General

Apply Pixel shader effect to 2D sprite

firoz khan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:11:20 GMT

I have following shader file(.fx) and i am using this using DirectX/C#

float brightness;
float contrast;
sampler TextureSampler :register(s0);

float4 TextureColor(in float2 texCoord : TEXCOORD0) : COLOR
{
float4 texCol1 = tex2D(TextureSampler, texCoord);
float4 outColor = texCol1 + brightness;
outColor*=contrast;
return outColor;
}

technique TransformTexture
{
pass P0
{
CullMode = None;
PixelShader = compile ps_2_0 TextureColor();
}
}

it work fine when i was drawing my texture using vertex buffer like.
_effect.Technique = "TransformTexture";
//_effect.SetValue("Texture1", _text);
bHandle = _effect.GetParameter(null, "brightness");
cHandle = _effect.GetParameter(null, "contrast");

vertexBuffer = new VertexBuffer(typeof(CustomVertex.PositionColoredTextured),
4,_device,Usage.WriteOnly,
CustomVertex.PositionColoredTextured.Format,Pool.Managed);

_effect.SetValue(bHandle,.5f);
_effect.SetValue(cHandle, .5f);
_effect.CommitChanges();
_device.Clear(ClearFlags.Target | ClearFlags.ZBuffer, Color.Black, 1, 0);
_device.BeginScene();
_effect.Begin(0);
_effect.BeginPass(0);
if (texture != null)
{
_device.SetTexture(0, texture);
}
_device.SetStreamSource(0, vertexBuffer, 0);
_device.VertexFormat = CustomVertex.PositionColoredTextured.Format;
_device.DrawPrimitives(PrimitiveType.TriangleStrip, 0, 2);
if (texture != null)
{
_device.SetTexture(0, null);
}
_effect.EndPass();
_effect.End();
_device.EndScene();
_device.Present(pnl1);

but it not showing any effect on my texture when i am drawing using sprite like

sprite=new sprite(device);
_device.BeginScene();
_effect.Begin(0);
_effect.BeginPass(0);
_sprite.Draw(_text, Vector3.Empty, Vector3.Empty, Color.White.ToArgb());
_sprite.End();
_effect.EndPass();
_effect.End();
_device.EndScene();
_device.Present(pnl1);

What i was doing wrong, please help me or any example or link of applying effect on sprite would be great.

Many Thank in advance

Convert DirectX Texture to either Bitmap or XNA Texture/Texture2D

LetsGoOutside — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:50:53 GMT

Any idea how to get a DirectX texture over to a XNA texture? Because of the lack of playhead/position control in XNA's VideoPlayer class, I'm trying to leverage the DirectX video player. I'm using RenderToTexture to capture frames. I can get to the Texture in the TextureRenderEventArgs object just fine, but I need to get a XNA-compatible texture out of it. I'm guessing I need to convert to bitmap first? Any ideas?

DirectWrite and Reading/Writing a file

BTech — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:13:44 GMT

So DirectWrite seems like it is going to be very powerful, but is there going to be an easy means of reading in and writing out the information to and from file w/out having to write a custom parser? At this point it seems like you have to start w/ a base TextFormat and then apply your formating through numerous Sets across different ranges. Is there any means of creating a TextFormat from a formatted string, perhaps Rich Text? Or is that not how this model works? If it is not, does anyone have any advice on how to save the information built up in the TextFormat using various set formats, and then being able to read in that data at a later time?

This information might also be useful when trying to relay information across different layers.

Example: I want to have some kind of text box where a user can interact w/ the text much like a normal text editor would, probably using WPF, but I want to be able to pull that information and render it to a not interactive target using DirectWrite. It seems like it would be easier for the layers to relay information using a shared means like a formated string, instead of keeping track of all the little details like font, color, bold, etc per text range, and applying them in sequence every time a change is made.

Please!, I need some help about Manager.getDevices() of DirectInput (Generic input).

Ming — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:45:51 GMT

I know that Manager.getDevices() is very convenient, it can report you almost any input device that was plugged into your commputer. However, it is a very bad performance method. When you call it, your game application might freeze almost half a second second. It is fine if you call it only once at the beginning of the game. But this is not good, it means that during the game you will not be able to detect unplugged or new plugged devices. After I investigate DirectInput a bit more, I found out that after you create Device class you can call 'Device.Caps.Attatched' to see that the device is being unplugged or not. Unfortunately when some devices were disconnected, DirectInput somehow internally query all devices again; this results in unpredictable sequence changing of devices' order. Without calling Manager.getDevices() in update, I cannot see the way to know the actual attaching status of devices. If you got any better way to solve this problem please tell me.

