Surface Shader makes use of a unified rendering course of and construction that permits customers to put in writing shaders that concentrate on floor materials with out something associated to the lighting mannequin. The benefits over the older model (Legacy Shader) are simpler to put in writing and preserve, higher model compatibility, and fewer vulnerable to rendering errors. And you will get loads of public options from the unified course of, reminiscent of unified atmosphere lighting, rendering debug view and so on. Surface Shader additionally makes it simpler to offer quite a lot of widespread and sophisticated supplies to customers in Cocos Creator.

The common shadow map has a critical downside: when the projection space is giant, a really high-resolution shadow map texture is required to realize a very good shadow impact, which can exceed the bounds of the {hardware} capability. If the decision will not be elevated, the shadows might be jagged, shapeless and unclear, however lowering the projection space will end in a really brief shadow distance, objects a bit of additional away will lose their shadows. Adjusting the stability between shadow distance and shadow high quality is a significant headache and it has been in earlier variations.

CSM( Cascaded Shadow Maps ) divides the view frustum into a number of blocks from close to to far, with a smaller projection space for the close to block and a bigger projection space for the far block, which is equal to an adaptive shadow map, thus growing the utilization of shadow map texture a number of instances. It can have a really exact shadow for nearer objects and a simply nice shadow impact at an extended distance from the view level, so builders not must spend their time on shadow parameter settings.

This function gives quite a lot of customized show modes to assist customers examine points of fabric, lighting, and shadow show a lot quicker. It additionally permits customers to view particular scene data extra clearly and gives a reference foundation for optimization choices.

Since the specular of direct lighting are utilizing the GGX BRDF mannequin, for atmosphere lighting, the identical BRDF have to be used for spherical convolution with a purpose to make the lighting results of each gentle sources correspond. In addition, by storing the reflection data of various roughness within the corresponding mipmap stage, the convolution calculation can repair the next issues in comparison with the robotically generated mip maps:

1. Flooding and trailing of atmosphere lighting specular are drastically decreased
2. Different impact from Substance’s normal PBR materials
3. Difference between specular of direct lighting and atmosphere lighting

As proven under:

AutoGen Mipmaps

GGX Convolution

GGX Convolution vs. Direct Lighting vs. Auto Generated Mipmaps

With the good thing about Surface Shader, we are able to absolutely prolong the PBR lighting mannequin. In v3.6 there’s full help for isotropic and anisotropic supplies and lighting fashions of Direct Lighting and Environment Lighting. You can work with the Substance PBR materials library to create brushed metallic, hair, silk, and so on.

v3.6 has up to date a brand new model of editor person interface, and has made an all-round reconstruction with a purpose to obtain a “more coordinated” visible system, “more intuitive” visible suggestions, and “more immersive” interactive feeling. In the longer term, we are going to proceed to standardize design primarily based on Cocos’ design rules, proceed to replace and iterate, and proceed to optimize core interactions and workflows.

Development effectivity is a core worth that Cocos Creator locations nice significance on, and in v3.6, this has been additional improved. In addition to the “Preview in Browser” and the “Preview in Simulator”, builders can now use the “Preview in Editor” to preview the venture. In this mode, the scene supervisor will run the code straight, permitting builders to debug scenes in real-time. While bringing a seamless preview expertise, it additionally makes up for the shortcomings in debugging.

This function is at present in an experimental stage. We welcome you to present us extra suggestions about it. In the longer term, we may even proceed to concentrate on improvement effectivity and proceed to enhance person expertise in script compilation, venture debugging, and construct launch.

Animation Editor provides the power to embed gamers, builders can embed different particles and different animations in any animation. Moreover, it may be programmed in a method like enhancing tracks in video enhancing software program, with free adjustment of length and playback place.

After enhancing, the content material of the embedded participant will play together with this AnimationClip, which is supported in each the Animation part and Animation Graph. This function can also be accessible for animations from FBX, permitting for extra versatile results management and fixing the issue of imported animations being tough to re-edit.

