pc.Layer

Layer represents a renderable subset of the scene. It can contain a list of mesh instances, lights and cameras, their render settings and also defines custom callbacks before, after or during rendering. Layers are organized inside pc.LayerComposition in a desired order.

Summary

Properties

clearColor	The color used to clear the canvas to before each camera starts to render.
clearColorBuffer	If true cameras will clear the color buffer to the color set in clearColor.
clearDepthBuffer	If true cameras will clear the depth buffer.
clearStencilBuffer	If true cameras will clear the stencil buffer.
cullingMask	Visibility mask that interacts with pc.MeshInstance#mask.
enabled	Enable the layer.
id	A unique ID of the layer.
layerReference	Make this layer render the same mesh instances that another layer does instead of having its own mesh instance list.
name	Name of the layer.
onDisable	Custom function that is called after the layer has been disabled.
onDrawCall	Custom function that is called before every mesh instance in this layer is rendered.
onEnable	Custom function that is called after the layer has been enabled.
onPostCull	Custom function that is called after visibiliy culling is performed for this layer.
onPostRender	Custom function that is called after this layer is rendered.
onPostRenderOpaque	Custom function that is called after opaque mesh instances (not semi-transparent) in this layer are rendered.
onPostRenderTransparent	Custom function that is called after semi-transparent mesh instances in this layer are rendered.
onPreCull	Custom function that is called before visibility culling is performed for this layer.
onPreRender	Custom function that is called before this layer is rendered.
onPreRenderOpaque	Custom function that is called before opaque mesh instances (not semi-transparent) in this layer are rendered.
onPreRenderTransparent	Custom function that is called before semi-transparent mesh instances in this layer are rendered.
opaqueSortMode	Defines the method used for sorting opaque (that is, not semi-transparent) mesh instances before rendering.
overrideClear	Defines if layer should use camera clear parameters (true) or ignore them and use pc.Layer#clearColor, pc.Layer#clearColorBuffer, pc.Layer#clearDepthBuffer and pc.Layer#clearStencilBuffer.
passThrough	Tells that this layer is simple and needs to just render a bunch of mesh instances without lighting, skinning and morphing (faster).
renderTarget	Render target to which rendering is performed.
shaderPass	A type of shader to use during rendering.
transparentSortMode	Defines the method used for sorting semi-transparent mesh instances before rendering.

Methods

addCamera	Adds a camera to this layer.
addLight	Adds a light to this layer.
addMeshInstances	Adds an array of mesh instances to this layer.
addShadowCasters	Adds an array of mesh instances to this layer, but only as shadow casters (they will not be rendered anywhere, but only cast shadows on other objects).
clearCameras	Removes all cameras from this layer.
clearLights	Removes all lights from this layer.
clearMeshInstances	Removes all mesh instances from this layer.
removeCamera	Removes a camera from this layer.
removeLight	Removes a light from this layer.
removeMeshInstances	Removes multiple mesh instances from this layer.
removeShadowCasters	Removes multiple mesh instances from the shadow casters list of this layer, meaning they will stop casting shadows.

Details

Constructor

Layer(options) 

Create a new layer.

Parameters

options

object

Object for passing optional arguments. These arguments are the same as properties of the Layer.

Properties

pc.ColorclearColor 

The color used to clear the canvas to before each camera starts to render.

booleanclearColorBuffer 

If true cameras will clear the color buffer to the color set in clearColor.

booleanclearDepthBuffer 

If true cameras will clear the depth buffer.

booleanclearStencilBuffer 

If true cameras will clear the stencil buffer.

functioncullingMask 

Visibility mask that interacts with pc.MeshInstance#mask.

booleanenabled 

Enable the layer. Disabled layers are skipped. Defaults to true.

numberid 

A unique ID of the layer. Layer IDs are stored inside pc.ModelComponent#layers, pc.CameraComponent#layers, pc.LightComponent#layers and pc.ElementComponent#layers instead of names. Can be used in pc.LayerComposition#getLayerById.

pc.LayerlayerReference 

Make this layer render the same mesh instances that another layer does instead of having its own mesh instance list. Both layers must share cameras. Frustum culling is only performed for one layer.

stringname 

Name of the layer. Can be used in pc.LayerComposition#getLayerByName.

functiononDisable 

Custom function that is called after the layer has been disabled. This happens when:

pc.Layer#enabled was changed from true to false
pc.Layer#decrementCounter was called and set the counter to zero.

functiononDrawCall 

Custom function that is called before every mesh instance in this layer is rendered. It is not recommended to set this function when rendering many objects every frame due to performance reasons.

functiononEnable 

Custom function that is called after the layer has been enabled. This happens when:

The layer is created with pc.Layer#enabled set to true (which is the default value).
pc.Layer#enabled was changed from false to true
pc.Layer#incrementCounter was called and incremented the counter above zero.

