Because it’s too easy to set up an OpenGL project for Mac. But I still write this article, because maybe someone are finding something like a quick start. Unlike other platforms, in Mac, you don’t need to install OpenGL independently. To use OpenGL in. When creating a project you must specify various properties of the project. This document describes how to create an Xcode (v 4.6) project that uses OpenGL.
Important OpenGL was deprecated in macOS 10.14. To create high-performance code on GPUs, use the Metal framework instead. OpenGL is an open, cross-platform graphics standard with broad industry support.
OpenGL greatly eases the task of writing real-time 2D or 3D graphics applications by providing a mature, well-documented graphics processing pipeline that supports the abstraction of current and future hardware accelerators. At a Glance OpenGL is an excellent choice for graphics development on the Macintosh platform because it offers the following advantages:. Reliable Implementation. The OpenGL client-server model abstracts hardware details and guarantees consistent presentation on any compliant hardware and software configuration. Every implementation of OpenGL adheres to the OpenGL specification and must pass a set of conformance tests. Performance. Applications can harness the considerable power of the graphics hardware to improve rendering speeds and quality.
Industry acceptance. The specification for OpenGL is controlled by the Khronos Group, an industry consortium whose members include many of the major companies in the computer graphics industry, including Apple. In addition to OpenGL for OS X, there are OpenGL implementations for Windows, Linux, Irix, Solaris, and many game consoles. OpenGL Is a C-based, Platform-Neutral API Because OpenGL is a C-based API, it is extremely portable and widely supported. As a C API, it integrates seamlessly with Objective-C based Cocoa applications. OpenGL provides functions your application uses to generate 2D or 3D images. Your application presents the rendered images to the screen or copies them back to its own memory.
The OpenGL specification does not provide a windowing layer of its own. It relies on functions defined by OS X to integrate OpenGL drawing with the windowing system. Your application creates an OS X OpenGL rendering context and attaches a rendering target to it (known as a drawable object). The rendering context manages OpenGL state changes and objects created by calls to the OpenGL API. The drawable object is the final destination for OpenGL drawing commands and is typically associated with a Cocoa window or view.
Relevant Chapters:, and OpenGL on Macs Exists in a Heterogenous Environment Macs support different types of graphics processors, each with different rendering capabilities, supporting versions of OpenGL from 1.x through OpenGL 3.2. When creating a rendering context, your application can accept a broad range of renderers or it can restrict itself to devices with specific capabilities.
Once you have a context, you can configure how that context executes OpenGL commands. OpenGL on the Mac is not only a heterogenous environment, but it is also a dynamic environment.
Users can add or remove displays, or take a laptop running on battery power and plug it into a wall. When the graphics environment on the Mac changes, the renderer associated with the context may change. Your application must handle these changes and adjust how it uses OpenGL.
Relevant Chapters:, and OpenGL Helps Applications Harness the Power of Graphics Processors Graphics processors are massively parallelized devices optimized for graphics operations. To access that computing power adds additional overhead because data must move from your application to the GPU over slower internal buses. Accessing the same data simultaneously from both your application and OpenGL is usually restricted.
To get great performance in your application, you must carefully design your application to feed data and commands to OpenGL so that the graphics hardware runs in parallel with your application. A poorly tuned application may stall either on the CPU or the GPU waiting for the other to finish processing. When you are ready to optimize your application’s performance, Apple provides both general-purpose and OpenGL-specific profiling tools that make it easy to learn where your application spends its time. Relevant Chapters:, and Concurrency in OpenGL Applications Requires Additional Effort Many Macs ship with multiple processors or multiple cores, and future hardware is expected to add more of each. Designing applications to take advantage of multiprocessing is critical. OpenGL places additional restrictions on multithreaded applications.