Drawing without GraphicsDevice

cable729 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:42:44 GMT

I can't use the GraphicsDevice on my school computer (my post).

So I finally figured out I could use the XNA game loop, and use another form of drawing. I can create a System.Drawing.Graphics object and use GDI+.

Or I could use DirectDraw. Or I heard it was replaced by Direct2d, but I don't think that's for c#.

Which should I use, and how would I go about using it (i.e. drawing sprites, maybe rotating them, or links to tutorials).

Thanks in advance!

Linker error while building DirectX sample program

Jeevge — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:21:16 GMT

I am using VS2005 on Vista and I ve added the patches. While I build the sample joystick code, i get the following linker error.
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _c_dfDIJoystick2
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _IID_IDirectInputJoyConfig8
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _DirectInput8Create@20 referenced in function "long __cdecl InitDirectInput(struct HWND__ *)" (?InitDirectInput@@YAJPAUHWND__@@@Z)
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _IID_IDirectInput8W
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_POV
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_Slider
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_RzAxis
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_RyAxis
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_RxAxis
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_ZAxis
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_YAxis
1>Joystick.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _GUID_XAxis
1>E:\Learning\Joystick\Debug_Unicode\Joystick.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 12 unresolved externals
1>Build log was saved at "file://e:\Learning\Joystick\Debug_Unicode\BuildLog.htm"
Can anyone please help me in resolving this?

Hooking XNA

Stainless — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:16:02 GMT

I have written an app that hooks d3d9.dll and intercepts the call to Direct3DCreate9.

I use it for warping the display to fit a projectors screen.

It works fine for apps written for directx, but not for XNA apps.

Xna is built on d3d9 isn't it?

If so, I am lost as to why it is not being warped.

[edit]

I have done some more research, and it looks like if you use LoadLibrary then my hook will not work.

How does pixwin intercept everything?

Best Method Of Drawing Lots Of Units

Frozenwounds — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:44:58 GMT

I have to draw lots of characters at once, each with their own model in my own vertex format. The positions change almost every step and each model is 1052 triangles, or 3156 points. I simply want to know what the best way of drawing them is. Here are the methods I've considered:

VertexBuffer + DrawPrimitives
This is the method I'm currently using, it's not fast enough and writing to the VertexBuffer every step has got to be inefficient, seeing as DynamicVertexBuffers are meant for this.

DrawUserPrimitives
I believe this is even slower, and it has too much of a triangle limit.

DrawIndexedPrimitives
Is this the next step up? I know that it cuts down on memory waste as you needn't define a vertex more than once, just its index. I don't know however if this actually makes a difference to speed.

Models
I know nothing about if and how I can use the model class to speed up drawing.

Dynamic Buffers
This sounds like it should be much faster, but from what I gather the Xbox doesn't like it very much. When I try to overwrite the buffer it tells me that "The array is not the correct size for the amount of data requested." Excellent.

And that's about as far as my knowledge goes. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Frozenwounds.

creating DirectDraw off-screen surface

Sashonk — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:38:34 GMT

Hi,

I'm working under creation a simple game. Coding in c++ MSVS2008. I use IDirectDraw interface to render graphics. The concept is simple: initialize IDirectDraw interface, set cooperation level (full screen), set resolution (1024x768), create primary and secondary surfaces (with flip capability) and create sprite surface, which contain frames. Everything works fine, but the sprite surface. When i create sprite surface and try Lock() it, the method returns DDERR_INVALIDPARAMS; when i try calling BltFast() for sprite surface, it returns DDERR_SURFACEBUSY error, like it is blocked by another thread (but all operations are carried in single thread). Probably, i passed wrong parameters when created sprite surface. Here is the code of creation primary, secondary, sprite surface and blit operation:

    
            BOOL CDirectDraw::CreatePrimarySurf()  
        
            {  
        
              strsurf.dwFlags = DDSD_CAPS | DDSD_BACKBUFFERCOUNT;   
        
              strsurf.ddsCaps.dwCaps = DDSCAPS_PRIMARYSURFACE | DDSCAPS_FLIP | DDSCAPS_COMPLEX;   
        
              strsurf.dwBackBufferCount = 1;  
        
              rezult = lpDD->CreateSurface(&strsurf,&PrimarySurf,NULL);  
        
              if (rezult != DD_OK)  
        
              {  
        
                return rezult;  
        
              }  
        
              return TRUE;  
        
            }  
        
            //CREATE SECODARY SURFACE
        
            BOOL CDirectDraw::GetSecondarySurf()  
        
