Getting started with DX11 plugins/resources

motzi · November 30, 2017, 9:44am

hey guys,

i just recently tried to code my first plugin using DX11 resources and had quite a hard time to get started with it. the use case i’m trying to implement is actually pretty simple - still i failed. as there is hardly any documentation apart from the code on github and vux’s vveekendvvworkshop video (which is interesting but was made before the breaking changes in dx11 1.1) i have a hard time finding a good entry point to this topic.

here’s what i’m trying to achieve:
the aim is to create a new container-like datatype that combines some types (transforms, colors) and DX11 resources (e.g. a texture) just to be able to send them together over a link and be able to cons them more conveniently. (the greater plan is to do dynamic reordering like z-sorting on these types).

i know that this is more than just passing an object reference to an DX11Resource. from what i can read from the nodes in the DX11 core the classes using these resources need to implement interfaces like IDX11ResourceDataRetriever or IDX11ResourceHost to make it work - i just don’t know where to start.

does anybody have simple examples available or could give me a hand on this?
here’s what i’ve got so far.

dx11_plugin.zip (153.7 KB)

the first aim is to have join/split nodes to create and retreive data from MyContainer and then a cons node for this type. interestingly just adding a reference to VVVV.Nodes.Generic breaks the possibilty to connect the join/split nodes. i’m aware of the DX11 Generic nodes for cons-ing ressources but again i don’t know how to start.

any help (simple examples or explanations) would be very much appreciated!

velcrome · November 30, 2017, 10:10am

github.com

everyoneishappy/FieldTrip/blob/master/src/Nodes/FunctionJoinSplit.cs

#region usings
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.ComponentModel.Composition;

using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V1;
using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V2;

using VVVV.DX11;
using VVVV.Utils.Streams;
using VVVV.Nodes.Generic;
using FeralTic.DX11;
using FeralTic.DX11.Resources;


#endregion usings

namespace VVVV.DX11.Node
{

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velcrome · November 30, 2017, 10:13am

github.com

letmp/dx11-particles/blob/master/src/Nodes/DX11.Particles.Core/SelectionNodes.cs#L267


            {
                if (FOutResourceSemanticEntry.SliceCount > 0 && FOutResourceSemanticEntry[j].SliceCount != 0)
                    uniqueRSVariableNames.Add(FOutResourceSemanticEntry[j][i % FOutResourceSemanticEntry[j].SliceCount].Split(' ')[1]);
            }
            
            FOutFunctionCall.Add(FInFunctionName[i] + "(" + String.Join(", ", FInFunctionArgument) + "," + String.Join(", ", uniqueCSVariableNames.Concat(uniqueRSVariableNames)) + ")");
        }
    }
}


#region PluginInfo
[PluginInfo(Name = "Join",Category = "DX11.Particles.Selection", Help = "Joins data for a selector", Author="tmp", Tags = "")]
#endregion PluginInfo
public class SelectorJoin : IPluginEvaluate, IDX11ResourceDataRetriever
{
    #region fields & pins
    [Input("FunctionCall")]
    public IDiffSpread<string> FFunctionCall;


    [Input("Variables")]
    public IDiffSpread<string> FVariables;

velcrome · November 30, 2017, 10:18am

github.com

velcrome/vvvv-Message/blob/master/src/MessageNodes/Configurable/MessageReadNode.cs

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Globalization;

using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V1;
using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V2;
using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V2.NonGeneric;
using VVVV.Utils;
using VVVV.DX11;
using System.ComponentModel.Composition;
using FeralTic.DX11;

namespace VVVV.Packs.Messaging.Nodes
{
    [PluginInfo(Name = "Read", AutoEvaluate = true, Category = "Message", Help = "Reads spreadable Fields of arbitrary Type from all incoming Messages. Can convert some types.", Tags = "Typeable, Field", Author = "velcrome")]
    public class MessageReadNode : TypeablePinNode, IDX11ResourceHost
    {
        [Output("Message Bin Size", AutoFlush = false, Order = 4)]
        protected ISpread<int> FBinSize;

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github.com

velcrome/vvvv-Message/blob/master/src/MessageNodes/Configurable/MessageWriteNode.cs

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V1;
using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V2;
using VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V2.NonGeneric;
using VVVV.Utils;

using VVVV.DX11;

namespace VVVV.Packs.Messaging.Nodes
{
    [PluginInfo(Name = "Write", AutoEvaluate = true, Category = "Message", Help = "Writes into Fields of arbitrary Type. ", Version = "Dynamic", Tags = "Formular, Bin", Author = "velcrome")]
    public class MessageWriteNode : TypeablePinNode, IDX11ResourceDataRetriever
    {
        [Input("Key", DefaultString = "Foo", Order = 2, BinOrder = 3, BinSize = -1, BinVisibility = PinVisibility.OnlyInspector)]
        public new ISpread<ISpread<string>> FKey;

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so the join needs the IDX11ResourceDataRetriever, and the split is an IDX11ResourceHost.

Furthermore, the Join needs this line:

        if (this.RenderRequest != null) { RenderRequest(this, this.FHost); }

woei · November 30, 2017, 3:35pm

@motzi
what exactly do you need that for? got something in the pipeline, for any pintype though, not just dx11

motzi · December 1, 2017, 4:31pm

i guess i’ve got it now - big thanks @velcrome for the useful pointers. will post the result here after some cleanup for reference…

@woei: the bigger picture here is to have some kind of BinSized z-sorting for some simple objects (i.e. params for quads like transforms, textures, colors, …) but not at layer level. right now i need this for a project with my students but i wanted to look into DX11 stuff at a plugin-level for a long time.
doing these kind of things with pins sounds interesting even though my usecase is not as fancy up until now.

system · December 1, 2018, 4:39pm

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