If you intend to add concurrency to an OpenGL application, you must ensure that the application does not access the same context from two different threads at the same time. Relevant Chapters: Performance Tuning Allows Your Application to Provide an Exceptional User Experience Once you’ve improved the performance of your OpenGL application and taken advantage of concurrency, put some of the freed processing power to work for you. Higher resolution textures, detailed models, and more complex lighting and shading algorithms can improve image quality. Full-scene antialiasing on modern graphics hardware can eliminate many of the “jaggies” common on lower resolution images. Relevant Chapters:, How to Use This Document If you have never programmed in OpenGL on the Mac, you should read this book in its entirety, starting with. Critical Mac terminology is defined in that chapter as well as in the. If you already have an OpenGL application running on the Mac, but have not yet updated it for OS X v10.7, read to learn how to choose an OpenGL profile for your application.
To find out how to update an existing OpenGL app for high resolution, see. Once you have OpenGL content in your application, read to learn fundamental patterns for implementing high-performance OpenGL applications, and the chapters that follow to learn how to apply those patterns to specific OpenGL problems. Important: Although this guide describes how to create rendering contexts that support OpenGL 3.2, most code examples and discussion in the rest of the book describe the earlier legacy versions of OpenGL.
See for more information on migrating your application to OpenGL 3.2. Prerequisites This guide assumes that you have some experience with OpenGL programming, but want to learn how to apply that knowledge to create software for the Mac. Although this guide provides advice on optimizing OpenGL code, it does not provide entry-level information on how to use the OpenGL API. If you are unfamiliar with OpenGL, you should read to get an overview of OpenGL on the Mac platform, and then read the following OpenGL programming guide and reference documents:., by Dave Shreiner and the Khronos OpenGL Working Group; otherwise known as 'The Red book.”. OpenGL Shading Language, by Randi J.
Rost, is an excellent guide for those who want to write programs that compute surface properties (also known as shaders). Before reading this document, you should be familiar with Cocoa windows and views as introduced in.
See Also Keep these reference documents handy as you develop your OpenGL program for OS X:., and provide a complete description of the classes and methods needed to integrate OpenGL content into a Cocoa application. CGL Reference describes low-level functions that can be used to create full-screen OpenGL applications. OpenGL Extensions Guide provides information about OpenGL extensions supported in OS X. The OpenGL Foundation website, provides information on OpenGL commands, the Khronos OpenGL Working Group, logo requirements, OpenGL news, and many other topics. It's a site that you'll want to visit regularly.
Among the many resources it provides, the following are important reference documents for OpenGL developers:. OpenGL Specification provides detailed information on how an OpenGL implementation is expected to handle each OpenGL command. OpenGL Reference describes the main OpenGL library. OpenGL GLU Reference describes the OpenGL Utility Library, which contains convenience functions implemented on top of the OpenGL API. OpenGL GLUT Reference describes the OpenGL Utility Toolkit, a cross-platform windowing API.
provides code examples for fundamental tasks, such as modeling and texture mapping, as well as for advanced techniques, such as high dynamic range rendering (HDRR).
Click to expand.1. In Finder, open the window where Xcode is located. Double-click the Xcode icon.
If you have trouble with step 1, you should familiarize yourself with basic Mac navigation of folders. If you insist on using pathnames for navigation, look under the Go menu in Finder, and choose 'Go to Folder.' , then enter the pathname /Developer/Applications/.
You might notice some other things under the Go menu. You should look at them. Mac OS X is not fundamentally a command-line user experience. If you always use only command-lines, you will always be going against the overall design.
