renderer2

An OpenGL-based renderer built as an evolution of my previous software renderer. This version uses modern OpenGL and GPU shaders instead of doing all rendering calculations by hand.

Check out the devlog below for a walkthrough of the renderer in action.

Gallery

Following LearnOpenGL and documenting everything I learn in notes.txt.

See my notes on everything I've learned so far.

Building

Clone with submodules:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/EricHayter/renderer2
cd renderer2

If you already cloned without --recursive:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Build:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .
./src/renderer ../models/plant.obj

Once you have everything built, fly around with w a s d or arrow keys. Hold space to go up, shift to go down. Right-click and drag to look around. Hit esc to exit.

Supported Model Formats

By default, the renderer supports:

• OBJ (.obj and .mtl) - Wavefront OBJ format with external textures
• glTF (.gltf and .glb) - GL Transmission Format with embedded textures

To enable additional formats (FBX, COLLADA, Blender, STL, etc.), edit CMakeLists.txt and uncomment the desired importer. For example, to add FBX support:

set(ASSIMP_BUILD_FBX_IMPORTER ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

See CMakeLists.txt for the full list of available importers. After changing importers, rebuild from scratch:

cd build
rm -rf *
cmake ..
cmake --build .

Architecture

The renderer is organized into distinct classes handling windowing, rendering, models, and materials. See the diagram above for the relationships between major components.

Dependencies

This project uses the following third-party libraries:

• OpenGL 3.3 Core - Modern graphics API for GPU-accelerated rendering
• GLFW - Cross-platform windowing, input handling, and OpenGL context creation
• glad - OpenGL function loader generated for OpenGL 3.3 Core Profile
• GLM - Header-only mathematics library providing vector and matrix operations matching GLSL
• Assimp - Asset import library for loading 3D models (currently: OBJ, glTF/GLB) with material and texture support
• stb_image - Single-header image loading library for texture data (PNG, JPG, etc.)
• ImGui - Immediate mode GUI library for runtime debugging and parameter tweaking
• CMake - Build system for managing compilation across platforms