2.8x, unreliable GL_LINE_SMOOTH / GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH behavior #57570

New Issue

Campbell Barton · 2018-11-01T23:02:21+01:00

Campbell Barton commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

For some graphics cards in 2.8x (more information needed), smoothing is ignored. This task is to gather more information and see if it can be resolved.

See: #54723#548752 and replies.

Edit, it seems some graphics cards simply ignore the smooth setting.

For some graphics cards in 2.8x *(more information needed)*, smoothing is ignored. This task is to gather more information and see if it can be resolved. See: #54723#548752 and replies. ---- Edit, it seems some graphics cards simply ignore the smooth setting.

Campbell Barton commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

Added subscriber: @ideasman42

blender-admin commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

blender/blender-addons#78268 was marked as duplicate of this issue

blender-admin commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

#74366 was marked as duplicate of this issue

blender-admin commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

#63088 was marked as duplicate of this issue

blender-admin commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

#73560 was marked as duplicate of this issue

blender-admin commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

#65018 was marked as duplicate of this issue

blender-admin commented

2018-11-01 23:02:21 +01:00

#57993 was marked as duplicate of this issue

Pablo Vazquez commented

2018-11-02 01:29:23 +01:00

Added subscriber: @pablovazquez

Pablo Vazquez commented

2018-11-02 01:29:23 +01:00

Can confirm anti-alias works fine (and has been since the beginning) in the following setup:

OS: Ubuntu 17.10
**Graphics Card:**Nvidia GTX 1050
**Resolution:**2560x1440
**Blender UI Line Width:**Auto (picks "Thin")

Can confirm anti-alias works fine (and has been since the beginning) in the following setup: **OS:** Ubuntu 17.10 **Graphics Card:**Nvidia GTX 1050 **Resolution:**2560x1440 **Blender UI Line Width:**Auto (picks "Thin") ![image.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5330754/image.png)

Lapineige commented

2018-11-02 10:02:01 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Lapineige

Lapineige commented

2018-11-02 10:02:01 +01:00

It works fine on my setup too.
OS: Ubuntu 18.10
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 880m (Nvidia Drivers used)
Resolution: 1920*1080 (17" screen, not HDPi)
Blender UI Line Width: Auto (picks "Thin")

It works fine on my setup too. **OS**: Ubuntu 18.10 **Graphics Card**: Nvidia GTX 880m (Nvidia Drivers used) **Resolution**: 1920*1080 (17" screen, not HDPi) **Blender UI Line Width**: Auto (picks "Thin")

Sergey Sharybin commented

2018-11-02 10:11:24 +01:00

Added subscribers: @fclem, @Sergey

Sergey Sharybin commented

2018-11-02 10:11:24 +01:00

@ideasman42 , this is a misuse of core profile from Blender side. Not sure where exactly this gizmo is being drawn, but from quick grep in the source shows two common mistakes:

glLineWidth() with values greater that 1.0. As per specification this INVALID_VALUE.
Smooth lines shouldn't be used nowadays either. I cant' find exact spec entry for them, but Khronos lists this as deprecated/removed in the "Common Mistakes" section. But even if it's still part of the spec, the rest of the intenet agrees that quality of smooth lines is rather poor.

I am a strong believer in theory that in 2.8 we should not use deprecated/known-to-behave-bad OpenGL features. With Core profile we've got flexibility of programmable render pipeline, where we can implement smooth line which will be guaranteed to work the way we want on all the hardware.

P.S. Maybe @fclem can drop his knowledge here as well.

@ideasman42 , this is a misuse of core profile from Blender side. Not sure where exactly this gizmo is being drawn, but from quick grep in the source shows two common mistakes: - `glLineWidth()` with values greater that `1.0`. As per specification this `INVALID_VALUE`. - Smooth lines shouldn't be used nowadays either. I cant' find exact spec entry for them, but Khronos lists this as deprecated/removed in the "Common Mistakes" section. But even if it's still part of the spec, the rest of the intenet agrees that quality of smooth lines is rather poor. I am a strong believer in theory that in 2.8 we should not use deprecated/known-to-behave-bad OpenGL features. With Core profile we've got flexibility of programmable render pipeline, where we can implement smooth line which will be guaranteed to work the way we want on all the hardware. P.S. Maybe @fclem can drop his knowledge here as well.

Clément Foucault commented

2018-11-02 12:25:24 +01:00

glLineWidth() with values greater that 1.0. As per specification this INVALID_VALUE.

