Software Rasterizer

This project is a software rasterizer that is capable of displaying 3D models (.OBJ files). Traditional triangle rasterization is handled through the hardware of a GPU, so the goal of this project was to be able to load, process, and display a 3D model through software alone.

Cloning

Since this project's dependencies are managed through Git submodules, the repository should be cloned with the --recursive flag:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/Jebbly/Software-Rasterizer.git

This flag will recursively clone the libraries to their respective folders, where they will later be built as well.

Building

The CMake build system is used to build this project along with its dependencies. Assuming that CMake has been installed, the following should configure the build:

# starting in the parent directory
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..

Alternatively, Visual Studio Code also has a CMakeTools extension that automatically configures the build for you. Once the files have been generated, you can use the Makefiles to build the project.

Executing

The application takes in a single argument which should contain the filepath of the 3D model to be rendered:

# in the build directory
./rasterizer "[filepath]"

If no argument is provided, the application will instead prompt the user to re-run the executable with an additional argument.

When the application is running, the following options should be available:

• WASD to move forward/backward and sideways
• EQ to move up or down
• IJKL to rotate up/down or side-to-side
• [] to rotate the light around the object
• +- to increase or decrease movement speed
• X to close out of the application

Example

When the project is built, a sample 3D model of Suzanne the Blender Monkey should be copied to the same directory as the executable. Alternatively, you can provide your own filepath to a custom OBJ file. Furthermore, when compiling, the WIDTH and HEIGHT dimensions on include/framebuffer.hpp can be edited according to the dimensions of the terminal.

For example, you can change the font size and layout of the Windows terminal for a more high-resolution render. The following screenshot is rendered in the Windows terminal with font size 6, width 633, and height 149:

Testing

The CMake should've also configured the Makefile to build to the test suite. Catch2 is used as the testing framework, and can be run by simply calling the executable:

./tests

Possible To-Do

The Renderer class is a bit of a God class at the moment. It'd be more flexible to work with if the Controller, Model, and Camera classes were separated from the class and managed independently (perhaps using a Scene class to store Models and a Camera).

It might also be interesting to implement some basic physics or collision detection and an audio library, to see how easily a simple game can be created.

Credit

This project was created by Jeffrey Liu, Paymon Sadat, and Chase Hari as part of UIUC's CS128 final project.