I have been trying many different languages revolving around DirectX and even had a stab at OpenGL but i finally settled on C# + SlimDX because it's been the most comfortable solution for me.

So, i am making a custom engine for a game i intend to make. It's not going to be a fully fledged engine but more like a support framework.

----

Anyways, the question / problem i am facing right now is that i am (supposedly?) running DirectX 11 and made a simple triangle to play with so i could continue making a camera class. I set up my world, view and projection matrices and a basic color shader.
I started getting very strange issues however as i went along. First i got the RH vs LH wrong but that got sorted (I think) and then things got really wonky.

If i Matrix.Transpose my world, view and projection matrices before sending them to the shader my screen turns completely <color of triangle>!
That is, whatever color of the triangle i assign my view is filled with it. Having tried to "solve" any matrix issues i might have had in my camera class etc for about 4 hours straight i re-built a lot of the cbuffer updating procedures thinking something went wrong there.
Out of a "fluke" i commented out the Matrix.Transpose lines and VOILA. Everything worked as it should!

So... I know i am supposed to use Matrix.Transpose with DX11 but when i do it breaks.
When i don't it works as intended.
How can this be?

Thanks in advance for any clues or information on the subject.
//Cadde

Well, actually you don't have to transpose the matrices, unless your shaders expects it (which is the normal case, afaik).

Best regards!

Well it turns out that i did something wrong when setting the constant buffers after all. I thought there wasn't an Effect class in SlimDX.Direct3D11 but lo and behold there was one. So i started using that and now everything behaves as it should.

Still don't need to use Matrix.Transpose though... Which is weird since i am using the LH coordinate system and haven't done anything in the shader to make the switch.
I will probably find out later as i go along...

Another question as well though. I kinda feel that i am not in (as) complete control with effects rather than VertexShader and PixelShader. I much prefer to do things as low level / non "wrappery" as possible without it becoming a groundwork nightmare.
Is there any difference in performance between using the Effect class and using VertexShader/PixelShader classes?

And what happened really? I mean, the matrices i sent to the shader where fine yet the shader misbehaved greatly and made all kinds of wonky vertex transformations. It looked like i was looking through a fisheye lens.
After i started using effects and used Effect.GetVariableByName("").AsMatrix.SetMatrix() it behaved normally.

Sorry, don't have the code i used prior but i am thinking i was updating the wrong registers or whatever. I am new at this so ya, terminology is not right.
But i would love to have a working example on how it should be done.


cbuffer worldBuffer : register(b0)
{
matrix worldMatrix;
}
cbuffer viewBuffer : register(b1)
{
matrix viewMatrix;
}
cbuffer projectionBuffer : register(b2)
{
matrix projectionMatrix;
}


Like, how would i go at sending matrices to each of these?
The reason i split them up like that is because the projection will only be set on initialization and viewport resize, view only once per frame and world once per model / mesh.

Can you show any of the vertex / pixel shader code? It may give some clues why your matrices behave in the described way.

I'm not using the effects framework at this moment so I can't help you with it.

To update a constant buffer (with out the effect framework), you'll need to create constant buffer in the program side and bind it to the desired register. The program side constant buffer should be at least the same size as defined in the shader, and the program side structure containing the data should be the same as in the shader, in order to map correct variables to correct constants.

It is a good idea to split the constant buffers. It is suggested, however, that one shader doesn't use variables from more than 4-5 different constant buffers. Apparently there may be some performance penalties. So, in that sense, view matrix and projection matrix could be in the same buffer. You'd probably want to save some shader cycles too by providing a view-projection matrix, which you'll need to update every frame.

Best regards!

Ok, so i decided to make a test bed for this particular thing because like i said, i cannot come to grasps with how to use the constant buffers.
It has all been written from scratch to make a proper test this time.