            {  
        
              strsurfsec.dwCaps = DDSCAPS_BACKBUFFER;  
        
              if (PrimarySurf->GetAttachedSurface(&strsurfsec,&SecondarySurf)!= DD_OK) return FALSE;  
        
              return TRUE;  
        
            }  
        
            BOOL CDirectDraw::Flips()  
        
            {  
        
              if (PrimarySurf->Flip(NULL,DDFLIP_WAIT) != DD_OK) return FALSE;   
        
              return TRUE;  
        
            } 
            
                        //CREATE OFF-SCREEN SURFACE
                    
                        LPDIRECTDRAWSURFACE* CDirectDraw::CreateSurface(int width, int height)  
                    
                        {  
                    
                          DDSURFACEDESC srfdesc;  
                    
                          memset(&srfdesc, 0, sizeof(DDSURFACEDESC));  
                    
                          srfdesc.dwSize = sizeof(DDSURFACEDESC);  
                    
                          srfdesc.dwFlags =   DDSD_HEIGHT | DDSD_WIDTH;  
                    
                          srfdesc.ddsCaps.dwCaps = DDSCAPS_OFFSCREENPLAIN ;  
                    
                          srfdesc.dwHeight = 100;  
                    
                          srfdesc.dwWidth = 100;  
                    
                          rezult = lpDD->CreateSurface(&srfdesc, &spriteSurf, NULL) ;  
                    
                          DDSURFACEDESC desc;  
                    
                          //rezult = spriteSurf->Lock(NULL, &desc, DDLOCK_WAIT, 0);  
                    
                          //assert(rezult!=DDERR_INVALIDPARAMS);                      THIS COMMENTED CODE RESULTS IN ERROR!
                    
                          //spriteSurf->Unlock(0);  
                    
                          if(rezult!=DD_OK) return NULL;  
                    
                          return &spriteSurf;  
                    
                        } 

                        //RENDERING SPRITE SURFACE AREA TO SECONDARY SURFACE

                                    BOOL CDirectDraw::CopySurface(LPDIRECTDRAWSURFACE SurfSource,LPRECT lpRect, LPDIRECTDRAWSURFACE SurfDest, int x, int y)  
                                
                                    {  
                                
                                      HRESULT hresult;  
                                
                                      hresult = SurfDest->BltFast(x, y, SurfSource, lpRect, DDBLTFAST_NOCOLORKEY + DDBLTFAST_WAIT);  
                                
                                      assert(hresult!=DDERR_SURFACEBUSY);  
                                
                                      if (hresult!=DD_OK)   
                                
                                      {  
                                
                                        return FALSE;  
                                
                                      }  
                                
                                      return TRUE;  
                                
                                    }

What may cause error?
P.S. i was sent here from msdn forum. They told i may get proper answer here

PC Profiling Tools for DirectX

gpu nikk — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:07:34 GMT

I'm new to directX. can anyone recommend a tool (commercial or free) that allows me to profile directx api calls? I need to identify the bottlenecks and inefficiencies in an application that has been ported to directx.

Thank you

Open Shared Surface with D3D9Ex

daVinci — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:57:56 GMT

I create D3D10.1 render target with flag D3D10_RESOURCE_MISC_SHARED and get sharedHandle.

IDXGIResource* pResource(NULL);

HRESULT hr = renderTarget->QueryInterface( __uuidof(IDXGIResource), (void**)&pResource );

HANDLE sharedHandle;

pResource->GetSharedHandle(&sharedHandle);

How can I open this shared texture on D3D9Ex device?

how to create a direct X in windows forms C#?

iozk — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:29:56 GMT

hi i want to do one aplication with the DirectX in windows forms with C# if can tell me how to draw a teapot with the direct X and windows forms a litle sample for start with the graphict programing tanks!

DirectX Aug Setup Hangs

bcsanches — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:33:52 GMT

Hello folks,

I am trying to install directX SDK (aug 2009) but on the first setup screen when I click on the "next" button the system appears to process something and nothing happens. I can keep clicking on it but the setup does not advance, stays on the same window.

Any ideas?

DirectCompute newbie questions

garyhibb — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:00:59 GMT

Some DirectCompute questions:

Where is the "getting started" type documentation

Will it run on XP?

Thanx, and sorry if this info is already posted somewhere.

which version of direct X is Suported for win Xp?

iozk — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:38:31 GMT

hi i download the direct X 9.0 and in the sample browser that have code of samples all have reference to the file d3dx9.h and this file doesn`t exist and i ask for if this file has been added with this directX9.0 or i have to download it? and if i install other DirectX no have this library Direct3D wich version i can use?

