# zauonlok/renderer

A shader-based software renderer written from scratch in C89

Repository: https://github.com/zauonlok/renderer
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/renderer
Homepage: https://zauonlok.github.io/renderer/
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: c, 3d, 3d-graphics, graphics, graphics-programming, rendering, software-rendering, cross-platform, from-scratch, pbr, ibl, shaders
Last push: 2021-03-06T07:55:05+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3453, "days_push": 2006, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2771, forks 293 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:18.938488+00:00)

## What it is
A shader-based software rasterizer written from scratch in C89 with minimal dependencies, featuring PBR, IBL, shadow mapping, and skeletal animation. It ships as a cross-platform 3D model viewer with orbital camera controls and a PBR material inspector.

## Use cases
- render 3D models without a GPU or graphics API
- learn how a software rasterizer works internally
- study PBR and image-based lighting implementation
- view glTF-style PBR materials with a material inspector
- explore skeletal animation and shadow mapping in pure C
- use as a reference for writing a renderer from scratch

## When to choose
- you want a minimal-dependency, CPU-only 3D renderer
- you are learning graphics programming and want readable C89 source
- you need a cross-platform viewer with prebuilt binaries
- you want to study PBR, IBL, or shadow mapping implementations

## When to avoid
- you need high-performance GPU-accelerated rendering
- you want a production rendering engine or game engine
- you need a library API to embed in your own application
- you require modern C tooling or extensive documentation

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: graphics, simulation, developer-tools
- domain: graphics, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cpp
- tags: software-rendering, c89, pbr, image-based-lighting, shader-based, 3d-viewer, from-scratch, game-development, macos, linux

## Member repositories
- zauonlok/renderer (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:18.938488+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T08:16:39.660199+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/zauonlok/renderer (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:18.938488+00:00, sha 8b23f40c4094)
  - homepage: https://zauonlok.github.io/renderer/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:56:03.375716+00:00, sha 9ab321ffc002)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.