Introduction

Now we come to the chapter of effects. In the earlier days of 3D programming based on OpenGL, the final results of an effect were based on the use of state attributes and modes. Even the best developers may have various difficulties to create a realistic enough effect. Ray tracing could be a good choice for light computation but it hardly works in real-time environments. And the limited number of fixed pipeline attributes is also the bottleneck for the development of real-time rendering.

The birth of programmable pipeline changed everything. Modern rendering techniques depend heavily on shaders and can produce infinite types of effects. People can design their own vertex, primitive assemble, tessellation, and pixel-computing solutions freely. Some other advanced methods, such as post processing, deferred shading, deferred lighting, and the latest global illumination techniques, were also developed in a very rapid way.