Hello, I begin with Directx and I have a little trouble. I've learned 3D programming with this website : http://www.directxtutorial.com I've found a 3D mesh on the net, I've converted it to .x with PandaExporter and I'm now using this mesh in my program. Now, my program just rotates a car. Everything works with little 3D meshes, but nor for the others (>50 000 vertices). You can find my program here. Inside, there is the source code, and the game is in the "release" folder. Here, I use a car with at the very most 20 000 vertices, and the program is already quite slow. For example, with 3D studio max, I an use 3D meshes with at least 500 000 vertices : when I rotate or translate the object, I can see it in "real time" in the perspective view. But when I use such meshes (> 200 000 - 300 000 vertices) in my program, it works too slow and each frame needs 1 or 2 seconds to be displayed.

Thanks for your answer, Gage 64.

I removed remove D3DXMESH_SYSTEMMEM and I have put D3DXMESH_DYNAMIC (I got an error with D3DXMESH_WRITEONLY). And the program seemed to be a bit faster.

Using D3DCREATE_HARDWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING really increased the program's speed. Now, it works properly with little meshes.

But I still have the same problem with big meshes. Here, I tried with a car made of 200 000 vertices (I took a video while the game was running):
http://www.dailymotion.com/WireLink/video/12470236

Here is my program :

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// include the basic windows header files and the Direct3D header file
#include <windows.h>
#include <windowsx.h>
#include <d3d9.h>
#include <d3dx9.h>

// define the screen resolution and keyboard macros
#define SCREEN_WIDTH 1024
#define SCREEN_HEIGHT 768
#define KEY_DOWN(vk_code) ((GetAsyncKeyState(vk_code) & 0x8000) ? 1 : 0)
#define KEY_UP(vk_code) ((GetAsyncKeyState(vk_code) & 0x8000) ? 0 : 1)

// include the Direct3D Library files
#pragma comment (lib, "d3d9.lib")
#pragma comment (lib, "d3dx9.lib")

// global declarations
LPDIRECT3D9 d3d; // the pointer to our Direct3D interface
LPDIRECT3DDEVICE9 d3ddev; // the pointer to the device class
LPDIRECT3DVERTEXBUFFER9 t_buffer = NULL; // the pointer to the vertex buffer
LPDIRECT3DSURFACE9 z_buffer = NULL; // the pointer to the z-buffer

// mesh declarations
LPD3DXMESH meshCar; // define the mesh pointer
D3DMATERIAL9* material; // define the material object
DWORD numMaterials; // stores the number of materials in the mesh

// function prototypes
void initD3D(HWND hWnd); // sets up and initializes Direct3D
void render_frame(void); // renders a single frame
void cleanD3D(void); // closes Direct3D and releases memory
void init_light(void); // sets up the light and the material

LPD3DXMESH LoadMesh(LPD3DXMESH MeshName); // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes
void TransformMesh(LPD3DXMESH MeshName, float RotateAngle, float TranslateX, float TranslateY, float TranslateZ); // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes

// the WindowProc function prototype
LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hWnd, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);


// the entry point for any Windows program
int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,
HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
LPSTR lpCmdLine,
int nCmdShow)
{
HWND hWnd;
WNDCLASSEX wc;

ZeroMemory(&wc, sizeof(WNDCLASSEX));

wc.cbSize = sizeof(WNDCLASSEX);
wc.style = CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW;
wc.lpfnWndProc = (WNDPROC)WindowProc;
wc.hInstance = hInstance;
wc.hCursor = LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW);
wc.lpszClassName = "WindowClass1";

RegisterClassEx(&wc);

hWnd = CreateWindowEx(NULL,
"WindowClass1",
"Our Direct3D Program",
WS_EX_TOPMOST | WS_POPUP,
0, 0,
SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT,
NULL,
NULL,
hInstance,
NULL);

ShowWindow(hWnd, nCmdShow);

// set up and initialize Direct3D
initD3D(hWnd);

// enter the main loop:

MSG msg;

while(TRUE)
{
DWORD starting_point = GetTickCount();

if (PeekMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0, PM_REMOVE))
{
if (msg.message == WM_QUIT)
break;

TranslateMessage(&msg);
DispatchMessage(&msg);
}

render_frame();

// check the 'escape' key
if(KEY_DOWN(VK_ESCAPE))
PostMessage(hWnd, WM_DESTROY, 0, 0);

while ((GetTickCount() - starting_point) < 25);
}

// clean up DirectX and COM
cleanD3D();

return msg.wParam;
}


// this is the main message handler for the program
LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hWnd, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
switch(message)
{
case WM_DESTROY:
{
PostQuitMessage(0);
return 0;
} break;
}

return DefWindowProc (hWnd, message, wParam, lParam);
}


// this function initializes and prepares Direct3D for use
void initD3D(HWND hWnd)
{
d3d = Direct3DCreate9(D3D_SDK_VERSION);

D3DPRESENT_PARAMETERS d3dpp;

ZeroMemory(&d3dpp, sizeof(d3dpp));
d3dpp.Windowed = FALSE;
d3dpp.SwapEffect = D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD;
d3dpp.hDeviceWindow = hWnd;
d3dpp.BackBufferFormat = D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8;
d3dpp.BackBufferWidth = SCREEN_WIDTH;
d3dpp.BackBufferHeight = SCREEN_HEIGHT;
d3dpp.EnableAutoDepthStencil = TRUE; // automatically run the z-buffer for us
d3dpp.AutoDepthStencilFormat = D3DFMT_D16; // 16-bit pixel format for the z-buffer

// create a device class using this information and the info from the d3dpp stuct
d3d->CreateDevice(D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT,
D3DDEVTYPE_HAL,
hWnd,
D3DCREATE_HARDWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING,
&d3dpp,
&d3ddev);

meshCar = LoadMesh(meshCar); // call the function to load the 3D Meshes

init_light(); // call the function to initialize the light and material

d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_LIGHTING, TRUE); // turn on the 3D lighting
d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_ZENABLE, TRUE); // turn on the z-buffer
d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_AMBIENT, D3DCOLOR_XRGB(50, 50, 50)); // ambient light

return;
}


// this is the function used to render a single frame
void render_frame(void)
{

d3ddev->Clear(0, NULL, D3DCLEAR_TARGET | D3DCLEAR_ZBUFFER, D3DCOLOR_XRGB(0, 0, 0), 1.0f, 0);

d3ddev->BeginScene();

// SET UP THE TRANSFORMS

D3DXMATRIX matView; // the view transform matrix
D3DXMatrixLookAtLH(&matView,
&D3DXVECTOR3 (0.0f, 4.0f, 14.0f), // the camera position
&D3DXVECTOR3 (0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f), // the look-at position
&D3DXVECTOR3 (0.0f, 5.0f, 0.0f)); // the up direction
d3ddev->SetTransform(D3DTS_VIEW, &matView); // set the view transform to matView

D3DXMATRIX matProjection; // the projection transform matrix
D3DXMatrixPerspectiveFovLH(&matProjection,
D3DXToRadian(45), // the horizontal field of view
1.3f, // the aspect ratio
1.0f, // the near view-plane
100.0f); // the far view-plane
d3ddev->SetTransform(D3DTS_PROJECTION, &matProjection); // set the projection

// A different car is displayed, but the same textures and the same Mesh are used every time.

static float index = 1.0f; index+=0.03f; // an ever-increasing float value
TransformMesh(meshCar, index, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f); // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes
TransformMesh(meshCar, index, 0.0f, -3.0f, 0.0f); // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes
TransformMesh(meshCar, index, 0.0f, 3.0f, 0.0f); // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes
TransformMesh(meshCar, index, -3.5f, 0.0f, 0.0f); // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes
TransformMesh(meshCar, index, 3.5f, 0.0f, 0.0f); // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes

d3ddev->EndScene();

d3ddev->Present(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);

return;
}


// this is the function that cleans up Direct3D and COM
void cleanD3D(void)
{
meshCar->Release(); // close and release the spaceship mesh
d3ddev->Release(); // close and release the 3D device
d3d->Release(); // close and release Direct3D

return;
}

LPD3DXMESH LoadMesh(LPD3DXMESH MeshName)
{
LPD3DXBUFFER bufShipMaterial;