Program.cs
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using SlimDX;
using SlimDX.Direct3D11;
using SlimDX.DXGI;
using SlimDX.D3DCompiler;
using SlimDX.Windows;
using Device = SlimDX.Direct3D11.Device;
using Buffer = SlimDX.Direct3D11.Buffer;
using Resource = SlimDX.Direct3D11.Resource;
namespace SlimDX_Testbed
{
static class Program
{
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Form, device, render target and viewport creation.
RenderForm form = new RenderForm("SlimDX Testbed");
Device device;
DeviceContext context;
SwapChain swapChain;
FeatureLevel[] featureLevels;
RenderTargetView renderTarget;
Viewport viewport;

// Width and height of form and viewport etc.
int width = 1600;
int height = 900;
form.ClientSize = new Size(width, height);
featureLevels = new[]
{
FeatureLevel.Level_11_0,
FeatureLevel.Level_10_1,
FeatureLevel.Level_10_0,
};
// Create device and swap chain.
Device.CreateWithSwapChain
(
DriverType.Hardware, DeviceCreationFlags.Debug,
featureLevels,
new SwapChainDescription
{
BufferCount = 2,
Flags = SwapChainFlags.AllowModeSwitch,
IsWindowed = true,
ModeDescription = new ModeDescription
{
Format = Format.R8G8B8A8_UNorm,
Width = width,
Height = height,
RefreshRate = new Rational(60, 1),
Scaling = DisplayModeScaling.Unspecified,
ScanlineOrdering = DisplayModeScanlineOrdering.Progressive,
},
OutputHandle = form.Handle,
SampleDescription = new SampleDescription(1, 0),
SwapEffect = SwapEffect.Discard,
Usage = Usage.RenderTargetOutput,
},
out device, out swapChain
);
// Assign the context.
context = device.ImmediateContext;
// Create the render target view.
using (Resource resource = Resource.FromSwapChain<Texture2D>(swapChain, 0))
renderTarget = new RenderTargetView
(
device, resource,
new RenderTargetViewDescription
{
Dimension = RenderTargetViewDimension.Texture2D,
Format = Format.R8G8B8A8_UNorm,
MipSlice = 0,
}
);
// Create the viewport.
viewport = new Viewport(0.0f, 0.0f, width, height, 0.0f, 1.0f);
// Assign the render targets and viewport to the context.
context.OutputMerger.SetTargets(renderTarget);
context.Rasterizer.SetViewports(viewport);

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Model
DataStream vertexData;
DataStream indexData;

Buffer vertexBuffer;
Buffer indexBuffer;
VertexBufferBinding[] binding;

int vertexCount = 8;
int indexCount = 36;
// Create the vertex data stream.
vertexData = new DataStream(12 * vertexCount, true, true);

// Create a 1x1x1 cube.
// We will be using TriangleList primitive topology here.
vertexData.Write(new Vector3(-1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f)); // FTL 0
vertexData.Write(new Vector3( 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f)); // FTR 1
vertexData.Write(new Vector3(-1.0f, -1.0f, 1.0f)); // FBL 2
vertexData.Write(new Vector3( 1.0f, -1.0f, 1.0f)); // FBR 3
vertexData.Write(new Vector3(-1.0f, 1.0f, -1.0f)); // BTL 4
vertexData.Write(new Vector3( 1.0f, 1.0f, -1.0f)); // BTR 5
vertexData.Write(new Vector3(-1.0f, -1.0f, -1.0f)); // BBL 6
vertexData.Write(new Vector3( 1.0f, -1.0f, -1.0f)); // BBR 7

