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Sculpt Brush Refactor #118145

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opened 2024-02-12 17:27:23 +01:00 by Hans Goudey · 3 comments
Hans Goudey commented 2024-02-12 17:27:23 +01:00
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Background

Currently there are several design issues with sculpt code that make feature development and performance improvements too hard. Much of the code is written in a way that makes applying proven "modern" optimization concepts like data-oriented design too complicated or difficult.

On top of that, sculpt code often works, while things like semantic consistency and larger architectural challenges are still big issues.

The largest difficulty comes from the method of sharing code between sculpting implementations for the three different supported data structures: Mesh, BMesh, and multires grids. The current approach is to pass everything through the same code path using a large macro. At runtime, per vertex, the code switches based on the active data structure. Besides the obvious downsides of those constant checks embedded in hot loops, it poses a larger challenge by forcing code to be written for a single element (vertex) at a time. One of the simplest ways to improve performance is to process many elements together.

Design Changes

Here are the high level design goals of the brush refactor.

  • Use separate implementations of each brush per PBVH type. Code reuse should instead come from the use of common utilties, rather than systems that force different data through the same code path.
  • Remove most data stored/referenced in PBVH, so it is only used as an acceleration structure for raycasting that splits up geometry into multiple pieces.
  • Also remove much of the references in SculptSession. Instead access data as necessary during modal operations, and avoid redundant references in long term structs.
  • Remove most data from PBVHNode, separate node storage per PBVH type. Reduce per-node overhead to a minumum.
  • Reduce the size of PBVH nodes.
  • Use separate storage for leaf nodes and non-leaf nodes. Refer to leaf nodes by index.
  • Write brushes as a sequence of actions on arrays of data. Pull constant checks out of hot loops, avoiding unnecessary work without the runtime cost per-element.
  • Remove all permanent references to mesh data, including positions, color attributes, topology information, etc. Retrieve data as necessary before the start of each operation.
  • Move every brush action definition to its own file
  • Use a single GPU vertex buffer for all PBVH nodes to improve drawing performance, update ranges instead of entire buffers (see #97665 for other ideas)

Specific To Do

An incomplete list of to do items. Should be extended as necessary.

