Books on OpenGL ES targeted towards the iPhone

Question

There are a few posts on this site about OpenGL and the iPhone. Some even on books but I think you'll find this question is a bit different.

I've searched and searched and have come to the conclusion that there are currently no books that specifically cover OpenGL ES on the iPhone platform. There are books that cover OpenGL ES [2.0] (note: the linked book covers OpenGL ES 2.0 but the iPhone uses OpenGL ES 1.1 which, I understand, is not backward compatible)... but they only have a small section for the iPhone (if any).

What I want to know, is if anybody knows of any books that are forthcoming that specifically cover OpenGL ES 1.1 on the iPhone?

Answer 1

I think it's going to be a while before we see the kind of book
that would have been useful to me when I started out, basically
because the kind of person that really knows the iPhone OpenGL ES
implementation well, is still writing their killer app.

However OpenGL ES is a standard, and you can go a long way without
caring that you're writing for the iPhone. In fact you can do almost everything
just knowing that it's OpenGL with triangles, no shaders and no GLUT.

In fact, for me, getting to know GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP, and GL_TRIANGLE_FAN
was the important part of learning OpenGL ES.

The information that specifically regards the iPhone is that Apple's implementation
prefers 60fps, and how to optimize for it. One thing that would be nice to have
some information on would be mixing OpenGL ES with the UIKit, but who knows,
maybe that just works.

Answer 2

I'd recommend "Mobile 3D Graphics: with OpenGL ES and M3G" as a great guide to OpenGL ES 1.1. They introduce you to basic 3-D geometry concepts, then the specifics of OpenGL, and even get into performance tuning. While not written specifically for the iPhone, it's still a great introductory text.

When it comes to the specifics of rendering on the iPhone, I'd also consult Apple's Technical Note TN2230: Optimizing OpenGL ES for iPhone OS.

Answer 3

A recent release is "iPhone 3D Programming" by Philip Rideout, published by O'reilly. It can be found for under $30 at many online bookstores, and is also available via O'reilly's online book service (this is how I'm using it).

It gives a very good, concise step-by-step tutorial leading through all the basic concepts one needs to understand to start programming in 3D on the iPhone. It assumes c++ proficiency, but doesn't require objective-c or opengl experience.

It does not go into using 3D graphics libraries beyond opengl, nor does it cover using a physics engine.

It gives brief insight into user input using touch and the accelerometer, and covers textures, lighting, shaders, loading 3D models, animation, sprites, and a few other topics.

One great aspect of the book is that it covers both OpenGL ES 1.x and 2.0, and every example tests for compatibility with 2.0 before falling back to 1.x. Developing your application for both versions gives you a lot more coverage for older, but still widely used, iPod Touch and iPhone devices.

Overall it's a good introduction, but there's still a lot of work that will need to occur between finishing this book and writing a full game, so don't expect to be able to write the next iOS quake based only on what you find here.