   opengl
  ok guys i was wondering about opengl.  i am going to start learning python as my starting programming language and was wondering if OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Version 3.0 (7th Edition) was a good book to get if i want to learn opengl other books i have looked at need a base in C++ but i was wondering if it was the same with this book? i was also wondering what if i learn opengl and create a blender 3d model would i be able to combine them and then put them into my python game engine to create my own 3d game?like for instance could i make a motorbike and a track and then program them in opengl and use that in my python game? oh and btw if it seems like i dont know what i am talking about then i can assure you i don't   
  I'd wait a bit before picking up OpenGL, learning it together with Python is probably gonna make you frustrated. Wait until you are semi-comfortable with Python. I dunno about this edition (if you want this one, there's a newer one coming out soon, for 3.1) but this is the "red book", the official guide to learning OpenGL. You can still get the very first one for free from the OpenGL website. I used the free one to learn (and liked it well enough), so I'm not sure about what's in this one, but generally the first one had lots of code examples in C (not C++) and did require that you at least be able to read C (but nothing too complicated). With all the recent changes in OpenGL, if you want the latest methods, it's probably not much use reading the original free edition - 90% of what it will teach you is already deprecated. On the other hand, it might be worth checking out the free edition to get an idea of what you're getting into. This stuff can get pretty complex, especially all the math involved.One thing this book will not teach you is how to program games, or to apply the knowledge you learned to programming games. It's very low level, mostly a "here's some basic stuff you can do with OpenGL and here's how you can do it".About Blender: sure. You will have to get the model from Blender into your game, which could involve any kind of file format for storing models (easiest to start with is a format that Blender has an exporter for - for static geometry you could start with Wavefront OBJ for instance) as well as a data structure to represent it in your game (you will need to find a model loader that reads OBJ files, or write your own) and feed it to your rendering pipeline (with OpenGL 3, this pretty much means that you have to learn using Vertex Buffer Objects). It's not as simple as "let's just combine them", you will have to take care of all the stuff between "model in Blender" and "model on your screen in your game". No problem using OpenGL in Python, see PyOpenGL for instance.   ;  i am not planning to learn them both together but could you tell me do you think game programming: the L line, the express line to learning book would be a wise investment in order to teach me how to intergrate the 3d graphics with opengl into a game? and about writing my own model loader - that sounds pretty complicated do you think i could do it with a couple of books?also what level of math do you need to be able to understand all the math? i sat the intermediate 2 final exam about 1.5 weeks ago. do you think that would be a decent level?oh and thanks soo much for your replies :D   ;Quote:Original post by emforcei am not planning to learn them both together but could you tell me do you think game programming: the L line, the express line to learning book would be a wise investment in order to teach me how to intergrate the 3d graphics with opengl into a game? Probably not, seeing as it's a book about 2D games. Also, don't let them hook you with fancy titles - there are no shortcuts or fast lanes in game development (well, there is one: middleware. Just find a 3D engine or game engine for Python that someone has already written, and use it. If you want to make games and not a 3D engine, that's probably the fastest track apart from tools like Game Maker, and one you should think about - people have written many 3d engines, even in Python, and you can benefit from their experience instead of reinventing the wheel).Quote:Original post by emforceand about writing my own model loader - that sounds pretty complicated do you think i could do it with a couple of books?It's not that complicated, at least compared to some of the other things you'll be doing. Quote:Original post by emforcealso what level of math do you need to be able to understand all the math? i sat the intermediate 2 final exam about 1.5 weeks ago. do you think that would be a decent level?I have no clue about those, but I dug up some Inter-2 exams on the net to get an idea of what it is, and I think you're most likely not yet prepared to deal with the math behind 3d engines. There is some trigonometry stuff on that exam, which is good, but it's very basic, and there is nothing about vectors and matrices. You really need to have a good grasp on those to work in 3D. If you are exceptionally smart and/or dedicated, you can teach yourself this stuff (with the advantage that you'll breeze through your highschool math exams). Other things that come in handy are translations, rotations, intersections between rays, spheres, planes, and boxes. Also grab and read this free chapter on matrices to get an idea about what's coming your way. ;  ok thanks alot! :D for now i will only concentrate on 2d games in python and when i am more comfortable i will see into using a 3d engine or programming my own one. i think programming my own one would be better because it would give me the basics foundations to create my own game from scratch but ultimately it will take me a hell of along time to get going thanks again and hopefully talk to you tommorow