Shale

A software renderer, written in Crystal!

Following thebennybox's series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEETnX-uPtBUbVOok816vTl1K9vV1GgH5

This is a project for learning about general computer graphics and how it works without GPU acceleration. As well, learning to code in Crystal and how to use X11. In the future, would also be a good test bed to port over to Windows and MacOS and learn how to integrate into their display servers.

Dependencies

• Crystal >=1.5.0
• TamasSzekeres/x11-cr Docs: https://tamasszekeres.github.io/x11-cr/index.html Though currently using own fork at this stage.

System Packages

Debain-base systems:

sudo apt install libx11-dev

Run

With using the shards cmd, the Shale target will need to be specified. As well the XUTIL_DEFINE_FUNCTIONS will need to be included for the build:

shards run Shale --define=XUTIL_DEFINE_FUNCTIONS

For performance, include the --release flag in the build/run cmd:

shards run Shale --release --define=XUTIL_DEFINE_FUNCTIONS

License

Distributed under the Mozilla Public License v2.0 (MPL-2.0). See LICENSE for more information.

Resources

Here's a list of materials I've used along the way to learning more about the tech needed:

• https://github.com/tsoding/x11-double-buffering & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnd75j7Wco
• Perspective Texture Mapping: http://www.chrishecker.com/images/4/41/Gdmtex1.pdf

Some misc resources discovered that are not in reference for the project, but still useful to keep track of:

• https://www.talisman.org/~erlkonig/misc/x11-composite-tutorial/