[计算机图形学][OpenGL] OpenGL术语汇总

Glossary

• OpenGL: a formal specification of a graphics API that defines the layout and output of each function.
• GLAD: an extension loading library that loads and sets all OpenGL's function pointers for us so we can use all (modern) OpenGL's functions.
• Viewport: the 2D window region where we render to.
• Graphics Pipeline: the entire process vertices have to walk through before ending up as one or more pixels on the screen.
• Shader: a small program that runs on the graphics card. Several stages of the graphics pipeline can use user-made shaders to replace existing functionality.
• Vertex: a collection of data that represent a single point.
• Normalized Device Coordinates: the coordinate system your vertices end up in after perspective division is performed on clip coordinates. All vertex positions in NDC between -1.0 and 1.0 will not be discarded or clipped and end up visible.
• Vertex Buffer Object: a buffer object that allocates memory on the GPU and stores all the vertex data there for the graphics card to use.
• Vertex Array Object: stores buffer and vertex attribute state information.
• Element Buffer Object: a buffer object that stores indices on the GPU for indexed drawing.
• Uniform: a special type of GLSL variable that is global (each shader in a shader program can access this uniform variable) and only has to be set once.
• Texture: a special type of image used in shaders and usually wrapped around objects, giving the illusion an object is extremely detailed.
• Texture Wrapping: defines the mode that specifies how OpenGL should sample textures when texture coordinates are outside the range: (0, 1).
• Texture Filtering: defines the mode that specifies how OpenGL should sample the texture when there are several texels (texture pixels) to choose from. This usually occurs when a texture is magnified.
• Mipmaps: stored smaller versions of a texture where the appropriate sized version is chosen based on the distance to the viewer.
• stb_image: image loading library.
• Texture Units: allows for multiple textures on a single shader program by binding multiple textures, each to a different texture unit.
• Vector: a mathematical entity that defines directions and/or positions in any dimension.
• Matrix: a rectangular array of mathematical expressions with useful transformation properties.
• GLM: a mathematics library tailored for OpenGL.
• Local Space: the space an object begins in. All coordinates relative to an object's origin.
• World Space: all coordinates relative to a global origin.
• View Space: all coordinates as viewed from a camera's perspective.
• Clip Space: all coordinates as viewed from the camera's perspective but with projection applied. This is the space the vertex coordinates should end up in, as output of the vertex shader. OpenGL does the rest (clipping/perspective division).
• Screen Space: all coordinates as viewed from the screen. Coordinates range from 0 to screen width/height.
• LookAt: a special type of view matrix that creates a coordinate system where all coordinates are rotated and translated in such a way that the user is looking at a given target from a given position.
• Euler Angles: defined as yaw, pitch and roll that allow us to form any 3D direction vector from these 3 values.

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• Color vector: a vector portraying most of the real world colors via a combination of red, green and blue components (abbreviated to RGB). The color of an object is the reflected color components that an object did not absorb.
• Phong lighting model: a model for approximating real-world lighting by computing an ambient, diffuse and specular component.
• Ambient lighting: approximation of global illumination by giving each object a small brightness so that objects aren't completely dark if not directly lit.
• Diffuse shading: lighting that gets stronger the more a vertex/fragment is aligned to a light source. Makes use of normal vectors to calculate the angles.
• Normal vector: a unit vector that is perpendicular to a surface.
• Normal matrix: a 3x3 matrix that is the model (or model-view) matrix without translation. It is also modified in such a way (inverse-transpose) that it keeps normal vectors facing in the correct direction when applying non-uniform scaling. Otherwise normal vectors get distorted when using non-uniform scaling.
• Specular lighting: sets a specular highlight the closer the viewer is looking at the reflection of a light source on a surface. Based on the viewer's direction, the light's direction and a shininess value that sets the amount of scattering of the highlight.
• Phong shading: the Phong lighting model applied in the fragment shader.
• Gouraud shading: the Phong lighting model applied in the vertex shader. Produces noticeable artifacts when using a small number of vertices. Gains efficiency for loss of visual quality.
• GLSL struct: a C-like struct that acts as a container for shader variables. Mostly used for organizing input, output, and uniforms.
• Material: the ambient, diffuse and specular color an object reflects. These set the colors an object has.
• Light (properties): the ambient, diffuse and specular intensity of a light. These can take any color value and define at what color/intensity a light source shines for each specific Phong component.
• Diffuse map: a texture image that sets the diffuse color per fragment.
• Specular map: a texture map that sets the specular intensity/color per fragment. Allows for specular highlights only on certain areas of an object.
• Directional light: a light source with only a direction. It is modeled to be at an infinite distance which has the effect that all its light rays seem parallel and its direction vector thus stays the same over the entire scene.
• Point light: a light source with a location in a scene with light that fades out over distance.
• Attenuation: the process of light reducing its intensity over distance, used in point lights and spotlights.
• Spotlight: a light source that is defined by a cone in one specific direction.
• Flashlight: a spotlight positioned from the viewer's perspective.
• GLSL uniform array: an array of uniform values. Work just like a C-array, except that they can't be dynamically allocated.