WebGL Voxel World

Building a Custom 3D Graphics Engine with WebGL

In this project, I developed an interactive 3D graphics engine from scratch using WebGL and JavaScript. The goal was to create a simple yet powerful platform for rendering 3D scenes that could be manipulated in real-time by users, with full control over lighting, camera angles, and object properties.

Key Features:

Real-Time Rendering:

Leveraging WebGL’s low-level API, I created an efficient rendering pipeline capable of displaying dynamic 3D scenes with real-time updates.

Lighting System:

The engine supports two types of lighting — point lights and spotlights. Users can manipulate the position and color of lights within the scene, creating various lighting effects that enhance realism.

Camera Controls:

A customizable camera system allows users to adjust the field of view (FOV), near/far clipping planes, and navigate the scene using intuitive keyboard controls (WASD for movement, mouse for rotation).

Texture Mapping:

Textures are applied to 3D objects, and the engine includes automatic mipmapping for textures that are power-of-two (POT), enhancing both performance and visual quality.

Interactive UI:

Users can interact with the scene through a control panel that lets them toggle light sources, change their positions, and adjust the camera settings — all in real-time.

Technical Challenges & Learnings:

Shader Programming:

Writing custom GLSL shaders for handling lighting and material properties was a key learning experience. Implementing smooth transitions for lighting and managing multiple texture layers efficiently posed several challenges.

WebGL API Mastery:

WebGL is a low-level graphics API, so managing things like texture binding, shaders, and the GPU was both complex and rewarding. It gave me a deeper understanding of how graphics are rendered under the hood.

Performance Optimization:

Rendering 3D scenes in real-time requires attention to performance. Optimizing texture handling and minimizing unnecessary re-renders were crucial to maintaining a smooth experience.

Future Enhancements:

While this project is functional and showcases a solid understanding of 3D graphics, there are several areas for improvement:

Frustum Culling:

Implementing frustum culling to avoid rendering objects outside the camera’s view will further improve performance.

Advanced Lighting Models:

Adding support for advanced lighting models, such as Phong or PBR (Physically-Based Rendering), will create more realistic shading effects.

Object Interactivity:

Allowing users to interact with objects (e.g., scaling, rotating, or translating) will make the scene even more dynamic.

Conclusion:

This project is an excellent example of how powerful WebGL can be for creating interactive 3D graphics applications directly in the browser. It has deepened my understanding of computer graphics concepts such as shaders, lighting, and real-time rendering, and I’m excited to continue improving it with new features and optimizations.

👉 Check out the demo: Interactive 3D Graphics Engine