Well this is partially true. The values supported are implementation dependent.

Smooth lines shouldn't be used nowadays either. I cant' find exact spec entry for them, but Khronos lists this as deprecated/removed in the "Common Mistakes" section. But even if it's still part of the spec, the rest of the intenet agrees that quality of smooth lines is rather poor.

I was the one who added line smoothing to gizmos because the aliasing caused by wide lines was terrible. So it's better than nothing.

Correctly implementing smooth wide lines needs to have a dedicated shader for it that just mimics the behavior of old GL_LINE_SMOOTH. This shouldn't be too hard but I don't know how feasible it is for 2.80.

As for GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH this is even more tricky. Since it's mostly for UI stuff, I would suggest to just draw alpha blended shapes with manual added geometry on the contours of the shape and just make the outer ring alpha = 0.0 so that vertex color interpolation make some kind of smoothing.

If it is large points that you want to draw (larger than max gl point size), we can make a shader variation that draws a AA point and you just have to submit a quad.

> glLineWidth() with values greater that 1.0. As per specification this INVALID_VALUE. Well this is partially true. The values supported are implementation dependent. > Smooth lines shouldn't be used nowadays either. I cant' find exact spec entry for them, but Khronos lists this as deprecated/removed in the "Common Mistakes" section. But even if it's still part of the spec, the rest of the intenet agrees that quality of smooth lines is rather poor. I was the one who added line smoothing to gizmos because the aliasing caused by wide lines was terrible. So it's better than nothing. Correctly implementing smooth wide lines needs to have a dedicated shader for it that just mimics the behavior of old GL_LINE_SMOOTH. This shouldn't be too hard but I don't know how feasible it is for 2.80. As for GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH this is even more tricky. Since it's mostly for UI stuff, I would suggest to just draw alpha blended shapes with manual added geometry on the contours of the shape and just make the outer ring alpha = 0.0 so that vertex color interpolation make some kind of smoothing. If it is large points that you want to draw (larger than max gl point size), we can make a shader variation that draws a AA point and you just have to submit a quad.

Campbell Barton commented

2018-11-07 03:11:54 +01:00

Could we have a general solution for this?

We want add-on authors to be able to make their own gizmos, so if they need to be aware of special shader internals - it could make the API hard to use (maybe this can be hidden from the developer?).

Possible alternatives...

Render all gizmos to over-sampled off-screen buffer (advantage of not having artifacts - especially regarding GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH when alpha < 1.0), disadvantage of having to use multi-sample buffer which needs special handling (perhaps this isn't practical if we want to occlude gizmos by other elements in the scene).
Don't use GL_LINE_SMOOTH / GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH at all.

Occasions where we want smoothing have to be handled by each gizmo's drawing code (which can include specialized shader for eg).

We'll try make them look OK without smoothing (transform looks OK IMHO)... if it's important to do some AA tricks, each gizmo's drawing code can handle that it's self (with policy of not using `GL_*_SMOOTH`).

Could we have a general solution for this? We want add-on authors to be able to make their own gizmos, so if they need to be aware of special shader internals - it could make the API hard to use (maybe this can be hidden from the developer?). Possible alternatives... - Render all gizmos to over-sampled off-screen buffer (advantage of not having artifacts - especially regarding `GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH` when `alpha < 1.0`), disadvantage of having to use multi-sample buffer which needs special handling (perhaps this isn't practical if we want to occlude gizmos by other elements in the scene). - Don't use `GL_LINE_SMOOTH / GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH` at all. ``` Occasions where we want smoothing have to be handled by each gizmo's drawing code (which can include specialized shader for eg). ``` ``` We'll try make them look OK without smoothing (transform looks OK IMHO)... if it's important to do some AA tricks, each gizmo's drawing code can handle that it's self (with policy of not using `GL_*_SMOOTH`).

chaos commented

2019-05-20 01:09:15 +02:00

Added subscriber: @chaos-4

chaos commented

2019-05-20 01:09:15 +02:00

Didn't find any other appropriate place to ask this, but what is the proper way to add antialiasing to custom gizmos?
I'm currently writing my own gizmos for addons, but couldn't find any dedicated property to enable or disable the antialiasing. I'm also interested in the way points are drawn in the 3D view, as these can be square or round.

Didn't find any other appropriate place to ask this, but what is the proper way to add antialiasing to custom gizmos? I'm currently writing my own gizmos for addons, but couldn't find any dedicated property to enable or disable the antialiasing. I'm also interested in the way points are drawn in the 3D view, as these can be square or round.

