Why Use the Direct3DX Utility Library?

If you want to use Direct3D Immediate Mode for high-performance 3-D rendering, the Direct3DX utility library will get you started quickly. Developers who want to focus on the performance-critical and application-specific aspects of their work can take advantage of the utility library to increase productivity. The Direct3DX utility library simplifies the following tasks:

• Setting up a DirectDraw object and Direct3D devices.
• Drawing simple geometric shapes.
• Providing hardware independence for textures.
• Providing color conversions for several surface formats.
• Loading texture files (BMP, TGA, and DDS).
• Creating cube-map textures for environmental mapping.
• Providing sprite support (rotation, alpha, scaling, and warping).
• Performing common 3-D mathematical operations.

Therefore, if you already have a working engine based on Direct3D Immediate Mode and you need to add some helper functionality, the Direct3DX utility library may be a viable option.

In general, each of the components of the utility library are designed to be reusable and interchangeable. For example, you can use sprites with any Direct3DDevice and DirectDrawSurface object, not just those created with the Direct3DX utility library. Similarly, you can use the math functions or shape creation application programming interface (API) without using any of the other features provided by the Direct3DX utility library.

Finally, if you are porting an application or a game that was based on a non-Direct3D graphics API, you may find that the functionality provided by the Direct3DX utility library will simplify the transition.