A display can be deleted in the "Render Targets" panel. Right click on the display and select the "Delete" option from the context menu or press the Delete key.
# Add a new Render Target #### Add Render Target A render target is an abstraction of a rendering surface. In the field of 3D computer graphics, it is a feature of modern graphics processing units (GPUs) that allows a 3D scene to be rendered to an intermediate memory buffer, or Render Target Texture (RTT). It can then be manipulated by shaders in order to apply additional effects to the final image before displaying it. As mentioned before, there are two types of render targets: - Display Render Targets: They address the rendering in a native surface of the graphic device. - Texture Render Targets: They represent textures which can be used in the scene to render into them. A new render target can be added using one of the following possibilities: Go to "Platform" > "New Render Target" in the menu bar or go to the Render Targets panel, right click on a node under the display and select "New Render Target" from the context menu.
| (1) | Top input field | The location where the Render Target is saved in Solution Explorer |
| (2) | Name | The Render Target Name |
| (3) | Description | The Render Target Description |
| (4) | Annotations | The Render Target Annotations |
| (5) | URI | The Render Target URI |
| (6) | Export Always | If enabled, the Render Target selected at the time of asset generation is always exported to the asset. |
| (7) | Render Target Template | The Render Target template |
| (8) | Display | The display that is linked to the Render Target |
The types available depend on the SceneComposer platform of a given solution, respectively of the feature set of the Candera Device specified by the platform.
The newly added render target can have the properties listed in the table below set in the Properties panel. The properties of the display render targets "Width", "Height" and "X", "Y" coordinates have to be configured with appropriate values that can be changed via Properties panel. The displays and the display render targets associated can be seen in the Render targets panel.| **Section** | **Property name** | **Description** |
| Render Target | Render Target Template | The Render Target template Select the Render Target template from the following: - **Hybrid 2D/3D Window Surface** - **Hybrid 2D/3D Off-Screen Surface** - **Software Layer** For details, please refer to [Cameras and Render Targets](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/536#bkmrk-page-title). |
| Display | The Display that is linked to the Render Target This property can only be set when Render Target Template = Hybrid 2D/3D Window Surface. | |
| Owner | Hybrid 2D/3D Off-Screen Surface: Surface owner Software Layer: Software Layer owner This property can only be set when the Render Target Template is set to Hybrid 2D/3D Window Surface or Software Layer. | |
| Type | The Render Target type | |
| Auto Swap | If enabled, the buffer will be automatically swapped (switched to new drawing) once all cameras linked to the Render Target have completed drawing. | |
| Auto Clear | If enabled, the relevant buffers (color, depth, and stencil buffers) are automatically cleared before a rendering operation to a Render Target is performed. The depth buffer is cleared with "1.0" values. | |
| Is Default | If enabled, it will be set as the default Render Target. For details, please refer to [Default Render Target](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/4#bkmrk-page-title). | |
| Orientation | Rotation angle of the rendered image (0°/90°/180°/270°) For details, please refer to [Rotate Display Preview](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/3#bkmrk--7). | |
| ClearMode | A ClearMode item used to clear the buffer associated with a 3D Render Target. For instructions on how to create a ClearMode item, see [ClearMode](https://doc316en.candera.eu/books/solution-handling/page/clear-mode). | |
| ClearMode2D | Color to clear the color buffer of a 2D Render Target |
| **Section** | **Property name** | **Description** |
| Edting Utilities | Preview Border Scope | Preview borders for the targeted Render Target Available in Global Preferences. - **None:** Border is hidden - **Global:** Border based on global coordinates - **Local:** Border based on local coordinates |
| Preview Border Color | Preview border color for the target Render Target Available in Global Preferences. | |
| Width | Render target width (horizontal pixels) If this value is "-1", it is calculated from the Display value. | |
| Height | Render target height (vertical pixels) If this value is "-1", it is calculated from the Display value. | |
| X | The position of the Render Target along the X axis (horizontal direction) in the display linked to the Render Target | |
| Y | The position of the Render Target along the Y axis (vertical direction) in the display linked to the Render Target | |
| Layer | Window Surface Layer ID When there are multiple render targets, you can set the rendering order.The higher the number, the higher the layer will be. - Bottom layer: Layer = 0 - Middle layer: Layer = 1 - Top layer: Layer = 2 The number of layers supported varies by device. Also, Window Surfaces with the same layer ID cannot be uploaded at the same time. For details, please refer to [Multiple Render Targets](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/538#bkmrk-page-title). | |
| BlendMode | Blend mode - **BlendModeStandard:** A common blend mode that represents transparency based on the alpha value of the source pixel. - **BlendModePreMultiplied:** Performs blending as if the source pixel is already multiplied by the alpha value. - **BlendModeOff:** Blending disabled For details, please refer to [Blend Modes](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/536#bkmrk-blend-modes). | |
