/g53gra_framework

Coursework framework and demos for G53GRA Computer Graphics at University of Nottingham.

Primary LanguageCMIT LicenseMIT

C++ Framework for Coursework and Demos

G53GRA Computer Graphics

Spring Semester 2016/17

The documentation of this framework is covered in full in the provided specification, available here. Note that the use of this framework is optional and completely at your discretion, however you may find it easier tofocus on applying the computer graphics theory with all the windowing handled.

Overview

The framework is cross-platform and uses OpenGL, (free)GLUT and GLU. Prebuilt and linked projects are available for use with Windows under Visual Studio and macOS under XCode, containing two folders. The first, ``Framework", which contains all the pre-written code for you to use with your project. It is highly recommended that you do NOT edit any of the files in this project: you should just include the header files where appropriate, e.g.:

#include "DisplayableObject.h"
#include "Animation.h"

The latter folder, named "Code", will contain your coursework code. Some example code, demonstrating various techniques for graphics programming, is provided using the framework. The main class that you should run will be MyScene.cpp. There is an overriding method Initialise() where you should define all your objects and add them to thescene. Note that you should not attempt to override Scene::Draw if you are using this framework.

Setting Up

It is strongly recommended you use git to clone the repository to your desktop, so you can pull updates and demos directly. If you do not have git installed, you can find details for download and installation here -- note: A32 lab machines already have git installed.

Run a terminal, or command prompt, and navigate to an appropriate directory location. If you are using a lab machine you will need to navigate to the H: drive in cmd first.

> H:
> mkdir G53GRA & cd G53GRA
> git clone https://github.com/wilocw/g53gra_framework/.git

You should not be prompted for a username or password. You should see something along the lines of:

> git clone 
https://github.com/wilocw/g53gra_framework/.git
Cloning into 'g53gra_framework'...
remote: Counting objects: 477, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (282/282), done.
remote: Total 477 (delta 276), reused 348 (delta 181)
Receiving objects: 100% (477/477), 2.74 MiB | 2.61 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (276/276), done.
Checking connectivity... done.

To check this was successful, cd into the new folder and check the git status. If the status matches the below, you have cloned the project successfully.

> cd g53gra_framework
> git status
On branch coursework
your branch is up-to-date with 'origin/coursework'.
nothing to commit, working directory clean

You can now check the project file, for Windows/Visual Studio users it should be located in ./G53GRA.Framework/G53GRA.Framework.sln

The XCode project (for macOS users) is found in ./G53GRA.Framework/G53GRA.Framework/G53GRA.Framework.xcodeproj

The project should build and run without error, and you should see an OpenGL context window open with a black background. This is a success, and everything is set up properly.

Any changes you now make, while writing your coursework, can be added and committed to your local coursework branch to maintain source control over your coursework.