Re: my intro, and seeking basic tutorials for OpenAL with OS10

On 1/19/13, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello,
> I am new to Objective-c but want to learn it. One project I have in mind is
> an audio-only game, for which OpenAL will be needed. Apple's documentation
> mentions OpenAL in the context of the Core Audio framework, but I am
> confused as to how to use OpenAL. I can import it directly, but the docs
> seem to suggest that Apple has an easier-to-use interface for OpenAL rather
> than using it by itself.

Core Audio is a big framework which encompasses a lot. The image proxy
for my video shows the iOS (and also Mac if you ignore
AudioSesionServices) API stack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QQAzhwalPI

At the lowest level, Core Audio gives you a lot more control over
things than OpenAL. But if you don't need that, it might be a wash
between OpenAL and Core Audio, though Core Audio is also challenging
to learn and much bigger. If you need portability to other platforms,
OpenAL wins.

> So, my questions:
> 1. Does anyone know if there is an interface to OpenAL? If so, could you
> point me toward docs explaining it, or at least where to find the header
> files on the Mac?

Apple fully supports OpenAL as a standard framework that ships with
the OS. On Mac, it is in in
/System/Library/Frameworks/OpenAL.framework.
(Headers and libraries are inside which is their standard framework layout.)

> 2. Can anyone provide a basic tutorial on OpenAL itself? I found one, but it
> is from 2002 and will, I fear, be so out of date that I will be unable to
> apply much of what I learn.

I wrote a book on it :) See my signature and link at the bottom.

> Keep in mind that my (relatively limited) programming has all been with
> Python, Java, and web languages, so tutorials that gloss over advanced code
> will be of limited benefit. Thank you in advance for any help you may be
> able to provide.

I also wrote a higher level library called ALmixer which is open
source. It is used by the Corona SDK which has Lua bindings to it.
(Check their website for their audio api.) This might be a way you can
get your head around the transition considering your background. The
mappings are pretty close between Corona and the actual ALmixer C-API,
though the OpenAL source stuff was hidden in plain sight so only users
who needed it would know about it (Google: corona secret audio apis).

-Eric
-- 
Beginning iPhone Games Development
http://playcontrol.net/iphonegamebook/
_______________________________________________
Openal mailing list
[email protected]
http://opensource.creative.com/mailman/listinfo/openal