GigaPrime3D — GPU Compute Shader 3D Surface Chart

Likely the most impressive functioning, performing, efficient 3d 2d combo example you will find on github.

A ProEssentials v10 WPF .NET 8 demonstration of GPU compute shader 3D surface rendering — real material surface and terrain height map data visualized across three synchronized charts.

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What This Demonstrates

GigaPrime3D showcases ProEssentials v10's most advanced rendering capabilities — a three-chart synchronized visualization of real scientific surface data including material surface measurements and terrain height maps.

Three Synchronized Charts

Chart	Type	Purpose
Chart3DSurface	Pe3doWpf — 3D Surface	Main GPU-rendered 3D surface with lighting, rotation, zoom
Chart2DContour	PesgoWpf — 2D Contour	Linked 2D top-down contour view — zoom here zooms the 3D chart
Chart2DLine	PesgoWpf — 2D Cross Section	Live cross-section plane showing Y values at the X plane position

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Key Technical Features

GPU Compute Shader Surface Construction

// v10 new feature — builds the 3D scene on the GPU vs CPU
// 10x faster than v9 CPU-side construction
Chart3DSurface.PeData.ComputeShader = true;

Zero Memory Copy — UseDataAtLocation

// Chart uses app memory directly — no data transfer overhead
// Same memory shared between Pe3doWpf and PesgoWpf
Chart3DSurface.PeData.X.UseDataAtLocation(sMyXData, _cols);
Chart3DSurface.PeData.Y.UseDataAtLocation(sMyYData, size);
Chart3DSurface.PeData.Z.UseDataAtLocation(sMyZData, _rows);

Linked Chart Zoom Zooming or panning the 2D Contour chart automatically updates ManualScaleControlX/Z on the 3D surface chart — both views stay synchronized without any manual coordination.

Pixel Shader Culling

Chart3DSurface.PeGrid.Configure.DxPsManualCullXZ = true;

Efficiently culls geometry outside the visible range on the GPU rather than CPU, maintaining performance during zoomed views.

Data Reduction for Large Surfaces For height maps larger than 1000×1000, a configurable step value reduces data density for more responsive cursor tracking while maintaining visual fidelity.

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Data Files

GigaPrime3D includes real scientific surface data files in two formats:

• .bhm — Binary Height Map format. Header contains width, height, min/max Z in mm. Data is a flat array of 4-byte floats.
• .png — PNG files read as raw pixel data for height values rather than as images.

The HeightMap class handles both formats transparently, computing physical dimensions in millimeters from pixel dimensions and resolution.

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Interactive Controls — 3D Surface

• Left-click drag — rotate the surface
• Shift + left-click drag — translate/pan the scene
• Mouse wheel — zoom in and out
• Middle button drag — adjust light location
• Right-click — context menu including Cursor Tracking and Undo Zoom
• Height Map selector — switch between included data files
• Rotation sliders — horizontal and vertical rotation control
• Zoom slider — zoom control
• Z Exaggeration slider — adjusts Z axis aspect ratio (GPU-intensive, rebuilds triangle data)
• Light rotation sliders — vertical and horizontal light position control
• X Plane slider — moves the cross-section plane, updates the 2D line chart in real time
• Cursor Tracking checkbox — enables XYZ tooltip on mouse hover (CPU-intensive for large surfaces — builds octree data structure)
• Reduce Data — lowers data density for better cursor tracking performance

Interactive Controls — 2D Contour

• Left-click drag — zoom box, also zooms 3D surface
• Right-click — context menu with Undo Zoom

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Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2022
• .NET 8 SDK
• Internet connection for NuGet restore
• Dedicated GPU recommended for large data files

Designer Support: Visual Studio designer requires the full ProEssentials installation. The project builds and runs correctly via NuGet without a full installation.

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How to Run

1. Clone this repository
2. Open GigaPrime3D.sln in Visual Studio 2022
3. Build → Rebuild Solution (restores NuGet packages automatically)
4. Press F5
5. Select a height map file from the dropdown to load surface data

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NuGet Package

This project references ProEssentials.Chart.Net80.x64.Wpf from nuget.org. Package restore happens automatically on build.

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Related

• 3D Scientific Charts
• Performance — GPU Architecture Comparison
• Gallery Data Visualization
• No-hassle evaluation download
• gigasoft.com

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License

Example code is MIT licensed. ProEssentials requires a commercial license for continued use.