Rendering using different rendering techniques
The screenshot on the left shows a high-polygon count model being rendered using Vertex Buffer Objects(VBOs). VBOs on more recent hardware setups performed really well compared to other rendering techniques. The model being rendered here is a 1081K polygon Buddha running with about 275 frames per second.
As required by the assignment the frames per rate is being displayed at the bottom left corner of the screen with some additional information about the model being rendered and the rendering technique being used.
The user can right click on the OpenGL display area which pops up a menu allowing the user to switch between different models and rendering techinque types.
I had 3 different machines available to run peformance tests. Please follow the links below to see the performance comparisons and my observations. Note that I have somewhat detailed analysis for the first machine only. Others are just for some serious fun.
- nVidia GeForce 8600GTS running Linux (Lab Machine)
- nVidia GeForce 8800GTS running Linux
- ATI x1300 running Windows XP
The user can then use the Blending Options menu option to switch into Blending Options mode.
Alpha Blending and Blending modes in OpenGL
The screenshot on the left shows a sphere textured and blended with the scene using OpenGL blending functionality. The sphere tries to follow the mouse if the user moves around his/her mouse on the OpenGL display area.
As required by the assignment the '+' and '-' keys are bound to increasing and decreasing the alpha value of the material, respectively. The bottom-left corner of the display shows the current Alpha value of the material.
Once in Blending Options mode of the program the menu options change and allow the user to selected several different Blending functions. Selecting a model from the Models submenu switches the program out of the Blending Options mode.