D3DXLoadMeshFromX("Car.x", // load this file
D3DXMESH_DYNAMIC, // load the mesh into system memory
d3ddev, // the Direct3D Device
NULL, // we aren't using adjacency
&bufShipMaterial, // put the materials here
NULL, // we aren't using effect instances
&numMaterials, // the number of materials in this model
&MeshName); // put the mesh here

// retrieve the pointer to the buffer containing the material information
D3DXMATERIAL* tempMaterials = (D3DXMATERIAL*)bufShipMaterial->GetBufferPointer();

// create a new material buffer for each material in the mesh
material = new D3DMATERIAL9[numMaterials];

for(DWORD i = 0; i < numMaterials; i++) // for each material...
{
material = tempMaterials.MatD3D; // get the material info
material.Ambient = material.Diffuse; // make ambient the same as diffuse
}

return MeshName;
}

// this is the function that sets up the lights and materials
void init_light(void)
{
D3DLIGHT9 light; // create the light struct

ZeroMemory(&light, sizeof(light)); // clear out the struct for use
light.Type = D3DLIGHT_DIRECTIONAL; // make the light type 'directional light'
light.Diffuse.r = 0.5f; // .5 red
light.Diffuse.g = 0.5f; // .5 green
light.Diffuse.b = 0.5f; // .5 blue
light.Diffuse.a = 1.0f; // full alpha (we'll get to that soon)

D3DVECTOR vecDirection = {-1.0f, -0.3f, -1.0f}; // the direction of the light
light.Direction = vecDirection; // set the direction

d3ddev->SetLight(0, &light); // send the light struct properties to light #0
d3ddev->LightEnable(0, TRUE); // turn on light #0

return;
}


void TransformMesh(LPD3DXMESH MeshName, float RotateAngle, float TranslateX, float TranslateY, float TranslateZ) // 3D Declarations/Loads the Meshes
{

D3DXMATRIX matRotateY; // a matrix to store the rotation for each triangle
D3DXMATRIX matTranslate; // a matrix to store the translation for each triangle

D3DXMatrixTranslation(&matTranslate, TranslateX, TranslateY, TranslateZ); // the rotation matrix
D3DXMatrixRotationY(&matRotateY, RotateAngle); // the rotation matrix

d3ddev->SetTransform(D3DTS_WORLD, &(matRotateY * matTranslate)); // set the world transform

// draw the mesh car
for(DWORD i = 0; i < numMaterials; i++) // loop through each subset
{
d3ddev->SetMaterial(&material); // set the material for the subset
MeshName->DrawSubset(i); // draw the subset
}

return;

}

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Games like GTA3 work properly on my computer. So why can't I display big mesh files with my program? How do game creators use meshes?

Thanks for your help.

I would like to begin a little 3D game. So, later, this program will have to calculate the projection matrix and display the meshes every frame.

And so, that's why I need my program to load big mesh files (the game will have to display cars, characters and buildings at the same time).

In fact, I was just asking if there was a way to improve performance, or a different way to display 3D models made with 3D Studio Max.

200K vertices is ludicrous. Try to get it less than 5K.

Yes, sorry Guthur. I begin with DirectX, and I thought that the projection matrix was the camera position. So, I don't need to calculate it every frame, I will only do it in the beginning of my program.

Then, I won't use such a mesh in my game, 200k vertices is too much for a simple car. But the game will have to load 5-6 cars, characters, buildings and the terrain at the same time, and so finally more than 100-200k vertices. That's why I used this model.

Gage64, I used the OptimizeInPlace() function, I also used the "Optimize Mesh" option in Panda Exporter and the program is now really faster. That's about what I was waiting for.

So, thank you for your help.

(I'm still interested if there are other ways to improve performance)