Vulkan C++ Examples

This repository contains Vulkan examples written in modern C++20, structured in a granular, step-by-step progression from basic to advanced concepts. Each example builds incrementally on the previous ones, making it easier to understand Vulkan's low-level API in a practical way. These examples will first cover the basic features of Vulkan, and then include examples of implementing techniques such as real-time lighting, real-time shadowing, PBR, post-processing, ray tracing etc. using Vulkan.

• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Clone
  • Build and Run
• General Info
  • Common Parameters
• All Examples
  • Fundamentals
  • Real-Time Lighting
  • Real-Time Shadows
• Environment Support
• Contributing
  • Code of Conduct
  • How to Contribute?
• License

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before start, you should download and install the latest LunarG Vulkan SDK from here (1.4.328.1 version has been tested): https://vulkan.lunarg.com/sdk/home

To compile and test the examples, CMake 3.31+ is recommended. All third party libraries are added with using Git Submodule. Therefore, you do not need to worry about installing them separately. Here is a list of 3rd party libraries (repos):

• GLFW
• glm (OpenGL Mathematics)
• tinygltf

NOTE: Normally, the stb_image library is also used for texture loading. However, this library is already integrated with the tinygltf library.

Clone

To clone this repository, you should run this command on your local terminal:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/myemural/VulkanCppExamples.git

Since this project contains various submodule dependencies, you will then need to run the following commands:

git submodule init
git submodule update

Build and Run

Every example has its own directory and CMake target. You can build what you want with CMake command line tools or IDE tools. Additionally, the built examples create executable files in the bin/<CONFIG> directory. You can run any example from this directory.

General Info

Common Parameters

Window Parameters

| Parameter / Key | Type | Usage in Code | Description | Default Value | |--------------------|---------------|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------|---------------| | Window.Width | std::uint32_t | WindowParams::Width | Initial width of the window (in pixel) | 800 | | Window.Height | std::uint32_t | WindowParams::Height | Initial height of the window (in pixel) | 600 | | Window.Title | std::string | WindowParams::Title | Title of the window | | | Window.Resizable | bool | WindowParams::Resizable | Specifies window is resizable or not | false |

Vulkan Parameters

| Parameter / Key | Type | Usage in Code | Description | Default Value | |---------------------------|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------------| | Vulkan.ApplicationName | std::string | VulkanParams::ApplicationName | Name of the Vulkan application | | | Vulkan.VulkanApiVersion | std::uint32_t | VulkanParams::VulkanApiVersion | Version of the Vulkan API | VK_API_VERSION_1_0 | | Vulkan.ApplicationVersion | std::uint32_t | VulkanParams::ApplicationVersion | Version of the Vulkan application | VK_MAKE_VERSION(1, 0, 0) | | Vulkan.EngineName | std::string | VulkanParams::EngineName | Name of the engine | "DefaultEngine" | | Vulkan.EngineVersion | std::uint32_t | VulkanParams::EngineVersion | Version of the engine | VK_MAKE_VERSION(1, 0, 0) | | Vulkan.InstanceLayers | std::vector<std::string> | VulkanParams::InstanceLayers | List of the instance layers | | | Vulkan.InstanceExtensions | std::vector<std::string> | VulkanParams::InstanceExtensions | List of the instance extensions | |

All Examples

Fundamentals

• Basics
  • Creating a Window
  • Getting Vulkan and Device Info
  • Clear Screen with a Color
  • Drawing a Single Color Triangle
  • Drawing Multiple Triangles
  • Drawing Multicolor Triangles
  • Drawing a Quad with Indices
  • Drawing with Different Topologies
  • Using Staging Buffer
• Descriptor Sets
  • Changing Color of a Triangle with Uniform Buffer
  • Using Different UBs for Different Areas of the Screen
  • Rotating and Scaling a Square Constantly
  • Change Square Color with Keyboard Input
  • Multiple Transform with Descriptor Arrays
• Images and Samplers
  • Textured Quad
  • Combined Image Sampler
  • Using Different Wrap and Filtering Modes
  • Using Multiple Textures
  • Drawing Transparent Texture to Quads
  • Using Texture Atlases
• Drawing 3D
  • Drawing a Cube
  • Basic Camera Control
  • Face Culling
  • Instanced Rendering
  • Depth Testing Operations
• Pipelines And Passes
  • Changing Blending Factor with Dynamic State
  • Using Multiple Pipelines and Pipeline Derivatives
  • Object Outlining with Stencil Testing
  • Using Multiple Subpasses and Input Attachments
  • Using Multiple Render Passes
  • Rendering Scene to a Texture
• Swap Chains and Viewports
  • Handling Window Resizing
  • Using Multi-Viewports for Different Colors
  • Split Screen with Dynamic Viewport
  • Scissor Animation
• Model Loading
  • Rendering glTF Mesh with Wireframe
  • Rendering Textured glTF Mesh
  • Multiple glTF Meshes and Node Transformations
  • Camera Usage with glTF
• Multisampling
  • MSAA Basics
  • Sample Shading
  • Explicit Resolving
• Compute Shaders
  • Fullscreen Moving Gradient Generator
  • Checkerboard Texture Generator
  • Mandelbrot Fractal Rendering
  • Basic GPU-Generated Particle Effect
• Queries and Performance
  • Visibility Check with Occlusion Queries
  • [Measuring The GPU Time with Timestamp Queries](/Examples/Fundamentals/Quer