nvpro-samples/vk_gltf_renderer

What it solves

Graphics developers often need a reference implementation that shows how to correctly render glTF 2.0 scenes with physically based materials, but building such a renderer from scratch is complex. Editing glTF scenes also typically requires separate tools that may alter the original files. This project provides an open-source Vulkan ray tracing renderer that is both a high-quality path tracer for glTF materials and an interactive scene editor, allowing you to modify scene hierarchies, materials, and lights without permanently changing your source assets.

How it works

It is a C++ application built on Vulkan ray tracing. The renderer uses Monte Carlo path tracing with next event estimation and multiple importance sampling to compute physically accurate lighting. It automatically handles many aspects of glTF, including animations, skins, morph targets, and over 36 extensions like clearcoat, transmission, and volume. An integrated editor lets you edit the scene graph, move objects with a transform gizmo, adjust materials, and save changes back to a new glTF file, leaving your original file untouched. For faster iteration, there is a rasterizer preview path, and AI denoisers (DLSS Ray Reconstruction, OptiX, and Open Image Denoise) clean up the path-traced image. Additionally, an optional agentic AI feature can connect to a local ComfyUI installation to beautify the current render or generate an HDRI environment from a text prompt.

Who it's for

This project targets graphics developers, technical artists, and researchers who want a studyable, profiled, and extensible reference implementation for glTF rendering. It is also useful for anyone who needs to inspect or edit glTF scenes with a physically based renderer, and for testing how new glTF extensions should look.

Highlights

• Full Vulkan RTX path tracer with Monte Carlo GI, NEE, MIS, and adaptive sampling
• Integrated glTF scene editor: hierarchy manipulation, transform gizmo, material editing, undo/redo, and non-destructive save-back
• Support for 36+ glTF extensions, including anisotropy, clearcoat, transmission, volume, sheen, iridescence, and more
• AI denoising via DLSS Ray Reconstruction, OptiX AI Denoiser, and Open Image Denoise
• Optional agentic AI generation: beautify renders or generate HDRIs from prompts via ComfyUI
• glTF 2.1 complex-scene preview: reference external glTF/GLB files as instances with cycle detection and re-externalization
• Rasterizer preview for fast interaction, shader hot-reload, and headless benchmarking tools