Magnum is a 2D/3D graphics engine written in C++11/C++14 and modern OpenGL. Its
goal is to simplify low-level graphics development and interaction with OpenGL
using recent C++11/C++14 features and to abstract away platform-specific
issues.
[](https://gitter.im/mosra/magnum?utm_source=badge& utm_medium=badge& utm_campaign=pr-badge& utm_content=badge)
DESIGN GOALS
============
* **2D is not an ugly stepchild.** Many engines out there were created as
pure 2D or 3D and the alternative is usually just an afterthought, if
present at all. If you want to do your next project in 2D only, you have to
either relearn another engine from scratch or emulate it in 3D, leaving
many things overly complicated. Magnum treats 2D equivalently to 3D so you
can reuse what you already learned for 3D and even combine 2D and 3D in one
project.
* **Forward compatibility.** If newer technology makes things faster, simpler
or more intuitive, it is the way to go. Magnum by default relies on decent
C++11 support and modern OpenGL features and if some feature isn't
available, it tries to emulate it using older functionality. However, you
are not restricted to use the older functionality directly, if you really
want to.
* **Intuitive, but not restrictive API.** Scripting languages are often
preferred to C/C++ because they are designed to have less complicated APIs
and less boilerplate code. Magnum is designed with intuitivity in mind, but
also with speed and static checks that strongly-typed native code offers.
It wraps OpenGL into less verbose and more type-safe API, which is easier
to use. Usually the most common way is the most simple, but if you need
full control, you can have it.
* **Extensible and replaceable components.** If you want to use different
mathematical library for specific purposes, that new windowing toolkit,
your own file formats or another physics library, you can. Conversion of
math structures between different libraries can be done on top of pre-made
skeleton classes, support for file formats is done using plugins and
platform support is done by writing simple wrapper class.
SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
===================
Graphics APIs:
* **OpenGL** 2.1 through 4.5, core profile functionality and modern
extensions
* **OpenGL ES** 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 and extensions to match desktop OpenGL
functionality
* **WebGL** 1.0, 2.0 and extensions to match desktop OpenGL functionality
Platforms:
* **Linux** and embedded Linux (natively using GLX/EGL and Xlib or through
SDL2, GLFW or GLUT toolkit) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum) [](https://coveralls.io/github/mosra/magnum?branch=master)
* **Windows** with both MSVC and MinGW, natively or using ANGLE (through SDL2, GLFW or GLUT toolkit) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum/branch/master)
* **macOS** (through SDL2 or GLFW toolkit) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum)
* **iOS** (through SDL2 toolkit) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum)
* **Android** [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum)
* **Windows RT** (Store/Phone) using ANGLE (through SDL2 toolkit) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum/branch/master)
* **Web** (asm.js or WebAssembly), through [Emscripten ](http://kripken.github.io/emscripten-site/ ) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum)
FEATURES
========
* Actively maintained Doxygen documentation with tutorials and examples.
Snapshot is available at http://doc.magnum.graphics/magnum/.
* Vector and matrix library with implementation of complex numbers,
quaternions and their dual counterparts for representing transformations.
* Classes wrapping OpenGL using RAII principle and simplifying its usage with
direct state access and automatic fallback for unavailable features.
* Extensible scene graph which can be modified for each specific usage.
* Plugin-based data exchange framework, tools for manipulating meshes,
textures and images.
* Pre-made shaders, primitives and other tools for easy prototyping and
debugging.
INSTALLATION
============
You can either use packaging scripts, which are stored in the `package/`
subdirectory, or compile and install everything manually using the guide below.
Note that the [Magnum documentation ](http://doc.magnum.graphics/magnum/ )
contains more comprehensive guide for building, packaging and crosscompiling.
Minimal dependencies
--------------------
* C++ compiler with good C++11 support. Compilers which are tested to have
everything needed are **GCC** >= 4.7, **Clang** >= 3.1 and **MSVC** >= 2015.
On Windows you can also use **MinGW-w64** .
