3D Pipeline - High-Level Overview

1. Application/Scene

  • Scene/Geometry database traversal

  • Movement of objects, and aiming and movement of view camera

  • Animated movement of object models

  • Description of the contents of the 3D world

  • Object Visibility Check including possible Occlusion Culling

  • Select Level of Detail (LOD)

2. Geometry

  • Transforms (rotation, translation, scaling)

  • Transform from Model Space to World Space (Direct3D)

  • Transform from World Space to View Space

  • View Projection

  • Trivial Accept/Reject Culling

  • Back-Face Culling (can also be done later in Screen Space)
    Lighting

  • Perspective Divide - Transform to Clip Space

  • Clipping

  • Transform to Screen Space

3. Triangle Setup

  • Back-face Culling (or can be done in view space before lighting)

  • Slope/Delta Calculations

  • Scan-Line Conversion

4. Rendering / Rasterization

  • Shading

  • Texturing

  • Fog

  • Alpha Translucency Tests

  • Depth Buffering

  • Antialiasing (optional)

  • Display