  • Automated performance testing
    • Initial benchmark file
  • Brush types
    • Draw
    • Draw Sharp
    • Smooth
    • Enhance Details
    • Surface Smooth
    • Scrape
    • Clay
    • Clay Strips
    • Clay Thumb
    • Snake Hook
    • Thumb
    • Rotate
    • Layer
    • Inflate
    • Nudge
    • Crease
    • Blob
    • Pinch
    • Grab
    • Elastic Deform
    • Topology Slide
    • Topology Relax
    • Displacement Eraser
    • Displacement Smear
    • Topology Rake
    • Mask
    • Fill
    • Flatten
    • Draw Face Set
    • Relax Face Set
    • Cloth
    • Pose
    • Multi-plane Scrape
    • Color painting
    • Boundary brush
  • Change automasking code to work on arrays
  • Change SculptBrushTestFn to works on arrays
  • Change brush curve strength factor calculation to work on arrays
    • Remove function pointer and type
  • Use IndexMask to address PBVH nodes by index
  • Push many undo nodes at once
  • Only access original and deformed positions in brushes (see node in code)
  • Completely remove BKE_pbvh_vertex_iter_begin
    • Remove macro for multires brush functions
    • Remove macro for BMesh brush functions'
    • Expand
    • Weight paint mode
    • Vertex paint mode
    • Gravity
    • Transform
  • Completely remove PBVHVertRef
  • Completely remove old vertex neighbors API
  • Replace usage of sculpt attribute API
  • Remove data from SculptSession
    • Topology maps
    • Color attribute data
    • Mesh topology arrays
    • Depsgraph
    • Region, scene, 3D view
  • Remove more data stored in PBVH
    • Vertex and face normals
    • Vertex positions
    • Mesh topology arrays
    • Mesh pointer
    • Color attribute information
    • BMesh pointer
    • SubdivCCG pointer
    • Viewport clipping planes
  • Data oriented storage of values in PBVH nodes
    • Use separate PBVH node types for mesh, multires, and BMesh
    • Separate "pixels" data from each PBVH node, store in separate array.
    • Separate array of non-leaf nodes with just bounds and child indices
    • Separate update tags to separate boolean arrays and/or index masks
    • Remove "color buffer"
    • Figure out what orig_vb is
    • Move original bounds to a separate array
  • Replace "fake neighbors" (SculptFakeNeighbors) API with code specific to the pose brush
  • Remove "proxies" system
  • Topology islands cache
  • Preview lines drawing
  • Mesh filter
  • Color filter
  • Mask filter
## Background Currently there are several design issues with sculpt code that make feature development and performance improvements too hard. Much of the code is written in a way that makes applying proven "modern" optimization concepts like data-oriented design too complicated or difficult. On top of that, sculpt code often *works*, while things like semantic consistency and larger architectural challenges are still big issues. The largest difficulty comes from the method of sharing code between sculpting implementations for the three different supported data structures: Mesh, BMesh, and multires grids. The current approach is to pass everything through the same code path using a large macro. At runtime, per vertex, the code switches based on the active data structure. Besides the obvious downsides of those constant checks embedded in hot loops, it poses a larger challenge by forcing code to be written for a single element (vertex) at a time. One of the simplest ways to improve performance is to process many elements together. ## Design Changes Here are the high level design goals of the brush refactor. - Use separate implementations of each brush per PBVH type. Code reuse should instead come from the use of common utilties, rather than systems that force different data through the same code path. - Remove most data stored/referenced in `PBVH`, so it is _only_ used as an acceleration structure for raycasting that splits up geometry into multiple pieces. - Also remove much of the references in `SculptSession`. Instead access data as necessary during modal operations, and avoid redundant references in long term structs. - Remove most data from `PBVHNode`, separate node storage per PBVH type. Reduce per-node overhead to a minumum. - Reduce the size of PBVH nodes. - Use separate storage for leaf nodes and non-leaf nodes. Refer to leaf nodes by index. - Write brushes as a sequence of actions on _arrays_ of data. Pull constant checks out of hot loops, avoiding unnecessary work without the runtime cost per-element. - Remove all permanent references to mesh data, including positions, color attributes, topology information, etc. Retrieve data as necessary before the start of each operation. - Move every brush action definition to its own file - Use a single GPU vertex buffer for all PBVH nodes to improve drawing performance, update ranges instead of entire buffers (see #97665 for other ideas) ## Specific To Do An incomplete list of to do items. Should be extended as necessary. - [x] Automated performance testing - [x] Initial benchmark file - [x] Brush types - [x] Draw - [x] Draw Sharp - [x] Smooth - [x] Enhance Details - [x] Surface Smooth - [x] Scrape - [x] Clay - [x] Clay Strips - [x] Clay Thumb - [x] Snake Hook - [x] Thumb - [x] Rotate - [x] Layer - [x] Inflate - [x] Nudge - [x] Crease - [x] Blob - [x] Pinch - [x] Grab - [x] Elastic Deform - [x] Topology Slide - [x] Topology Relax - [x] Displacement Eraser - [x] Displacement Smear - [x] Topology Rake - [x] Mask - [x] Fill - [x] Flatten - [x] Draw Face Set - [x] Relax Face Set - [x] Cloth - [x] Pose - [x] Multi-plane Scrape - [x] Color painting - [x] Boundary brush - [x] Change automasking code to work on arrays - [x] Change `SculptBrushTestFn` to works on arrays - [x] Change brush curve strength factor calculation to work on arrays - [x] Remove function pointer and type - [x] Use `IndexMask` to address PBVH nodes by index - [x] Push many undo nodes at once - [x] Only access original and deformed positions in brushes (see node in code) - [x] Completely remove `BKE_pbvh_vertex_iter_begin` - [x] Remove macro for multires brush functions - [x] Remove macro for BMesh brush functions' - [x] Expand - [x] Weight paint mode - [x] Vertex paint mode - [x] Gravity - [x] Transform - [ ] Completely remove `PBVHVertRef` - [x] Completely remove old vertex neighbors API - [x] Replace usage of sculpt attribute API - [ ] Remove data from `SculptSession` - [ ] Topology maps - [x] Color attribute data - [x] Mesh topology arrays - [x] Depsgraph - [ ] Region, scene, 3D view - [ ] Remove more data stored in `PBVH` - [x] Vertex and face normals - [x] Vertex positions - [x] Mesh topology arrays - [x] Mesh pointer - [x] Color attribute information - [x] BMesh pointer - [x] SubdivCCG pointer - [ ] Viewport clipping planes - [ ] Data oriented storage of values in PBVH nodes - [x] Use separate PBVH node types for mesh, multires, and BMesh - [ ] Separate "pixels" data from each PBVH node, store in separate array. - [ ] Separate array of non-leaf nodes with just bounds and child indices - [x] Separate update tags to separate boolean arrays and/or index masks - [x] Remove "color buffer" - [x] Figure out what `orig_vb` is - [ ] Move original bounds to a separate array - [x] Replace "fake neighbors" (`SculptFakeNeighbors`) API with code specific to the pose brush - [x] Remove "proxies" system - [x] Topology islands cache - [x] Preview lines drawing - [x] Mesh filter - [x] Color filter - [x] Mask filter
multires_brush_benchmark.blend
853 KiB
dyntopo_brush_benchmark.blend
852 KiB
brush_benchmark.blend
833 KiB
👍 27 👎 1 👀 1 ❤️ 12 🎉 5 🚀 16
Hans Goudey added the
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Hans Goudey added this to the Sculpt, Paint & Texture project 2024-02-12 17:27:31 +01:00
Julien Kaspar added the
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 label 2024-02-13 11:55:49 +01:00
Raul Fernandez Hernandez commented 2024-02-13 15:32:50 +01:00
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This redesign will bring a huge performance improvement by taking a more cache friendly data oriented design

This redesign will bring a huge performance improvement by taking a more cache friendly data oriented design
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Blender Bot added the
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Iliya Katushenock removed the
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Joseph Eagar commented 2024-02-18 18:16:12 +01:00
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"Use separate implementations of each brush per PBVH type. Code reuse should instead come from the use of common utilties, rather than systems that force different data through the same code path."

There's no need to make individual brush implementations per PBVH type. The vast majority of brushes should use the common utilities you mentioned. The draw brush is the easiest case, but you should be able to build a few utilities for clay brushes (which are all based on projecting vertices to a plane).

"Use separate implementations of each brush per PBVH type. Code reuse should instead come from the use of common utilties, rather than systems that force different data through the same code path." There's no need to make _individual_ brush implementations per PBVH type. The vast majority of brushes should use the common utilities you mentioned. The draw brush is the easiest case, but you should be able to build a few utilities for clay brushes (which are all based on projecting vertices to a plane).
Hans Goudey commented 2024-09-06 18:42:12 +02:00
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Forgot to reference this task in #127162 / 5e63435e74. Just noting it here so we still consider it part of this project.

Forgot to reference this task in #127162 / 5e63435e749ab2cba3ebaf1a1af04848e63d15f2. Just noting it here so we still consider it part of this project.
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