ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Vertex pipeline

Okay kiddo, let me explain the vertex pipeline in a way that's easy to understand. Imagine you are creating a drawing and you want to draw a person. You start by drawing their head, then their body, arms, legs and so on. This is called a pipeline, where you go step by step until you've finished the drawing.

The vertex pipeline is similar. It's a process that happens when you play a video game or use a 3D animation software. When you move a character or object, it needs to be redrawn on the screen. This process happens very quickly, and it's called rendering.

The first step in the vertex pipeline is the input assembly. This is when the computer takes all the information about the object, like its shape and texture, and puts it together.

Next, the computer uses a shader to determine where the object will be placed on the screen. This is called the vertex shader. Just like how you determine where to put the head, body, arms and legs, the vertex shader determines where to put all the different parts of the object.

After the vertex shader, the computer uses another shader called the geometry shader. This allows the object to be divided into smaller parts that can be processed more easily.

Finally, the object is transformed and ready to be put on the screen. This is called the output merger stage.

So, to summarize: the vertex pipeline is a step-by-step process that makes sure an object or character is drawn correctly on the screen. It involves taking information about the object, determining where it should be placed, dividing it into smaller parts, and finally putting it on the screen. Hope that helps!