iOS based OpenGL ES programming

Question

I need to find resources for learning openGL ES for the iPhone.

I\'ve already watched Brad Larson\'s awesome videos and I\'m downloading the advanced videos from apple n

Answer 1

You might want to have a look at this: http://iphonedevelopment.blogspot.com/2009/05/opengl-es-from-ground-up-table-of.html

These tutorials seem to be relatively beginner-friendly.

Answer 2

More specifically I want to create a water ripple effect that follows the users finger.

Here is code that does exactly that: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#samplecode/GLCameraRipple/Introduction/Intro.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/DTS40011222

Answer 3

I appreciate the kind words on the videos. That definitely makes the class feel like it was worth doing.

Do you have the course notes for both semesters of the class? The spring session notes can be found here in HTML format (VoodooPad format here) and the fall ones here (VoodooPad format here). The links in iTunes U aren't very obvious for those, and they contain many links to OpenGL ES resources that I thought were valuable, as well as all the sample code I show off in the classes.

I like the job that various instructors at Stanford have done with their class sessions on OpenGL ES as part of their iPhone Application Development course (also on iTunes U). They provide a different perspective on the API than I do, and both of us come at it by not assuming that you know OpenGL.

As Bart suggests, Jeff LaMarche's "OpenGL ES from the Ground Up" series is extremely popular for good reason, and he's been posting unpublished chapters from his book on OpenGL ES 2.0 lately as well.

For books, I highly recommend Philip Rideout's iPhone 3D Programming, which introduces fundamentals like the math involved, and takes you all the way through to some fairly advanced techniques. It's also one of the few books to spend a significant amount of time with OpenGL ES 2.0.

However, the best thing that I suggest for learning OpenGL ES is not to spend your time reading books and articles but actually formulate a simple project and try to implement it. Find sample applications out there that do many of the things you want to, and pick them apart. Go back to these resources when you run into brick walls and you'll better understand how the concepts all fit together. I knew very little about OpenGL when I started out with my first application using it, but I built small pieces and standalone prototypes until I knew enough to piece together something that worked.

In your case, I'd look very carefully at the resources linked in the answers to the question "GLSL for simple water surface effects", which do exactly what you want. One implementation uses OpenGL ES 1.1, the other 2.0-style shaders. Pick a way that you want to go (my personal recommendation would be to learn shaders now) and try to make a crude, functional application while working through the above videos and reading material.