| AntiAliasingSampleBuffers | Number of sample buffers to use for anti-aliasing | |
| AntiAliasingMultiSamplingFactor | Minimum number of samples to use for multi-sample buffers used for anti-aliasing | |
| MaxSwapInterval | Maximum swap interval Set when using EGL settings. If this value is "-1", the maximum swap interval is not limited. | |
| MinSwapInterval | Minimum swap interval Set when using EGL settings. If this value is "-1", the minimum swap interval is not limited. | |
| SwapInterval | Swap Interval Applies to the Window Surface. The initial value is "1". If the value is "0", the buffer swap is not synchronized with the video frame, and the swap is performed as soon as rendering is completed. If the value is "1" or more, the buffer swap is performed every time the vertical synchronization signal (V-sync) is received the number of times specified by the value. | |
| RedSize | The number of bits for the Red color in the color buffer. | |
| GreenSize | The number of bits for the Green color in the color buffer. | |
| BlueSize | The number of bits for the Blue color in the color buffer. | |
| AlphaSize | The number of bits for the Alpha in the color buffer. | |
| Conformant | Set this property to enabled if Render Target is OpenGL ES compliant. | |
| DepthSize | Number of bits in the depth buffer | |
| StencilSize | Number of bits in the stencil buffer | |
| BufferPreservedBit | If enabled, Render Target contents are preserved after buffer swapping, potentially improving performance by reducing GPU strain when only a portion of the screen changes. |
| **Section** | **Property Name** | **Description** |
| Edting Utilities | Preview Border Scope | Preview borders for the targeted Render Target Available in Global Preferences. - **None:** Border is hidden - **Global:** Border based on global coordinates - **Local:** Border based on local coordinates |
| Preview Border Color | Preview border color for the target Render Target Available in Global Preferences. | |
| ColorFormat | Color buffer format | |
| DepthFormat | Depth buffer format | |
| StencilFormat | Stencil buffer format | |
| ExternalColorTexture | Attaches an external color buffer to a Render Target. | |
| ExternalDepthBuffer | Attaches an external depth buffer to a Render Target. | |
| ExternalStencilBuffer | Attaches an external stencil buffer to a Render Target. | |
| Width | Render target width (horizontal pixels) If this value is "-1", it is calculated from the Display value. | |
| Height | Render target height (vertical pixels) If this value is "-1", it is calculated from the Display value. | |
| MsaaSamples | MSAA (Multisample Anti-Aliasing) Sample Count For details, please refer to [Multisample Anti-Aliasing Offscreen Render Targets](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/542#bkmrk-page-title). |
| **Section** | **Property Name** | **Description** |
| Edting Utilities | Preview Border Scope | Preview borders for the targeted Render Target Available in Global Preferences. - **None:** Border is hidden - **Global:** Border based on global coordinates - **Local:** Border based on local coordinates |
| Preview Border Color | Preview border color for the target Render Target Available in Global Preferences. | |
| ColorFormat | Color buffer format | |
| DepthFormat | Depth buffer format | |
| StencilFormat | Stencil buffer format | |
| ExternalColorTexture | Attaches an external color buffer to a Render Target. | |
| ExternalDepthBuffer | Attaches an external depth buffer to a Render Target. | |
| ExternalStencilBuffer | Attaches an external stencil buffer to a Render Target. | |
| Width | Render target width (horizontal pixels) | |
| Height | Render target height (vertical pixels) | |
| X | The position of the Render Target along the X axis (horizontal direction) in the Render Target's owner (drawing area). | |
| Y | The position of the Render Target along the Y axis (vertical direction) in the Render Target's owner (drawing area). | |
| Layer | Software Layer ID When a Software Layer is made up of multiple layers, you can set the rendering order. The higher the number, the higher the layer. | |
| BlendMode | Blend mode For details, please refer to [Blend Modes](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/536#bkmrk-blend-modes). | |
| ConstantAlpha | Alpha (transparency) applied to the entire Software Layer | |
| BufferCount | Number of buffers used by the Software Layer - SoftwareLayerSingleBuffered - SoftwareLayerDoubleBuffered | |
| Enabled | Enable (show)/disable (hide) Software Layers | |
| CompositionCamera | CompositionCamera The drawing of each layer in the Software Layer is used by the Composition Camera to generate the final display image. For details please refer to [Software Layers](https://doc316en.candera.eu/link/536#bkmrk-software-layers%C2%A0). | |
| BorderEnabled | Show/Hide Layer Borders Each Software Layer is separated by a one-pixel border. |
Please refer to the [Candera](http://dev.doc.cgistudio.at/APILINK/namespace_candera.html) API Documentation to learn about device-specific render target properties: Candera::RenderTarget
Every new created render target could be enabled or disabled by ticking the checkbox. When deactivating/activating a render target by unchecking/checking the checkbox, the render target gets also unloaded/uploaded. Therefore, one can make use of several WindowSurfaceRenderTarget objects having the same layer by activating only one of them; the others will not be uploaded.
