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Zachstar
01-04-2008, 08:00 PM
First before we start. You ought to know what shaders are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shader


A shader in the field of computer graphics is a set of software instructions, which is used by the graphic resources primarily to perform rendering effects. Shaders are used to allow a 3D application designer to program the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) "programmable pipeline", which has mostly superseded the older "fixed-function pipeline", allowing more flexibility in making use of advanced GPU programmability features.

Assuming that OpenGL will be used then obviously the language is called GLSL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL_Shading_Language


GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language), also known as GLslang, is a high level shading language based on the C programming language. It was created by the OpenGL ARB to give developers more direct control of the graphics pipeline without having to use assembly language or hardware-specific languages.

I made this topic to start a discussion about the use of simple shaders here and there to greatly improve visual realism while improving framerates.

Shaders are not just about giving pretty effects. They are highly useful for basic effects which in term saves times on the code department which would be otherwise spent on a madhouse of optimizations using the standard methods.

Zachstar
01-04-2008, 09:10 PM
I don't want to just request somthing then not do anything to aid it's progress. So I went on a small search here.

I came across two programs that seem to be good in aiding the production and testing of various types of shaders. They are from big name ATI and NVIDIA

http://developer.nvidia.com/object/fx_composer_home.html


FX Composer is a powerful integrated development environment for shader authoring. With support for DirectX and OpenGL, HLSL, COLLADA FX, and CgFX, as well as .fbx, .x, .3ds, .obj, and .dae formats, FX Composer provides true cross-platform functionality.

The other is from ATI

http://ati.amd.com/developer/rendermonkey/index.html
http://ati.amd.com/developer/rendermonkey/downloads.html


RenderMonkey is a rich shader development environment for both programmers and artists which facilitates the collaborative creation of real-time shader effects.

I see no evidence that they are payware or intentionally limited in any way. They seem like good free tools to use.

Hope this helps.

Dr.Sid
01-05-2008, 04:08 PM
Hmm .. interesting !

Zachstar
01-05-2008, 04:23 PM
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs21/f/2007/233/8/3/_chairdance__by_Link3Kokiri.gif

Let me know if those programs are useful to you.

Any shaders you think will be useful at this stage of development? There are many examples out there and whitepapers.

Dr.Sid
01-07-2008, 10:19 AM
I downloaded the nvidia software, as I have nvidia card. Seems usefull, but it's quite 'feature rich' .. I mean complicated :biggrin:
At this stage no shaders are needed. Simulation like this will have many uses for shaders anyway. Water, clouds, metallic surfaces, effects .. but as I said .. it has lower priority than multiplayer, so there is really no hurry.
I guess I'll play with the soft anyway :biggrin:

Zachstar
04-26-2008, 05:13 PM
So did you learn anything using the software?