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ENGINE V2

Laddy Version 2

FORMNEXT 2021

FormNext serves as a key venue for Additive Manufacturing, and we aimed to showcase our new prototype and its potential at this event. Given the challenges we encountered in the initial phase of the project, we invested numerous sleepless nights in perfecting this version of the engine.

Laddy Version 2

The primary challenge in this stage was achieving a correctly rendered image using WebGL. Although the engine operated on Windows with OpenGL ES (the closest API to WebGL), we encountered issues when converting to WebAssembly and WebGL, resulting in unexpected outcomes. After utilizing tools like Spector.js and conducting several debugging sessions, we successfully emulated a 'Voronoi' lattice with skinning capabilities, along with the ability to apply pressure maps for lattice manipulation.

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To ensure security within a browser environment, we took precautions by encrypting and consolidating all assets into a single data package. This package loads upon engine initialization and is decrypted as needed, safeguarding our assets against potential vulnerabilities and unauthorized access. For further details on our asset pipeline, please refer to this page.

Laddy Version 2

One aspect that posed a challenge was rendering geometry with volumetric data. I recognized that some adjustments were required involving the depth buffer and distance values within the volumetric dataset, but regrettably, I couldn't find a solution in time.

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The issue arises from the non-linear storage of depth buffer values in clip space (they are linear only in view space before the projection matrix is applied). Consequently, a depth buffer value of 0.5 doesn't correspond to the pixel's z-value being halfway within the frustum. In contrast, tracing towards a volume yields linear distances. To accurately write depth values, we needed to either convert depth values back to linear space or convert the distance values of the volume into clip space. This challenge was eventually resolved in a subsequent version of the engine.

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A demonstration of this product can be found here.

© 2023 - Dave De Breuck.

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