// Create the index data stream.
indexData = new DataStream(sizeof(UInt32) * indexCount, true, true);
// Assign the indices for 12 triangles making up the cube
indexData.WriteRange<UInt32>
(
new UInt32[]
{
// Front
0, 1, 2, // 1
2, 1, 3, // 2
// Right
1, 5, 3, // 1
3, 5, 7, // 2
// Back
5, 4, 7, // 1
7, 4, 6, // 2
// Left
4, 0, 6, // 1
6, 0, 2, // 2
// Top
4, 5, 0, // 1
0, 5, 1, // 2
// Bottom
2, 3, 6, // 1
6, 3, 7, // 2
}
);
// return the reading positions.
vertexData.Position = 0;
indexData.Position = 0;
// Create the vertex buffer.
vertexBuffer = new Buffer
(
device, vertexData,
new BufferDescription
{
BindFlags = BindFlags.VertexBuffer,
CpuAccessFlags = CpuAccessFlags.None,
OptionFlags = ResourceOptionFlags.None,
SizeInBytes = 12 * vertexCount,
StructureByteStride = 0,
Usage = ResourceUsage.Default,
}
);
// Create the index buffer.
indexBuffer = new Buffer
(
device, indexData,
new BufferDescription
{
BindFlags = BindFlags.IndexBuffer,
CpuAccessFlags = CpuAccessFlags.None,
OptionFlags = ResourceOptionFlags.None,
SizeInBytes = sizeof(UInt32) * indexCount,
StructureByteStride = 0,
Usage = ResourceUsage.Default,
}
);
// Create the vertex bidnings.
binding = new[]
{
new VertexBufferBinding(vertexBuffer, 12, 0),
};
// Assign the vertex and index buffers to the rendering pipeline.
context.InputAssembler.SetVertexBuffers(0, binding);
context.InputAssembler.SetIndexBuffer(indexBuffer, Format.R32_UInt, 0);
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Shaders.
VertexShader vertexShader;
PixelShader pixelShader;

InputElement[] elements;
InputLayout layout;
ShaderSignature inputSignature;
// Create the vertex shader.
using (ShaderBytecode bytecode = ShaderBytecode.CompileFromFile("ColorShader.fx", "VShader", "vs_5_0", ShaderFlags.Debug | ShaderFlags.EnableStrictness, EffectFlags.None))
{
inputSignature = ShaderSignature.GetInputSignature(bytecode);
vertexShader = new VertexShader(device, bytecode);
}
// Create the pixel shader.
using (ShaderBytecode bytecode = ShaderBytecode.CompileFromFile("ColorShader.fx", "PShader", "ps_5_0", ShaderFlags.Debug | ShaderFlags.EnableStrictness, EffectFlags.None))
pixelShader = new PixelShader(device, bytecode);
elements = new[]
{
new InputElement("POSITION", 0, Format.R32G32B32_Float, 0),
};
layout = new InputLayout(device, inputSignature, elements);
// Set the vertex and pixel shaders to the active rendering pipeline.
context.VertexShader.Set(vertexShader);
context.PixelShader.Set(pixelShader);
// Set the layout and primitive topology.
context.InputAssembler.InputLayout = layout;
context.InputAssembler.PrimitiveTopology = PrimitiveTopology.TriangleList;

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Matrices
Matrix world = Matrix.Identity;
Matrix view = Matrix.Identity;
Matrix projection = Matrix.PerspectiveFovRH(ToRad(45.0f), (float)width / height, 0.0f, 10000.0f);
Matrix viewProjection = view * projection;

DataStream worldMatrixData;
Buffer worldMatrixBuffer;
DataStream viewProjectionMatrixData;
Buffer viewProjectionMatrixBuffer;
// Create the world matrix data stream.
worldMatrixData = new DataStream(64, true, true);
// Create the world matrix buffer.
worldMatrixBuffer = new Buffer
(
device,
new BufferDescription
{
BindFlags = BindFlags.ConstantBuffer,
CpuAccessFlags = CpuAccessFlags.None,
OptionFlags = ResourceOptionFlags.None,
SizeInBytes = 64,
StructureByteStride = 0,
Usage = ResourceUsage.Default,
}
);
// Create the combined view and projection matrix data stream.
viewProjectionMatrixData = new DataStream(64, true, true);
// Create the combined view and projection matrix buffer.
viewProjectionMatrixBuffer = new Buffer
(
device,
new BufferDescription
{
BindFlags = BindFlags.ConstantBuffer,
CpuAccessFlags = CpuAccessFlags.None,
OptionFlags = ResourceOptionFlags.None,
SizeInBytes = 64,
StructureByteStride = 0,
Usage = ResourceUsage.Default,
}
);
Buffer[] constantBuffers = new[]
{
worldMatrixBuffer,
viewProjectionMatrixBuffer,
};
context.VertexShader.SetConstantBuffers(constantBuffers, 0, 2);
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Application loop.
Stopwatch sw = new Stopwatch();