* **CMake** >= 2.8.12
* **Corrade** - Plugin management and utility library. You can get it at
https://github.com/mosra/corrade.
Note that the full feature set is available only on GCC 4.8.1 and Clang 3.1.
Compilation, installation
-------------------------
The library (for example with support for SDL2 applications) can be built and
installed using these four commands:
mkdir -p build & & cd build
cmake .. \
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
-DWITH_SDL2APPLICATION=ON
make
make install
See the [Doxygen documentation ](http://doc.magnum.graphics/magnum/building.html )
for more information about enabling or disabling additional features and
targeting different platforms such as OpenGL ES.
Building and running unit tests
-------------------------------
If you want to build also unit tests (which are not built by default), pass
`-DBUILD_TESTS=ON` to CMake. Unit tests use Corrade's TestSuite framework and
can be run using
ctest --output-on-failure
in build directory. Everything should pass ;-)
Building documentation
----------------------
The documentation is written in **Doxygen** and additionally uses **TeX** for
math formulas. The documentation can be build by running:
doxygen
in root directory (i.e. where `Doxyfile` is). Resulting HTML documentation
will be in `build/doc/` directory. You might need to create `build/` directory
if it doesn't exist yet.
GETTING STARTED
===============
The Doxygen documentation has a thorough [guide how to start using Magnum ](http://doc.magnum.graphics/magnum/getting-started.html )
in your project.
RELATED PROJECTS
================
The engine itself is kept as small as possible with only little dependencies.
Additional functionality, often depending on external libraries, is provided in
separate repositories.
* **Corrade** -- main Magnum dependency, a multiplatform utility library:
https://github.com/mosra/corrade
[](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/corrade) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/corrade/branch/master)
* **Magnum Bootstrap** -- bootstrap projects for many use cases, helping you
get up and running in no time: https://github.com/mosra/magnum-bootstrap
* **Magnum Plugins** -- various importer plugins for image, font, audio and
3D model formats is at https://github.com/mosra/magnum-plugins
[](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum-plugins) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum-plugins/branch/master)
* **Magnum Integration** -- integration with various external math and
physics, get it at https://github.com/mosra/magnum-integration
[](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum-integration) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum-integration/branch/master)
* **Magnum Examples** -- examples of engine usage, varying from simple
*Hello World* -like example to more advanced applications, such as viewer
for complex 3D models. See it at https://github.com/mosra/magnum-examples
[](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum-examples) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum-examples/branch/master)
* **Magnum Extras** -- playground for testing new APIs, specialized stuff
that doesn't necessarily need to be a part of main Magnum repository or
mutually exclusive functionality: https://github.com/mosra/magnum-extras
[](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum-extras) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum-extras/branch/master)
* **libRocket integration** -- integrates Magnum as rendering backend into
[libRocket ](https://github.com/libRocket/libRocket ) GUI library:
https://github.com/miguelmartin75/Magnum-libRocket
* **Dear IMGUI integration** -- integrated Magnum as rendering backend into
[Dear IMGUI ](https://github.com/ocornut/imgui ) library:
https://github.com/denesik/MagnumImguiPort
* **Magnum Inspector** -- Gtk-based inspector window running alongside Magnum
https://github.com/wivlaro/magnum-inspector
CONTACT
=======
Want to learn more about the library? Found a bug or want to share an awesome
idea? Feel free to visit the project website or contact the team at:
* Website -- http://magnum.graphics/
* GitHub -- https://github.com/mosra/magnum
* Gitter -- https://gitter.im/mosra/magnum
* IRC -- join `#magnum-engine` channel on freenode
* Google Groups -- https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/magnum-engine
* Twitter -- https://twitter.com/czmosra
* E-mail -- mosra@centrum.cz
* Jabber -- mosra@jabbim.cz
CREDITS
=======
See [CREDITS.md ](CREDITS.md ) file for details. Big thanks to everyone involved!
LICENSE
=======
Magnum is licensed under the MIT/Expat license, see [COPYING ](COPYING ) file for
details.
