Is single surface 2D really faster than normal 2D?

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/Is single surface 2D really faster than normal 2D?

Fry Crayola (Posted 2005) [#1]

I ask because I did a quick test. I tested my code using my single surface system, and I tested it using normal 2D drawing commands and the 2D commands resulted in a faster framerate. Would it be my single surface code, or is there a certain point you can reach when adding vertices that can make the system run much slower?

TartanTangerine (was Indiepath) (Posted 2005) [#2]

I have done similar tests and 3d accelerated always comes out top - by a very long way.

Fry Crayola (Posted 2005) [#3]

So the problem seems to stem from my single surface code? Which confuses me greatly as I don't see where I can optimise it. But then I'm not fantastic at this sort of thing. ;******************************************************** ;* * ;* EngineTwo * ;* 2D in 3D engine * ;* Initialisation and Routines * ;* * ;******************************************************** ;NOTES ;the pixel 0,0 on the texture must be coloured white, for rectangle drawing ;the rectangle covering 0,1 to 256,1024 is reserved for fonts only. ;constants Const SYMBOL_TYPE = 0 Const NUMERAL_TYPE = 1 Const UC_TYPE = 2 Const LC_TYPE = 3 Const UCS_TYPE = 4 Const LCS_TYPE = 5 Const TEXTURE_WIDTH# = 1024.0 Const TEXTURE_HEIGHT# = 1024.0 Const TILE_SIZE = 256 ;sprite type Type sprite Field width ;width of sprite in pixels Field height ;height of sprite in pixels Field u1#,v1# ;top left texture coords Field u2#,v2# ;bottom right texture coords Field tile ;tile number of sprite (for use in deleting tiles) Field id ;sprite id, using handle() End Type Type font Field ttFont ;the truetype font handle Field flags ;character flags Field height ;height of the font Field stored[222] ;tells if character is used Field x#[222] ;x position Field y#[222] ;y position Field u1#[222] ;uv coords for top left, and bottom right Field u2#[222] Field v1#[222] Field v2#[222] Field width[222] ;width in pixels End Type Global mainTexture, mainSurface, mainBrush, mainCamera, mainLight, mainMesh Global screenWidth, screenHeight, normalMeshX#, normalMeshY#, normalMeshZ# Global fontBottom, nextFreeTile Global tilesAcross, totalTiles tilesAcross = (TEXTURE_WIDTH - 256) / TILE_SIZE totalTiles = tilesAcross * (TEXTURE_HEIGHT / TILE_SIZE) Dim tileUsed(111) ;111 tiles fontBottom = 0 ;Engine Initialisation ;Sets up EngineTwo for use ;x = width of screen ;y = height of screen Function E2_initialiseEngine(x, y,z) Graphics3D x,y,32,z ClearTextureFilters screenWidth = x screenHeight = y normalMeshX = ((screenWidth*-1)/2)-0.5 normalMeshY = ((screenHeight*-1)/2)+0.5 normalMeshZ = screenWidth/2 ;load in texture mainTexture = CreateTexture(TEXTURE_WIDTH, TEXTURE_HEIGHT, 1+2+16+32) E2_initialiseTexture(mainTexture) ;create brush mainBrush = CreateBrush() BrushTexture mainBrush, mainTexture ;create camera mainCamera = CreateCamera() CameraZoom mainCamera, 1 CameraViewport mainCamera, 0, 0, screenWidth, screenHeight ;create light AmbientLight 255,255,255 ;create mesh mainMesh = CreateMesh() ;create surface mainSurface = CreateSurface(mainMesh) ;vertex colours and alpha EntityFX mainMesh, 2+32 ;position mesh so it can be seen PositionEntity mainMesh, normalMeshX, normalMeshY, normalMeshZ PositionEntity mainCamera, 0, 0, 0 ;paint surface PaintSurface mainSurface, mainBrush End Function ;Texture Intialisation ;Turns a texture completely black, transparent ;texture = texture handle Function E2_initialiseTexture(texture) width = TextureWidth(texture) height = TextureHeight(texture) LockBuffer TextureBuffer(texture) For a = 0 To height-1 For b = 0 To width-1 WritePixelFast b, a, $00000000, TextureBuffer(texture) Next Next ;place white, non-transparent pixel WritePixelFast 0,0,$FFFFFFFF, TextureBuffer(texture) UnlockBuffer TextureBuffer(texture) End Function ;Texture Editing ;draws images to texture without disrupting alpha channels ;image = image handle of image to draw ;texture = texture handle ;x = x location to draw image ;y = y location to draw image Function E2_editTexture(image, texture, x, y) LockBuffer TextureBuffer(texture) LockBuffer ImageBuffer(image) width = ImageWidth(image) height = ImageHeight(image) For a = 0 To height-1 For b = 0 To width-1 colour = ReadPixelFast (b, a, ImageBuffer(image)) If (colour And $00FFFFFF) = $00000000 Then WritePixelFast x+b, y+a, $00000000, TextureBuffer(texture) Else colour = (colour Or $FF000000) WritePixelFast x+b, y+a, colour, TextureBuffer(texture) End If Next Next UnlockBuffer TextureBuffer(texture) UnlockBuffer ImageBuffer(image) End Function ;Adding a Tile ;Adds a graphics tile to the texture ;tilename$ = filename of the tile Function E2_addTile(tilename$) If nextFreeTile < totalTiles Then image = LoadImage(tilename) x = ((nextFreeTile Mod tilesAcross) * TILE_SIZE) + 256 y = (nextFreeTile / tilesAcross) * TILE_SIZE E2_editTexture(image,mainTexture,x,y) ;update next free tile tileUsed(nextFreeTile) = True tile = nextFreeTile a = 0 While (a < totalTiles) If tileUsed(a) Then a = a + 1 Else nextFreeTile = a a = totalTiles End If Wend If nextFreeTile = tile Then nextFreeTile = totalTiles Return tile Else Return -1 End If End Function ;Removing a Tile ;Removes a previously added tile from the system ;tileNumber = number of tile to remove Function E2_removeTile(tileNumber) If tileNumber < totalTiles Then tileUsed(tileNumber) = False nextFreeTile = tileNumber image = CreateImage(TILE_SIZE, TILE_SIZE) SetBuffer ImageBuffer(image) ClsColor 0,0,1 Cls SetBuffer BackBuffer() x = ((tileNumber Mod tilesAcross) * TILE_SIZE) + 256 y = (tileNumber / tilesAcross) * TILE_SIZE E2_editTexture(image,mainTexture,x,y) For this.sprite = Each sprite If this\tile = tileNumber : Delete this : End If Next Return True Else Return False End If End Function ;Capturing a Sprite ;Captures a sprite from a tile and returns it ;tile = tile to capture sprite from ;x = x location of sprite in tile ;y = y location of sprite ;width = width of sprite ;height = height of sprite Function E2_captureSprite.sprite(tile, x, y, width, height) newSprite.sprite = New sprite newSprite\width = width newSprite\height = height newSprite\tile = tile x = x + 1 + ((tile Mod tilesAcross) * TILE_SIZE) + 256 y = y + 1 + ((tile / tilesAcross) * TILE_SIZE) newSprite\u1 = (x) / TEXTURE_WIDTH newSprite\v1 = (y) / TEXTURE_HEIGHT newSprite\u2 = (x+width-1) / TEXTURE_WIDTH newSprite\v2 = (y+height-1) / TEXTURE_HEIGHT newSprite\id = Handle(newSprite) Return newSprite End Function ;Draw Sprite ;Draws a sprite to the screen ;this = sprite to be drawn ;xpos = x location to draw sprite ;ypos = y location ;xscale = multiplier to scale image ;yscale = multiplier ;angle = angle to rotate clockwise ;alpha = transparency Function E2_drawSprite(this.sprite, xpos#, ypos#, xscale#, yscale#, angle#, alpha#) ypos = -ypos ;get x and y distances from centre angle = 360-angle xdist# = (((this\width))/2.0)*xscale ydist# = (((this\height))/2.0)*yscale ;rotate each vertex in turn x1# = (xdist*-1) * Cos(angle) - ydist * Sin(angle) y1# = (xdist*-1) * Sin(angle) + ydist * Cos(angle) x2# = xdist * Cos(angle) - ydist * Sin(angle) y2# = xdist * Sin(angle) + ydist * Cos(angle) x3# = xdist * Cos(angle) + ydist * Sin(angle) y3# = xdist * Sin(angle) - ydist * Cos(angle) x4# = (xdist*-1) * Cos(angle) + ydist * Sin(angle) y4# = (xdist*-1) * Sin(angle) - ydist * Cos(angle) ;create the four vertices as part of the quad. v1 = AddVertex(mainSurface, xpos+x1, ypos+y1, 0, this\u1, this\v1) v2 = AddVertex(mainSurface, xpos+x2, ypos+y2, 0, this\u2, this\v1) v3 = AddVertex(mainSurface, xpos+x3, ypos+y3, 0, this\u2, this\v2) v4 = AddVertex(mainSurface, xpos+x4, ypos+y4, 0, this\u1, this\v2) VertexColor mainSurface, v1, 255, 255, 255, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v2, 255, 255, 255, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v3, 255, 255, 255, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v4, 255, 255, 255, alpha ;add two triangles t1 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v2, v4) t2 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v2, v3, v4) End Function ;Draw Rectangle ;Draws a rectangle to the screen ;x = x location ;y = y location ;width = width of rectangle ;height = height of rectangle ;fill = filled ;rgb = colour values ;alpha = transparency Function E2_Rect(x#, y#, width#, height#, fill = True, red, green, blue, alpha#) y = -y If fill Then v1 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v2 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v3 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v4 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) t1 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v2, v3) t2 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v3, v4) VertexColor mainSurface, v1, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v2, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v3, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v4, red, green, blue, alpha Else T = 1 ;top v1 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v2 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v3 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y-T, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v4 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y-T, 0, 0.0, 0.0) ;right v5 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v6 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v7 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-(T+1), y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v8 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-(T+1), y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) ;bottom v9 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v10 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v11 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+width-1, y-height+(1-T), 0, 0.0, 0.0) v12 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y-height+(1-T), 0, 0.0, 0.0) ;left v13 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v14 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+T, y, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v15 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x+T, y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v16 = AddVertex(mainSurface, x, y-height+1, 0, 0.0, 0.0) ;triangles t1 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v2, v3) t2 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v3, v4) t3 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v5, v6, v7) t4 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v5, v7, v8) t5 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v9, v10, v11) t6 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v9, v11, v12) t7 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v13, v14, v15) t8 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v13, v15, v16) ;colouring VertexColor