OpenGL audio waveform rendering

Question

I am trying to figure out how to render a waveform from an audio file. Can I do that using OpenGL+OpenAL?

The main idea is that I need to draw a 3D scene (like a rollercoaster) based on audio data.

Answer 1

yes you can render anything with openGL, but it depend on your knowledge about 3d programming, you are new to openGL maybe you want to try using SDL or 3d engines like Ogre3D, if you want to render it in 2D but with GPU acceleration you might want to render it using cairo API using openGL render back-end as a render to texture.

you don't need openAL to get the audio data and to render from it, openAL is only useful if you want to play audio sample using 3D spatialization (like in game)

Answer 2

If your aim is mainly to render the waveform - without programming - you could take a look at vvvv tool. It surely have what you need.

If using existing librairies or concepts is not a problem, you could also take a look at processing (Java) or openframeworks (C++) that should offer building blocks for what you need.