Multiple attachment description for one attachment

I draw the scene first, and then the UI using imgui, for this purpose I use 2 subpasses and 2 attachment descriptions, this suits me and works well.

	//Create render color attachment
	//Attachment description
	VkAttachmentDescription sceneRenderColorAttachment{};
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.format = swapchainImageFormat;
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.samples = VK_SAMPLE_COUNT_1_BIT;
	//Clear attachment before render
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.loadOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_LOAD_OP_CLEAR;
	//The rendered attachment will be stored in memory for imgui render
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.storeOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_STORE_OP_STORE;
	//We are not interested in the stencil data
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.stencilLoadOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_LOAD_OP_DONT_CARE;
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.stencilStoreOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_STORE_OP_DONT_CARE;
	//We are not interested in the layout before starting the render
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.initialLayout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED;
	//The layout should be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL because the image will be drawn on top of this ImGui and only then displayed.
	sceneRenderColorAttachment.finalLayout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL;

	//Create imgui color attachment
	//Attachment description
	VkAttachmentDescription imguiColorAttachment{};
	imguiColorAttachment.format = swapchainImageFormat;
	imguiColorAttachment.samples = VK_SAMPLE_COUNT_1_BIT;
	//Load render attachment before render imgui
	imguiColorAttachment.loadOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_LOAD_OP_LOAD;
	//Render attachment will be stored in memory for visualization
	imguiColorAttachment.storeOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_STORE_OP_STORE;
	//We are not interested in the stencil data
	imguiColorAttachment.stencilLoadOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_LOAD_OP_DONT_CARE;
	imguiColorAttachment.stencilStoreOp = VK_ATTACHMENT_STORE_OP_DONT_CARE;
	imguiColorAttachment.initialLayout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL;
	//We want the image to be ready for presentation using the swap chain after rendering
	imguiColorAttachment.finalLayout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PRESENT_SRC_KHR;

	std::vector<VkAttachmentDescription> attachmentsDescriptions = { sceneRenderColorAttachment, imguiColorAttachment };

	//Subpasses and attachment references
	//Subpass refers to the attachment using VkAttachmentReference
	VkAttachmentReference sceneRenderColorAttachmentRef{};
	//Index of the attachment that we created above earlier
	sceneRenderColorAttachmentRef.attachment = 0;
	sceneRenderColorAttachmentRef.layout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL;

	VkAttachmentReference imguiColorAttachmentRef{};
	imguiColorAttachmentRef.attachment = 1;
	imguiColorAttachmentRef.layout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL;

	VkSubpassDescription sceneRenderSubpass{};
	sceneRenderSubpass.pipelineBindPoint = VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_GRAPHICS;
	sceneRenderSubpass.colorAttachmentCount = 1;
	sceneRenderSubpass.pColorAttachments = &sceneRenderColorAttachmentRef;

	VkSubpassDescription imguiSubpass{};
	imguiSubpass.pipelineBindPoint = VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_GRAPHICS;
	imguiSubpass.colorAttachmentCount = 1;
	imguiSubpass.pColorAttachments = &imguiColorAttachmentRef;

	std::vector<VkSubpassDescription> subpasses = { sceneRenderSubpass, imguiSubpass };

	//Subpass dependencies
	VkSubpassDependency sceneRenderSubpassDependency{};
	sceneRenderSubpassDependency.srcSubpass = VK_SUBPASS_EXTERNAL;
	sceneRenderSubpassDependency.dstSubpass = 0;
	sceneRenderSubpassDependency.srcStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT;
	sceneRenderSubpassDependency.srcAccessMask = 0;
	sceneRenderSubpassDependency.dstStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT;
	sceneRenderSubpassDependency.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_WRITE_BIT;

	VkSubpassDependency imguiSubpassDependency{};
	imguiSubpassDependency.srcSubpass = 0;
	imguiSubpassDependency.dstSubpass = 1;
	imguiSubpassDependency.srcStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT;
	imguiSubpassDependency.srcAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_WRITE_BIT;
	imguiSubpassDependency.dstStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT;
	imguiSubpassDependency.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_WRITE_BIT;

	std::vector<VkSubpassDependency> subpassesDependencies = { sceneRenderSubpassDependency, imguiSubpassDependency };

	VkRenderPassCreateInfo renderPassInfo{};
	renderPassInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_RENDER_PASS_CREATE_INFO;
	renderPassInfo.attachmentCount = attachmentsDescriptions.size();
	renderPassInfo.pAttachments = attachmentsDescriptions.data();
	renderPassInfo.subpassCount = subpasses.size();
	renderPassInfo.pSubpasses = subpasses.data();
	renderPassInfo.dependencyCount = subpassesDependencies.size();
	renderPassInfo.pDependencies = subpassesDependencies.data();

	if (vkCreateRenderPass(logicalDevice, &renderPassInfo, nullptr, &renderPass) != VK_SUCCESS) {
		throw MakeErrorInfo("Failed to create renderpass!");
	}

I create framebuffers like this:

problem here
---> std::vector<VkImageView> framebufferAttachments = { swapchainImageViews[i], swapchainImageViews[i] };

	VkFramebufferCreateInfo framebufferInfo{};
	framebufferInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_FRAMEBUFFER_CREATE_INFO;
	framebufferInfo.renderPass = renderPass;
	framebufferInfo.attachmentCount = framebufferAttachments.size();
	framebufferInfo.pAttachments = framebufferAttachments.data();
	framebufferInfo.width = swapchainExtent.width;
	framebufferInfo.height = swapchainExtent.height;
	framebufferInfo.layers = 1;

	if (vkCreateFramebuffer(logicalDevice, &framebufferInfo, nullptr, &swapchainFramebuffers[i]) != VK_SUCCESS) {
		throw MakeErrorInfo("Failed to create framebuffer!");
	}

I have to specify one attachment 2 times and I don’t like it.
Can I make my 2 attachments description refer to this one attachment so that I don’t have to specify it 2 times?

Why do you think you need two attachment descriptions at all? Why not use use the same attachment from different subpasses?

1 Like

Of course, I could use only one attachment and one attachment description, but in this case I am interested in another question.

An attachment description is the description of an attachment. If you describe 2 attachments, then you have two attachments. Just like if you have two variable declarations, then you have two variables.

Also, if you have two attachments that use the same image, you must declare them to be aliased. And there are a bunch of other things you have to do to be able to use these attachments in subpasses. Which is why you shouldn’t do that unless you absolutely have to.

1 Like

Okay, I figured out how it works.
Thanks for the answer!

This topic was automatically closed 183 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.