OpenGL Transparency Questions
Question 1
I'm using TGA images in OpenGL because they have an alpha channel, which makes it relatively easy for me to create texture-mapped sprites with transparent pixels.
Do any of you guys have an OpenGL TGA loader you're willing to share? I'm currently using NeHe's TGA loader in lesson 33. It works fine, but I'm wondering it anybody here thinks he has a more efficient/shorter version.
Question 2
Is there a way to achieve transparency effects with plain Windows bitmaps? I'd like to use them to texture-map a quad, with specific pixels left out. But bitmaps do not have an alpha channel so I can't use glEnable(GL_ALPHA_TEST) like I could when dealing with TGA.
I suppose I would have to use blending of some sorts with glEnable(GL_BLEND) but I'm not certain of the details. If anybody has accomplished this before, I would like to hear how they did it. :)