Campbell Barton commented

2019-05-20 02:41:27 +02:00

In #57570#682834, @chaos-4 wrote:
Didn't find any other appropriate place to ask this, but what is the proper way to add antialiasing to custom gizmos?

There isn't a a convenient way to do this at the moment, that's why this task is still open.

I'm currently writing my own gizmos for addons, but couldn't find any dedicated property to enable or disable the antialiasing. I'm also interested in the way points are drawn in the 3D view, as these can be square or round.

Round points are currently drawn as either small circles or using shaders.

> In #57570#682834, @chaos-4 wrote: > Didn't find any other appropriate place to ask this, but what is the proper way to add antialiasing to custom gizmos? There isn't a a convenient way to do this at the moment, that's why this task is still open. > I'm currently writing my own gizmos for addons, but couldn't find any dedicated property to enable or disable the antialiasing. I'm also interested in the way points are drawn in the 3D view, as these can be square or round. Round points are currently drawn as either small circles or using shaders.

chaos commented

2019-05-20 06:18:40 +02:00

Thanks Campbell.
Looking forward for possible solutions on this.

Thanks Campbell. Looking forward for possible solutions on this.

Clément Foucault self-assigned this 2019-07-09 20:56:37 +02:00

Clément Foucault commented

2019-07-09 20:56:37 +02:00

This is really problematic for OSX users on retina display.

Possible workaround is to use a geometry shader variant for every common shader and switch the shader just before drawing if we are drawing a line.
The issue is that if we do that we loose the uniforms configuration because they were changed for another shader. And there is no way to know what type of primitive the shader will be drawn with until the moment the drawcall is issued.

So the real fix would be to change every places that draw thick lines to use a special shader(s) explicitly and pass the line width as uniform.

I wouldn't consider this high priority for 2.80 release as this fix requires some thinking and maybe deeper change.

This is really problematic for OSX users on retina display. Possible workaround is to use a geometry shader variant for every common shader and switch the shader just before drawing if we are drawing a line. The issue is that if we do that we loose the uniforms configuration because they were changed for another shader. And there is no way to know what type of primitive the shader will be drawn with until the moment the drawcall is issued. So the real fix would be to change every places that draw thick lines to use a special shader(s) explicitly and pass the line width as uniform. I wouldn't consider this high priority for 2.80 release as this fix requires some thinking and maybe deeper change.

Clément Foucault commented

2019-07-09 20:56:53 +02:00

Added subscribers: @Kent-Davis, @Morganil, @ChristopherAnderssarian, @WilliamReynish, @lichtwerk, @antoniov

Uendel Quintela commented

2019-10-09 16:44:00 +02:00

Added subscriber: @Uendel

Andreas Asanger commented

2019-10-23 16:21:35 +02:00

Added subscriber: @AndreasAsanger

Andreas Asanger commented

2019-10-23 16:21:35 +02:00

Is there a chance for a fix anytime soon?

When working in the viewport, I'd agree calling those thin lines a discomfort.
But when you need to create screenshots for printing purposes, this is a real problem...

Is there a chance for a fix anytime soon? When working in the viewport, I'd agree calling those thin lines a discomfort. But when you need to create screenshots for printing purposes, this is a real problem...

Kent Davis commented

2019-10-24 21:28:46 +02:00

Do not go together Ubuntu and Macintosh. Please do separate. Only for Macintosh. Do not use Windows, Do not use Ubuntu.

Dolphin Dream commented

2019-11-28 04:39:16 +01:00

Added subscriber: @MariusGiurgi

Dolphin Dream commented

2019-11-28 04:39:16 +01:00

How come this is marked as a LOW priority? The annotations are useless without proper thickness. I’m running Blender 2.81 on Mojave 10.14.6 on a MacBook pro 15” 2018 and the annotations are 1px thick regardless of the line thickness settings.

How come this is marked as a LOW priority? The annotations are useless without proper thickness. I’m running Blender 2.81 on Mojave 10.14.6 on a MacBook pro 15” 2018 and the annotations are 1px thick regardless of the line thickness settings. ![Screen Shot 2019-11-27 at 10.42.53 PM.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8173848/Screen_Shot_2019-11-27_at_10.42.53_PM.png)

Kent Davis commented

2019-11-28 05:39:50 +01:00

I am use Macintosh.
Yes I told Blender report ticket many times make me frustrate. Blender 2.79b is perfect but 2.80 and up mess up. They need to fix I ask Blender company again.

