Vulkan-Docs/chapters/geometry.txt

// Copyright (c) 2015-2019 Khronos Group. This work is licensed under a
// Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License; see
// http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

[[geometry]]
= Geometry Shading

The geometry shader operates on a group of vertices and their associated
data assembled from a single input primitive, and emits zero or more output
primitives and the group of vertices and their associated data required for
each output primitive.
Geometry shading is enabled when a geometry shader is included in the
pipeline.


[[geometry-input]]
== Geometry Shader Input Primitives

Each geometry shader invocation has access to all vertices in the primitive
(and their associated data), which are presented to the shader as an array
of inputs.

The input primitive type expected by the geometry shader is specified with
an code:OpExecutionMode instruction in the geometry shader, and must: match
the incoming primitive type specified by either the pipeline's
<<drawing-primitive-topologies, primitive topology>> if tessellation is
inactive, or the <<tessellation, tessellation mode>> if tessellation is
active, as follows:

  * An input primitive type of code:InputPoints must: only be used with a
    pipeline topology of ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_POINT_LIST, or with a
    tessellation shader that specifies code:PointMode.
    The input arrays always contain one element, as described by the
    <<drawing-point-lists, point list topology>> or
    <<tessellation-point-mode, tessellation in point mode>>.
  * An input primitive type of code:InputLines must: only be used with a
    pipeline topology of ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_LINE_LIST or
    ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_LINE_STRIP, or with a tessellation shader
    specifying code:IsoLines that does not specify code:PointMode.
    The input arrays always contain two elements, as described by the
    <<drawing-line-lists, line list topology>> or <<drawing-line-strips,
    line strip topology>>, or by <<tessellation-isoline-tessellation,
    isoline tessellation>>.
  * An input primitive type of code:InputLinesAdjacency must: only be used
    when tessellation is inactive, with a pipeline topology of
    ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_LINE_LIST_WITH_ADJACENCY or
    ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_LINE_STRIP_WITH_ADJACENCY.
    The input arrays always contain four elements, as described by the
    <<drawing-line-lists-with-adjacency, line list with adjacency topology>>
    or <<drawing-line-strips-with-adjacency, line strip with adjacency
    topology>>.
  * An input primitive type of code:Triangles must: only be used with a
    pipeline topology of ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLE_LIST,
    ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLE_STRIP, or
    ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLE_FAN; or with a tessellation shader
    specifying code:Quads or code:Triangles that does not specify
    code:PointMode.
    The input arrays always contain three elements, as described by the
    <<drawing-triangle-lists, triangle list topology>>,
    <<drawing-triangle-strips, triangle strip topology>>, or
    <<drawing-triangle-fans, triangle fan topology>>, or by
    <<tessellation-triangle-tessellation, triangle>> or
    <<tessellation-quad-tessellation, quad tessellation>>.
    Vertices may: be in a different absolute order to that specified by the
    topology, but must: adhere to the specified winding order.
  * An input primitive type of code:InputTrianglesAdjacency must: only be
    used when tessellation is inactive, with a pipeline topology of
    ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLE_LIST_WITH_ADJACENCY or
    ename:VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLE_STRIP_WITH_ADJACENCY.
    The input arrays always contain six elements, as described by the
    <<drawing-triangle-lists-with-adjacency, triangle list with adjacency
    topology>> or <<drawing-triangle-strips-with-adjacency, triangle strip
    with adjacency topology>>.
    Vertices may: be in a different absolute order to that specified by the
    topology, but must: adhere to the specified winding order, and the
    vertices making up the main primitive must: still occur at the first,
    third, and fifth index.

[[geometry-output]]
== Geometry Shader Output Primitives

A geometry shader generates primitives in one of three output modes: points,
line strips, or triangle strips.
The primitive mode is specified in the shader using an code:OpExecutionMode
instruction with the code:OutputPoints, code:OutputLineStrip or
code:OutputTriangleStrip modes, respectively.
Each geometry shader must: include exactly one output primitive mode.

The vertices output by the geometry shader are assembled into points, lines,
or triangles based on the output primitive type and the resulting primitives
are then further processed as described in <<primsrast>>.
If the number of vertices emitted by the geometry shader is not sufficient
to produce a single primitive, vertices corresponding to incomplete
primitives are not processed by subsequent pipeline stages.
The number of vertices output by the geometry shader is limited to a maximum
count specified in the shader.

The maximum output vertex count is specified in the shader using an
code:OpExecutionMode instruction with the mode set to code:OutputVertices
and the maximum number of vertices that will be produced by the geometry
shader specified as a literal.
Each geometry shader must: specify a maximum output vertex count.


