Graphics Rendering

This section is dedicated to the rendering of graphics using the Direct3D API contained within the DirectX SDK. There are many pages with notes along with answers to common questions.

Demo with source code

I have written a demo that shows off a full Direct3D application that renders a cube in a window. You can download the Visual Studio source code here: CubeDemo.zip

Graphics Index

Index Page	Topic Page	Description
Getting Started	How to get up and running with Direct3D from scratch
	DirectX Q&A	Section about DirectX in general including where to get the SDK, latest changes in 9.0c etc.
	Win32 API	Direct3D runs on the Windows operating system and requires the use of some of the Windows API e.g. we must create at least one window and a message loop. This section has pages describing the creation of a basic Windows application along with some more advanced topics like Windows GDI graphics, sound and resources
	Direct 3D Setup	Once we have a Windows application we can start using Direct3D. We must initialise DirectX and create the necessary Direct3D objects used in all our future rendering.
	2D Elements	A lot of games are still in 2D and even 3D games require some 2D elements. This section describes how to load textures, draw sprites and draw text in 2D.
3D Rendering	This section includes many pages on 3D rendering with Direct3D. Pages start from the beginning with drawing simple triangles and then cover more advanced topics like lighting, 3D model loading and animation, creating terrain etc.
	Primitives	How to get started creating your own primitives. Includes using flexible vertex formats, vertex and index buffers and the steps required to render a scene using Direct3D.
	Z Buffer	How to set up and use a Z buffer.
	Matrices	Describes the 3 matrices used by Direct3D
	Lighting	Describes the 3 different types of light Direct3D provides and how materials and lighting works together.
	3D Models	Loading and displaying a 3D model is very easy using the D3DX library. This section also describes the more complex methods of animating the models.
	States	There are many states that can be set that effect the rendering of 3D primitives.
	Graphic Techniques	A number of more advanced techniques like collision handling, skybox, camera, terrain and picking
	Invisible Geometry	When you cannot see anything go here for suggestions on how to fix the problem.
	Effects	Working with Microsoft Effect Files (.fx)
	Shaders	Notes on writing Vertex and Pixel Shaders
Direct3D FAQ	Answers to common questions concerning Direct3D

Graphics Rendering

Demo with source code

Graphics Index

Further reading