notes/docs/lectures/graphics/06_rendering_pipeline.md

The Rendering Pipeline

The four rendering stages:

1. Vertex Specification
2. Vertex processing
3. Rasterisation
4. Fragment shader

• Application stage is the software that runs on the CPU

  

• Vertex processing stage is responsible for processing operations on individual vertices

  • In this stage vertex positions are transformed from model space to world and then view space, and projected to clip coordinates
  • Vertex post-processing:

    1. Primitive Assembly

    2. Clipping

       

    3. Perspective divide

    4. Viewport transformation

• Rasterisation stage is responsible for calculating all of the pixels inside the triangles that are being rendered

• Pixel processing stage is responsible for processing operations on individual fragments.

  • Texturing can also happen in the fragment shader
  • Fragment shader computes a colour which is then merged with the colour buffer
  • Merging calculates which fragments are hidden behind other fragments and only keeps the colour for the visible fragment