Rendering an already-loaded mesh using qt3d

[no name]

I have code which generates a mesh, i.e., as a N x 3 array of doubles V of the 3D points and another M x 3 array of integers F of the triangles. How can I render this mesh via qt3d (note the mesh is generated and hence not loaded from a file)? As far as I understand I need to create my own QGeometryRenderer, QGeometry, QBuffer, QAttribute.
Also - I've googled near and far but couldn't find any example showing how to do this, nor proper documentation of, e.g., the QGeometryRenderer class, explaining how to use it. Am I missing some resource?

[eureka]

My attempt to post a reply to your question was unfortunately misunderstood as a hijacking of your thread.

You decide if it is relevant: https://forum.qt.io/topic/63457/qt3d-vs-matplotlib

[kshegunov]

@no-name
Hello,
I don't think there's a proper documentation. Qt3D is still a tech-preview, so you'll probably need to ask your question in the interest mail group. The developers are pretty quick to respond, so hopefully they'll be able to provide assistance.

Kind regards.

[Wieland]

@eureka Sorry if I misunderstood you. To me the OP's question is that she wants to know how to solve a particular problem with Qt3D. The Python library, matplotlib, you mentioned is something completly different. Matplotlib is for data plotting. Qt3D is a general purpose 3D graphics rendering framework. Like you said you had your own question: "... when to use Qt native classes vs. external python classes for data visualisation?" I split up the topics so that both questions could receive proper answers.

[Wieland]

Hi @no-name! I was able to create a QGeometryRenderer derived class that generates a single triangle. The code is based on the tesselation modes example. Starting from this it should be easy to let it generate more complex geometries. A single word of warning: I made this with Qt 5.6.0 beta and the API has changed slightly compared to Qt 5.5.1. It's basically only about renaming some classes/namespaces but I'd recommend to use Qt 5.6.0 beta, too. The class I present here is called "QuadMesh" but it is actually a triangle! Sorry for the confusion ^_^. I'll only post the most important pieces but I can post a complete example if you want.

main.cpp

#include <QGuiApplication>
#include <QtQml>

#include "quadmesh.h"

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QGuiApplication app(argc, argv);

    qmlRegisterType<QuadMesh>("de.wplm.mesh", 1, 0, "QuadMesh");

    QQmlApplicationEngine engine;
    engine.load(QUrl(QStringLiteral("qrc:/main.qml")));
    return app.exec();
}

quadmesh.h

#ifndef QUADMESH_H
#define QUADMESH_H

#include <Qt3DRender/qgeometryrenderer.h>

class QuadMesh : public Qt3DRender::QGeometryRenderer
{
    Q_OBJECT
public:
    explicit QuadMesh(Qt3DCore::QNode *parent = 0);
    ~QuadMesh();
};

#endif // QUADMESH_H

quadmesh.cpp

#include "quadmesh.h"

#include <Qt3DRender/qattribute.h>
#include <Qt3DRender/qbuffer.h>
#include <Qt3DRender/qgeometry.h>

// begin: geometry class

class QuadMeshGeometry : public Qt3DRender::QGeometry
{
    Q_OBJECT
public:
    QuadMeshGeometry(Qt3DCore::QNode *parent = Q_NULLPTR)
        : Qt3DRender::QGeometry(parent)
        , m_positionAttribute(new Qt3DRender::QAttribute(this))
        , m_vertexBuffer(new Qt3DRender::QBuffer(Qt3DRender::QBuffer::VertexBuffer, this))
    {
        const float positionData[] = {
            -0.8f, -0.8f, 0.0f,
             0.8f, -0.8f, 0.0f,
             0.8f,  0.8f, 0.0f //,
           // -0.8f,  0.8f, 0.0f
        };

        const int nVerts = 3;
        const int size = nVerts * 3 * sizeof(float);
        QByteArray positionBytes;
        positionBytes.resize(size);
        memcpy(positionBytes.data(), positionData, size);

        m_vertexBuffer->setData(positionBytes);

        m_positionAttribute->setName(Qt3DRender::QAttribute::defaultPositionAttributeName());
        m_positionAttribute->setDataType(Qt3DRender::QAttribute::Float);
        m_positionAttribute->setDataSize(3);
        m_positionAttribute->setCount(nVerts);
        m_positionAttribute->setByteStride(3 * sizeof(float));
        m_positionAttribute->setBuffer(m_vertexBuffer);

        //setVerticesPerPatch(3);
        addAttribute(m_positionAttribute);
    }

private:
    Qt3DRender::QAttribute *m_positionAttribute;
    Qt3DRender::QBuffer *m_vertexBuffer;
};

// end: geometry class

QuadMesh::QuadMesh(QNode *parent)
    : Qt3DRender::QGeometryRenderer(parent)
{
    setPrimitiveType(Qt3DRender::QGeometryRenderer::Triangles); // !!!
    setGeometry(new QuadMeshGeometry(this));
}

QuadMesh::~QuadMesh()
{
    QNode::cleanup();
}

#include "quadmesh.moc"

In your qml files

import de.wplm.mesh 1.0 // import QuadMesh
// Scene3D, entity, etc...
QuadMesh { //  QuadMesh instance
        id: mesh
}

Hope this helps!

[Wieland]

Here are some more vertices that make up a small shell with 8 triangles:

        const float positionData[] = {
            0.0f, 0.0f, 0.3f,
            0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,
            1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,

            1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,
            1.0f, 1.0f, -0.3f,
            2.0f, 0.0f, 0.3f,

            0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,
            0.0f, 2.0f, 0.3f,
            1.0f, 1.0f, -0.3f,

            1.0f, 1.0f, -0.3f,
            1.0f, 2.0f, 0.0f,
            2.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,

            1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,
            0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,
            1.0f, 1.0f, -0.3f,

            2.0f, 0.0f, 0.3f,
            1.0f, 1.0f, -0.3f,
            2.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,

            1.0f, 1.0f, -0.3f,
            0.0f, 2.0f, 0.3f,
            1.0f, 2.0f, 0.0f,

            2.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,
            1.0f, 2.0f, 0.0f,
            2.0f, 2.0f, 0.3f
        };

        const int nVerts = 8*3;

The result looks like this: