Microsoft KB Archive/277012

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DirectX: List of New Features Included in Microsoft DirectX 8.0

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Q277012

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The information in this article applies to:


 * the operating system: Microsoft Windows 95
 * the operating system: Microsoft Windows 98
 * the operating system: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
 * the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000

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SUMMARY
This article describes some of the new features that are included in the Microsoft DirectX 8.0 SDK. This list is by no means complete. For additional information, please refer to the documentation included in the DirectX SDK.

MORE INFORMATION
DirectX 8.0 is composed of the following five components:

DirectX Audio - an accelerated audio/music interface DirectX Graphics - an accelerated graphics interface DirectInput - a streamlined input device interface DirectPlay - a multi-player gaming interface DirectShow - an accelerated media playback interface New DirectX Audio features include:

Microsoft DirectX Audio version 8.0 provides a new architecture for integrated music and sound effects playback. Although the names Microsoft DirectSound and Microsoft DirectMusic are still used, there is no longer a clear distinction between the two, and it is expected that the DirectMusic APIs will be the APIs of choice for creating interactive sound effects.

The new audio architecture treats the DirectMusic synthesizer as the main sound generator for DirectX Audio. This highly optimized DLS2 synthesizer creates all the sounds, sub-mixes them and sends the result to DirectSound buffers for further processing.

The DirectSound buffer can apply audio effects processing as well as 3-D positioning on each sound. The DirectMusic synthesizer can also sub-mix multiple individual voices prior to output. This allows several individual sounds to be processed by the same audio effects and positioned in the same location in 3-D space and use only one DirectSound3D buffer, minimizing CPU usage and 3-D hardware requirements.

DirectMusic Producer will provide authoring capabilities for all new DirectMusic features, as well as some enhancements that do not affect the APIs but allow for a more flexible and comprehensive authoring environment.

New DirectX Graphics features include:

Migration of Microsoft DirectDraw into Microsoft Direct3D:

In version 8.0 of DirectX, DirectDraw is fully integrated into Direct3D to enable drastically simplified application initialization, improved data allocation and management performance, and reduced memory footprint.

The new Direct3D infrastructure provides the services that are called at relatively low frequency. Creation of Direct3D.

Creation of resources such as textures and vertex buffers.

Display mode selection.

Presentation of rendered images to the display.

New DirectX 8.0 Graphics features include:

Parallel vertex input streams for more flexible mapping to dynamic application data structures.

Programmable vertex processing language enables programmers to write hardware shaders for

General environment mapping Matrix palette skinning Morphing/tweening animation Procedural geometry User-defined lighting models as well as for any other developer-defined algorithm.

Programmable Pixel processing language enables programmers to write hardware shaders for

Per-pixel environment mapping Per-pixel lighting/bump mapping as well as for any other developer-defined algorithm.

MultiSample Rendering support enables:

Full-scene antialiasing Multisample effects such as depth-of-field and motion blur Sprite Points enable:

"High-performance rendering of particle systems" 3-D Volume textures enable:

Easy texturing of very complex geometry Range-attenuation in per-pixel lighting Volume atmospheric effects Higher-Order Primitive Support:

Enhances the appearance of 3-D content Facilitates the mapping of content from major 3-D authoring tools Higher-Level Technologies:

"3-D content creation tool plug-ins for export into Direct3D of skinned meshes using a variety of Direct3D techniques such as higher order surface data and multi-resolution LOD geometry" New DirectInput features include:

DirectInput Mapper, including a default user interface that enables users to configure devices quickly and easily. This standard API is complimented by a low-level user interface API that enables applications to directly access device images for use in their own custom user interfaces.

Better support for international applications. DirectInput devices in DirectX 8.0 support a new property to retrieve the localized key name string for an international keyboard. This feature will be useful to most any DirectInput-based application that ships internationally.

New DirectPlay features include:

DirectPlay 8 interfaces, IDirectPlay8, represent a rewrite of the DirectPlay layer designed for simplicity, performance, and scalability.

IDirectPlay 8 is designed to be scalable for the massive multiplayer environment of thousands of users.

The provision of Voice channels. This is implemented across both the old APIs and the IDirectPlay8 APIs in a single, common interface.

DirectPlay Voice allows for a voice-prompted user interface.

DirectPlay Voice provides for multiple topologies: peer to peer, client/server, and client/mixing server.

A rich suite of low and high bandwidth compression/decompression algorithms are available in support of DirectPlay Voice.

Takes advantage of I/O completion ports in Windows 2000, increasing the potential number of clients/server, reducing server deployment costs.

A revised addressing scheme based on URL naming convention to be more intuitive to work with. An additional benefit is allowing for easily-created, one-click game launching from a Web page.

A simplified API scheme allows easier setup and connection for the developer.

Thread management implemented to reduce thread count, thus lowering the cost to implement servers.

The lobby/client dependency is removed, allowing the developer to pick and choose the components that suit the job requirement.

New DirectShow features include:

A single setup program for graphics, audio and streaming.

Integrated documentation and samples.

Easier dependency testing DirectShow-based applications because DirectX 8.0 will always be installed.

In addition to the benefits of improved integration, DirectShow 8.0 adds the following features:

Dynamic Graph Building, allowing filter chains to be added and removed from the graph while it is still running.

Dynamic Format Change support, allowing the graph to reconfigure on the fly for changes in the source data.

DirectShow Editing Services, a complete timeline and switching system for non-linear editing.

Improved startup performance and filter caching to reduce enumeration time.

Improved DVD Support. The DVD Navigator now implements the complete DVD Annex-J command set and can play karaoke as well as video discs. The MSWebDVD ActiveX control enables the development of full-featured scripting-based DVD player applications.

For information about how to download and install DirectX 8.0, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

"Q179113 How to Download and Install DirectX"