Learning OpenGL ES for iOS: A Hands-On Guide to Modern 3D Graphics Programming

7. Loading and Using Models

So far, the geometric vertex attributes used in each example have been compiled right into the applications. The very first example, OpenGLES_Ch2_1, hard codes the locations of three vertices to define a triangle. By Chapter 5, “Changing Your Point of View,” generated C language header files contain more complex definitions for geometry. Compiling vertex data directly into an application has the advantage of fast loading but also has constraints.

Loading vertex attributes and other data at runtime provides a more flexible and dynamic alternative to compiling the data right into the application. This chapter introduces runtime data loading. Many tools exist to create the data. Many incompatible file formats exist to ...