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1page.title=OpenGL
2@jd:body
3
4<p>Android includes support for 3D hardware acceleration. This functionality is
5accessed via the OpenGL API &mdash; specifically, the OpenGL ES API.</p>
6
7<p>OpenGL ES is a flavor of the OpenGL specification intended for embedded
8devices. Versions of OpenGL ES are loosely peered to versions of the primary
9OpenGL standard. Android currently supports OpenGL ES 1.0, which corresponds
10to OpenGL 1.3. So, if the application you have in mind is possible with OpenGL
111.3 on a desktop system, it should be possible on Android.</p>
12
13<p>The specific API provided by Android is similar to the J2ME JSR239 OpenGL
14ES API. However, it may not be identical, so watch out for deviations.</p>
15
16<h2>Using the API</h2>
17
18<p>Here's how to use the API at an extremely high level:</p>
19
20<ol>
21<li>Write a custom View subclass.</li>
22<li>Obtain a handle to an OpenGLContext, which provides access to the OpenGL functionality.</li>
23<li>In your View's onDraw() method, get a handle to a GL object, and use its methods to perform GL operations.</li>
24</ol>
25
26<p>For an example of this usage model (based on the classic GL ColorCube),
27see
28<a href="{@docRoot}samples/ApiDemos/src/com/example/android/apis/graphics/GLView1.html">com.android.samples.graphics.GLView1.java</a>
29in the ApiDemos sample code project. A slightly more sophisticated version showing how to use
30it with threads can be found in
31<a href="{@docRoot}samples/ApiDemos/src/com/example/android/apis/graphics/GLSurfaceViewActivity.html">com.android.samples.graphics.GLSurfaceViewActivity.java</a>.
32</p>
33
34<p>Writing a summary of how to actually write 3D applications using OpenGL is
35beyond the scope of this text and is left as an exercise for the reader.</p>
36
37<h2>Links to Additional Information</h2>
38
39<p>Information about OpenGL ES can be
40found at <a title="http://www.khronos.org/opengles/"
41href="http://www.khronos.org/opengles/">http://www.khronos.org/opengles/</a>.</p>
42
43<p>Information specifically
44about OpenGL ES 1.0 (including a detailed specification) can be found
45at <a title="http://www.khronos.org/opengles/1_X/"
46href="http://www.khronos.org/opengles/1_X/">http://www.khronos.org/opengles/1_X/</a>.</p>
47
48<p>The documentation for the Android {@link javax.microedition.khronos.opengles.GL
49OpenGL ES implementations} are also available.</p>
50
51<p>Finally, note that though Android does include some basic support for
52OpenGL ES 1.1, the support is <strong>not complete</strong>, and should not be relied
53upon at this time.</p>
54