Book Image

3D Graphics Rendering Cookbook

By : Sergey Kosarevsky, Viktor Latypov
4 (2)
Book Image

3D Graphics Rendering Cookbook

4 (2)
By: Sergey Kosarevsky, Viktor Latypov

Overview of this book

OpenGL is a popular cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) used for rendering 2D and 3D graphics, while Vulkan is a low-overhead, cross-platform 3D graphics API that targets high-performance applications. 3D Graphics Rendering Cookbook helps you learn about modern graphics rendering algorithms and techniques using C++ programming along with OpenGL and Vulkan APIs. The book begins by setting up a development environment and takes you through the steps involved in building a 3D rendering engine with the help of basic, yet self-contained, recipes. Each recipe will enable you to incrementally add features to your codebase and show you how to integrate different 3D rendering techniques and algorithms into one large project. You'll also get to grips with core techniques such as physically based rendering, image-based rendering, and CPU/GPU geometry culling, to name a few. As you advance, you'll explore common techniques and solutions that will help you to work with large datasets for 2D and 3D rendering. Finally, you'll discover how to apply optimization techniques to build performant and feature-rich graphics applications. By the end of this 3D rendering book, you'll have gained an improved understanding of best practices used in modern graphics APIs and be able to create fast and versatile 3D rendering frameworks.
Table of Contents (12 chapters)

Chapter 5: Working with Geometry Data

Previously, we tried different ad hoc approaches to store and handle 3D geometry data in our graphical applications. The mesh data layout for vertex and index buffers was hardcoded into each of our demo apps. By doing so, it was easier to focus on other important parts of the graphics pipeline. As we move into the territory of more complex graphics applications, we will require additional control over the storage of different 3D meshes within system memory and GPU buffers. However, our focus remains on guiding you through the main principles and practices rather than on pure efficiency.

In this chapter, you will learn how to store and handle mesh geometry data in a more organized way. We will cover the following recipes:

  • Organizing the storage of mesh data
  • Implementing a geometry conversion tool
  • Indirect rendering in Vulkan
  • Implementing an infinite grid GLSL shader
  • Rendering multiple meshes with OpenGL
  • Generating...