Chapter 5: The Rendering Pipeline
Overview
The primary theme of this chapter is the rendering pipeline. Given a geometric description of a 3D scene with a positioned and oriented virtual camera, the rendering pipeline refers to the entire sequence of steps necessary to generate a 2D image based on what the virtual camera sees (Figure 5.1). Before we begin coverage of the rendering pipeline, we have two short stops: First, we discuss some elements of the 3D illusion (i.e., the illusion that we are looking into a 3D world through a flat 2D monitor screen); and second, we explain how colors will be represented and worked with mathematically and in Direct3D code.
Figure 5.1: The image on the left shows some objects set up in the 3D world with a camera positioned and aimed. The “pyramid” volume specifies the volume of space that the viewer can see; objects (and parts of objects) outside this volume are not seen. The image on the right shows the 2D image created based on what the camera “sees.”
Objectives:
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To discover several key signals used to convey a realistic sense of volume and spatial depth in a 2D image.
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To find out how we represent 3D objects in Direct3D.
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To learn how we model the virtual camera.
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To understand the rendering pipeline — the process of taking a geometric description of a 3D scene and generating a 2D image from it.
