Polygon Occluder Culling

Introduction

One method of occlusion culling is to explicitly define a shape which will block out objects behind it. This is called a Polygon Occluder and is represented in Panda by the OccluderNode.

Creating an OccluderNode

An occluder is defined by four vertices. The order of the vertices is important as this defines which way the normal of the polygon is facing.

PT(OccluderNode) occluder = new OccluderNode("my occluder",
   LPoint3(0, 0, 0), LPoint3(1, 0, 0), LPoint3(1, 1, 0), LPoint3(0, 1, 0));
NodePath occluder_nodepath = render.attach_new_node(occluder);
render.set_occluder(occluder_nodepath);

It is hidden by default, but can be shown for debug purposes using the show() method on its NodePath. The occluder only needs to be parented into the scene if you want to show it, or if it needs to move with an object in the scene. Use the set_occluder() method on any NodePath to make the occluder active on that NodePath and its children. It is much more efficient to call set_occluder() on a parent node with children as opposed to calling set_occluder() on many different nodes.

Occluder Configuration

Besides the shape of the occluder, there are other settings which affect how the occluder behaves. Use the set_double_sided() method on the OccluderNode to enable the occluder to work on both sides. This is desirable for example if the occluder is placed inside of a wall. A double-sided occluder is more efficient than creating two occluders with opposite normals. Use the set_min_coverage() method to ignore an occluder that doesn’t take up at least a certain amount of screen space.

General Occluder Advice

More is not always better. Occluders do have a cost, so use them sparingly where they will make the biggest difference. If you have a lot of occluders, it might help to evaluate your occluders every once in a while and only use the closest ones. The optimal amount and configuration of occluders depends on the makeup of your scene. Test different configurations and compare the frame rates.