double lastUpdate = 0.0f;
double updateFrequency = 1.0f / 20;
form.KeyDown += (o, e) =>
{
if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Escape)
form.Close();
};
MessagePump.Run
(
form,
() =>
{
if (!sw.IsRunning)
sw.Start();
// Update every <updateFrequency> seconds.
if (sw.Elapsed.TotalSeconds - lastUpdate >= updateFrequency)
{
// UPDATE()

// Set the view matrix.
// Set the "camera" (view) to 0, 0, 0 looking down the negative Z axis using 0, 1, 0 as the up vector.
view = Matrix.LookAtRH(new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f), new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, -1.0f), Vector3.UnitY);
// Update the viewProjection matrix.
viewProjection = projection * view;

// Commented this out because it doesn't behave as it should.
// viewProjection = Matrix.Transpose(viewProjection);
// Update the matrix constant buffers.
viewProjectionMatrixData.Write(viewProjection);
viewProjectionMatrixData.Position = 0;
context.UpdateSubresource(new DataBox(0, 0, viewProjectionMatrixData), viewProjectionMatrixBuffer, 0);
lastUpdate = sw.Elapsed.TotalSeconds;
}

// RENDER()
// Set the world matrix.

// Move the cube along the z axis between -10.0f and 10.0f.
float z = (float)Math.Cos(sw.Elapsed.TotalSeconds) * 20;
world = Matrix.Translation(new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, z));
// Commented this out because it doesn't behave as it should.
//world = Matrix.Transpose(world);

// Update the matrix constant buffers.
worldMatrixData.Write(world);
worldMatrixData.Position = 0;
context.UpdateSubresource(new DataBox(0, 0, worldMatrixData), worldMatrixBuffer, 0);
context.ClearRenderTargetView(renderTarget, new Color4(1.0f, 0.0f, 0.1f, 0.2f));
context.DrawIndexed(indexCount, 0, 0);
swapChain.Present(0, PresentFlags.None);
}
);

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Cleanup.

// Matrix constant buffers.
if (worldMatrixBuffer != null) worldMatrixBuffer.Dispose();
if (viewProjectionMatrixBuffer != null) viewProjectionMatrixBuffer.Dispose();
if (worldMatrixData != null)
{
worldMatrixData.Close();
worldMatrixData.Dispose();
}
if (viewProjectionMatrixData != null)
{
viewProjectionMatrixData.Close();
viewProjectionMatrixData.Dispose();
}
// Shaders.
if (inputSignature != null) inputSignature.Dispose();
if (layout != null) layout.Dispose();
if (pixelShader != null) pixelShader.Dispose();
if (vertexShader != null) vertexShader.Dispose();
// Model.
if (indexBuffer != null) indexBuffer.Dispose();
if (vertexBuffer != null) vertexBuffer.Dispose();
if (indexData != null)
{
indexData.Close();
indexData.Dispose();
}

if (vertexData != null)
{
vertexData.Close();
vertexData.Dispose();
}

// Device etc.
if (renderTarget != null) renderTarget.Dispose();
if (swapChain != null) swapChain.Dispose();
if (context != null) context.Dispose();
if (device != null) device.Dispose();
if (form != null) form.Dispose();
// Happy smiley faces in yo face brah! =)
}
// Converts degrees to radians.
static float ToRad(float value)
{
return (float)(Math.PI / 180) * value;
}
}
}