A render target can be deleted using the context menu option "Delete" in the Render Targets panel.
--- Configure Render Target ##### Configure a Display Render Target In the "Render Targets" panel, the Display Render Targets are organized in the DisplayRenderTargets collection of a Display node. New display render targets will be listed under this category. ##### Configure a Texture Render Target Rendering to a texture is simple on one hand, but on the other hand it is powerful and enables numerous special effects. It is an extension to rendering to a surface. Usually, for a texture render target, the texture render target properties "Width" and "Height" must be configured according to the required size of the texture. To use a texture render target as a texture, SceneComposer allows selecting a texture render target in the "Choose Item" dialogs, whenever a texture shall be selected during composing a scene.
If a ClearMode is a associated to a RenderTarget, the RenderTarget is cleared using that clearmode before any of the attached cameras renders to it.
Clear Mode Property See also: [Candera::ClearMode](http://dev.doc.cgistudio.at/APILINK/class_candera_1_1_clear_mode.html)
--- # Link a Camera to a Render Target #### Link a Camera to a Render Target There are two options on how to create a link between a camera and a render target: - Camera to render target: Drag the camera in the Scene Tree panel and drop it on the desired render target in the Render Targets panel. - Render target to camera: Drag a render target in the Render Targets panel and drop it on the desired camera in the Scene Tree panel. Existing links will be overridden by a new drag and drop operation.
A camera can be associated to exactly one render target at a moment. A render target can be associated to one or more cameras, hence one or more cameras can use the same render target as output target.
--- #### Render Target Swapping Once all cameras are finished with rendering their content onto a render target, the render target must be swapped. There are two options to ensure this: - Enable the "Enable Swapping" property of exactly one camera linked to the render target. In case of more cameras, take the camera with the highest sequence numbers, so only the last camera linked to a render target will trigger the swap of the render target buffers. - If no camera has "Enable Swapping" property enabled, the application must take care to swap the buffers during the render loop correctly.
In case no swapping is done, the display will remain black. In case more than one swapping is done during a render pass, the display will flicker.
--- #### Additional Info about Rendering This section explains the render loop performed by SCHost for the Scene Editor part of SceneComposer. For each frame, the following procedure is executed: Displays are cleared (all the render targets are cleared) - due to specific requirements. All cameras are rendered in the order specified by the camera property "Sequence Number". A camera is rendered only if it is explicitly enabled in the Render Targets panel. ##### Active Camera Rendering: - 3D: Active camera attached to scene render panel is about to be rendered. > If the camera has any ReflectionCamera children, they will be placed in a list along with the active camera. > The list is sorted considering the Sequence Number property of the cameras. > All the cameras in the list are rendered. > The scene render panel render target is swapped. - 2D: Active camera attached to scene render panel is rendered.
The default render target works with Camera, Reflection Camera and Stereo Camera.
