magnum/doc/scenegraph.dox

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              Vladimír Vondruš <mosra@centrum.cz>

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namespace Magnum {
/** @page scenegraph Using scene graph
@brief Overview of scene management capabilities.

Scene graph provides way to hiearchically manage your objects, their
transformation, physics interaction, animation and rendering. The library is
contained in @ref SceneGraph namespace, see its documentation for more
information about building and usage with CMake.

@tableofcontents
@m_footernavigation

There are naturally many possible feature combinations (2D vs. 3D, different
transformation representations, animated vs. static, object can have collision
shape, participate in physics events, have forward vs. deferred rendering...)
and to make everything possible without combinatiorial explosion and allow the
users to provide their own features, scene graph in Magnum is composed of
three main components:

-   objects, providing parent/children hierarchy
-   transformations, implementing particular transformation type
-   features, providing rendering capabilities, collision detection, physics
    etc.

@note Fully contained applications with initial scene graph setup are available
    in `scenegraph2D` and `scenegraph3D` branches of
    [Magnum Bootstrap](https://github.com/mosra/magnum-bootstrap) repository.

@section scenegraph-transformation Transformations

Transformation handles object position, rotation etc. and its basic property
is dimension count (2D or 3D) and underlying floating-point type. All classes
in @ref SceneGraph are templated on underlying type. However, in most cases
@ref Float "Float" is used and thus nearly all classes have convenience aliases
so you don't have to explicitly specify it.

Scene graph has various transformation implementations for both 2D and 3D. Each
implementation has its own advantages and disadvantages --- for example when
using matrices you can have nearly arbitrary transformations, but composing
transformations, computing their inverse and accounting for floating-point
drift is rather costly operation. On the other hand quaternions won't allow you
to scale or shear objects, but have far better performance characteristics.

It's also possible to implement your own transformation class for specific
needs, see source of builtin transformation classes for more information.

Magnum provides the following transformation classes. See documentation of each
class for more detailed information:

-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicMatrixTransformation2D "SceneGraph::MatrixTransformation2D" ---
    arbitrary 2D transformations but with slow inverse transformations and no
    floating-point drift reduction
-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicMatrixTransformation3D "SceneGraph::MatrixTransformation3D" ---
    arbitrary 3D transformations but with slow inverse transformations and no
    floating-point drift reduction
-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicRigidMatrixTransformation2D "SceneGraph::RigidMatrixTransformation2D" ---
    2D translation, rotation and reflection (no scaling), with relatively fast
    inverse transformations and floating-point drift reduction
-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicRigidMatrixTransformation3D "SceneGraph::RigidMatrixTransformation3D" ---
    3D translation, rotation and reflection (no scaling), with relatively fast
    inverse transformations and floating-point drift reduction
-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicDualComplexTransformation "SceneGraph::DualComplexTransformation" ---
    2D translation and rotation with fast inverse transformations and
    floating-point drift reduction
-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicDualQuaternionTransformation "SceneGraph::DualQuaternionTransformation" ---
    3D translation and rotation with fast inverse transformation and
    floating-point drift reduction
-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicTranslationRotationScalingTransformation2D "SceneGraph::TranslationRotationScalingTransformation2D" ---
    2D transformations with separate translation, rotation and scaling. Usable
    for scenes with animation tracks that control these properties separately.
-   @ref SceneGraph::BasicTranslationRotationScalingTransformation3D "SceneGraph::TranslationRotationScalingTransformation3D" ---
    2D transformations with separate translation, rotation and scaling. Usable
    for scenes with animation tracks that control these properties separately.
-   @ref SceneGraph::TranslationTransformation "SceneGraph::TranslationTransformation*D" ---
    Just 2D/3D translation (no rotation, scaling or anything else)

Common usage of transformation classes is to typedef Scene and Object with
desired transformation type to save unnecessary typing later:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp typedef

@attention Note that you have to include both @ref Magnum/SceneGraph/Object.h
    and desired transformation class (e.g. @ref Magnum/SceneGraph/MatrixTransformation3D.h)
    to be able to use the resulting type.

The object type is subclassed from the transformation type and so the
`Object3D` type will then contain all members from both @ref SceneGraph::Object
and @ref SceneGraph::MatrixTransformation3D. For convenience you can use method
chaining:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp method-chaining

@section scenegraph-hierarchy Scene hierarchy

Scene hierarchy is skeleton part of scene graph. In the root there is
@ref SceneGraph::Scene and its children are @ref SceneGraph::Object instances.
Whole hierarchy has one transformation type, identical for all objects (because
for example having part of the tree in 2D and part in 3D just wouldn't make
sense).

