Ogre material lod: How do i set it up? - graphics

I have an Ogre material and, since i'm not happy with the GPU filtering, i want to make a manual mipmapping, i.e, i create all the textures, and then i set up a lod-based strategy to load the correct texture.
The problem is: it doensn't matter which strategy i use, neither the lod_value, my material does not change the texture. What should i do?
I'm reading the manual but it really didn't help.
Here is my code:
material shader/content
{
lod_values 100.0
technique t1
{
lod_index 0
pass
{
scene_blend alpha_blend
depth_write off
texture_unit
{
filtering none
texture menu_image.png
}
}
}
technique t2
{
lod_index 1
pass
{
scene_blend alpha_blend
depth_write off
texture_unit
{
filtering none
texture menutest.png
}
}
}
}

What you have posted seems correct.
Which image shows? I assume menu_image.png.
Things to try:
Are you sure menutest.png is loaded along with your other ogre assets?
Are there any relevant messages in your ogre logs?
What version of Ogre are you using? Try lod_distances instead of lod_values
Could there be code modifying the material/techniques at runtime?

Related

Should the variable value be checked before assigning?

I know this might sound like a silly question but I'm curious should I check my variable value before assigning?
like for example if I'm flipping my skin (Node2D composed of sprite & raycast) based on direction (Vector2) :
func _process(delta):
...
if(direction.x>0):
skin.scale.x=1
elif(direction.x<0):
skin.scale.x=-1
#OR
if(direction.x>0):
if(skin.scale.x!=1):
skin.scale.x=1
elif(direction.x<0):
if(skin.scale.x!=-1):
skin.scale.x=-1
would the skin scale be altered every _process hence consuming more CPU usage
OR
if the value is same will it be ignored?
First of all, given that this is GDScript, so the number of lines will be a performance factor.
We will look at the C++ side…
But before that… Be aware that GDScript does some trickery with properties.
When you say skin.scale Godot will call get_scale on the skin object, which returns a Vector2. And Vector2 is a value type. That Vector2 is not the scale that the object has, but a copy, an snapshot of the value. So, in virtually any other language skin.scale.x=1 is modifying the Vector2 and would have no effect on the scale of the object. Meaning that you should do this:
skin.scale = Vector2(skin.scale.x + 1, skin.scale.y)
Or this:
var skin_scale = skin.scale
skin_scale.x += 1
skin.scale = skin_scale
Which I bet people using C# would find familiar.
But you don't need to do that in GDScript. Godot will call set_scale, which is what most people expect. It is a feature!
So, you set scale, and Godot will call set_scale:
void Node2D::set_scale(const Size2 &p_scale) {
if (_xform_dirty) {
((Node2D *)this)->_update_xform_values();
}
_scale = p_scale;
// Avoid having 0 scale values, can lead to errors in physics and rendering.
if (Math::is_zero_approx(_scale.x)) {
_scale.x = CMP_EPSILON;
}
if (Math::is_zero_approx(_scale.y)) {
_scale.y = CMP_EPSILON;
}
_update_transform();
_change_notify("scale");
}
The method _change_notify only does something in the editor. It is the Godot 3.x instrumentation for undo/redo et.al.
And set_scale will call _update_transform:
void Node2D::_update_transform() {
_mat.set_rotation_and_scale(angle, _scale);
_mat.elements[2] = pos;
VisualServer::get_singleton()->canvas_item_set_transform(get_canvas_item(), _mat);
if (!is_inside_tree()) {
return;
}
_notify_transform();
}
Which, as you can see, will update the Transform2D of the Node2D (_mat). Then it is off to the VisualServer.
And then to _notify_transform. Which is what propagates the change in the scene tree. It is also what calls notification(NOTIFICATION_LOCAL_TRANSFORM_CHANGED) if you have enabled it with set_notify_transform. It looks like this (this is from "canvas_item.h"):
_FORCE_INLINE_ void _notify_transform() {
if (!is_inside_tree()) {
return;
}
_notify_transform(this);
if (!block_transform_notify && notify_local_transform) {
notification(NOTIFICATION_LOCAL_TRANSFORM_CHANGED);
}
}
And you can see it delegates to another _notify_transform that looks like this (this is from "canvas_item.cpp"):
void CanvasItem::_notify_transform(CanvasItem *p_node) {
/* This check exists to avoid re-propagating the transform
* notification down the tree on dirty nodes. It provides
* optimization by avoiding redundancy (nodes are dirty, will get the
* notification anyway).
*/
if (/*p_node->xform_change.in_list() &&*/ p_node->global_invalid) {
return; //nothing to do
}
p_node->global_invalid = true;
if (p_node->notify_transform && !p_node->xform_change.in_list()) {
if (!p_node->block_transform_notify) {
if (p_node->is_inside_tree()) {
get_tree()->xform_change_list.add(&p_node->xform_change);
}
}
}
for (CanvasItem *ci : p_node->children_items) {
if (ci->top_level) {
continue;
}
_notify_transform(ci);
}
}
So, no. There is no check to ignore the change if the value is the same.
However, it is worth noting that Godot invalidates the global transform instead of computing it right away (global_invalid). This is does not make multiple updates to the transform in the same frame free, but it makes them cheaper than otherwise.
I also remind you that looking at the source code is no replacement for using a profiler.
Should you check? Perhaps… If there are many children that need to be updated the extra lines are likely cheap enough. If in doubt: measure with a profiler.