Both particle and animation gamers are at present accessible in v3.6 and may be enabled within the Preferences > Laboratory.

To higher produce multilingual variations of tasks, v3.6 gives a built-in multilingual instrument, Localization Editor (L10n), which at present helps textual content translation and useful resource alternative. It is positioned to deeply combine with Cocos Creator and enhance the effectivity of translation via extremely automated instrument. In a codeless method, it’s very intuitive and lowers the utilization threshold.

Main Features:

1. Support for AI translation, at present related to Google and Youdao
2. Support for one-click extraction of every kind of content material that must be translated
3. Support for import and export Excel, csv, po information in batch
4. Support for real-time preview and useful resource alternative

Localization Editor is at present within the experimental stage and can present richer localization capabilities sooner or later, we look ahead to your feedbacks.

1. Support for Surface Snapping and Vertex Snapping
   Surface Snapping (Press and maintain ctrl/cmd + shift):
   
   Vertex Snapping (Press and maintain v):
   
2. Support for field choice, you may shortly choose a number of objects
   

1. Developers can freely choose and mix Build, Make, Run and different subtasks within the construct panel to execute
2. Resource Server Address has been used as a typical parameter for all platforms, and you may as well examine the useBuiltinServer choice to make use of the built-in server handle for straightforward native improvement testing
3. Optimized the duty scheduling of engine compilation and script compilation at construct time, with unbiased course of execution to cut back the reminiscence consumption of the construct course of
4. Add customized cmake instruments within the preferences panel that might be used when constructing native tasks
5. New onError hook operate within the construct course of to catch construct failures
6. Allow to show off Cache Build Engine, Cache Compressed Texture, Cache Auto Atlas in Preferences > Build

1. Support for thumbnail show of 3D meshes
2. Support for eradicating the body price restrict on the scene editor (lab function)
3. Supports filtering the Bundle folder straight within the belongings panel to shortly discover Bundles

For greater efficiency, extra real looking rendering, higher compatibility, extra scalability, and higher productiveness, the Cocos Engine crew has been iterating and refactoring the core engine framework constantly because the launch of model 3.3.

It took the engine crew greater than a yr to refactor the engine in a number of phases and modules to realize a big all-around enchancment whereas nonetheless sustaining compatibility with outdated tasks.

While bringing important efficiency enhancements and rendering enhancements, it additionally lays the groundwork for additional iterations of the engine sooner or later.

From the microcosm of v3.6, we are able to see the dedication of the Cocos Engine crew: to insist on fixed self-change to maintain up with the replace of {hardware} and the altering wants of our customers.

Another necessary milestone for v3.6 is that it reaches the identical stage of 2D rendering efficiency as v2.x. This signifies that v2.x customers can improve to v3.x with confidence. Based on the work of changing infrastructure to native C++ implementation, we now have made the 2D rendering knowledge construction, 2D batcher, and rendering course of all native in order that the 2D batching and rendering processes are carried out natively to realize v2.x’s efficiency. At this stage, there’s nonetheless some legacy work left to be executed, reminiscent of supporting Spine batching and fixing iOS WeChat drawbacks, however this additionally means that there’s a greater ceiling for 2D rendering efficiency v3.x wants us to interrupt via.

Native extensions can hyperlink to a developer’s current C/C++ code base, bind interfaces to the JS layer and be reused throughout tasks.

With the facility of CMake, extensions can flexibly combine supply information, static libraries or dynamic libraries. C/C++ interfaces may be exported on to the scripting layer utilizing the standard auto/guide binding mechanism, or utilizing the brand new sebind high-level interface added in v3.6. Once developed, the native extensions may be distributed individually as zip packages or packaged as editor extensions.