Useful for allocating resources this layer will use (e.g. creating render targets).

functiononPostCull 

Custom function that is called after visibiliy culling is performed for this layer. Useful for reverting changes done in pc.Layer#onPreCull and determining final mesh instance visibility (see pc.MeshInstance#visibleThisFrame). This function will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

functiononPostRender 

Custom function that is called after this layer is rendered. Useful to revert changes made in pc.Layer#onPreRender or performing some processing on pc.Layer#renderTarget. This function is called after the last occurrence of this layer in pc.LayerComposition. It will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

functiononPostRenderOpaque 

Custom function that is called after opaque mesh instances (not semi-transparent) in this layer are rendered. This function will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

functiononPostRenderTransparent 

Custom function that is called after semi-transparent mesh instances in this layer are rendered. This function will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

functiononPreCull 

Custom function that is called before visibility culling is performed for this layer. Useful, for example, if you want to modify camera projection while still using the same camera and make frustum culling work correctly with it (see pc.CameraComponent#calculateTransform and pc.CameraComponent#calculateProjection). This function will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

functiononPreRender 

Custom function that is called before this layer is rendered. Useful, for example, for reacting on screen size changes. This function is called before the first occurrence of this layer in pc.LayerComposition. It will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

functiononPreRenderOpaque 

Custom function that is called before opaque mesh instances (not semi-transparent) in this layer are rendered. This function will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

functiononPreRenderTransparent 

Custom function that is called before semi-transparent mesh instances in this layer are rendered. This function will receive camera index as the only argument. You can get the actual camera being used by looking up pc.LayerComposition#cameras with this index.

numberopaqueSortMode 

Defines the method used for sorting opaque (that is, not semi-transparent) mesh instances before rendering. Possible values are:

Defaults to pc.SORTMODE_MATERIALMESH.

booleanoverrideClear 

Defines if layer should use camera clear parameters (true) or ignore them and use pc.Layer#clearColor, pc.Layer#clearColorBuffer, pc.Layer#clearDepthBuffer and pc.Layer#clearStencilBuffer.

booleanpassThrough 

Tells that this layer is simple and needs to just render a bunch of mesh instances without lighting, skinning and morphing (faster).

pc.RenderTargetrenderTarget 

Render target to which rendering is performed. If not set, will render simply to the screen.

numbershaderPass 

A type of shader to use during rendering. Possible values are:

pc.SHADER_FORWARD
pc.SHADER_FORWARDHDR
pc.SHADER_DEPTH
Your own custom value. Should be in 19 - 31 range. Use pc.StandardMaterial#onUpdateShader to apply shader modifications based on this value.

Defaults to pc.SHADER_FORWARD.

numbertransparentSortMode 

Defines the method used for sorting semi-transparent mesh instances before rendering. Possible values are:

Defaults to pc.SORTMODE_BACK2FRONT.

Methods

addCamera(camera) 

Adds a camera to this layer.

Parameters

camera

pc.CameraComponent

A pc.CameraComponent.

addLight(light) 

Adds a light to this layer.

Parameters

light

pc.LightComponent

A pc.LightComponent.

addMeshInstances(meshInstances, [skipShadowCasters]) 

Adds an array of mesh instances to this layer.

Parameters

meshInstances	pc.MeshInstance[]	Array of pc.MeshInstance.
skipShadowCasters	boolean	Set it to true if you don't want these mesh instances to cast shadows in this layer.

addShadowCasters(meshInstances) 

Adds an array of mesh instances to this layer, but only as shadow casters (they will not be rendered anywhere, but only cast shadows on other objects).

Parameters

meshInstances

pc.MeshInstance[]

Array of pc.MeshInstance.

clearCameras() 

Removes all cameras from this layer.

clearLights() 

Removes all lights from this layer.

clearMeshInstances([skipShadowCasters]) 

Removes all mesh instances from this layer.

Parameters

skipShadowCasters

boolean

Set it to true if you want to still cast shadows from removed mesh instances or if they never did cast shadows before.

removeCamera(camera) 

Removes a camera from this layer.

Parameters

camera

pc.CameraComponent

A pc.CameraComponent.

removeLight(light) 

Removes a light from this layer.

Parameters

light

pc.LightComponent

A pc.LightComponent.

removeMeshInstances(meshInstances, [skipShadowCasters]) 

Removes multiple mesh instances from this layer.

Parameters

meshInstances	pc.MeshInstance[]	Array of pc.MeshInstance. If they were added to this layer, they will be removed.
skipShadowCasters	boolean	Set it to true if you want to still cast shadows from removed mesh instances or if they never did cast shadows before.

removeShadowCasters(meshInstances) 

Removes multiple mesh instances from the shadow casters list of this layer, meaning they will stop casting shadows.

Parameters

meshInstances

pc.MeshInstance[]

Array of pc.MeshInstance. If they were added to this layer, they will be removed.