Cudamemcpy() dx10 dx11

ucfchuk — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:48:43 GMT

is directx11 going to fill in the gap between cuda and directx10 by giving us access to the post processed data?
i cant find any means of copying raw data out of the gpu in directx other than copying the backbuffer before pushing it to the screen through the swap chain.
is dx11 going to have some means of doing this or will i have to migrate to cuda??

Apply sound effect

Fornarina — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:24:18 GMT

Hi, I need a C# source code able to apply an Audio filter as Echo to an Audio file.
I'm currently using DirectSound, a part of Direct X 9.
Unfortunately I don't know a way to apply this effect.

Actually my small application plays a .Wav file with this source code:

1  
2 if (openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)  
3             {  
4                 dev = new Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.Device();  
5                 dev.SetCooperativeLevel(this, Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.CooperativeLevel.Normal);  
6                 snd = new Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.SecondaryBuffer(openFileDialog1.FileName, dev);  
7  
8                 snd.Play(0, BufferPlayFlags.Default);  
9             }  
10

If someone can help me I thank him from now

Best Regards
Fornarina

General DirectX include errors

RachaeLova — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:23:31 GMT

I just set up my new system, installed the latest DirectX SDK and runtime, but I keep getting include errors when I try to build. It includes the basics just fine, like d3d10.h. It runs into problems when it starts trying to include includes inside d3d10.h like "d3d10sdklayers.h" or "dxsdkver.h". Any ideas?

Performance degrades when scaling up point sprites

gunit63 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:55:57 GMT

I am having a problem when attempting to scale point sprites. As the scale size increases, my frames per second can go from 30 FPS to about 2 FPS.
I am using point sprites to display icons on a map. There can be 100K to a million points. With 1 million points, performance is acceptable unless you attempt to increase the size of the sprite.
I have a vertex/pixel shader that colors, rotates, and scales the points.
The textures are small icons, typically 64x64 or smaller and are compressed dxt5.

Linker Error with Direct3DCreate9(D3D_SDK_VERSION)

Nayem — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:25:37 GMT

I'm working in BloodShed Dev C++. I've been trying to learn DirectX via V.9, but my compiler keeps giving me a Linker Error saying that DirectDCreate9 is undefined. I'm guessing it has something to do with the DLL, but I don't know how to resolve the issue. All advice or help would be greatly appreciated, especially help in integrating the directX SDK with Bloodshed. :) By the way, all my include files are compiling fine, and its copied straight from a tutorial. So i don't know what's wrong. :/

SlimDX August 2009 Now Available!

josh petrie — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:45:57 GMT

The SlimDX August 2009 official SDK release is now available! You can download it here. This is a major release in terms of new functionality, mainly due to the long-awaited inclusion of (non-beta) Windows 7 support. The new Windows 7 features include Direct3D 11, Direct2D, and DirectWrite.

What's New

Full release notes can be found here. Majorpoints to be aware of include:

Performance improvements to many calls due to improved stack allocation policies for local interop storage.
Quaternion multiplication is now being performed in the correct direction (that is, the direction that is consistent with Direct3D).
Quaternion subtraction is now being performed correctly (before the operation was actually multiplying).
Direct3D 10 now exposes predication support on the device.
Many missing methods related to shader compilation and manipulation were added to the Direct3D 10 APIs.
Support for Direct3D 10.1 was added.
Support for Direct2D is now official.
Support for Direct3D 11 is now official.
Support for DirectWrite is now official.
Lots and lots and lots of bug fixes.

Do note that we recommend considering using the latest SVN release for active development using Direct2D, Direct3D 11, or DirectWrite as these APIs are still very new and are most likely to receive the most updates.

What's With the Name?

You might be wondering why this is the "August" release, despite the fact that we're well into October. We chose to keep the same name as the official DirectX SDK that corresponds to this SlimDX release in order to reduce confusion and simplify discussion.

Future Directions

The August release of the official SDK marks the last release of the DirectX SDK for which Microsoft has provided a firm ship date. We are not currently aware of when the next release of the SDK will be.Our plans for the next iteration of SlimDX include some fairly major changes to the library, including support for interfaces, a redesigned sample framework and sample set, and some other surprises. You will most likely be able to hear about these changes via the developer blogs and/or Twitter feeds. This will help you keep abreast of the upcoming changes, especially if you're a user who does not track the head SVN revision of SlimDX.

Finally...

