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Author Topic: Faster OpenGL Rendering  (Read 19411 times)

Steve

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Faster OpenGL Rendering
« on: February 03, 2014, 03:41:19 pm »

The majority of the OpenGL code in Anim8or now uses faster drawing functions. They requires more memory so I chose not to use them when I first released Anim8or. That was along time ago and this change is long overdue. Large models should draw considerably faster in the working views.

There are some minor differences (e.g. in points) but overall it should match perfectly. You can toggle back and forth to the original code with <Ctrl-N>. I have temporarily added the OpenGL version to the upper corner of the window so you can easily see if you're using the new or old code but I will remove this once the new code is finalized.

New to 1066: Separate toggles to show face normals, and binormals, in wire-frame mode. See the Options->Debug menu.

Known issues:

1. Bumpmaps. I'll be adding this soon. This isn't hard, I just forgot to do it. Added in 1066.
2. Flat Shading. All the faces are triangulated and it looks weird. I'll fix this but it's a bit more work to do without using a ton of extra memory. Added in 1066.
3. Face normals. Option->Debug->ShowNormals doesn't work yet. Until I fix it if you need to see them you can toggle back to the old code with <Ctrl-N>. Added  in 1066.

And at least one difference:

1. In the Point Editor, points are shown as filled-in squares instead of hollow ones. This is both faster and I feel they are easier to see so I plan on keeping it this way.

« Last Edit: February 10, 2014, 03:17:25 pm by Steve »
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Raxx

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Re: Faster OpenGL Rendering
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2014, 04:25:25 pm »

Great! I tested this out with Fraps, always reached the peak 60fps with the new rendering, but oftentimes less than 60fps when using the old rendering on heavy objects.

I have no complaints about the points being filled.
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Steve

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Re: Faster OpenGL Rendering
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2014, 04:51:40 pm »

Cool, thanks.  I have one last topic to add then I'll open the form to everyone.
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thecolclough

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Re: Faster OpenGL Rendering
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2014, 03:52:29 pm »

just tried opening a largeish project file i built in summer 2012 (this one here...), and it's updating the workspace view about twice as fast now, so i'm all in favour of the new code :)

one little point - it shows "OpenGL 3.3" in the top corner when using the new code, as expected, but it shows nothing when using the old - is the lack of a version display in old-code mode deliberate?
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Steve

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Re: Faster OpenGL Rendering
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2014, 05:34:06 pm »

That's deliberate. The OpenGL corner label is temporary, just to make it easier to see which mode you are using. I tried to leave the old code untouched in case there is a bug in the new code.

Glad it's faster :-)
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Steve

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Re: Faster OpenGL Rendering
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2014, 03:26:19 pm »

Update: Build 1066 adds bumpmap, flat face and normal vectors.  See the initial post for details.
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