What's New in the June 2006 DirectX SDK

The following features have changed in the June 2006 DirectX SDK update:

Direct3D 10 Technology Preview
PIX
Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT)
D3DX9

Direct3D 10 Technology Preview

The Direct3D 10 Technology Preview showcases the newest set of graphics API's for games and other high-performance multimedia applications on next-generation graphics hardware. This technology preview provides reference material, conceptual content, developer libraries, tutorials and samples that demonstrate how to use Direct3D 10. Additional content will provided in upcoming SDK releases.

Samples and applications built with the Direct3D 10 Technology Preview in the June 2006 DirectX SDK require Windows Vista Beta2 to run. The Windows Vista Beta2 will be available to MSDN subscribers.

Developers will notice that syntax has changed for several of the Direct3D 10 core API's between the Windows Vista February CTP and Windows Vista Beta2. Several API's have been added, renamed, or removed. For a full list of changes, see the June 2006: Overview of Direct3D 10 Header and Behavior Updates page in the Direct3D 10 documentation. All Direct3D 10 samples and tutorials have been updated in this SDK to reflect the new syntax. New samples have also been added in this release. Developers can expect a series of changes to arrive in subsequent SDK's.

For known limitations of this Technology Preview, refer to the Microsoft DirectX SDK ReadMe.

This documentation set is intended for developers using the C/C++ programming language.

HLSL Shader Compilation

Starting in the Direct3D10 February 2006 Tech Preview, a preview version of the new HLSL compiler targeting downlevel (Direct3D9) shader models was included. The compiler preview has been updated this SDK with a series of shader-code-generation improvements, as well as support for compiling Direct3D9 Effects files for use with the D3DX9 Effects system (fx_2_0 target).

Using FXC10 included in this SDK, you can try out the new compiler (with new language features such as Improved Flow Control Management) on Shader Model 3.0 and below. Keep in mind that not all HLSL optimizations and new features are active in this release. Generated shaders will not be fully optimized.

This new compiler will be integrated into D3DX9 in a future release. For issues relating to the compilation of shaders in the D3DX9 HLSL compiler, it is recommended that developers test their shaders through the new compiler where possible (via FXC10), and include the results when reporting issues to Microsoft.

Samples

New SoftParticles sample for Direct3D 10. SoftParticles augments various particle rendering techniques to avoid ugly particle vs geometry intersection artifacts by reading the depth buffer back as a texture and fading the particles out as they approach scene geometry.

The Direct3D 10 samples now use a custom binary mesh format (.sdkmesh) intended only for samples. Loader functions can be found in sdkmesh.h and sdkmesh.cpp. The meshconvert.exe tool can be used to convert from the .x format to the .sdkmesh format.

Debug Layer

Additional pipeline and parameter validation has been added to the Direct3D 10 Debug Layer.

PIX

PIX has been updated for June with the following major improvements and new features:

PIX introduces a new feature called pixel history. When investigating a single frame capture in PIX, you can select a pixel in a render target or surface and choose to debug the pixel. When this option is selected, everything that touched the pixel in the frame is displayed even if it fails a test like depth, alpha, or stencil. It shows the value of the pixel coming out of the pixel shader and the Framebuffer value for each primitive that affects the pixel. See Pixel History.
Realtime counters can now be displayed ontop of your game when you check the corresponding HUD checkbox is checked. This allows you to see in realtime what the counter values are as you play the game rather than just getting the report after the game is terminated. See HUD.
PIX supports the new Direct3D 10 APIs that are included in Windows Vista Beta2. PIX will no longer execute on pre-beta2 builds of Windows Vista.
You can now specify a pixrun file that contains full stream capture data as the target program in an experiment. When specified, PIX will replay the data in the pixrun file and perform the experiment on that stream. This was achievable prior to this release but it was difficult to setup.
You can now select event rows in the Events window and copy them to the clipboard. It is possible to select one or more rows from the Events window by using standard Windows conventions.

Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT)

XACT has been updated for June with the following major improvements:

The XACT GUI now allows for the import, export, and sharing of variables, categories, and presets across XACT projects. Multiple sound designers and composers can work on a single game and yet maintain their own XACT projects, sharing only those settings that are needed.

D3DX9

The D3DX9 library has not been updated in this release. The DLL is unchanged from the DirectX April 2006 SDK Release. Additional updates will be made in future releases.

For issues relating to the compilation of shaders in the D3DX9 HLSL compiler, it is recommended that developers test their shaders through the new compiler where possible (see HLSL Shader Compilation), and include the results when reporting issues to Microsoft.