Then you can start building the hierarchy by *parenting* one object to another.
Parent object can be either passed in constructor or set using
@ref SceneGraph::Object::setParent(). Scene is always root object, so it
naturally cannot have parent object. Parent and children relationships can be
observed through @ref SceneGraph::Object::parent() and
@ref SceneGraph::Object::children().

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp hierarchy

The hierarchy takes care of memory management --- when an object is destroyed,
all its children are destroyed too. See detailed explanation of
@ref scenegraph-object-construction-order "construction and destruction order"
below for information about possible issues. To reflect the implicit memory
management in the code better, you can use @ref SceneGraph::Object::addChild()
instead of the naked @cpp new @ce call in the code above:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp hierarchy-addChild

@section scenegraph-features Object features

The object itself handles only parent/child relationship and transformation.
To make the object renderable, animable, add collision shape to it etc., you
have to add a *feature* to it.

Magnum provides the following builtin features. See documentation of each class
for more detailed information and usage examples:

-   @ref SceneGraph::Camera "SceneGraph::Camera*D" --- Handles projection
    matrix, aspect ratio correction etc.. Used for rendering parts of the
    scene.
-   @ref SceneGraph::Drawable "SceneGraph::Drawable*D" --- Adds drawing
    functionality to given object. Group of drawables can be then rendered
    using the camera feature.
-   @ref SceneGraph::Animable "SceneGraph::Animable*D" --- Adds animation
    functionality to given object. Group of animables can be then controlled
    using @ref SceneGraph::AnimableGroup "SceneGraph::AnimableGroup*D".
-   @ref Shapes::Shape --- Adds collision shape to given object. Group of shapes
    can be then controlled using @ref Shapes::ShapeGroup "Shapes::ShapeGroup*D".
    See @ref shapes for more information.
-   @ref DebugTools::ObjectRenderer "DebugTools::ObjectRenderer*D",
    @ref DebugTools::ShapeRenderer "DebugTools::ShapeRenderer*D",
    @ref DebugTools::ForceRenderer "DebugTools::ForceRenderer*D" --- Visualize
    object properties, object shape or force vector for debugging purposes. See
    @ref debug-tools for more information.

Each feature takes reference to *holder object* in constructor, so adding a
feature to an object might look just like the following, as in some cases you
don't even need to keep the pointer to it. List of object features is
accessible through @ref SceneGraph::Object::features().

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp feature

Some features are passive, some active. Passive features can be just added to
an object, with no additional work except for possible configuration (for
example collision shape). Active features require the user to implement some
virtual function (for example to draw the object on screen or perform animation
step). To make things convenient, features can be added directly to object
itself using multiple inheritance, so you can conveniently add all the active
features you want and implement needed functions in your own @ref SceneGraph::Object
subclass without having to subclass each feature individually (and making the
code overly verbose). Simplified example:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp feature-inherit

From the outside there is no difference between features added "at runtime" and
features added using multiple inheritance, they can be both accessed from
feature list.

Similarly to object hierarchy, when destroying object, all its features (both
member and inherited) are destroyed. See detailed explanation of
@ref scenegraph-feature-construction-order "construction and destruction order"
for information about possible issues. Also, there is a
@ref SceneGraph::AbstractObject::addFeature() counterpart to
@ref SceneGraph::Object::addChild():

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp feature-addFeature

@subsection scenegraph-features-caching Transformation caching in features

Some features need to operate with absolute transformations and their
inversions --- for example camera needs its inverse transformation to render the
scene, collision detection needs to know about positions of surrounding
objects etc. To avoid computing the transformations from scratch every time,
the feature can cache them.

The cached data stay until the object is marked as dirty --- that is by changing
transformation, changing parent or explicitly calling @ref SceneGraph::Object::setDirty().
If the object is marked as dirty, all its children are marked as dirty too and
@ref SceneGraph::AbstractFeature::markDirty() is called on every feature.
Calling @ref SceneGraph::Object::setClean() cleans the dirty object and all its
dirty parents. The function goes through all object features and calls
@ref SceneGraph::AbstractFeature::clean() or
@ref SceneGraph::AbstractFeature::cleanInverted() depending on which caching is
enabled on given feature. If the object is already clean,
@ref SceneGraph::Object::setClean() does nothing.

Most probably you will need caching in @ref SceneGraph::Object itself --- which
doesn't support it on its own --- however you can take advantage of multiple
inheritance and implement it using @ref SceneGraph::AbstractFeature. In order
to have caching, you must enable it first, because by default the caching is
disabled. You can enable it using @ref SceneGraph::AbstractFeature::setCachedTransformations()
and then implement corresponding cleaning function(s):

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp caching

When you need to use the cached value, you can explicitly request the cleanup
by calling @ref SceneGraph::Object::setClean(). @ref SceneGraph::Camera3D "Camera",
for example, calls it automatically before it starts rendering, as it needs its
own inverse transformation to properly draw the objects.