ColorShader.fx
cbuffer WorldMatrixBuffer : register(cb0)
{
matrix world;
};
cbuffer ViewProjectionMatrixBuffer : register(cb1)
{
matrix viewProjection;
};
struct VS_IN
{
float3 position : POSITION;
};
struct PS_IN
{
float4 position : SV_POSITION;
};
PS_IN VShader(VS_IN input)
{
PS_IN output;
output.position = float4(input.position, 1.0);
output.position = mul(output.position, world);
output.position = mul(output.position, viewProjection);
return output;
}
float4 PShader(PS_IN input) : SV_Target
{
return float4(1.0, 1.0, 0.0, 1.0);
}

Still not getting my view and projection matrices to update or behave properly.
If i comment the "output.position = mul(output.position, viewProjection);" line i get alternating dark blue and yellow as the model moves back and forth.
If i uncomment the Matrix.Transpose lines i get the same effect except the yellow phases are shorter.

As always, really appreciate the help here!
//Cadde

EDIT: Forgot to attach the solution.

Bump and update.

I converted the code in the DirectX SDK for Direct3D 11 Tutorial 7 into SlimDX code line by line. (Or at least i think i did)
Only a few minor changes/additions needed to be made considering c++ is by far superior to C# when it comes to sizeof() and other such "unsafe" and dangerous things... (UGH)

Either way, here is the conversion (Attached file) if anyone is interested in looking at it. I experience the same problems as before... Nothing get's shown on screen when using UpdateSubresource and SetConstantbuffers.
I know the code works in C++ but it doesn't do it when i convert to C# and SlimDX.

I am at a total loss here.
Thanks for any assistance!
//Cadde

EDIT:

Some additional information...

Using SlimDX January 2012 version.
.Net 2.0
Tried 32 and 64 bit SlimDX dll's for .net 2.0

It works when i use the Effect class. But doing it the "right" way doesn't work at all for me.

In your vertex buffer binding you set the stride to 0 when it should actually be sizeof(SimpleVertex), which is 20.

DOH!
It works, you are a god and all that.
Now i have a working example to go from to fix my other ones. Thanks!

EDIT:

Ok, this is what i have learned for all this so far.

1. For projection, a near plane of 0.0f does [color=#ff0000]NOT work.
   
2. One does indeed need to transpose the matrices. How i managed to get anything useful out of not transposing them i will never know. (Matrix math is still beyond me...)
   
3. It helps to pay attention when you code, as Mike pointed out you have to set a proper stride.
   
4. It was initially very unclear to me how to use constant buffers and the answer from Mike on stackoverflow never mentioned that you had to set then to the shaders using SetConstantBuffers. This could have been realized had i known anything about D3D in the first place or by simply looking into the DX SDK examples.
   

Point is, never give up and when you get stuck make sure you don't start assuming things as i did.

Now, a quick example on how to properly update constant buffers in case anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation:

A simple shader with 3 constant buffers:
cbuffer WorldMatrixBuffer : register(b0)
{
matrix world;
};
cbuffer ViewMatrixBuffer : register(b1)
{
matrix view;
};
cbuffer ProjectionMatrixBuffer : register(b2)
{
matrix projection;
};
struct VS_IN
{
float4 position : POSITION;
};
struct PS_IN
{
float4 position : SV_POSITION;
};
PS_IN VShader(VS_IN input)
{
PS_IN output;
output.position = input.position;
output.position = mul(output.position, world);
output.position = mul(output.position, view);
output.position = mul(output.position, projection);
return output;
}
float4 PShader(PS_IN input) : SV_Target
{
return float4(1.0, 1.0, 0.0, 1.0);
}

This will take in a vertex buffer, multiply it's positions by the world, view and projection matrices that are defined in their own separate constant buffers.
It passes the information along down the rasterizer where each pixel is set to a solid yellow color.
One could gain a little bit of performance by multiplying the view and projection matrices before sending them to the shader and using a combined viewProjection cbuffer to reduce the number of mul() operations in the vertex shader stage. For the sake of clarity i have decided not to do this here.

