| Microsoft DirectX 8.1 (C++) |
Complicated geometry is usually modeled using 3-D modeling software and saved to a file. An example of this is the .x file format. Microsoft® Direct3D® uses meshes to load the objects from these files. Meshes are somewhat complicated, but Microsoft® Direct3DX contains functions that make using meshes easier. The Meshes sample project introduces the topic of meshes and shows how to load, render, and unload a mesh.
This tutorial shows how to load, render, and unload a mesh using the following steps.
Notes The path of the Meshes sample project is:
(SDK root)\Samples\Multimedia\Direct3D\Tutorials\Tut06_Meshes.
The sample code in the Meshes project is nearly identical to the sample code in the Lights project, except that the code in the Meshes project does not create a material or a light. The Using Meshes tutorial focuses only on the code unique to meshes and does not cover setting up Direct3D, handling Microsoft Windows® messages, rendering, or shutting down. For information on these tasks, see Tutorial 1: Creating a Device.
This tutorial uses custom vertices and a vertex buffer to display geometry. For more information on selecting a custom vertex type and implementing a vertex buffer, see Tutorial 2: Rendering Vertices.
This tutorial makes use of matrices to transform geometry. For more information on matrices and transformations, see Tutorial 3: Using Matrices.
This tutorial uses textures to cover the surface of the mesh. For more information on loading and using textures, see Tutorial 5: Using Texture Maps.