I am use Macintosh. Yes I told Blender report ticket many times make me frustrate. Blender 2.79b is perfect but 2.80 and up mess up. They need to fix I ask Blender company again.

Clément Foucault commented

2019-12-02 15:23:40 +01:00

Just to give an update, the 2.82 beta will have a fix for wide line in the viewport tomorrow. (See 014eb69cf8)

This won't fix the issue for transform gizmos, or the UI. So I'll keep the report open. Do note I have plans for fixing it for UI and gizmos but it's not decided when I'll have time to tackle it.

Just to give an update, the 2.82 beta will have a fix for wide line in the viewport tomorrow. (See 014eb69cf8) This won't fix the issue for transform gizmos, or the UI. So I'll keep the report open. Do note I have plans for fixing it for UI and gizmos but it's not decided when I'll have time to tackle it.

Kent Davis commented

2019-12-02 15:57:02 +01:00

Thanks

Dolphin Dream commented

2019-12-15 17:56:11 +01:00

FYI, this still doesn’t work in 2.82 alpha experimental builds (on macOS). Perhaps because the experimental builds are not yet beta?

FYI, this still doesn’t work in 2.82 **alpha** experimental builds (on macOS). Perhaps because the experimental builds are not yet **beta**? ![Screen Shot 2019-12-15 at 11.53.43 AM.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8223499/Screen_Shot_2019-12-15_at_11.53.43_AM.png)

Robert Guetzkow commented

2019-12-15 18:56:20 +01:00

Added subscriber: @rjg

Robert Guetzkow commented

2019-12-15 18:56:20 +01:00

@MariusGiurgi Seems to only affect macOS in this case as well. It works properly on Windows and Linux.

Kent Davis commented

2019-12-15 18:59:54 +01:00

Oh well please do it work on MacOS some one who work on Blender 2.8x support DO IT

Clément Foucault commented

2019-12-15 23:25:39 +01:00

@MariusGiurgi I can't see aliasing in your screenshot. Can you double check that your viewport settings (in user preferences) have Overlay Smooth Wires enabled?

@MariusGiurgi I can't see aliasing in your screenshot. Can you double check that your viewport settings (in user preferences) have `Overlay Smooth Wires` enabled?

Kent Davis commented

2019-12-16 03:27:00 +01:00

Where is "User Preferences" I not see. Everyone use Blender 2.82 Alpha.

Clément Foucault commented

2020-02-03 12:44:51 +01:00

Added subscribers: @iss, @jenkm, @cubimation, @QuentinG

Clément Foucault commented

2020-02-07 17:14:05 +01:00

Added subscribers: @Memento, @Jeroen-Bakker, @Ton, @ZedDB

Ankit Meel commented

2020-03-02 15:19:25 +01:00

Added subscriber: @KBrumfield

Ryan Inch commented

2020-03-02 22:33:50 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Imaginer

Leo Schmidt commented

2020-03-04 14:32:43 +01:00

Added subscriber: @LeoSch

Lai Yu-Hsuan commented

2020-03-29 09:35:09 +02:00

Added subscriber: @raincole

Lai Yu-Hsuan commented

2020-03-29 09:35:09 +02:00

The problem is still here with Blender v2.82a and macOS 10.14. It's sad to see such a major UI issue is marked as "low priority".

![image.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8434837/image.png) The problem is still here with Blender v2.82a and macOS 10.14. It's sad to see such a major UI issue is marked as "low priority".

Ryan Inch commented

2020-04-09 07:12:47 +02:00

Any update on this? FYI, drawing errors with GL_LINE_SMOOTH and GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH also affect custom drawing in operators.

Any update on this? FYI, drawing errors with `GL_LINE_SMOOTH` and `GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH` also affect custom drawing in operators.

Francesco Siddi commented

2020-04-11 15:32:56 +02:00

Added subscriber: @fsiddi

Francesco Siddi commented

2020-04-11 15:47:20 +02:00

After reporting the issue again in a new task, I've been pointed to this task. So i'll briefly reiterate. On macOS:

Gizmos are hard to see in the viewport
Gizmos lack consistency with every other UI element in the viewport

2.79 on macOS	2.83 on macOS	2.83 on Windows

I think this a regression since Blender 2.79. Can @fclem or @ideasman42 confirm if this will be addressed for Blender 2.83?

