How to Access data on cuda by openGL? - c++

Question

I have generally learned OpenGL Interoperability with CUDA, but my problem is like this:
I have a lot of arrays, some for vertex, some for norm and some for alpha value alone, and some pointers to these arrays on device memory (something like dev_ver, dev_norm) which are used in kernel. I have already mapped the resource and now I want to use these data in shaders to make some effects. My rendering code is like this:
glUseProgram (programID);
glBindBuffer (GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexBuffer_0);
glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, size, _data_on_cpu_0, GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW);
glVertexAttribPointer (0, 3, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, 0, (void*)0);
glBindBuffer (GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexBuffer_1);
glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, size, _data_on_cpu_1, GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW);
glVertexAttribPointer (1, 3, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, 0, (void*)0);
glBindBuffer (GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexBuffer_2);
glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, size, _data_on_cpu_2, GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW);
glVertexAttribPointer (2, 3, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, 0, (void*)0);
glEnableVertexAttribArray (0);
glEnableVertexAttribArray (1);
glEnableVertexAttribArray (2);
glDrawArrays (GL_TRIANGLES, 0, _max_);
glDisableVertexAttribArray (0);
glDisableVertexAttribArray (1);
glDisableVertexAttribArray (2);
However, now I have no _data_on_cpu_, is it still possible to do the same thing ? The sample in cuda 6.0 is something like this:
glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, posVbo);
glVertexPointer(4, GL_FLOAT, 0, 0);
glEnableClientState(GL_VERTEX_ARRAY);
glBindBufferARB(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER_ARB, normalVbo);
glNormalPointer(GL_FLOAT, sizeof(float)*4, 0);
glEnableClientState(GL_NORMAL_ARRAY);
glColor3f(1.0, 0.0, 0.0);
glDrawArrays(GL_TRIANGLES, 0, totalVerts);
glDisableClientState(GL_VERTEX_ARRAY);
glDisableClientState(GL_NORMAL_ARRAY);
I don't exactly understand how this could work and what to do in my case.
By the way, the method I have used is to cudaMemcpy the dev_ to host and do the render like usual, but this is obviously not efficient, because when I do rendering I again send the data back to GPU by OpenGL (if I'm right).

Answer 1

It's not really clear what your asking for, you mention CUDA yet none of the code you have posted is CUDA specific. I'm guessing vertexbuffer_2 contains additional per vertex information you want to access in the shader?
OpenGL calls are as efficient as you will get it, they aren't actually copying any data back from device to host. They are simply sending the addresses to the device, telling it where to get the data from and how much data to use to render.
You only need to fill the vertex and normal information at the start of your program, there isn't much reason to be changing this information during execution. You can then change data stored in texture buffers to pass additional per entity data to shaders to change model position, rotation, colour etc.
When you write your shader you must include in it;
attribute in vec3 v_data; (or similar)
When you init your shader you must then;
GLuint vs_v_data = glGetAttribLocation(p_shaderProgram, "v_data");
Then instead of your;
glBindBuffer (GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexBuffer_2);
glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, size, _data_on_cpu_2, GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW);
glVertexAttribPointer (2, 3, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, 0, (void*)0);
You use;
glEnableVertexAttribArray (vs_v_data);
glBindBuffer (GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexBuffer_2);
glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, size, _data_on_cpu_2, GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW);
glVertexAttribPointer (vs_v_data, 3, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, 0, (void*)0);
This should let you access a float3 inside your vshaders called v_data that has whatevers stored in vertexBuffer_2, presumably secondary vertex information to lerp between for animation.
A simple shader for this that simply repositions vertices based on an input tick
#version 120
attribute in float tick;
attribute in vec3 v_data;
void main()
{
gl_Vertex.xyz = mix(gl_Vertex.xyz, v_data, tick);
}
If you want per entity data instead of/in addition to per vertex data, you should be doing that via texture buffers.
If your trying to access vertex buffer obj data inside kernels you need to use a bunch of functions;
cudaGraphicsGLRegisterBuffer() This will give you a resource pointer to the buffer, execute this once after you initially setup the vbo.
cudaGraphicsMapResources() This will map the buffer (you can use it in CUDA but not gl)
cudaGraphicsResourceGetMappedPointer() This will give you a device pointer to the buffer, pass this to the the kernel.
cudaGraphicsUnmapResources() This will unmap the buffer (you can use it in gl, but not CUDA)