mainSurface, v1, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v2, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v3, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v4, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v5, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v6, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v7, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v8, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v9, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v10, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v11, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v12, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v13, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v14, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v15, red, green, blue, alpha VertexColor mainSurface, v16, red, green, blue, alpha End If End Function ;Load Font ;Loads a font into the system ;fontname$ = font filename ;size = size of font ;bold = enable bold ;italic = enable italics ;flags = characters used Function E2_loadFont.font(fontname$, size, bold, italic, flags, smooth) ;flags guide ;1 : symbols ;2 : numerals ;4 : upper case ;8 : lower case ;16: upper case special ;32: lower case special ;0 is default If flags = 0 Then flags = 63 this.font = New font ;load in font from disc as normal theFont = LoadFont(fontname$, size, bold, italic) this\flags = flags SetFont theFont ;set buffer, clear screen fontImage = CreateImage(256,1024) SetBuffer ImageBuffer(fontImage) ClsColor 0,0,0 Cls Color 255,255,255 ;start at 0,0 x = 0 y = 0 ;get character height height = FontHeight() this\height = height ;go through every character in order charType = SYMBOL_TYPE ;stores type of character For character = 33 To 255 ;skip the unnecessary If character = 48 Then charType = NUMERAL_TYPE If character = 58 Then charType = SYMBOL_TYPE If character = 65 Then charType = UC_TYPE If character = 91 Then charType = SYMBOL_TYPE If character = 97 Then charType = LC_TYPE If character = 123 Then character = 128 charType = SYMBOL_TYPE End If If character = 129 Then character = 163 If character = 164 Then character = 169 If character = 170 Then character = 192 charType = UCS_TYPE End If If character = 198 Then character = 199 If character = 215 Then character = 216 If character = 221 Then character = 222 If character = 224 Then charType = LCS_TYPE If character = 230 Then character = 231 If character = 247 Then character = 248 If character = 253 Then character = 254 If Mid(Bin(flags), 32-chartype, 1) = "1" Then ;check for horizontal fit this\width[character-33] = StringWidth(Chr$(character)) If (x + this\width[character-33] -1 ) > 256 Then y = y + height x = 0 End If ;write character to image Text x,y, Chr$(character) ;store x and y values this\x[character-33] = x this\y[character-33] = y this\stored[character-33] = True x = x + this\width[character-33] Else this\stored[character-33] = False End If Next SetBuffer BackBuffer() ;check for fit y = y + height If (fontBottom + y) < 1024 Then ;success - write section to texture imageTwo = CreateImage(256,y) SetBuffer ImageBuffer(imageTwo) DrawImage fontImage, 0, 0 E2_editTexture(imageTwo, mainTexture, 0, fontBottom+1) SetBuffer BackBuffer() ;sort out u,v coors For letters For a = 0 To 221 If this\stored[a] = True Then this\y[a] = this\y[a] + fontBottom + 1 this\u1[a] = (this\x[a]) / (TEXTURE_WIDTH+smooth) this\v1[a] = (this\y[a]) / (TEXTURE_HEIGHT+smooth) this\u2[a] = (this\x[a] + this\width[a]) / (TEXTURE_WIDTH+smooth) this\v2[a] = (this\y[a] + height) / (TEXTURE_HEIGHT+smooth) End If Next FreeImage fontImage FreeImage imageTwo fontbottom = fontbottom + y this\ttFont = theFont Return this Else Delete this FreeImage fontImage Return Null End If End Function ;Text ;Writes text on screen ;theText$ = text to be written ;textx = coordinate ;texty = coordinate ;xcent = centre horizontally ;bitmapFont = font to write in ;rgb = colour values Function E2_text(theText$, textx#, texty#, xcent, bitmapFont.font, red, green, blue) SetFont bitmapFont\ttFont ;centre vertically (automatic) texty = -texty + (bitmapFont\height * 0.5) ;centre horizontally If xcent Then textx = textx - (StringWidth(thetext) * 0.5) End If ;go through each character in turn, drawing to screen For a = 1 To Len(theText) char = Asc(Mid(theText, a, 1)) - 33 ;ensure that spaces are accounted for If char = -1 Then char = 94 ;check if character in font If bitmapFont\stored[char] Then ;create the four vertices as part of the quad. v1 = AddVertex(mainSurface, textx, texty, 0, bitmapFont\u1[char], bitmapFont\v1[char]) v2 = AddVertex(mainSurface, textx+bitmapFont\width[char], texty, 0, bitmapFont\u2[char], bitmapFont\v1[char]) v3 = AddVertex(mainSurface, textx+bitmapFont\width[char], texty-bitmapFont\height, 0, bitmapFont\u2[char], bitmapFont\v2[char]) v4 = AddVertex(mainSurface, textx, texty-bitmapFont\height, 0, bitmapFont\u1[char], bitmapFont\v2[char]) ;color the vertices VertexColor mainSurface, v1, red, green, blue VertexColor mainSurface, v2, red, green, blue VertexColor mainSurface, v3, red, green, blue VertexColor mainSurface, v4, red, green, blue ;add two triangles t1 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v2, v4) t2 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v2, v3, v4) ;move cursor textx = textx + bitmapFont\width[char] Else textx = textx + (bitmapFont\height * 0.25) End If Next End Function Function E2_clearSurface() ClearSurface mainSurface End Function Function E2_updateWorld() UpdateNormals mainMesh RenderWorld Flip End Function ;Display Texture ;Debug routine to ensure texture is working Function E2_displayTexture() v1 = AddVertex(mainSurface, 0, TEXTURE_HEIGHT, 0, 0.0, 0.0) v2 = AddVertex(mainSurface, TEXTURE_WIDTH, TEXTURE_HEIGHT, 0, 1.0, 0.0) v3 = AddVertex(mainSurface, TEXTURE_WIDTH, 0, 0, 1.0, 1.0) v4 = AddVertex(mainSurface, 0, 0, 0, 0.0, 1.0) t1 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v2, v3) t2 = AddTriangle(mainSurface, v1, v3, v4) End Function