As the infrastructure for the next-generation customized rendering pipeline of our engine, we now have wrapped the higher-level RenderGraph on high of BodyGraph to offer a sequence of capabilities and APIs for constructing rendering pipelines extra simply. Includes typescript primarily based cross-platform pipeline description, materials system pre-processing, automated administration of assorted render states, transient render sources lifecycle administration, and different capabilities. We have already applied our net model ahead and deferred rendering pipeline with RenderGraph. In future releases this yr, we are going to replicate the native platform pipeline in its entirety, and open up the built-in pipeline customization capabilities primarily based on RenderGraph, reminiscent of including post-processing results. At the identical time, the power to supply a wholly custom-made rendering pipeline primarily based on RenderGraph might be absolutely open to builders.

1. Animation Graph helps preview whereas enhancing
   When enhancing the animation state machine, you may preview it in real-time to see the results of transition and mixing, and debug it shortly with out having to run the sport after every modification to see the end result.
2. Animation Graph helps renaming variables and Layers
3. Animation Graph helps sorting of transition strains to obviously see the precedence of the transitions
4. Animation Graph provides the “Destination Start Time” property, which permits the goal animation to start out enjoying from the desired place.
5. Animation Graph can now enable specified transitions to be interrupted by different transitions, this function may be enabled within the Preferences > Laboratory.

1. Add Noise Module to deliver a extra pure and controllable random movement impact to the particles
   
2. Models in particle methods help GPU Instancing to enhance emitter efficiency
3. Particle enhancing helps “Undo” operation, enhancing the effectivity of particle results creation
4. Support for previewing and controlling particle teams within the Hierarchy
   

1. Support for dynamic mesh, builders can now replace the mesh knowledge at runtime via API
2. Add new curve sort Spline to GeometryRenderer (help Linear, Bezier, Catmull-Rom curves)
3. Support for SpriteRenderer in 3D area
4. Fill z-values in UI vertex knowledge to help 3D Transform of UI
5. Support for prioritization of rendering elements
6. Supports entry to PCMData and sampleRate from audio
7. Support for terrain brush rotation
8. Support for terrain top brush
   
9. Support for utilizing tga format texture by gentle map baker
10. MeshRenderer robotically units the sunshine map useful resource for rendering
11. Update EditBox model for iOS native platform

When importing supplies, v3.6 helps Diffuse-Specular materials fashions (together with Phong and SpecularGlossiness PBR), which might intelligently convert materials parameters to plain Metallic Roughness PBR fashions. This lets you get a cloth illustration near that of the unique DCC software program with out altering the lighting mannequin.

Due to the limitation of the variety of uniforms, in CPU computed skeletal animation, when the variety of skeletons exceeds a sure worth, it’s not doable to retailer all of the skeleton knowledge by uniforms without delay, so within the earlier model, we could cut up the meshes and bones. We usually obtained suggestions that one in all our character fashions would take up a number of draw calls, primarily as a result of it was robotically cut up right here. What’s extra is that since splitting can’t be executed at runtime and may solely be pre-processed, our splitting standards can solely be used as a reference for decrease {hardware} gadgets and drivers (iPhone 6 WebGL), which could be very restricted for the variety of skeletons.

Therefore, Cocos Creator 3.6 has made a strategic optimization of this problem as follows:

• By default, the mannequin is not cut up, and no modifications are made to the imported mannequin knowledge (additionally preserve mannequin settings unchanged)
• If the variety of bones doesn’t exceed the restrict of the particular runtime driver, will probably be handed straight utilizing the uniforms
• If the variety of bones exceeds the restrict, will probably be handed utilizing textures

Note: Using textures to move skeletal animation knowledge requires the power to entry textures within the vertex shader. This function is minimally supported by OpenGL ES 3.0, WebGL 2.0. But depends on GL extensions, it has virtually 100% protection on gadgets which solely help OpenGL ES 2.0 and WebGL 1.0 , so there isn’t any want to fret about compatibility points.

This choice is at present retained solely to take care of compatibility with outdated tasks and might be thought of for removing when applicable.