ARKit SceneKit ARSCNView with Positional Audio SCNAudioPlayer WILL NOT STOP playing

Running ARKit 2.0 with an ARSCNView. iOS12
The application uses multithreading, that's why these functions are being performed on the main thread (just to be sure). I also tried without explicitly performing the functions on the main thread too, with no avail.
I'm using an .aiff sound file but have also tried a .wav. No joy.
I even tried removing audioNode_alarm from the node hierarchy & the sound still plays. I even remove the ARSCNView from the view hierarchy and the sound STILL plays. FFS
From what I can see, I'm doing things EXACTLY as I'm supposed to, to stop the audio from playing. The audio simply will not stop no matter what I try. Can anyone think why?!
weak var audioNode_alarm: SCNNode!
weak var audioPlayer_alarm: SCNAudioPlayer?
func setupAudioNode() {
let audioNode_alarm = SCNNode()
addChildNode(audioNode_alarm)
self.audioNode_alarm = audioNode_alarm
}
func playAlarm() {
DispatchQueue.main.async { [unowned self] in
self.audioNode_alarm.removeAllAudioPlayers()
if let audioSource_alarm = SCNAudioSource(fileNamed: "PATH_TO_MY_ALARM_SOUND.aiff") {
audioSource_alarm.loops = true
audioSource_alarm.load()
audioSource_alarm.isPositional = true
let audioPlayer_alarm = SCNAudioPlayer(source: audioSource_alarm)
self.audioNode_alarm.addAudioPlayer(audioPlayer_alarm)
self.audioPlayer_alarm = audioPlayer_alarm
}
}
}
func stopAlarm() {
DispatchQueue.main.async { [unowned self] in
self.audioNode_alarm?.removeAudioPlayer(self.audioPlayer_alarm!)
self.audioNode_alarm?.removeAllAudioPlayers()
}
}
What I ended up doing is stopping the sound and removing the player by
yourNode.audioPlayers.forEach { audioLocalPlayer in
audioLocalPlayer.audioNode?.engine?.stop()
yourNode.removeAudioPlayer(audioLocalPlayer)
}
According to the documentation SCNAudioPlayer has audioNode, which is supposed to be used "to vary parameters such as volume and reverb in real time during playback".
audioNode is of AVAudioNode type, so if we jump to engine prop and its type definition, we'll find all the controls we need.

Including d3 graph in Angular 4 application

I am building an Angular application with typescript, where I would like to display the force directed network graph from Mike Boston build with d3 shown here.
I have copied and translated most of the code to type script without trouble but the line
. force("link", d3.forceLink().id(function(d) { return d.id; }))
fails with the error {} has no property id.
Only the following lines referring to d.source.x works fine?
I have installed d3 with npm and also types/d3 but still no luck, even though the typings.d.ts has an interface defining the id.
Thank you for your help!
Maybe that is something related to versioning, if you are using TypeScript 2.4.1, try to downgrade to 2.3.4 and give it a go.
As a workaround you could use any:
const forceLink: any = d3.forceLink();
. force("link", forceLink.id(function(d) { return d.id; }))
The example given at http://plnkr.co/edit/qcESHb3cCwD6NZL1yuhX?p=preview helped me, with focus on code shown here:
this.simulation = d3.forceSimulation()
.force("link", d3.forceLink().id(function(d) { return d.id; }))
.force("charge", d3.forceManyBody())
.force("center", d3.forceCenter(width / 2, height / 2));
this.render(miserables);
This is the best rendition I have seen. Works for me.

how to deal with devices don't support vertex array object

I have fallen into a marsh dealig with mobiles don't support vao,the only solution i can think of is using if else whenever draw, like this
if(vao is supported)
{
glBindVertexArray(vao);
glDraw..........;
}
else
{
glBindBuffer(....);
glVertexAttribPointer(.....);
glEnableVertexAttribArray(.....);
glDraw..........;
}
But it's tedious and inefficient, is there better way? thx

Can I use HaxeUI with HaxeFlixel?

