The miniGraphics miniapp demonstrates parallel rendering in an MPI environment using a sort-last parallel rendering approach. The main intention of miniGraphics is to demonstrate and compare the image compositing step where multiple images are combined to a single image (essentially an optimized reduce operation); however, miniGraphics also has multiple rendering backends that can be used in conjunction with the compositing algorithms.
The miniGraphics miniapp is actually divided into many small applications that support the same parallel rendering operations using different sort-last parallel rendering algorithms. These applications can be compiled either independently or en masse (see compiling below). It is also simple to add new applications if you wish to contribute your own image compositing algorithms.
The following are the minimum requirements for building miniGraphics:
- CMake version 3.3 or better
- A C++ compiler (C++11 compliant)
- MPI
To compile all miniGraphics applications at once, simply run CMake for the base directory of miniGraphics (the directory containing this file). The basic steps for compiling with CMake are (1) create a build directory, (2) run cmake in that directory, and (3) run the build program for the project files generated (usually make unless otherwise specified). The following are typical commands although they can vary between systems.
mkdir miniGraphics-build
cd miniGraphics-build
cmake ../miniGraphics
make -j
It is also possible to independently compile each miniGraphics application. This is done by following the same steps but for the subdirectory containing the specific application in question. (See the directories section below for a reference on what miniapps are implemented and where they are located.)
Parallel sort-last rendering algorithms are (mostly) differentiated by their image compositing algorithm. The miniGraphics miniapps are divided by image compositing algorithms and comes with several implementations. The directories in the following list each contain implementation of a particular compositing algorithm. Within each directory is subdirectories of various perturbations of the algorithm.
- BinarySwap A basic but effective recursive algorithm in which at each iteration the image is divided and swapped.
Note that there is a symbolic link named Reference that points to a reference implementation of parallel rendering.
In addition to the basic compositing algorithm, there are also some supporting directories containing code that is used by all or some of the miniGraphics miniapps.
- Paint Contains the drawing algorithms used in the parallel rendering. sort-last parallel rendering happens in 2 phases: a local geometry rendering (what we call here a "paint" to prevent name overloading) and a parallel image compositing. The painting algorithms are located in this directory (and contributed painting algorithms should also go here).
- Common A collection of common objects used by miniGraphics miniapps. Examples include image objects, mesh objects, and boilerplate main loop code.
- CMake Contains auxiliary CMake scripts used for building.
- ThirdParty Contains code imported from third party sources that are used by miniGraphics.
miniGraphics is distributed under the OSI-approved BSD 3-clause License. See LICENSE.txt for details.
Copyright (c) 2017 National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC (NTESS). Under the terms of Contract DE-NA0003525 with NTESS, the U.S. Government retains certain rights in this software.
SDR# 2261