The best way to draw a cube

OpenGL OpenGL: Basic Coding
1

I’m new to openGL and am have been successful at drawing a cube However, I’m concerned about the efficiency of which I drew the cube. Currently, this is what I’m doing:

I’m using vertex arrays, and filling it with 24 vertices (4 for each face). I was kinda hoping I would be able to just specify 8 vertices total, and then have it just figure it out itself… Is this possible? If so, can someone provide an example for me to work from?

Also, I’m not sure if this matters, but I do plan on using lighting in my program, so I’m not sure if this throws off any possible solutions.

Finally, I was reading somewhere that it would be better to store it as a set of triangles instead of rectangles. Is this the case?

TIA,
-Mike

2

First you can make a routine that only takes 8 vertex points and makes a cube, but in the routine you will still have to have 24 vertex defined for the cube to be drawn.

I think Triangles are processed somewhat faster, then quads when using hardware.

As for lighting,

Originally posted by mjriggio:
[b]I’m new to openGL and am have been successful at drawing a cube However, I’m concerned about the efficiency of which I drew the cube. Currently, this is what I’m doing:

I’m using vertex arrays, and filling it with 24 vertices (4 for each face). I was kinda hoping I would be able to just specify 8 vertices total, and then have it just figure it out itself… Is this possible? If so, can someone provide an example for me to work from?

Also, I’m not sure if this matters, but I do plan on using lighting in my program, so I’m not sure if this throws off any possible solutions.

Finally, I was reading somewhere that it would be better to store it as a set of triangles instead of rectangles. Is this the case?

TIA,
-Mike[/b]

3

I Had this same thought when i started opengl… Heres 2 good ideas
#1, use the cube function, opengl has a built in cube drawing function =P
#2, use 2 matricies.
static float vertex[8][3] = {{x,y,z}, {x,y,z}, {x,y,z}, {x,y,z}, {x,y,z}, {x,y,z}, {x,y,z}, {x,y,z}};
// that is where you put your 8 verticies
static float link[6][4] = {0,1,2,3}, {4,5,6,7}, {0,1,5,4}, {1,2,6,5}, {2,3,7,6}, {3,0,7,4}};
// those are the order in which the verticies are linked
now draw each of of those quads
glBegin(GL_QUADS)
for (int a=0; a<6; a++){
glVertexf(vertex[link[a][0]][0], vertex[link[a][0]][1], vertex[link[a][0][2]);
glVertexf(vertex[link[a][1]][0], vertex[link[a][1]][1], vertex[link[a][1][2]);
glVertexf(vertex[link[a][2]][0], vertex[link[a][2]][1], vertex[link[a][2][2]);
glVertexf(vertex[link[a][3]][0], vertex[link[a][3]][1], vertex[link[a][3][2]);
}
glEnd();
// thats just written on the fly… but hopefully you get the idea… it draws the verticies based on what order you have them linked in the link[] matrix. You could do the same thing with triangles… just separate each face into 2 triangles

4

1st create vertex array with 8 vertices, 2nd create indices array, 3rd use DrawElements if I remember correct & by the way, you can put all this thing in display list