I tried to use both HaxeUI and HaxeFlixel, but what I obtain is HaxeUI's interface over a white background, covering everything underneath. Moreover, even if it was possible to somewhat make HaxeUI and HaxeFlixel work together, it's not clear how to change the UI of HaxeUI when the state change in HaxeFlixel. Here is the code I used:
private function setupGame():Void {
Toolkit.theme = new GradientTheme();
Toolkit.init();
var stageWidth:Int = Lib.current.stage.stageWidth;
var stageHeight:Int = Lib.current.stage.stageHeight;
if (zoom == -1) {
var ratioX:Float = stageWidth / gameWidth;
var ratioY:Float = stageHeight / gameHeight;
zoom = Math.min(ratioX, ratioY);
gameWidth = Math.ceil(stageWidth / zoom);
gameHeight = Math.ceil(stageHeight / zoom);
}
trace('stage: ${stageWidth}x${stageHeight}, game: ${gameWidth}x${gameHeight}, zoom=$zoom');
addChild(new FlxGame(gameWidth, gameHeight, initialState, zoom, framerate, framerate, skipSplash, startFullscreen));
Toolkit.openFullscreen(function(root:Root) {
var view:IDisplayObject = Toolkit.processXmlResource("assets/xml/haxeui-resource.xml");
root.addChild(view);
});
}
I can guess that, probably, both HaxeUI and HaxeFlixel have their own main loop and that their event handling might not be compatible, but just in case, can someone have a more definitive answer?
Edit:
Actually, it's much better when using openPopup:
Toolkit.openPopup( { x:20, y:150, width:100, height:100 }, function(root:Root) {
var view:IDisplayObject = Toolkit.processXmlResource("assets/xml/haxeui-naming.xml");
root.addChild(view);
});
It's possible to interact with the rest of the screen (managed with HaxeFlixel), but the mouse pointer present in the part of the screen managed with HaxeFlixel remains under the HaxeUI user interface elements.
When using Flixel and HaxeUI together, its almost like running two applications at once. However, they both rely on OpenFL as a back-end and each attach themselves to its display tree.
One technique I'm experimenting with right now is to open a Flixel sub state, and within the sub state, call Toolkit.openFullscreen(). From inside of this, you can set the alpha of the root's background to 0, which allows you to see through it onto the underlying bitmap that Flixel uses to render.
Here is a minimal example of how you might "embed" an editor interface inside a Flixel sub state:
import haxe.ui.toolkit.core.Toolkit;
import haxe.ui.toolkit.core.RootManager;
import haxe.ui.toolkit.themes.DefaultTheme;
import flixel.FlxG;
import flixel.FlxSubState;
// This would typically be a Haxe UI XMLController
import app.MainEditor;
class HaxeUIState extends FlxSubState
{
override public function create()
{
super.create();
// Flixel uses a sprite-based cursor by default,
// so you need to enable the system cursor to be
// able to see what you're clicking.
FlxG.mouse.useSystemCursor = true;
Toolkit.theme = new DefaultTheme();
Toolkit.init();
Toolkit.openFullscreen(function (root) {
var editor = new MainEditor();
// Allows you to see what's going on in the sub state
root.style.backgroundAlpha = 0;
root.addChild(editor.view);
});
}
override public function destroy()
{
super.destroy();
// Switch back to Flixel's cursor
FlxG.mouse.useSystemCursor = true;
// Not sure if this is the "correct" way to close the UI,
// but it works for my purposes. Alternatively you could
// try opening the editor in advance, but hiding it
// until the sub-state opens.
RootManager.instance.destroyAllRoots();
}
// As far as I can tell, the update function continues to get
// called even while Haxe UI is open.
override public function update() {
super.update();
if (FlxG.keys.justPressed.ESCAPE) {
// This will implicitly trigger destroy().
close();
}
}
}
In this way, you can associate different Flixel states with different Haxe UI controllers. (NOTE: They don't strictly have to be sub-states, that's just what worked best in my case.)
When you open a fullscreen or popup with haxeui, the program flow will be blocked (your update() and draw() function won't be called). You should probably have a look at flixel-ui instead.
From my experience haxeflixel and haxeui work well together but they are totally independent projects, and as such, any coordination between flixel states and displayed UI must be added by the coder.
I don't recall having the white background problem you mention, it shouldn't happen unless haxeui root sprite has a solid background, in that case it should be addressed to haxeui project maintainer.

Resources