The hottest Graphics Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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A Rorschach Test on Fire

Dan’s MEGA65 Digest • 1 HN point • 15 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Programming Hardware Software Graphics Computer Science
  1. The MEGA65 Digest for March 2023 features files, features, hardware, and a programming exercise to play with.
  2. An external floppy disk drive option with modern features and compatibility for the MEGA65 is available for pre-order.
  3. A colorful, low-resolution 80x50 Mandelbrot Set can be created using BASIC programming on the MEGA65, showcasing the computer's capabilities.

Apple Animation Through the Ages: 2014

Jacob’s Tech Tavern • 0 implied HN points • 19 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Animation Graphics Programming iOS Frameworks
  1. In 2014, Apple introduced Metal as a high-performance graphics API for iOS, catering to graphics-intensive applications like mobile games.
  2. Metal provided low-level access to GPU hardware, aiming to improve performance by reducing bottlenecks caused by OpenGL ES drivers running on the CPU.
  3. Developers using Metal had to work more closely with the hardware, writing shaders and managing rendering pipelines for efficient graphics processing.

Deciding the Structure for GPU Draw Commands

Hasen Judi • 0 implied HN points • 26 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Graphics Programming Design Hardware Software
  1. Deciding the structure for GPU draw commands involves implementing various elements like rounded rectangles, softness, masking, rotations, and color gradients to draw complex GUI elements.
  2. Consider the requirements and constraints of the GUI design, such as the need for bezier curves for specific use cases beyond SDF rounded rectangles.
  3. Improving the efficiency of drawing rectangles by simplifying parameters like corner radius, using turns instead of radians for rotations, and implementing a unified command struct for specifying properties of the draw commands.
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GM Shaders Mini: JFA

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 0 implied HN points • 19 May 23
🕹 Technology Algorithms Graphics Programming Tutorial
  1. The Jump Flooding Algorithm can be used to generate distance fields around textures for various effects like outlines, shadows, and glows.
  2. The algorithm involves multiple passes sampling a 3x3 area at varying scales, focusing on opaque pixels and empty space.
  3. You can make variations to the algorithm based on your needs, like using floating-point surfaces for a greater distance range or calculating the internal distance for a proper SDF.