multiplatform pbuffer

Hi,

I’m using glut to develop platform independent graphics (Linux and MS). Glut (or freeglut) can do most things I need, except making pbuffers.

Is there a way to render to an offscreen buffer (perhaps a hidden window?) that works platform independant?

If not, is there perhaps a wrapper that wraps up the differences, so the program can use the same functions?

Thanks,

Wiebe.

Hello,

We are thinking of implementing this as part
of OpenGLUT, an offshoot from the FreeGLUT
project.

So far we have software-based offscreen rendering
working on both X11 and Win32 - this may be enough
to get your job done…

www.openglut.org

Regards,

Nigel Stewart

Nigel,

Thanks for the reply.

I still have a few questions though.

What do you mean by “software-based offscreen rendering”? (Is this the oposite of using various extensions?)

I have started a little experiment. I create two glut windows, and hide one. Now I can render to the hidden window, and (hopefully) create a texture from it. Didn’t try the last part jet. Would this be the same as the software-based offscreen rendering? (Would it work at all?)

Also… Is there a windows binary (dll) of OpenGLUT somewhere? A Freeglut binary was very hard to find. Compiling the source isn’t that easy for a C++ beginner (I normally use LabVIEW).

Thanks,

Wiebe.