Loading Models: Integrating a glTF loader with animation and PBR

Chapter Overview

Welcome to the third chapter of the "Building a Simple Engine" series! After exploring engine architecture and camera systems in the previous chapters, we’ll now focus on creating a robust model loading system that can handle modern 3D assets using the glTF format. We’ll implement a scene graph, animation system, and PBR rendering to complete our engine foundation.

This chapter is divided into several sections to make it easier to follow:

Introduction - An overview of what we’ll be building and prerequisites
Setting Up the Project - How to structure our engine project
Implementing the Model Loading System - Creating the core data structures
Loading a glTF Model - Parsing and processing glTF files
Implementing PBR Rendering - Setting up physically-based rendering
Rendering Multiple Objects - Managing multiple model instances
Rendering the Scene - Drawing the scene graph
Updating Animations - Animating models
Conclusion - Summary and future directions

Each section builds upon the previous ones, so it’s recommended to follow them in order. This chapter also builds upon the concepts introduced in the Engine Architecture and Camera Transformations chapters. By completing this chapter, you’ll have a comprehensive foundation for a Vulkan-based 3D engine with a well-structured architecture, camera system, and model loading capabilities.

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