store it as a data member. Call glfwMakeContextCurrent to make the EGL context current, then create a data member holding an instance of your renderer class; something like this:
m_window = glfwCreateWindow(1024,1024,"My Window Title",nullptr,nullptr);
glfwMakeContextCurrent(m_window);
m_renderer = std::make_unique<CMyRenderer>();
Add a Draw function to your app class:
bool MapWindow::Draw()
{
if (glfwWindowShouldClose(m_window))
return false;
m_renderer->Draw();
/* Swap front and back buffers */
glfwSwapBuffers(m_window);
return true;
}
Your main() function will then be:
int main(void)
{
/* Initialize the library */
if (!glfwInit())
return -1;
// Create the app.
MyApp app;
/* Draw continuously until the user closes the window */
while (app.Draw())
{
/* Poll for and process events */
glfwPollEvents();
}
glfwTerminate();
return 0;
}
Shader incompatibilities
There are incompatibilities in the shader language accepted by the various OpenGL ES 2.0 implementations. I overcome these in the C++ code using the following conditionally compiled code in my CompileShader function:
const char* preamble = "";
#if defined(_POSIX_VERSION) && !defined(ANDROID) && !defined(__ANDROID__) && !defined(__APPLE__) && !defined(__EMSCRIPTEN__)
// for Ubuntu using Qt or GLFW
preamble = "#version 100\n";
#elif defined(USING_QT) && defined(__APPLE__)
// On the Mac #version doesn't work so the precision qualifiers are suppressed.
preamble = "#define lowp\n#define mediump\n#define highp\n";
#endif
The preamble is then prefixed to the shader code.
When using SDL 1.2, what do I need to include to be able to use OpenGL Vertex Buffer Objects (VBOs)?
Currently, I only include SDL.h, SDL_opengl.h, SDL_image.h
And get the errors:
glGenBuffersARB, glBindBufferARB, glBufferDataARB not declared in this scope
If you want to use SDL_opengl.h define GL_GLEXT_PROTOTYPES before including it.
#define GL_GLEXT_PROTOTYPES
#include "SDL.h"
#include "SDL_opengl.h"
I may or might not work. If you want to do it the "proper" way, use something like glew.
You should include <GL/gl.h> and <GL/glext.h>. Sometimes OpenGl extension functions are not directly available and must be loaded using SDL_GL_GetProcAddress (this returns the function pointer or 0 if extension is not available). You may be interested to have a look to libglew which loads the extension functions.
Here is how you may do it (if not using glew):
extern PFNGLGENBUFFERSARBPROC glGenBuffers; // Function pointer declaration, in a header file.
// Function pointer initialization
glGenBuffers = 0;
// Get the function (you should have checked that extension is available)
glGenBuffers = (PFNGLGENBUFFERSARBPROC)SDL_GL_GetProcAddress("glGenBuffersARB");
It is possible to get the underdevelopment 1.3 version of SDL to open a OpenGL 3.2 context with a bit of work.
It's also worth checking out SFML, it's similar to SDL but is hardware accelerated for the 2D stuff, object orientated C++ and is much easier to use. OpenGL is particularly simple to use with it. Once again it's the development 2.0 version that supports OpenGL 3.2 contexts (although it's close to being released.)
You will probably need to use the non-ARB versions with the above.
I find the SDL_opengl.h file to be fairly useless. Personally, I recommend using GLEW or GLee. GLee is easier to add to your project but stops at OpenGL 3.0 (usually fine in SDL apps since SDL only enables an OpenGL 2.1 context). GLEW requires just a bit more work but enables stuff up through OpenGL 4.
I ran into this same problem regarding VBOs in SDL.