pygfx 0.13.0 on Python PyPI

Introduction

This release represents a lot of work on refactoring how PyGfx deals with transparency. We recommend reading https://docs.pygfx.org/latest/transparency.html to learn how PyGfx works now.

The most important changes related to transparency:

The renderer.blend_mode is no more. Some modes like the 'ordered2' and 'weighted_plus' no longer exist. Instead, you can now set material.alpha_mode on each object separately. Yes, you can mix different modes in the same scene.

It does mean that as a user you'll have to be a bit more aware of whether your objects are transparent, and how to approach that. In short, the default material.alpha_mode='auto' works fine for opaque and most semi-transparent objects, as well as for objects that have mixed opaque/transparent fragments. But if you know your object is opaque, use alpha_mode='solid', and if it's transparent, use alpha_mode='blend'. For more context check https://docs.pygfx.org/latest/transparency.html#a-quick-guide-to-select-alpha-mode

We also changed some things on how we approach anti-aliasing:

The SSAA (super-sample anti-aliasing) that we already applied now uses an improved filter (the Mitchell filter). The same improved filter is also used for upsampling. Also see the new renderer.pixel_scale and renderer.pixel_filter.
We added support for PPAA (post-processing anti-aliasing) to improve the smoothness of the rendered result. It's enabled by default. See the new renderer.ppaa.
The material.aa for text lines and points is now off by default, to prevent blending artifacts. Though we recommend turning it on for text for higher quality glyphs.
See https://docs.pygfx.org/latest/aa.html for details.

API changes

Objects and materials:

Removed WorldObject.render_mask.
Added Material.alpha_mode, default is 'auto'.
Adeded .alpha_config, .alpha_method (setting alpha_mode also sets these).
Added Material.render_queue, default is None (auto).
Added Material.depth_write, default is None (auto).
Added `Material.depth_compare, default is "<".
Added Material.alpha_test.
Added Material.alpha_compare, default is "<".
Removed material.color_is_transparent for Line, Mesh, Points, Text. Use material.color.a < 1 instead.
Removed material.edge_color_is_transparent for Points. Use material.edge_color.a < 1 instead.
Removed material.outline_color_is_transparent for Text. Use material.outline_color.a < 1 instead.

Renderer:

Removed Renderer.blend_mode.
The renderer.sort_objects is True by default.
The renderer's sorting logic is completely overhauled.
Added renderer.effect_passes.
Added renderer.ppaa.
Added renderer.pixel_scale.
The renderer.pixel_filter is now a string instead of an int.
Added renderer.clear() to clear render targets.

Commits

Changes related to transparency and anti-aliasing

Simplify blending by @almarklein in #1002
Add support for post-processing effects by @almarklein in #1114
Improve the interpolation filter in flush by @almarklein in #1121
Fix that snapshot may not include the last effect by @almarklein in #1126
Syncing ssaa.wgsl by @almarklein in #1131
Improve dithered alpha_mode by @almarklein in #1139
Add support for FXAA and DDAA by @almarklein in #1117
remove unused variable in image_stitching example by @hmaarrfk in #1143
Add docs for blending by @almarklein in #1124
Implement material.alpha_mode to replace .blending and .transparent by @almarklein in #1144
Allow calling renderer.clear(depth=True, color=True) by @hmaarrfk in #1170
Rename alpha-method 'composite' to 'blended' by @almarklein in #1172
Add renderer.pixel_scale by @almarklein in #1174
Turn off material.aa by default by @almarklein in #1171
Enable weighted blending between calls to render by @hmaarrfk in #1148
Add docs on aa by @almarklein in #1173
Make background use alpha_mode and render_queue correctly by @almarklein in #1180
Add material.alpha_method (readonly) by @almarklein in #1184
Refactor logic related to 'auto' mode by @almarklein in #1186
Tweak docs by @almarklein in #1188
Add arg to Ruler for alpha_mode of child objects by @almarklein in #1189
Remove that material.opacity affects alpha logic by @almarklein in #1190
Small tweak to docs of render_queue by @almarklein in #1194

Changes to the engine

Add support for custom orbit center in OrbitController by @panxinmiao in #1115
Cloth Simulation with Compute Shaders by @panxinmiao in #1116
Fix that the ruler did not take world transform into account by @almarklein in #1130
update roll by @sawbz in #1134
Fix pan in orbit controller by @almarklein in #1135
fix GLTFMaterialsSheenExtension by @panxinmiao in #1150
Fixed some edge cases in the Interpolant by @panxinmiao in #1154
Implement GpuCache with LRU strategy (split from #974) by @panxinmiao in #1142
Add EXT_texture_webp support by @panxinmiao in #1155
Support KHR_draco_mesh_compression by @panxinmiao in #1159
Fix keyframe optimization by @panxinmiao in #1166
Fix docstring of get_bounding_box by @almarklein in #1178
Make sure the pick face coords add up to one by @almarklein in #1179
Support GLTF alphaMode by @almarklein in #1177
Dereference world-object in case its a weakproxy by @almarklein in #1183
Can use wgpu 0.23 by @almarklein in #1193

Other changes

Use rendercanvas in all our examples by @almarklein in #1127
Minor tweaks to avoid warnings in CI by @almarklein in #1129
Fix vertical text because uharfbuzz 0.51 broke something by @hmaarrfk in #1151
Update uharfbuzz constraint for future proofing by @hmaarrfk in #1152
Adjust how version is reported when one checkouts a tag by @hmaarrfk in #1153
Update validation example screenshot by @almarklein in #1161
updated "expected 1.0" to 1 year from today by @hmaarrfk in #1160
Add dedicated email address to coc by @almarklein in #1181
Update _version.py by @almarklein in #1185
Add slotscheck to CI by @almarklein in #1187
Switch to trusted publishing for PyPI publish in CI by @EpicWink in #1192

New Contributors

@sawbz made their first contribution in #1134
@EpicWink made their first contribution in #1192

Full Changelog: v0.12.0...v0.13.0

pygfx 0.13.0 v0.13.0 on Python PyPI