diff --git a/src/routes/articles/the-graphics-pipeline/+page.svx b/src/routes/articles/the-graphics-pipeline/+page.svx index 58a92ea..f192a25 100644 --- a/src/routes/articles/the-graphics-pipeline/+page.svx +++ b/src/routes/articles/the-graphics-pipeline/+page.svx @@ -35,27 +35,27 @@ Ever been jump-scared by this sight in an FPS? Why are things rendered like that In order to display a scene (like a murder scene), -we need to have a way of **representing** the **surface** of the composing objects (like corpses) in computer-memory. -We only care about the **surface** since we won't be seeing the insides anyways---Not that we want to. +we need to have a way of **representing** the **surface** of the composing objects (like corpses) in computer memory. +We only care about the **surface** since we won't be seeing the insides anyway---Not that we want to. At this stage, we only care about the **shape** or the **geometry** of the **surface**. -Texturing, lighting and all the sweet gory details comes at a much later stage once all the **geometry** have been processed. +Texturing, lighting, and all the sweet gory details come at a much later stage once all the **geometry** has been processed. -But how do we represent surfaces in computer-memory? +But how do we represent surfaces in computer memory? ## Vertices There are several ways to **represent** the surfaces of 3d objects for a computer to understand. -For instance, **NURB surfaces** are great for representing **curves** -and it's all about the **high-precision** needed to do **CAD**. -We could also do **ray-tracing** using fancy equations for rendering **photo-realistic** images. +For instance, **NURB surfaces** are great for representing **curves**, and it's all about the +**high precision** needed to do **CAD**. We could also do **ray-tracing** using fancy equations for +rendering **photo-realistic** images. These are all great--ignoring the fact that they would take an eternity to process... But what we need is a **performant** approach that can do this for an entire scene with -hundereds of thousands of objects (like a lot of corpses) in under a small fraction of a second. What we need is **polygonal modeling**. +hundreds of thousands of objects (like a lot of corpses) in under a small fraction of a second. What we need is **polygonal modeling**. **Polygonal modeling** enables us to do an exciting thing called **real-time rendering**. The idea is that we only need an -**approximation** of a surface to render it **realisticly-enough** for us to have some fun killing time! -We can achieve this approximation using a collection of **triangles**, **lines** and **dots** (primitives), +**approximation** of a surface to render it **realistically enough** for us to have some fun killing time! +We can achieve this approximation using a collection of **triangles**, **lines**, and **dots** (primitives), which themselves are composed of a series of **vertices** (points in space). A **vertex** is simply a point in space. -Once we get enough of these **points**, we can conncet them to form **primitives** such as **triangles**, **lines** and **dots**. +Once we get enough of these **points**, we can connect them to form **primitives** such as **triangles**, **lines**, and **dots**. And once we connect enough of these **primitives** together, they form a **model** or a **mesh** (that we need for our corpse). With some interesting models put together, we can compose a **scene** (like a murder scene :D). But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The primary type of **primitive** that we care about during **polygonal modeling** -is a **triangle**. But why not squares or polygons with variable number of edges? +is a **triangle**. But why not squares or polygons with a variable number of edges? ## Why Triangles? - In **Euclidean geometry**, triangles are always **planar** (they exist only in one plane), any polygon composed of more than 3 points may break this rule, but why does polygons residing in one plane so important to us? @@ -86,28 +85,26 @@ to us? /> When a polygon exists only in one plane, we can safely imply that **only one face** of it can be visible -at any one time, this enables us to utilize a huge optimization technique called **back-face culling**. +at any one time; this enables us to utilize a huge optimization technique called **back-face culling**. Which means we avoid wasting a ton of **precious processing time** on the polygons that we know won't be visible to us. We can safely **cull** the **back-faces** since we won't -be seeing the **back** of a polygon when it's in the context of a closed off model. -We figure this by simply using the **winding-order** of the triangle to determine whether we're looking at the +be seeing the **back** of a polygon when it's in the context of a closed-off model. +We figure this out by simply using the **winding order** of the triangle to determine whether we're looking at the back of the triangle or the front of it. Normal surface +Triangles also have a very small **memory footprint**; for instance, when using the **triangle-strip** topology (more on this very soon), for each additional triangle after the first one, only **one extra vertex** is needed. -Triangles also have very small **memory footprint**, for instance when using the **triangle-strip** topology (more on this very soon), for each additional triangle after the first one, only **one extra vertex** is needed. - - -The most important attribute however (in my opinion) is the **algorithmic simplicity**. -Any polygon or shape can be composed from a **set of triangle**, for instance a rectangle is -simply **two co-planar triangles**. -It is becoming an increasingly more common practice in computer science to break down +The most important attribute, in my opinion, is the **algorithmic simplicity**. +Any polygon or shape can be composed from a **set of triangles**; for instance, a rectangle is +simply **two coplanar triangles**. +Also, it is becoming a common practice in computer science to break down hard problems into simpler, smaller problems. This will be more convincing when we cover the **rasterization** stage :) -Bonus point: present day **hardwares** and **algorithms** have become **extremely efficient** at processing +Bonus point: present-day **hardware** and **algorithms** have become **extremely efficient** at processing triangles (sorting, rendering, etc) after eons of evolving around them. diff --git a/static/images/bunny.jpg b/static/images/bunny.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..60228c1 Binary files /dev/null and b/static/images/bunny.jpg differ diff --git a/static/images/polygon_sphere.webp b/static/images/polygon_sphere.webp index 42cb3ca..4952f99 100644 Binary files a/static/images/polygon_sphere.webp and b/static/images/polygon_sphere.webp differ