Cell Visualizer (Phase 1)

This repository is being structured toward a Blender-driven cell visualizer. Phase 1 establishes the runtime skeleton:

• modular C++ layout (core, render, scene, assets, math)
• OpenGL render loop with GLFW + GLAD
• basic orbit camera controls
• placeholder model-loader interface for future Blender .glb/.gltf import

Current Layout

src/
  main.cpp
  core/
    Application.h
    Application.cpp
  render/
    Renderer.h
    Renderer.cpp
  scene/
    Camera.h
    Camera.cpp
  assets/
    ModelLoader.h
    ModelLoader.cpp
  math/
    Math.h

Requirements

• Windows
• CMake 3.16+
• MinGW-w64 (GNU gcc/g++)
• OpenGL 3.3-capable GPU/driver
• GLFW, either:
  • installed package that provides CMake target glfw or glfw3, or
  • local source tree passed via -DGLFW_SOURCE_DIR=...

GLAD is vendored in external/glad.

Configure and Build (MinGW Recommended)

Use a dedicated build directory such as build-mingw if you previously configured with a different generator (for example, NMake).

cmake -S . -B build-mingw -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++ -DGLFW_SOURCE_DIR=C:/glfw
cmake --build build-mingw -j

Alternative: GLFW installed package (vcpkg/system)

cmake -S . -B build-mingw -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++ 
cmake --build build-mingw -j

If CMake cannot resolve GLFW, it fails with instructions to set GLFW_SOURCE_DIR or install GLFW.

Run

.\build-mingw\app.exe

Troubleshooting (MinGW)

• gcc or g++ not found:

  • Ensure MinGW is installed and on PATH.
  • Check with:

    gcc --version
    g++ --version
    mingw32-make --version

• CMake generator mismatch error (Does not match the generator used previously):

  • Use a fresh build directory:

    cmake -S . -B build-mingw -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++

  • Or remove old cache files in the existing build directory (CMakeCache.txt and CMakeFiles/).

• GLFW not found:

  • Pass your GLFW source checkout explicitly:

    cmake -S . -B build-mingw -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++ -DGLFW_SOURCE_DIR=C:/glfw

  • Confirm C:/glfw/CMakeLists.txt exists.

• mingw32-make not found:

  • If using MSYS2 UCRT64, use:

    cmake --build build-mingw -j

  • Or call the tool directly if needed:

    mingw32-make -C build-mingw

• App fails to start due to missing runtime DLLs:

  • Build from the same shell/environment where MinGW is available (for example MSYS2 UCRT64 shell), or add required runtime DLL directories to PATH.

Controls (Phase 1)

• Left / Right: orbit camera
• Up / Down: zoom
• Esc: close app

Next Phase

• implement real .glb/.gltf import path in src/assets/ModelLoader.cpp
• replace placeholder geometry with imported meshes
• add scene graph + material pipeline for organelles and membranes