OpenGL why is the cube map warping while looking around?
Before implementing a shader cubemap I tried to make a skybox manually with six textures around it, but I get distortion while rotating.
In GL 3.3 using cubemap uniforms, is there some added math magic behind the scenes (that counteracts distortion), versus creating six flat faces and applying a texture to each side manually ?
Example
Here is a skymap using six individual textures. You can see the distortion at the cube corner as the scene rotates
After setting it up on a 3D modeling app and doing some experimentation, I feel I can answer my own question.
Cubemaps work ONLY with first person perspective. It is important the eye/camera sits exactly at the center of the cube and the camera target orbits around.
For example:
In the reverse scenario where the target is exactly at center and the eye orbits around it (like in a 3D modeling app) then a cubemap becomes useless by distortion.
For example:
So ... to answer this question. No, there is no magic behind the GLSL cubemapping that keeps distortion from happening. It is all a matter of how the application handles its camera system.