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This is a set of WebGL like bindings to OpenGL for Node.JS for desktops: windows, linux, mac

It started as an extension of creationix/node-webgl and their great example com.creationix.minimason that you can find in examples/wavefront.js. However, it is now quite different and support different platform bindings, mainly GLFW instead of SDL.

Unlike WebGL it calls directly into the OpenGL driver. This has the benefit of speed and access to many features of desktop OpenGL at the expensive of compatibily and security. If you're looking for an actual WebGL implementation for Node.JS see headless-gl.

Dependencies

  • node-glfw, which depends on GLEW, GLFW as well as AntTweakBar. See node-glfw for installation instructions.
  • freeimage is used to load/save a variety of image formats.
  • node-gyp if not already available in your distribution

Installation

npm install node-webgl

Installation Notes for Windows 7

Beware of the Node.JS distribution you use. The default Node.JS is 32-bit and this means that modules will be compiled by node-gyp with 32-bit settings, which often leads to compilation errors especially on 64-bit systems.

So for Windows 7 64-bit, instead of downloading the default Node.JS windows installer, select 'Other release files'. This will show you an ftp site for the latest release. Go into x64 folder and download that distribution.

Installation Notes for OSX

brew install anttweakbar freeimage

Usage

examples/ contains examples from other the web test/ contains lessons from www.learningwebgl.com and other tests

simply type: node test/lesson02.js

Enjoy!

Limitations

WebGL is based on OpenGL ES, a restriction of OpenGL found on desktops, for embedded systems. Because this module wraps OpenGL, it is possible to do things that may not work on web browsers. Please read http://www.khronos.org/webgl/wiki_1_15/index.php/WebGL_and_OpenGL_Differences to learn about the differences.

  • shaders Remember to add this on top of your fragment shaders:
#ifdef GL_ES
precision highp float;
#endif
  • loading external scripts If your code uses external libraries, you can load them like this. No code change to external scripts ;-)
fs=require('fs');
eval(fs.readFileSync(__dirname+ '/glMatrix-0.9.5.min.js','utf8'));
  • frame rate requestAnimationFrame(callback [, delay]) works as in the browser. If delay is specified, it is the requested delay in milliseconds between animation frames e.g. 16 will provide 1000 / 16 = 62 fps at best, which is the default value if delay is undefined. If delay = 0, then the fastest possible framerate on your machine is used.

The timestamp now uses the high-resolution timer in your machine (not new Date()). This provides a much more precise framerate as well as much better timing for animations.