So, you?ve got a graphics card? chances are it has Vertex Shaders or maybe Transformation and Lighting, but what does this actually mean? Have you ever wondered what these actually do?
Beyond3D attempts to explain these mysteries in a two part ?Hardware Geometry Processing? article. In the first part Kristof Beets explains the basics of geometry and lighting and looks at the older form of hardware geometry acceleration, TnL? We all play games, but it?s easy to forget how many mathematics and processing power is involved to actually bring you the ultimate realistic 3D game play experience. That fabulous well-endowed female you just shot while playing your first person shooter is actually nothing more than a collection of vertices, polygons, textures, blending and a bunch of other boring math operations. Most of you undoubtedly have heard that a triangle is the basic building block of 3D graphics, while this holds true for a large part of the graphics pipeline, it?s not exactly true for the part of the pipeline that is being discussed in this article. The basic building block we need is a single, simple, boring (?), point in 3D space.
Hardware Geometry
The second part will follow shortly, taking an in-depth look of Vertex Shaders; how they differ from TnL and what they can do for us in the future.
Beyond3D attempts to explain these mysteries in a two part ?Hardware Geometry Processing? article. In the first part Kristof Beets explains the basics of geometry and lighting and looks at the older form of hardware geometry acceleration, TnL? We all play games, but it?s easy to forget how many mathematics and processing power is involved to actually bring you the ultimate realistic 3D game play experience. That fabulous well-endowed female you just shot while playing your first person shooter is actually nothing more than a collection of vertices, polygons, textures, blending and a bunch of other boring math operations. Most of you undoubtedly have heard that a triangle is the basic building block of 3D graphics, while this holds true for a large part of the graphics pipeline, it?s not exactly true for the part of the pipeline that is being discussed in this article. The basic building block we need is a single, simple, boring (?), point in 3D space.
Hardware Geometry
The second part will follow shortly, taking an in-depth look of Vertex Shaders; how they differ from TnL and what they can do for us in the future.
