Rust Graphics Engine

A 3D software rendering engine built from scratch in Rust. Implements a custom graphics pipeline, linear algebra library, and scene graph without hardware acceleration APIs.

Based on concepts from Computer Graphics from Scratch by Gabriel Gambetta and university course materials.

🖼️ Gallery & Render Modes

Click on any image to view the full-resolution version.

F-16 Render Modes

Comparison of different pipeline stages and rendering modes implemented in the engine.

Wireframe	Vertex Plot	Vertex Normals
Face Rendering	Z-Buffer Visualization

Model Showcase & GUI

Armadillo	Dragon (Z-Buffer)
Suzanne (Face Mode)	Tyra (Vertex Mode)

User Interface

✨ Features

• Software Rasterization: Custom implementation of the graphics pipeline (src/renderer/rasterizer.rs) handling triangle projection and pixel drawing.
• Interactive Scene Graph: Runtime manipulation of objects (Translate, Rotate, Scale) with support for hierarchical selection.
• Dynamic Lighting: Move and rotate light sources in real-time to test shading.
• Custom Math Library: Hand-rolled Vector, Matrix, and Geometry implementations (src/types/math) to handle 3D transformations.
• Robust Input System: Custom state-tracking wrapper around minifb, enabling distinct checks for Pressed, Held, and Released states.

📂 Project Structure

• src/engine.rs: The main game loop and engine lifecycle management.
• src/renderer/: The core rendering pipeline.
  • rasterizer.rs: Converts projected triangles into pixels (Barycentric/Edge functions).
  • draw_command.rs: Handles the queue of drawing operations.
  • frustum.rs: Handles view culling.
• src/types/math/: Linear algebra library (Matrices, Vectors, Points).
• src/scene/: Manages objects in the world, bounding boxes, and scene nodes.

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Rust: Ensure you have the latest stable version of Rust and Cargo installed.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [https://github.com/JoeKL/rust_graphics.git](https://github.com/JoeKL/rust_graphics.git)
   cd rust_graphics

2. Run the engine:

   cargo run --release

   Note: The --release flag is highly recommended. Since this is a software renderer doing heavy math on the CPU, debug builds may be significantly slower.

🤝 Contributing

This is an educational project, but contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.

Model Source

https://github.com/alecjacobson/common-3d-test-models