Open GL to be used or not to be used.

[Javanaute]

Hi all,

I have to design a widget that users can download on their personal computers(PC MC) and put on their desktop or integrate to their toolbars. The widget i would like to create for now represents a single clock with its classic representation (2 hands that represent both hours and minutes etc.).

Is openGL in your opinion adapted to this kind of use or is it too complicated (am absolute beginner to it) ?

Another question i have is : what do you use to render your graphics. Generally, when you draw smthg with a library, it draws on a frame or smthg like that depending on the lib you use (e.g QT, AWT or Swing for java, etc.).

Thanks in advance for any help.

[mikael_aronsson]

Hi !

If it is just a 2D clock I don't see any reason to use OpenGL, you might be better of using GDI or whatever you want, but if you want a 3D clock or need some fancy blending effects or textures for example you might consider using OpenGL.

Mikael

[Javanaute]

Thanks michael.

Lets say i decided to go for OpenGL. What will i have to use in order to render my clock on desktop systems. Am talking about something like a windowing system for instance.

Cheers.

[Ikaruga]

There is no reason not to use OpenGL. It's a graphics library that is meant to be used for practically any graphics application, and a clock is a perfectly valid application of the technology.

If all you want to do is make a clock, check out the documentation on GLUT (http://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut/spec3/spec3.html) , because that will let you forget about working directly with the windowing system and let you just worry about the application... for the most part.

GLUT will handle creating a window and initializing OpenGL for you, but as for drawing everything you'll still need a basic understanding of OpenGL, which you can find help with here, and just about a million other places.