VulkanRenderer

Installation

To run this project yourself, simply download the source code from GitHub, as well as the latest Vulkan SDK here: https://vulkan.lunarg.com/sdk/home. The solution will automatically try to find the Vulkan SDK installation by its environment variable VULKAN_SDK. Last tested with Vulkan SDK version 1.3.275.0.

! NOTE ! The Release build currently experiences irregular crashes at startup or shutdown, which I am investigating. Could be related to timeline semaphores.

Project

This is my study project, starting from September 2023, for a whole semester. The goal is to utilize the Vulkan graphics API to create a renderer that creates realistic and stunning real-time renders of cars and other objects with clear-coat pbr materials, utilizing raytraced shadows and reflections, rasterization will be used for everything else. This project uses the following Vulkan extensions:

• Vulkan EXT dynamic rendering
• Vulkan EXT descriptor buffer
• Vulkan EXT timeline semaphores

Current features

• Physically-based rendering
  • Lambertian/Burley/Oren-Nayar Diffuse BRDF
  • Clear-coat materials
  • Normal mapping
• Image-based lighting
  • Generated BRDF LUT
  • Generates from equirectangular to cubemaps
  • Energy conserving indirect specular (works for clear-coat specular too)
• Basic post-processing (Tonemap, gamma correction, exposure)

PBR Chess scene, with image-based lighting

Toy car with clear-coat enabled

Toy car with clear-coat disabled

Energy conservation in indirect specular (works for clear-coat specular too) - White Furnace Test

Indirect_Specular_Clear_Coat_Energy_Conservation_White_Furnace_Test.mp4

Planned features

• Raytraced soft shadows
• Raytraced reflections
• Raytraced ambient occlusion

Stretch features

• (Convolution) Bloom
• Dithering
• LODding
• Mesh shaders (and meshlet builder)