Editing Graphics pipeline (section)

{{Short description|Procedure to convert 3D scenes to 2D images}}
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The [[computer graphics]] pipeline, also known as the rendering pipeline, or '''graphics pipeline''', is a framework within computer graphics that outlines the necessary procedures for transforming a [[3D computer graphics|three-dimensional (3D)]] scene into a [[2D computer graphics|two-dimensional (2D)]] representation on a screen.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 30, 2018 |title=Graphics Pipeline |url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff476882%28v=vs.85%29.aspx |access-date=15 June 2015 |publisher=[[Microsoft]]}}</ref> Once a 3D model is generated, the graphics pipeline converts the model into a visually perceivable format on the computer display.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lecture: Graphics pipeline and animation |url=http://goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~gl/teaching/rtr&3dgp/notes/pipeline.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207095603/http://goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~gl/teaching/rtr%263dgp/notes/pipeline.html |archive-date=7 December 2017 |access-date=15 June 2015}}</ref> Due to the dependence on specific [[software]], [[Computer hardware|hardware]] configurations, and desired display attributes, a universally applicable graphics pipeline does not exist. Nevertheless, graphics [[API|application programming interfaces]] (APIs), such as [[Direct3D]], [[OpenGL]] and [[Vulkan]] were developed to standardize common procedures and oversee the graphics pipeline of a given hardware accelerator. These APIs provide an abstraction layer over the underlying hardware, relieving [[programmer]]s from the need to write code explicitly targeting various graphics hardware accelerators like [[AMD]], [[Intel]], [[Nvidia]], and others.

The model of the graphics pipeline is usually used in real-time rendering. Often, most of the pipeline steps are implemented in hardware, which allows for special [[Program optimization|optimizations]]. The term "pipeline" is used in a similar sense for the pipeline in [[Central processing unit|processors]]: the individual steps of the pipeline run in parallel as long as any given step has what it needs.