FdF - 3D Wireframe Renderer

Overview

FdF (Fil de Fer, "wireframe" in French) is a 3D wireframe renderer that creates a graphical representation of a landscape from a file containing elevation data. This project is part of the 42 curriculum and focuses on the basics of computer graphics programming, including:

• Creating and managing a window with MiniLibX
• Drawing lines with the Bresenham algorithm
• 3D to 2D projections (isometric and orthographic)
• Basic 3D transformations (translation, rotation, scaling)
• Color handling and gradients

Features

• Read and parse map files with height information
• Render 3D wireframe landscapes in isometric and orthographic projections
• Color interpretation from map files (when specified) or default scheme based on elevation
• Real-time transformation capabilities:
  • Rotation around X, Y, and Z axes
  • Zoom in/out
  • Translation (move the model in any direction)
  • Adjust height scaling
• Interactive controls with on-screen legend
• Responsive window management
• Gradient color for lines based on elevation

Usage

# Compile the program
make

# Run the program with a map file
./fdf maps/42.fdf

# Show the controls
Press '/' during execution

Controls

Camera Movement

• Arrow Keys: Move the model in four directions

Rotation

• W/S: Rotate around X-axis
• A/D: Rotate around Y-axis
• Q/E: Rotate around Z-axis

Zoom

• +: Zoom in
• -: Zoom out

Altitude Adjustment

• [: Increase height scaling
• ]: Decrease height scaling

Projection

• I: Isometric projection
• O: Orthographic projection

Other

• R: Reset to default view
• ESC: Close the program
• /: Show/hide controls panel

Map Format

Maps are represented as grid-like text files where each number represents a point in 3D space:

• Horizontal position corresponds to its X coordinate
• Vertical position corresponds to its Y coordinate
• The value corresponds to its Z coordinate (height/elevation)

Optional hexadecimal values after a comma determine the color of each point:

0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
0 10,0xFF0000 10 10 10 10 10 10 10  0
0 10 10,0x00FF00 10 10 10 10 10 10  0
0 10 10 10,0x0000FF 10 10 10 10 10  0
0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10  0
0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0

Technical Implementation

Core Components

• MiniLibX: A simple X-Window programming API used for rendering
• Parsing System: Robust file parsing with error handling
• Bresenham's Line Algorithm: Optimized for drawing lines between points
• Matrix Transformations: For rotations, scaling, and translations
• Color Gradient: Interpolation between points for smooth color transitions

Project Structure

• src/: Source files
  • main.c: Entry point
  • scene.c: 3D scene management
  • load_data.c: Map file parsing
  • draw_line.c: Line drawing algorithm
  • rotation.c: 3D rotation mathematics
  • transform.c: Model transformations
  • events.c: User input handling
  • controls.c: UI controls and legend
• include/: Header files
• libft/: Custom C library with utility functions
• maps/: Sample map files

Compilation

The project compiles with the following flags:

-Wall -Wextra -Werror -O3

And links against:

-lmlx -lXext -lX11 -lm

Developed by

Marcelo Magalhães (mdias-ma) - 42 São Paulo