Lessons 31 - 35

Lesson31 screenshot

Model Loading

Brett Porter is the author of this tutorial. What can I say... Another incredible tutorial! This tutorial will teach you how to load in and display texture mapped Milkshape3D models. This tutorial is quite advanced so make sure you understand the previous lessons before you attempt the code in this tutorial. It sounds as though Brett is planning a future tutorial on Skeletal Animation so if you enjoy this tutorial, show him your support! Email him and let him know you appreciate his work!

Lesson32 Screenshot

Picking, Alpha Blending, Alpha Testing, Sorting:

This tutorial attempts to answer a few of the questions I'm asked on a daily basis. You wanted to know how to tell if you have clicked on an object with your mouse (picking). You wanted to know how to draw objects to the screen without a specific color showing up (alpha blending or alpha testing). You wanted to know how to sort objects so they appear properly when blending in enabled (sorting). This tutorial is a complete game and is considered advanced. Make sure you have a good undestanding of OpenGL before you jump into the code.

Lesson 33 Screenshot

Loading Compressed And Uncompressed TGA's

In Lesson 25 I showed you a quick way to load uncompressed 24/32 bit TGA images. Very useful if you need to use an alpha channel and you don't mind the large size of an uncompressed TGA! In this tutorial, you will learn how to load both uncompressed and RLE compressed TGA images. The TGA Loading code and header files are seperate from the main project, and can easily be used in projects of your own! The demo is included only as an example! Don't expect eye popping graphics!

Lesson 34 Screenshot

Beautiful Landscapes By Means Of Height Mapping

Want to create beautiful landscapes smooth shaded landscapes using nothing more than a single texture? If so, this tutorial will teach you how to convert a 2D greyscale height map image into a full blown 3D landscape. I also talk a little about gluLookAt, a command that seems to have a few of you baffled. The code for this tutorial was written by Ben Humphrey. If you enjoy this tutorial or just the code, please let Ben know! If you want to see more lessons, support those that donate code to the site. Little work on your part, and it means alot to the authors!

Lesson 35 Screenshot

Playing AVI Files In OpenGL

This tutorial will teach you how to play AVI files in OpenGL. Play them fullscreen, in a window, on the side of a cube, sphere, cylinder, etc. Create a billboard with full motion video playing on it! The tutorial also shows you how to use sphere mapping to create a cool looking live environment mapping effect. Thanks to Fredster for the AVI animation, Maxwell Sayles for the coding advice, and both Jonathan Nix and John F. McGowan, Ph.D. for their great AVI articles / documents. Have fun with the tutorial, if you find mistakes in the tutorial, please let me know!