In case you do not have sufficient suggestions how to launch Xcode (haha) here's another way: Go to Finder Hit COMMAND + SHIFT + H That brings your Home directory Press COMMAND + UP ARROW a couple of times Now you should be at the root of your boot hard disk See the /Developer folder Use ARROW KEYS to move to it so it is highlighted Press COMMAND + DOWN ARROW See the /Applications folder Press COMMAND + DOWN again Now you should see Xcode and Interface Builder COMMAND SELECT both of them, and DRAG TO YOUR DOCK. In case you do not have sufficient suggestions how to launch Xcode (haha) here's another way: Go to Finder Hit COMMAND + SHIFT + H That brings your Home directory Press COMMAND + UP ARROW a couple of times Now you should be at the root of your boot hard disk See the /Developer folder Use ARROW KEYS to move to it so it is highlighted Press COMMAND + DOWN ARROW See the /Applications folder Press COMMAND + DOWN again Now you should see Xcode and Interface Builder COMMAND SELECT both of them, and DRAG TO YOUR DOCK. Hi Bruno, I am new to Mac too.and was searching for an easy answer on how to access xcode.and came across your request.
Here is a simple way to access xcode and other tools.as suggested by chown33. Click 'Finder' on the Dock 2. In the 'Finder' Click 'Macintosh HD' under Devices (this has a Hard Disk Image.in case you have changed this default name.this device will have a custom name (I hope) given by you) 3. Double click 'Developer' folder 4. Double click 'Applications' folder.and here you can access (a) xcode, (b) Interface Builder, (c) Instruments etc. Hope you have already figured out how to access.if not.hope the above helps.
Hi Bruno, I am new to Mac too.and was searching for an easy answer on how to access xcode.and came across your request. Here is a simple way to access xcode and other tools.as suggested by chown33. Click 'Finder' on the Dock 2.
In the 'Finder' Click 'Macintosh HD' under Devices (this has a Hard Disk Image.in case you have changed this default name.this device will have a custom name (I hope) given by you) 3. Double click 'Developer' folder 4.
Double click 'Applications' folder.and here you can access (a) xcode, (b) Interface Builder, (c) Instruments etc. Hope you have already figured out how to access.if not.hope the above helps.
In case you do not have sufficient suggestions how to launch Xcode (haha) here's another way: Go to Finder Hit COMMAND + SHIFT + H That brings your Home directory Press COMMAND + UP ARROW a couple of times Now you should be at the root of your boot hard disk See the /Developer folder Use ARROW KEYS to move to it so it is highlighted Press COMMAND + DOWN ARROW See the /Applications folder Press COMMAND + DOWN again Now you should see Xcode and Interface Builder COMMAND SELECT both of them, and DRAG TO YOUR DOCK. Click to expand.thank you for the comment. =) i think i might have looked it at the right applications. Because i go to developer, click on it, and find the application folder inside the developer. I've tried the spot light too.
How To Start Xcode 4 Opengl Project For Mac Mac
But I can't find the Xcode next to application. There are Xcode on 'top hit', 'folder', 'webpage','developer', 'look up', 'web searches'. I've tried clicking them all 1by1 too. But there even inside those folder, there is no Xcode icon.
For example, inside the Xcode folder, inside it there are other folders like 'file templates', 'specifications', target templates', etc. Is it possible that i download the wrong app?
How To Start Xcode 4 Opengl Project For Mac Download
I downloaded it from this link. Choosing the 'external mirror 2' thank you for your help. =) - thank you for the comment. =) i think i might have looked it at the right applications. Because i go to developer, click on it, and find the application folder inside the developer. I've tried the spot light too. But I can't find the Xcode next to application.
There are Xcode on 'top hit', 'folder', 'webpage','developer', 'look up', 'web searches'. I've tried clicking them all 1by1 too. But there even inside those folder, there is no Xcode icon.
For example, inside the Xcode folder, inside it there are other folders like 'file templates', 'specifications', target templates', etc. Hello =) maybe i've installed the wrong thing, since i can't find the Xcode app using spotlight. Click to expand.Allow me to correct you. OS X WAS not fundamentally a command-line user experience. However, as of latter 2007 (couple years before your comment), OS X has 'embraced and extended' the Open Unix architecture. (See: ) This was incredible foresight on the part of Apple because it has powered a market shift in the entire computer industry. More and more people are switching over to Mac from Windows and Unix than ever before.
