Hi there, [short version] Some misinformation is being spread [1][2] about the OpenGL support in the upcoming Blender 2.8. So I would like to take the chance to clear the air:
The plan is to support OpenGL 3.3 as a minimum for a fully working Blender. But also benefit from newer GL version and extensions when available. The trick here is to define what is a fully working Blender, and what we can consider optional advanced behaviour. [ now for more optional details ] For an specific example, we want to implement a lazy shader compilation system. Excerpt from an (yet) unpublished planning document: """ Lazy shader compilation It doesn’t matter how fast shader compilation gets, or how well the OS handles shader caching. To open a .blend will be slow and blocking for real heavy production files. (...). A solution is to have a fallback shader used for all objects, and compile new shaders a few at a time, never passing a hardcoded "waiting time" threshold. """ In OpenGL 3.3, there is no way to compile a shader that is not blocking. So Blender will be frozen while doing so. In OpenGL 4.5 with the ARB_parallel_shader_compile extension we finally can get past this. In this case there is no reason not to support this extension when available, and we will work towards that. Another example is OpenSubdiv, which may require CPU fallback if not entirely supported in old hardware. In both those cases going from a 3.3 to a 4.5 OpenGL computer will only affect the overall performance, which is acceptable(-ish). Now, if any new feature cannot be implemented with OpenGL 3.3, and there is no look-alike fallback is a different case altogether. If we still want to support the use of renderfarms, and such, we will need to stay away from those. Or at least to mark the features as experimental. [1] - https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?406129&p=3232354#post3232354 [2] - https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?406129&p=3232702#post3232702 Regards, Dalai -- blendernetwork.org/dalai-felinto www.dalaifelinto.com _______________________________________________ Bf-committers mailing list [email protected] https://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
