Hello, all! :)

Let me preface this by saying that I am a computer science student with only a rudimentary introduction to C++ so far, having worked mainly in Java up until now. I apologize if this is an overly simplistic question.

A relative of mine has asked me to program a visual timer for them. I could probably do it in Java but I figured giving it a shot in C++ would let me practice a bit. Anyways, I am not even sure where to start insofar as graphics go.

The idea behind the timer is that the user is able to input a time (of course) and the clock will tick down in front of a circle that fills up in a pie-like manner (if that makes any sense at all!). I think that this is the basic idea for the circle animation: http://download.cnet.com/VitalSmarts-Timer/3004-2350_4-10990391.html (The rest of it would be different, of course, that's just a reference for the circle and I'm not making it for commercial use.)

As I said, I've only done graphics and animation in Java, so I am at a total loss as to what I could research. I'm aware of OpenGL for graphics but I don't know if this would be overkill, if there is something better suited, etc. Any point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, everyone!

What operating system? MS-Windows you can use win32 api drawing functions. There is some code here that may get you started. That just shows how to draw a circle. There are other win32 api functions to fill it in with a color of your choice.

>> I'm aware of OpenGL for graphics but I don't know if this would be overkill,

oky , do you oky with the GLUT library?
Oky then , in glut there is a function
http://pyopengl.sourceforge.net/documentation/manual/glutTimerFunc.3GLUT.html
glutTimerFunc ,that you can set a callback function that should be called after that
time out.I can guide a simple help through the GLUT , however you need to give
a try.Are you familiar with GLUT?

and this is a simple blog post that written by me around 6 months ago,
I agree about my bad English. May help you,http://sandundhammika.wordpress.com/a-simple-opengl-line-animation/

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.