...we'd like to thank all our users for enduring the wait for this release; the official DirectX SDK shipped later than expected and included a number of additions that required more changes than usual on our end to update SlimDX to target the latest SDK. These delays unfortunately pushed us into a timeframe where none of the SlimDX developers had as much time to dedicate to the project as we would have liked, which delayed our release even further, and we appreciate the patience shown by our users while we addressed the last lingering bugs and issues.As always, please report any bugs, problems or feature requests on our issues page and to stay up to date with the latest happenings regarding SlimDX, you can follow us on Twitter!

My first game (I need help please)

Skulldood — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:40:07 GMT

I'm making a new game. P.S. I'm not trying to be a racist I just want to make a game. My goal is to make a game where you are an american and suicidal kamikasi airplains come down and try to hit you while you dodge them. At the same time to make it more chalanging I want Japenise troops to come in with knives. You have to shoot them as they come in through the sides while dodging planes. I want it to be able to have a score keeper and a title page. I have no idea how to do this at all. Would anybody want to help me on my first game? Please? I want to know how I can draw the plane's sprites first. I have no idea how to do anything here and every comment helps! Thanks! (I hope I posted in the right place)

Dx - General Design Questions

D3000 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:48:38 GMT

Hi Guys,

(This is partial duplicate post from the mobile development forum where I've stripped / modified it to only display the Dx specific questions...

I'm new to Mobile Development and I want to make a couple games / graphical applications to target the 6.5 mobile market.

I've created some basic games using GDI+, however, I want to try it using Dx. I have a lot of questions around: "great I got some of my code working in Dx; but is what I implemented the best way to do it?" or "How would I do that in Dx?"

Utimately, I'd love to understand enough DirectX to hammer out a simple game on any platform. The prospect of being game developer / designer is what got me in my current career to begin with (Applications Developer for 13yrs) =)

For 2 dimensional games / programs:

Is there benefit to coding 2d games in Dx over GDI+?
When loading images should I embed them in resource files or from file/stream? What is the best technique?
How have others handled rendering images for different resolutions? Did you create multiple image sets or simply stretch the images to fit the device?
For buttons or interactive menus is it better to render an image or to draw the rectangle / text? What's easier or more efficient on memory / performance?
I'm finding DirectX difficult to learn, more so the terminology such as Surface, Sprite, Texture, etc...I did find great examples detailing how to "make a game" but nothing which says "this is the best way to render a 2d scene and perform animations" (everything seems 3D). Has anyone found a great resource detailing why you would use one class over the other classes provided? Or detailing where you would use 3d over 2d; best practices?
in GDI+, to display nicely animated scenes / rendering such as flying or bulging text, I have to hammer out lots of "scene movement code"; does Dx have an easier way to handle 2d animations like the image or text scaling based on a time line like WPF or Silverlight has?
Would it be beneficial to code the game menu in GDI+, but switch to Dx for gameplay? Or just stick to one tech right through?

Best Regards, D.

PS Could someone point me to sample code for a game menu rendered (preferably 2d) in Dx with some basic animation? I learn best by hacking around with well commented code. Or even if you could suggest an excellent detailed 2d Dx game development book? Or more preferrably a start to finish example, like the old fashioned "How to make the Lady Bug Game" on Commodore 64 / Vic 20.

Thanks guys!

Shadows in terrain

TFreudi1 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:45:13 GMT

Hi

I build a terrain with trianglestripes and put a simple texture on it. In this terrain are hills and mountains. If I put a spotlight in the scene the backsides of the mountains are dark (through the normals) but there is no shadow? I found a lot of information about shadows that are thrown from other objects, but my terrain is one large object. There is no other object in the scene. I guess what I need is a way to put a shadow on a object itself ? Does anybody know what I mean and way to solve this?

Thomas

Direct3D10 and 11 for .Net

RobyDX — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:23:44 GMT

Hi, I'm Roberto, I'm from Italy

I just want to inform that I've completed my work developing a complete version of DirectX for .Net.
At this stage the library contains all functionality of

Direct3D10
Direct3D11
XAct
XAudio
XNAMath

You can use it for all your purpose. If you discover some errors or missings please tell me.
Soon I'll add Direct2D, XInput and I hope for the future PhySx

you can found it this section of my website

http://www.notjustcode.it/cms/ManagedProject.aspx

Thank you
RobyDX
http://www.notjustcode.it

1
2	if (openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
3	{
4	dev = new Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.Device();
5	dev.SetCooperativeLevel(this, Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.CooperativeLevel.Normal);
6	snd = new Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.SecondaryBuffer(openFileDialog1.FileName, dev);
7
8	snd.Play(0, BufferPlayFlags.Default);
9	}
10