Chapter 9. Z-Sorting

Z-sorting issues are among the most common problems experienced when working with Papervision3D. But what is z-sorting and what are the problems that come with it? And most importantly—how do we get rid of them while maintaining good performance? This chapter discusses the following topics:

• What is z-sorting

• Layering scene renders

• Complex rendering using quadtrees

By the end of this chapter, you will know how to solve z-sorting issues and realize that beauty comes at a price. Therefore, we first need to know what exactly is z-sorting and what is causing the issues.

What is z-sorting

Chances are that you have already experienced issues with z-sorting while reading this book or seeing some demos made with Papervision3D. Especially in the previous chapter about modeling, which introduced situations that are bound to cause z-sorting problems. The more complex your model is, the sooner you will experience z-sorting problems.

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