   Drawing to the screen without a Window
  This question is not strictly game-related. It is for a Linux (GNOME) visual audio project I am working on. I am looking for a way to directly draw to the screen without initializing a window. Our current solution works like this to simply make the entire screen flash with a color:* Initialize a GTK window* Remove that window's decorations* Fullscreen the window and color it* After a certain time has passed, destroy the windowThere are a few problems with this, however:* Initializing a window can be slow and it's incredibly poor form for the user to see an extra window pop up who's sole purpose is to display one color. (For now)* Being limited to a window severely limits the type of graphics we can display.I want to make the entire screen a solid color for a quick second and fade away over time. I have been told my best bet is to directly interact with the hardware using Xlib. This is definitely not the ideal solution since we're running short on time to learn new libraries.Does OpenGL offer a way to do this? Is all drawing and rendering limited to a window instance? If the latter is true, but not the former, I might even try it to see if it's speedier than GTK.   
Quote:Original post by kibokun* Being limited to a window severely limits the type of graphics we can display.What are you limited to?Quote:Original post by kibokunDoes OpenGL offer a way to do this? Is all drawing and rendering limited to a window instance?Yes you require a Window to get a Rendering Context;Quote:Original post by AndyEsserQuote:Original post by kibokun* Being limited to a window severely limits the type of graphics we can display.What are you limited to?Quote:Original post by kibokunDoes OpenGL offer a way to do this? Is all drawing and rendering limited to a window instance?Yes you require a Window to get a Rendering ContextAs far as I know, and I could very well be wrong, you can't simply do things that aren't available to regular GTK windows without either writing your own widgets or using Xlib. I don't know if GTK allows you to do things similar to Compiz's animations without interacting directly with Xlib.I think, since I need a window and learning Xlib isn't really feasible now, I'll try to make an OpenGL window transparent and do things that way. (Note: I have no idea if this is possible either, as I'm just starting out.)Thanks for the information. :)   