The registers (b0, b1 and b2) are defined so we can assign them in code using their respective indexes (slots) and to update and assign them you need (in code):

1. A Buffer with the ConstantBuffer bind, Default resource usage and in this case, no CPU access flags.
   
2. A data stream to write matrix data to. A matrix is 64 bytes large (float4x4, 16 floats of 4 bytes each) thus you need to have 64 bytes of memory allocated to write to these constant buffers.
   
3. A context to call UpdateSubresoruce().
   

Sample code:
// Create the projection matrix buffer.
projectionMatrixBuffer = new Buffer
(
device,
new BufferDescription
{
BindFlags = BindFlags.ConstantBuffer,
CpuAccessFlags = CpuAccessFlags.None,
SizeInBytes = Marshal.SizeOf(projection),
Usage = ResourceUsage.Default,
}
);
// Update the projection constant buffer.
using (DataStream data = new DataStream(Marshal.SizeOf(projection), true, true))
{
data.Write(Matrix.Transpose(projection));
data.Position = 0;
context.UpdateSubresource(new DataBox(0, 0, data), projectionMatrixBuffer, 0);
}

So first we create a buffer with the proper buffer description. Marshal.SizeOf() resides in System.Runtime.InteropServices and is used to determine the size of Types (Classes) and objects (assigned variables) which is helpful if you don't want to manually calculate the size of each constant buffer.
In this case i write the matrix directly to the stream but if your cbuffer has more than one element in it it may be useful to create a structure or class to contain all elements of the constant buffer in it before writing to the buffer.

For example:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
class HerpClass
{
public Matrix world;
public Matrix view;
public Matrix projection;
}
struct HerpStruct
{
public Matrix world;
public Matrix view;
public Matrix projection;
}
...
int classSize = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(HerpClass)); // Is 192 (64 * 3)
int structSize = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(HerpStruct)); // Is 192 (64 * 3)

Adding any private variables to these classes will still count towards the total size of the class/structure so don't do it. (No i didn't either btw if you thought so, i just want to cover this incase someone gets any ideas.)
The reason you need "[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]" on the class is because otherwise Marshal.SizeOf will produce an ArgumentException that reads "HerpClass cannot be marshaled as an unmanaged structure; no meaningful size or offset can be computed."
Thus, using a struct is your best option and structs and classes are pretty much the same things anyways.

Yes, you can create a constructor thus enabling you to use "new HerpClass(world, view, projection);" if you so desire.

Right, moving on...
Before you render you need to set the buffers to the vertex shader (and pixel shader where needed, they are separate) and to do that you do this:

// Set the vertex and pixel shaders to the active rendering pipeline.
context.VertexShader.Set(vertexShader);
context.VertexShader.SetConstantBuffers(new Buffer[] { worldMatrixBuffer }, 0, 1);
context.VertexShader.SetConstantBuffers(new Buffer[] { viewMatrixBuffer }, 1, 1);
context.VertexShader.SetConstantBuffers(new Buffer[] { projectionMatrixBuffer }, 2, 1);
context.PixelShader.Set(pixelShader);
context.DrawIndexed(indexCount, 0, 0);


Now, i included the Vertex/PixelShader.Set() here as well as the DrawIndexed and Present calls for clarity.
You can do it any way you like, but the gist of it all is you set them BEFORE the draw calls.
Obviously setting the projection for each mesh you draw is excessive and wastes precious cycles. You only need to set the projection when you change the shader or your projection changes. Like from a form resize or if you are zooming the view or changing the view distance.
The same applies with the view matrix, that only needs to be when the camera moves or you switch shaders.

To summarize then.

1. Create buffers in code that match the buffers in the shader.
   
2. Write to the buffers in code when the world, view or projection matrices change using a data stream and update them in the context using UpdateSubresource.
   
3. Set them to the shader using SetConstantBuffers when the shader is changed. The second argument to the function call is the index as defined in the shader file.
   

Happy coding!
//Cadde

And once again, thanks for the assist!