Webgl tessellation triangle twist code#
Webgl tessellation triangle twist mac#

In Patrick’s course at Penn, we use WebGL whenever possible. In Ed’s course, there was a little more time spent at the beginning to cover some JS and HTML that was more than compensated for with the lack of having to worry about platform dependencies and GLUT/GLEW/freeglut. Since the students were all seniors and graduate students, they all understand and accept the academic integrity guidelines. In Ed’s course, even though the first three assignments were the same for all students, there was no collaboration outside of what is allowable. This also excites students and they often take the project further. In Patrick’s course at Penn, we make each student’s project different, e.g., implement a ray tracer and select 3 of 5 effects.

Webgl tessellation triangle twist code#

Seniors and grad students pick up JS much faster than their instructors (at least Ed) Bias against JS in academic departments is far less than it used to be Improvements in JS and JS engines have reduced the differences between using compiled vs interpreted code Academic integrity? Not an issue When deployed on the web, it is easy to view source. A graphics course is also good for getting C/C++ experience so using JavaScript means less C/C++. Related: “Why use WebGL for Graphics Research?” by Patrick Cozziĥ Why not WebGL? Students need to learn JavaScript: not an issueĪcademic integrity? not an issue Initial startup time for first application higher: minor issue Students need to learn JavaScript Web and JavaScript development require some ramp up. Integrate with other web APIs Other HTML5 APIs (audio, joystick, geolocation, etc.) and web services. Many features are already available as extensions. WebGL 2 is based on ES 3.0 and will have many more modern features like instancing and uniform buffers. This is enough for teaching and intro course and even many advanced topics. Modern-ish API WebGL is based on OpenGL ES 2.0, which is completely shader based. Performance JavaScript performance is much better these days but still not nearly as fast as C++, however our graphics code runs on the GPU regardless of if it is WebGL or OpenGL so this is a useful point when teaching about how GPUs work. There are several tools for WebGL debugging, profiling, and shader editing.

Tools Browsers have great debuggers and profilers built-in. There are also online editors (later in this talk). Many apps will require a simple webserver, e.g., for reading local textures. Dev environment can be as simple as a text editor and browser. Low barrier-to-entry Less code to create a first triangle than OpenGL + utility libraries. Now in IE 11 and on by default in Safari in OS X Yosemite (this summer).

Webgl tessellation triangle twist mac#

Uses HTML5 canvas element runs in all recent browsers OpenGL ES 2.0 is shader based with no legacy fixed-function stagesĬross-platform broad deployment – web and mobile Low barrier-to-entry Fast iteration Tools Performance Modern-ish API Integrate with other web APIs Cross-platform broad deployment Great motivation for students Develop on Windows, Linux, or Mac On all major browsers. University of Pennsylvania Ed Angel University of New Mexico Slides:Ģ Contents Why WebGL? Ed’s Course Patrick’s Course Toolsģ What is WebGL? WebGL 1.0 is a JavaScript API based on OpenGL ES 2.0 1 Teaching Intro and Advanced Graphics with WebGL