After reporting the issue again in a new task, I've been pointed to this task. So i'll briefly reiterate. On macOS: * Gizmos are hard to see in the viewport * Gizmos lack consistency with every other UI element in the viewport | 2.79 on macOS | 2.83 on macOS | 2.83 on Windows | | -- | -- | -- | | ![Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 14.18.31.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8464600/Screenshot_2020-04-11_at_14.18.31.png) | ![Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 14.18.36.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8464602/Screenshot_2020-04-11_at_14.18.36.png) | ![Blender_gizmo_rotate_windows.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8464604/Blender_gizmo_rotate_windows.png) | I think this a regression since Blender 2.79. Can @fclem or @ideasman42 confirm if this will be addressed for Blender 2.83?

Kent Davis commented

2020-04-11 17:03:10 +02:00

Yes I agree with you. Blender 2.8x need to fix everything I am still wait for Blender developer to fix everything.
I do use MacOS Catalina 10.15.4 beta.
I have low vision I unable to read too thinner line (wire) as well. Please copy from Blender 2.79b to paste to 2.80 so can read thickness wire.

Yes I agree with you. Blender 2.8x need to fix everything I am still wait for Blender developer to fix everything. I do use MacOS Catalina 10.15.4 beta. I have low vision I unable to read too thinner line (wire) as well. Please copy from Blender 2.79b to paste to 2.80 so can read thickness wire.

Michel Nielsen commented

2020-04-21 22:56:04 +02:00

Added subscriber: @ankyankyanky

Filip commented

2020-04-21 23:07:08 +02:00

Added subscriber: @Filemoner

Filip commented

2020-04-21 23:07:08 +02:00

Low priority, this, really?
2.9 alpha and still unusable in OSX :(

Low priority, this, really? 2.9 alpha and still unusable in OSX :(

blender-admin commented

2020-04-23 23:05:39 +02:00

This issue was referenced by d712f1f83a

This issue was referenced by d712f1f83af881be536ec0d183b7d3025c172684

Clément Foucault commented

2020-04-23 23:08:38 +02:00

Changed status from 'Confirmed' to: 'Resolved'

Clément Foucault closed this issue

2020-04-23 23:08:38 +02:00

Kent Davis commented

2020-04-25 01:15:19 +02:00

See picture

See picture ![Screen Shot 2020-04-24 at 4.06.59 AM.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8493368/Screen_Shot_2020-04-24_at_4.06.59_AM.png)

Clément Foucault commented

2020-05-19 22:44:44 +02:00

@Kent-Davis I've fixed the issue you were pointing at in 42d77fbea1

@Kent-Davis I've fixed the issue you were pointing at in 42d77fbea1

Kent Davis commented

2020-05-19 23:53:23 +02:00

@fclem
I am sorry I disagree with you they did not fix yet timeline. I am going show you proof.

@fclem I am sorry I disagree with you they did not fix yet timeline. I am going show you proof. ![Blender 2 79 and 2 90.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8543890/Blender_2_79_and_2_90.png)

Philipp Oeser commented

2020-06-26 11:09:20 +02:00

Added subscriber: @FSam

Yevgeny Makarov commented

2020-06-26 11:32:03 +02:00

I think this task was marked as "Resolved" automatically and should be re-opened.
The problem has only been fixed in some places out of many.

I think this task was marked as "Resolved" automatically and should be re-opened. The problem has only been fixed in some places out of many.

Philip commented

2020-06-28 14:08:12 +02:00

Added subscriber: @neo_phi

Philip commented

2020-06-28 14:08:12 +02:00

Still getting unusable hairline annotation lines in Blender 2.83LTS on OSX 10.15.5. Other issues regarding this direct to here and this is closed...

Kent Davis commented

2020-06-28 14:16:02 +02:00

@neo_phi look at Blender 2.90 Alpha let you check.
https://builder.blender.org/download/
You will see. Blender 2.80 is no long to fix only Blender 2.90 Alpha.

@neo_phi look at Blender 2.90 Alpha let you check. https://builder.blender.org/download/ You will see. Blender 2.80 is no long to fix only Blender 2.90 Alpha.

Kent Davis commented

2020-06-28 14:21:52 +02:00

@neo_phi
Blender 2.90 Alpha
Touch enlarge picture you can see.
Look at picture

@neo_phi Blender 2.90 Alpha Touch enlarge picture you can see. Look at picture ![Screen Shot 2020-06-28 at 5.20.26 AM.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F8651224/Screen_Shot_2020-06-28_at_5.20.26_AM.png)

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2.8x, unreliable GL_LINE_SMOOTH / GL_POLYGON_SMOOTH behavior #57570