In principle, Vertex Color permits to paint a mannequin with out having to hassle with textures. This is sort of frequent in CAD.

In observe, it is only one extra slot you need to use to push information into the vertex, which you then use within the vertex shader to do loopy stuff.

“Isn’t a vertex easy level on 3D area?”

That’s what I used to assume, once I first began with 3D. I realized shortly that I used to be mistaken.

You can consider a vertex as a knowledge blob that makes up a nook of a triangle you wish to paint on display screen (and neither the “nook” half nor the “triangle”, “paint”, or “display screen” components are at all times true). Position is one -optional – facet of that information blob we name Vertex.

There is rather a lot you are able to do by attaching further information to the vertex. The most well-known instance is that you may add uv coordinates to attract a texture on that triangle. You (often) cannot resolve what a part of a texture to attract on the triangle should you simply have a degree – you want texture coordinates too.

Other standars examples of what is in that blob are normals, and tangents. What’s necessary is that each one of them are non-compulsory, together with the place. Vertex Color is only one of those non-compulsory inputs that you need to use or abuse to create a reasonably image on the display screen.