sdf_raster

What camera sees.

What is actually rendered.

About The Project

sdf_raster is a research renderer developed in C++ using the Vulkan API, designed for efficient rendering of SDF data in real-time. It showcases occlusion optimizations and mesh shaders (WIP).

The goal of this master degree diploma project is to develop accelerated implicit surface rasterization algorithm on GPU.

Features

• SDF triangulation: Dynamic geometry generation from SDF octrees using Marching Cubes.
• Frutum culling: Culling whole SDF-octree subtrees which are not intersected with frustum.
• Fly-around cam: Simple camera and controls for scene navigation. Caches previous camera view.
• Culling demo: Ability to leave your current frustum and look at the renderered scene from another angle.
• Occlusion culling (WIP): Occlusion culling optimization using H-Zbuffer.
• Mesh shading (WIP): Directly feeding rasterizer with geometry, rather then using per-frame vertex buffers.

Technology Stack

• Language: C++17 (or higher)
• Graphics API: Vulkan 4.0+
• Build System: CMake
• Windowing System: GLFW
• Third-party Libraries:
  • Vulkan SDK (for Vulkan API and tooling)
  • volk (Vulkan function loader)
  • spdlog (for logging)
  • LiteMath (linear algebra)
  • nlohmann/json (for configuration/data parsing)
  • dear ImGui (for debug GUI/interface)
  • stb_image (for texture/image loading)
• Shader Language: Slang

Building the Project

Prerequisites

• Vulkan Libraries (optional Vulkan SDK for Debug): Vulkan 4.0+
• C++ Compiler: g++ or clang.
• Shader Compiler: slangc. See script ./utils/install_slang.sh for quick install or use Vulkan SDK.
• CMake: Version 3.16 or newer.
• OS: Linux, macOS. Windows is not supported.

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Reefufui/sdf_raster.git
   cd sdf_raster

2. Configure and Build:

   • For Linux:

     cmake -B build -S . -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
     cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

     *Optionally, replace -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release with Debug or RelWithDebInfo. If so, make sure that Vulkan SDK: is installed and properly configured. The VULKAN_SDK environment variable must be set. See script utils/install_vulkan_sdk_apt.sh for quick linux setup.

   • For macOS:

     cmake -B build -S . -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
     cmake --build build -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

     *Optionally, replace -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release with Debug or RelWithDebInfo. If so, make sure that Vulkan SDK: is installed and properly configured. The VULKAN_SDK environment variable must be set.

Running the Project

Important: The application must be run from the build directory to ensure all resources are loaded correctly.

After building the project, navigate to the build directory and run the executable:

cd build
./bin/sdf_raster

Usage and Controls

• Toggle Camera Mode:
  • click | esc: Exit flying camera mode. (Cursor becomes enabled).
  • right click: Enter flying camera mode. (Cursor becomes disabled).
• Movement (in Camera Mode):
  • w, a, s, d: Move forwards, left, backwards, right.
  • space: Move up.
  • ctrl (control): Move down.
  • mouse: Look around.
  • scroll: Adjust FOV.
• Camera Reset:
  • r: Reset camera position and orientation.
• FPS dump:
  • i: Dump current FPS to log.
• Toggle Frustum View:
  • c: Toggle culling visualization (to see which parts are rendered).
• Exit Application:
  • Close the window.

Note

• Camera settings are saved (/tmp/cached_camera.json) and restored between sessions.