In my case, and I don't think I'm alone, I have made the switch primarily because of OS X's conversion to being an Open Unix based OS. As a web server administrator, I always have a command-line (aka: Terminal) window open on my desktop. I have come to love OS X because it now offers the best of both worlds-great GUI app support and the awesomely powerful underlying Open Unix architecture. However, we converts are going to pose the occasional 'dumb questions,' simply because we're relative newbies. I have learned a few really useful things reading through this thread that I never knew before, and I've been using Mac for nearly a year now.
There seems to be a chip on the shoulders of classic Mac GUI purists, and it is evident in this thread, but I want to thank you anyway. Apparently, we noobs had to get you guys to start ranting so that we could get you to let some of the secrets out.
As for the Xcode icon. When I installed Xcode on my OS X Lion, it launched the app after the install, and I right-clicked the icon in the dock and told it to stay there. Subsequently, however, I noticed there was NO Xcode icon in my Applications folder.
Funny thing was, if I typed 'Xcode' into the magnifying glass, it would show me an Xcode icon in the Applications folder! (raising one eyebrow) I still don't know why this is the case.
I now know that the Xcode icon is really in /Developer/Applications. Thanks for the help. Click to expand.This was my case, except I'm not a web server admin. I used to boot Windows on a PC to support my hardware, and then straightaway boot FreeBSD in a virtual machine in full screen.
I would spend my whole time in the virtual machine. At some point, I realised how absurd that situation was, and bought a Mac to get the best of both worlds. Similarly to you, even under X11 I was heavy command-line driven.
I wouldn't even use a launcher, because it was just as easy to launch a program from the command-line. Click to expand.Allow me to disagree. What I wrote is still true: Mac OS X is still not fundamentally a command-line user experience. The fact that it has command-line tools is not new. It has always had them.
And they've always been Unixy commands. Certification of conformance to Open Unix architecture is a nice plus in the standardization direction, but it doesn't fundamentally change anything. The user experience is still not fundamentally command-line oriented. From the very first release, Terminal.app was there, and a fair number of commands were pre-installed. Installing the Developer Tools added even more, including compilers like gcc. Furthermore, Project Builder (Xcode's predecessor) has always worked by running command-line tools via scripts that build things. This is easily observable in the build log (detailed build output), where the rather lengthy command-lines can be seen.
AFAIK, Xcode still works this way: it runs command-line tools like 'clang' to build and link things. There are also developer details like how apps are launched, and how they receive parameters such as the list of files to open. Again, Mac OS X is not fundamentally command-line oriented in this regard. If you're expecting main to receive an argc and argv with the path to the file, you will be dismayed to see no such thing. Instead, files are passed by another mechanism entirely, essentially an event message with a parameter referencing the file(s). Programmers writing apps almost never see this event message, because the frameworks they use hide it, instead providing a callback-oriented architecture.
Yes, I too almost always have Terminal.app running. I've done this since the 10.0 days (2001).
My proficiency with Unix commands came long before Mac OS X, so having a command-line available has never been a big deal. The fact that I find a command-line useful doesn't mean that the typical user's experience of Mac OS X is in any way fundamentally command-line oriented. Click to expand.I see no evidence of chips on anyone's shoulders, least of all 'classic Mac GUI purists' (whatever that means). This is a developer forum, and most of the people who post answers here regularly are well aware of command-lines. Certainly those with significant experience of Mac development are well acquainted with command line tools. The answer to the OP's question is basically 'Make sure you're looking in the right folder' followed by 'Double-click the Xcode icon you see there'. Solutions using both Finder (GUI) and Terminal (command-line) were posted.
I don't see how clarifying where one should look, or exactly what action to take, is evidence of a chip on one's shoulder. And even in my reply, I see no chips on shoulders. I, for one, am simply pointing out inaccuracies in your post, or questioning how you arrived at your conclusions.