luma.gl/docs/api-reference/core/model.md

Model

For most luma.gl applications, the Model class is probably the most important class. It holds all the data necessary to draw an object in luma.gl, e.g.:

• shaders (via a Program instance)
• shader modules see Shader Modules
• vertex attributes (e.g. a Geometry instance, plus any additional attributes for instanced rendering)
• uniforms these can also reference textures.

It offers:

• Simple boolean flags for selecting indexed and/or instanced rendering.
• A "unified" render method that binds all attributes, uniforms and textures, selects (uses) the program, and calls the right gl draw call for the model.
• Setting buffers and more.

Usage

Provide attribute data using Geometry object

Create model object by passing shaders, uniforms, geometry and render it by passing updated uniforms.

// construct the model.
const model =  new Model(gl, {
  vs: VERTEX_SHADER,
  fs: FRAGMENT_SHADER,
  uniforms: {uSampler: texture},
  geometry: geometryObject,
})

// and on each frame update any uniforms (typically matrices) and call render.
model.render({
  uPMatrix: currentProjectionMatrix,
  uMVMatrix: current ModelViewMatrix
});

Provide attribute data using Buffer

When using Buffer objects, data remains on GPU and same Buffer object can be shared between multiple models.

// construct the model.
const model =  new Model(gl, {
  vs: VERTEX_SHADER,
  fs: FRAGMENT_SHADER,
  uniforms: {uSampler: texture},
  attributes: {
    attributeName1: bufferObject,
    attributeName2: {data: new Float32Array(...), size: 3, type: GL.FLOAT} // new buffer object will be constructed
  }
  drawMode: gl.TRIANGLE_FAN,
  vertexCount: 3,
})

// and on each frame update any uniforms (typically matrices) and call render.
model.render({
  uPMatrix: currentProjectionMatrix,
  uMVMatrix: current ModelViewMatrix
});

Provide attribute data using VertexArray object

A VertexArray object can be build and passed to Model.draw() to provide attribute data. Attribute data can be changed by changing VertexArray object.

// construct the model.
const model =  new Model(gl, {
  vs: VERTEX_SHADER,
  fs: FRAGMENT_SHADER,
  uniforms: {uSampler: texture},
  drawMode: gl.TRIANGLE_FAN,
  vertexCount: 3,
})

const ATTRIBUTE1_LOCATION = 0;
const ATTRIBUTE2_LOCATION = 1;
const vertexArray1 = new VertexArray(gl, {
  buffers: {
    [ATTRIBUTE1_LOCATION]: buffer1,
    [ATTRIBUTE2_LOCATION]: buffer2
  }
});
const vertexArray2 = new VertexArray(gl, {
  buffers: {
    [ATTRIBUTE1_LOCATION]: buffer3,
    [ATTRIBUTE2_LOCATION]: buffer4
  }
});

//Render using attribute data from vertexArray1.
model.draw({
  uniforms: {
    uPMatrix: currentProjectionMatrix,
    uMVMatrix: current ModelViewMatrix
  },
  vertexArray: vertexArray1
});

// Switch attribute data to vertexArray2
model.draw({
  uniforms: {
    uPMatrix: currentProjectionMatrix,
    uMVMatrix: current ModelViewMatrix
  },
  vertexArray: vertexArray2
});

Methods

constructor

The constructor for the Model class. Use this to create a new Model.

new Model(gl, options);

• gl - WebGL context.
• vs - (VertexShader|string) - A vertex shader object, or source as a string.
• fs - (FragmentShader|string) - A fragment shader object, or source as a string.
• varyings (WebGL2) - An array of vertex shader output variables, that needs to be recorded (used in TransformFeedback flow).
• bufferMode (WebGL2) - Mode to be used when recording vertex shader outputs (used in TransformFeedback flow). Default value is gl.SEPARATE_ATTRIBS.
• modules - shader modules to be applied.
• moduleSettings - any uniforms needed by shader modules.
• program - pre created program to use, when provided, vs, ps and modules are not used.
• shaderCache - (ShaderCache) - Compiled shader (Vertex and Fragment) are cached in this object very first time they got compiled and then retrieved when same shader is used. When using multiple Model objects with duplicate shaders, use the same shaderCache object for better performance.
• isInstanced - default value is false.
• instanceCount - default value is 0.
• vertexCount - when not provided will be deduced from geometry object.
• uniforms - uniform values to be used for drawing.
• geometry - geometry object, from which attributes, vertex count and drawing mode are deduced.
• onBeforeRender - function to be called before every time this model is drawn.
• onAfterRender - function to be called after every time this model is drawn.

delete

Free WebGL resources associated with this model

setNeedsRedraw

Set the redraw flag for the model. It is recommended that the redraw flag is a string so that redraw reasons can be traced.

getNeedsRedraw

• clearRedrawFlags - clear the redraw flag

Gets the value of the redraw flag.

setDrawMode

Sets the WebGL drawMode.

GL.POINTS etc.

getDrawMode

Gets the WebGL drawMode

setVertexCount

Sets the number of vertices

getVertexCount

Gets vertex count Note: might be autocalculated from Geometry

setInstanceCount

How many instances will be rendered

getInstanceCount

Defaults to 0

getProgram

Get model's Program instance

varyingMap

Returns the programs varyingMap

setGeometry

Get model's Geometry instance

getAttributes

Get a map of named attributes

setAttributes

Sets map of attributes (Attribute instances)

getUniforms

Returns map of currently stored uniforms

setUniforms

Stores named uniforms {key, value}

updateModuleSettings

draw

Renders the model with provided uniforms, attributes and samplers

model.draw({
  moduleSettings = null,
  uniforms = {},
  attributes = {},
  samplers = {},
  parameters = {},
  settings,
  framebuffer = null,
  vertexArray = null,
  transformFeedback = null
});

• moduleSettings=null (Object) - any uniforms needed by shader modules.
• uniforms={} (Object) - uniform values to be used for drawing.
• attributes={} (Object) - attribute definitions to be used for drawing.
• samplers={} (Object) - texture mappings to be used for drawing.
• parameters={} (Object) - temporary gl settings to be applied to this draw call.
• framebuffer=null (Framebuffer) - if provided, renders into the supplied framebuffer, otherwise renders to the default framebuffer.
• transformFeedback - an instance TranformFeedback object, that gets activated for this rendering.
• vertexArray - an instance of VertexArray object, that holds required buffer bindings for vertex shader inputs.

render

Render the model. The main difference from Model.draw is historical, render does not use named parameters.

model.render(
  uniforms,
  attributes,
  samplers,
  transformFeedback,
  parameters,
  vertexArray
);

• uniforms={} - uniform values to be used for drawing.
• attributes={} - attribute definitions to be used for drawing. Each value can be a plain object, an Attribute instance or a Buffer instance.
• samplers={} - texture mappings to be used for drawing.
• transformFeedback - a TranformFeedback object, that gets activated for this rendering.

Remarks

• All instance methods in Model are chainable (unless they return a documented value).