Module plexus::buffer

Linear representation of meshes.

This module provides a MeshBuffer that can be read by graphics pipelines to render meshes. MeshBuffer combines an index buffer and vertex buffer, which are exposed as slices.

Vertex Buffers

Vertex buffers describe the geometry of a MeshBuffer.

MeshBuffers use composite vertex buffers (as opposed to component buffers). Each index in the buffer refers to a datum in the vertex buffer that completely describes that vertex. For example, if each vertex is described by a position and color attribute, then each element in the vertex buffer contains both attributes within a single structure.

Index Buffers

Index buffers describe the topology of a MeshBuffer. Both structured (polygonal) and unstructured (flat) index buffers are supported. See Flat and Structured.

Structured index buffers store indices as Triangles, Quads, or Polygons, all of which preserve the topology of a mesh even if its arity is non-constant. These types only support triangles and quads; higher arity N-gons are not supported.

Flat index buffers store individual indices. Because there is no structure, arity must by constant, but arbitrary N-gons are supported. Flat buffers tend to be more useful for rendering, especially triangular flat buffers.

The MeshBuffer3 and MeshBufferN type aliases avoid verbose type parameters and provide the most common index buffer configurations.

Examples

Generating a flat MeshBuffer from a primitive:

use nalgebra::Point3;
use plexus::buffer::MeshBuffer3;
use plexus::prelude::*;
use plexus::primitive::sphere::UvSphere;

let buffer = UvSphere::new(16, 16)
    .polygons_with_position()
    .triangulate()
    .collect::<MeshBuffer3<u32, Point3<f32>>>();
let indices = buffer.as_index_slice();
let positions = buffer.as_vertex_slice();

Converting a MeshGraph to a flat MeshBuffer:

use nalgebra::Point3;
use plexus::buffer::U4;
use plexus::graph::MeshGraph;
use plexus::prelude::*;
use plexus::primitive::cube::Cube;

let graph = Cube::new()
    .polygons_with_position()
    .collect::<MeshGraph<Point3<f32>>>();
let buffer = graph
    .to_mesh_buffer_by_vertex::<U4, u32, Point3<f32>>()
    .unwrap();

Structs

Flat	Flat index buffer.
MeshBuffer	Linear representation of a mesh.
Structured	Structured index buffer.

Enums

BufferError

Traits

IndexBuffer	Index buffer.
IntoFlatIndex
IntoStructuredIndex

Type Definitions

Flat3	Alias for a flat and triangular index buffer.
Flat4	Alias for a flat and quadrilateral index buffer.
MeshBuffer3	Alias for a flat and triangular MeshBuffer. Prefer this alias.
MeshBuffer4	Alias for a flat and quadrilateral MeshBuffer.
MeshBufferN	Alias for a structured and polygonal MeshBuffer.
Structured3	Alias for a structured and triangular index buffer.
Structured4	Alias for a structured and quadrilateral index buffer.
StructuredN	Alias for a structured and polygonal (variable arity) index buffer.
U3
U4