Stevie G (Posted 2005) [#4]

Use a {codebox} mate!! I'm pretty sure that for single surface when you get to around 3000 polys per surface it is more efficient to create another surface. For particle effects this is where emitters come in handy .. for me at least.

Fry Crayola (Posted 2005) [#5]

Ah, that'll be it then. I'll have to see if I end up creating that amount at some point (my tests were based on high numbers of objects on screen - more than I'd ever need). Didn't know about codeboxes...

Bouncer (Posted 2005) [#6]

Are you rebuilding the surface every frame? it seems like it. It's faster to just move the vertices offscreen when deleting an object and move them back when creating a new one. Most of the time building the surface every frame is slower than just rendering the maximum amount of particles (where most of them are offscreen and not wasting fillrate anyway) every frame.

Fry Crayola (Posted 2005) [#7]

Well, the current project I'm working on is a GUI, so everything's always on-screen. However, I do think it could use optimisation in that I don't have to rebuild it unless something happens, because it always looks the same. Can you remove triangles from a surface entirely?

TartanTangerine (was Indiepath) (Posted 2005) [#8]

The ClearSurface command allows you to remove either verts, tris or both.

Ross C (Posted 2005) [#9]

i wouldn't bother removing tris from your surface, unless your sure they ain't getting used, of you've added a large amount and don't need them again for a while. As bouncer says, just set their alpha to 0 so they aren't rendered.

jfk EO-11110 (Posted 2005) [#10]

Comparing the speed of pseudo 2D and real 2d doesn't make much sense because speed isn't the reason why you would use pseudo 2D. The reasons may be: fast rotation, scaling, alpha-transparency and antialiasing. Also, if you have multiple overlapping alphatransparent objects or Polies, it may become pretty slow even on fast cards.

Fry Crayola (Posted 2005) [#11]

Speed is the reason why I'm using it. My current GUI is dog slow on most machines when trying to DrawImage, so I'm switching to a 2D-in-3D system. It's not even graphically intensive, it's just a problem with drawing images on those machines. The extra features are a nice plus, mind you...