--- #### Manually Setting Setting the default render target can be done in one of the following ways: - via context command using the "Set As Default Render Target" option - by enabling the property "Is Default" from the Property panel - via \[ [Solutions Options > Default Render Target Configuration](https://doc316en.candera.eu/books/solution-handling/page/default-render-target-configuration) \] window --- #### Automatically Setting The default render target is set automatically in one of the following two situations: - when adding a new render target if there is no other - when deleting the current default render target, if another one is available --- # Manage Render Targets Manage Render Targets dialog allows you to view and edit the various settings of the render targets included in solution. #### Open the Manage Render Targets dialog The Manage Render Targets dialog can be opened in two ways: - From the \[ Platform > Manage Render Targets… \] menu on the menu bar - The context menu of any render target in the Render Targets panel
| (1) | Create Render Target | Create a new Render Target. |
| (2) | Delete Render Target | Delete a Render Target. |
| (3) | Search | If multiple Render Targets are set, you can enter a search term to narrow the number of results. |
| (4) | Render Target list | A list of Render Targets included in the solution is displayed. (If a search term is set, only Render Targets that correspond to the search results are displayed.) |
| (5) | Annotations | The Render Target Annotations |
| (6) | URI | The Render Target URI |
| (7) | Export Always | If enabled, the Render Target selected at the time of asset generation is always exported to the asset. |
| (8) | Render Target Template | The Render Target type |
| (9) | Display | The display that is linked to the Render Target |
Dependent cameras are 2D and 3D cameras which render in off-screen RenderTargets and the offscreen RenderTarget is used in a 3D scene as texture (e.g. billboard).
--- # Rendering Order #### Rendering Order The order in which the rendering occurs in SceneComposer follows the next rules: 1. All the widgets from the active scene get updated; 2. All the 2D cameras are rendered: all the cameras are sorted by following the sequence number; all the cameras are rendered on associated surfaces; 3. All the 3D cameras are rendered: all the cameras are sorted by following the sequence number; all the cameras are rendered on associated surfaces; 4. Active camera and all reflection cameras (if existing) are rendered on Scene Editor panel: a) The active camera is added on a list of cameras; b) On the same list all the "reflection camera" children type are added; c) The list is sorted by following the sequence number; d) The cameras from the list are rendered on Scene Editor panel. #### Buffer Swapping Rules (available for both 2D and 3D) Usually, the last camera (based on the sequence number) that is rendered on a surface performs a buffer swap (being the latest camera, the frame is completely updated so it can be displayed). Clearing rules: - 2D: a) Scissoring not active: cameras clear the surface on the region which is indicated by the viewport b) Scissoring active: cameras clear the surface on the region which is indicated by the scissoring rectangle - 3D: the cameras clear the surfaces inside the region created by the scissor box (when scissoring is enabled). By default, the scissor box is equivalent with the whole surface (-0, 0, 1, 1). In conformity with OpenGL specifications, the viewport does not affect the clearing region (this is a driver dependent rule). --- # Display Renderer Statistics #### Add display Render Statistics inform the user about current performance indicators during rendering. Therefore they are of major help when trying to identify performance bottlenecks. This information is presented to the user in a dedicated panel which can be made visible through the "Render Statistics" menu item from the "View" menu.
This selection is already available, see the panels RenderTargets/RenderTargetView or RenderTargets/CameraGroupView. The render statistics dialog may display values which are different than zero on some platforms, even if there is no camera configured to render. This may happen, for example, on iMX6 platform, because of the software layers rendering simulation.
To see how the Geometry Instancing feature works, the user has the opportunity to observe its functionality through Render Statistics. The next steps will be followed: (To perform these steps, you need a system that supports OpenGL ES 3.0.) - Open/create an OpenGL ES 3.0 Solution like 3D Basic Solution; - Import an .fbx object; - Create a 3D scene containing the object and a camera (do not activate occlusion culling render strategy); - Create a display, a render target and set the camera to render on the display; - Add shader with instancing support (ex: RefTransLight1Inst\_RefColorTex ) to the appearance; - Add UniformSetter to the appearance; - Set either "Lights Activation" to false or "Light Coordinate Space" to World on the UniformSetter; - Save its appearance collection as a template and enable Instance Sharing; - Drag the newly created template back on the mesh; - Clone the object a few times; - At this point each Cube must have a shared Appearance with a shader that supports instancing and a uniform setter; - Enable the Render Statistics Panel; - If Geometry Instancing IS NOT working then Draw Calls will be "N", Instanced Draw Calls will be "0" and Instances will be "0" (where "N" is the number of identical meshes); - If Geometry Instancing IS working then Draw Calls will be "1", Instanced Draw Calls will be "1", Instances will be "N" (where "N" is the number of identical meshes).