@subsection scenegraph-features-transformation Polymorphic access to object transformation

Features by default have access only to @ref SceneGraph::AbstractObject, which
doesn't know about any particular transformation implementation. This has the
advantage that features don't have to be implemented for all possible
transformation implementations. But, as a consequence, it is impossible to
transform the object using only pointer to @ref SceneGraph::AbstractObject.

To solve this, the transformation classes are subclassed from interfaces
sharing common functionality, so the feature can use that interface instead of
being specialized for all relevant transformation implementations. The
following interfaces are available, each having its own set of virtual
functions to control the transformation:

-   @ref SceneGraph::AbstractTransformation "SceneGraph::AbstractTransformation*D" ---
    base for all transformations
-   @ref SceneGraph::AbstractTranslation "SceneGraph::AbstractTranslation*D" ---
    base for all transformations providing translation
-   @ref SceneGraph::AbstractBasicTranslationRotation2D "SceneGraph::AbstractTranslationRotation2D",
    @ref SceneGraph::AbstractBasicTranslationRotation3D "SceneGraph::AbstractTranslationRotation3D" ---
    base for all transformations providing translation and rotation
-   @ref SceneGraph::AbstractBasicTranslationRotationScaling2D "SceneGraph::AbstractBasicTranslationRotationScaling2D",
    @ref SceneGraph::AbstractBasicTranslationRotationScaling3D "SceneGraph::AbstractBasicTranslationRotationScaling3D" ---
    base for all transformations providing translation, rotation and scaling

These interfaces provide virtual functions which can be used to modify object
transformations. The virtual calls are used only when calling through the
interface and not when using the concrete implementation directly to avoid
negative performance effects. There are no functions to retrieve object
transformation, you need to use the above transformation caching mechanism for
that.

In the following example we are able to get pointer to both
@ref SceneGraph::AbstractObject and needed transformation from one
constructor parameter using small trick:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp transformation

If we take for example @ref SceneGraph::Object "SceneGraph::Object<MatrixTransformation3D>",
it is derived from @ref SceneGraph::AbstractObject "SceneGraph::AbstractObject3D"
and @ref SceneGraph::BasicMatrixTransformation3D "SceneGraph::MatrixTransformation3D",
thus the reference to @ref SceneGraph::AbstractBasicTranslationRotation3D "SceneGraph::AbstractTranslationRotation3D",
is automatically extracted from the reference in our constructor.

@section scenegraph-construction-order Construction and destruction order

There aren't any limitations and usage trade-offs of what you can and can't do
when working with objects and features, but there are two issues which you
should be aware of:

@subsection scenegraph-object-construction-order Object hierarchy

When objects are created on the heap (the preferred way, using @cpp new @ce),
they can be constructed in any order and they will be destroyed when their
parent is destroyed. When creating them on the stack, however, they will be
destroyed when they go out of scope. Normally, the natural order of creation is
not a problem:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp construction-order

The object is created last, so it will be destroyed first, removing itself
from `scene`'s children list, causing no problems when destroying `scene`
object later. However, if their order is swapped, it will cause problems:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp construction-order-crash

The scene will be destroyed first, deleting all its children, which is wrong,
because `object` is created on stack. If this doesn't already crash, the
`object` destructor is called (again), making things even worse.

@subsection scenegraph-feature-construction-order Member and inherited features

When destroying the object, all its features are destroyed. For features added
as member it's no issue, features added using multiple inheritance must be
inherited after the Object class:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp feature-construction-order

When constructing `MyObject`, `Object3D` constructor is called first and then
`MyFeature` constructor adds itself to `Object3D`'s list of features. When
destroying `MyObject`, its destructor is called and then the destructors of
ancestor classes --- first `MyFeature` destructor, which will remove itself
from `Object3D`'s list, then `Object3D` destructor.

However, if we would inherit `MyFeature` first, it will cause problems:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp feature-construction-order-crash

`MyFeature` tries to add itself to feature list in not-yet-constructed
`Object3D`, causing undefined behavior. Then, if this doesn't already crash,
`Object3D` is created, creating empty feature list, making the feature
invisible.

If we would construct them in swapped order (if it is even possible), it
wouldn't help either:

@snippet MagnumSceneGraph.cpp feature-construction-order-crash-destruction

On destruction, `Object3D` destructor is called first, deleting `MyFeature`,
which is wrong, because `MyFeature` is in the same object. After that (if the
program didn't already crash) destructor of `MyFeature` is called (again).
*/
}