i need a way to see how much time has passed since the last frame, how do i do that?

Pseudo code:

//Frame StartStartTime=GetTime()DrawStuff()//Frame endTimeElapsed=GetTime()-StartTime 

For GetTime you can use a number of functions, such as GetTickCount (not very accurate). I''m sure everyone will give you an opinon on which time function is the best.

quote:Original post by Michalson
Pseudo code:

//Frame StartStartTime=GetTime()DrawStuff()//Frame endTimeElapsed=GetTime()-StartTime  

For GetTime you can use a number of functions, such as GetTickCount (not very accurate). I''m sure everyone will give you an opinon on which time function is the best.

i know how to find the elapsed time if i have some routine that counts at a steady rate no matter what. thats what i need is some function that ticks at least 60 times a second, preferably 200 or more. what lib is timeGetTime() in? i see it in the sdk examples, but i''m not sure what to include or link to use it. when i just try it in my code, i get a identifier error. so there must be a header or link i''m missing.

quote:Original post by billybob
i know how to find the elapsed time if i have some routine that counts at a steady rate no matter what. thats what i need is some function that ticks at least 60 times a second, preferably 200 or more. what lib is timeGetTime() in? i see it in the sdk examples, but i''m not sure what to include or link to use it. when i just try it in my code, i get a identifier error. so there must be a header or link i''m missing.

GetTickCount counts in ms (1/1000 of a second), it''s very fast (it simply returns the value of an OS variables), the only downside is that the value can be off by close to 10ms (+/-10ms).

he quoted a Moderator!

All times taken on a Pentium III - 600 MHz system.
Report file for timing the various timers.

*** Key number is the avg time.
The smaller this number, the faster the timer.


QueryPerformanceFrequency() freq = 0 1193180


method 0:
QueryPerfCntr..() 100 times
tot: 0 467
avg: 4.670000
avg time: 3.91391e-006 sec
method 0:
QueryPerfCntr..() 500 times
tot: 0 2322
avg: 4.644000
avg time: 3.89212e-006 sec
method 0:
QueryPerfCntr..() 1000 times
tot: 0 4635
avg: 4.635000
avg time: 3.88458e-006 sec
method 0:
QueryPerfCntr..() 10000 times
tot: 0 91039
avg: 9.103900
avg time: 7.62995e-006 sec



method 1:
GetTickCount() 100 times
tot: 0 11
avg: 0.110000
avg time: 9.21906e-008 sec
method 1:
GetTickCount() 500 times
tot: 0 39
avg: 0.078000
avg time: 6.53715e-008 sec
method 1:
GetTickCount() 1000 times
tot: 0 72
avg: 0.072000
avg time: 6.03429e-008 sec
method 1:
GetTickCount() 10000 times
tot: 0 680
avg: 0.068000
avg time: 5.69906e-008 sec



method 2:
TimeGetTime() 100 times
tot: 0 619
avg: 6.190000
avg time: 5.18782e-006 sec
method 2:
TimeGetTime() 500 times
tot: 0 3022
avg: 6.044000
avg time: 5.06546e-006 sec
method 2:
TimeGetTime() 1000 times
tot: 0 6681
avg: 6.681000
avg time: 5.59932e-006 sec
method 2:
TimeGetTime() 10000 times
tot: 0 137033
avg: 13.703300
avg time: 1.14847e-005 sec



method 3:
Pentium internal high-freq cntr() 100 times
tot: 0 26
avg: 0.260000
avg time: 2.17905e-007 sec
method 3:
Pentium internal high-freq cntr() 500 times
tot: 0 112
avg: 0.224000
avg time: 1.87734e-007 sec
method 3:
Pentium internal high-freq cntr() 1000 times
tot: 0 222
avg: 0.222000
avg time: 1.86057e-007 sec
method 3:
Pentium internal high-freq cntr() 10000 times
tot: 0 2197
avg: 0.219700
avg time: 1.8413e-007 sec

This tool comes with the Cg development Kit from nVidia.

-James

quote:Original post by Michalson

Original post by billybob
i know how to find the elapsed time if i have some routine that counts at a steady rate no matter what. thats what i need is some function that ticks at least 60 times a second, preferably 200 or more. what lib is timeGetTime() in? i see it in the sdk examples, but i''m not sure what to include or link to use it. when i just try it in my code, i get a identifier error. so there must be a header or link i''m missing.

GetTickCount counts in ms (1/1000 of a second), it''s very fast (it simply returns the value of an OS variables), the only downside is that the value can be off by close to 10ms (+/-10ms).

what library are these counters in? what one is timeGetTime() and GetTickCount in? i''ll try them both and see if there are frame fluctuations with the tick count. but i need to know what libs these are in.

TimeGetTime defaults to some crappy inaccurate value, but is usually capable of being set to 1ms precision. Look up the timeGetDevCaps function w/ TIMECAPS structure (esp its wPeriodMin field), timeBeginPeriod and timeEndPeriod.

Link to winmm.lib and #include <mmsystem.h>

You can also use QueryPerformanceFrequency/QueryPerformanceCounter. Nehe has some code for that in some of his tutorials (can''t remember which ones). Some machines return wonky values sometimes, however, with QueryPerformance*, so be wary.