[[geometry-invocations]]
== Multiple Invocations of Geometry Shaders

Geometry shaders can: be invoked more than one time for each input
primitive.
This is known as _geometry shader instancing_ and is requested by including
an code:OpExecutionMode instruction with code:mode specified as
code:Invocations and the number of invocations specified as an integer
literal.

In this mode, the geometry shader will execute at least [eq]#n# times for
each input primitive, where [eq]#n# is the number of invocations specified
in the code:OpExecutionMode instruction.
The instance number is available to each invocation as a built-in input
using code:InvocationId.


[[geometry-ordering]]
== Geometry Shader Primitive Ordering

Limited guarantees are provided for the relative ordering of primitives
produced by a geometry shader, as they pertain to <<drawing-primitive-order,
primitive order>>.

  * For instanced geometry shaders, the output primitives generated from
    each input primitive are passed to subsequent pipeline stages using the
    invocation number to order the primitives, from least to greatest.
  * All output primitives generated from a given input primitive are passed
    to subsequent pipeline stages before any output primitives generated
    from subsequent input primitives.


ifdef::VK_NV_geometry_shader_passthrough[]
[[geometry-passthrough]]
== Geometry Shader Passthrough

A geometry shader that uses the code:PassthroughNV decoration on a variable
in its input interface is considered a _passthrough geometry shader_.
Output primitives in a passthrough geometry shader must: have the same
topology as the input primitive and are not produced by emitting vertices.
The vertices of the output primitive have two different types of attributes,
per-vertex and per-primitive.
Geometry shader input variables with code:PassthroughNV decoration are
considered to produce per-vertex outputs, where values for each output
vertex are copied from the corresponding input vertex.
Any built-in or user-defined geometry shader outputs are considered
per-primitive in a passthrough geometry shader, where a single output value
is copied to all output vertices.

The remainder of this section details the usage of the code:PassthroughNV
decoration and modifications to the interface matching rules when using
passthrough geometry shaders.


[[geometry-passthrough-passthrough]]
=== code:PassthroughNV Decoration

Decorating a geometry shader input variable with the code:PassthroughNV
decoration indicates that values of this input are copied through to the
corresponding vertex of the output primitive.
Input variables and block members which do not have the code:PassthroughNV
decoration are consumed by the geometry shader without being passed through
to subsequent stages.

The code:PassthroughNV decoration must: only be used within a geometry
shader.

Any variable decorated with code:PassthroughNV must: be declared using the
code:Input storage class.

The code:PassthroughNV decoration must: not be used with any of:

  * an input primitive type other than code:InputPoints, code:InputLines, or
    code:Triangles, as specified by the mode for code:OpExecutionMode.
  * an invocation count other than one, as specified by the code:Invocations
    mode for code:OpExecutionMode.
  * an code:OpEntryPoint which statically uses the code:OpEmitVertex or
    code:OpEndPrimitive instructions.
  * a variable decorated with the code:InvocationId built-in decoration.
  * a variable decorated with the code:PrimitiveId built-in decoration that
    is declared using the code:Input storage class.


[[geometry-passthrough-interface]]
=== Passthrough Interface Matching

When a passthrough geometry shader is in use, the
<<interfaces-iointerfaces-matching,Interface Matching>> rules involving the
geometry shader input and output interfaces operate as described in this
section.

For the purposes of matching passthrough geometry shader inputs with outputs
of the previous pipeline stages, the code:PassthroughNV decoration is
ignored.

For the purposes of matching the outputs of the geometry shader with
subsequent pipeline stages, each input variable with the code:PassthroughNV
decoration is considered to add an equivalent output variable with the same
type, decoration (other than code:PassthroughNV), number, and declaration
order on the output interface.
The output variable declaration corresponding to an input variable decorated
with code:PassthroughNV will be identical to the input declaration, except
that the outermost array dimension of such variables is removed.
The output block declaration corresponding to an input block decorated with
code:PassthroughNV or having members decorated with code:PassthroughNV will
be identical to the input declaration, except that the outermost array
dimension of such declaration is removed.

If an input block is decorated with code:PassthroughNV, the equivalent
output block contains all the members of the input block.
Otherwise, the equivalent output block contains only those input block
members decorated with code:PassthroughNV.
All members of the corresponding output block are assigned code:Location and
code:Component decorations identical to those assigned to the corresponding
input block members.

Output variables and blocks generated from inputs decorated with
code:PassthroughNV will only exist for the purposes of interface matching;
these declarations are not available to geometry shader code or listed in
the module interface.

For the purposes of component counting, passthrough geometry shaders count
all statically used input variable components declared with the
code:PassthroughNV decoration as output components as well, since their
values will be copied to the output primitive produced by the geometry
shader.

endif::VK_NV_geometry_shader_passthrough[]