One of the problems with implementing hardware acceleration on the Android runtime is that the graphics driver assumes it’s running closer to the hardware than it actually is; the player must know of a method of uploading its compositor’s data directly to the hardware. Normally this can be done via a method like glTexImage2D, which is actually implemented as a fallback method in Android. For optimal performance however, the compositing architecture would have to make use of direct buffer access through its gralloc module. The trick is in giving Android the right hooks into the Mesa3D driver that allows it to go around the regular conventions. With a bit of finesse and a lot of work, the BlackBerry 10 simulator now has a fully hardware accelerated Android runtime.

How To: Enabling hardware graphics acceleration

Current simulators have 3D acceleration enabled by default. To check whether acceleration is enabled, open your Virtual Machine Settings in VMWare Player and in the Display tab check “Accelerate 3D graphics” as seen here:

Demonstration

In the following video, you’ll see the difference hardware acceleration can make in the Android runtime:

If you want to write your own Cascades™ app using OpenGL ES, you can’t miss our webcast on Building Compelling 3D Apps using Cascades and OpenGL ES, which will take place on July 31, 2012 at 11am EST.

This fourth Cascades webcast will focus on how to combine Cascades and OpenGL ES to create compelling 3D apps. The techniques discussed were first presented at BlackBerry® 10 Jam in Orlando by discussing the creation of GoodCitizenCascades, a Cascades version of the NDK sample app Good Citizen (the original version of this sample app will be posted to the Cascades-Community-Samples repository on GitHub soon). The sample app featured best practices for how to properly structure the OpenGL code and link it in with Cascades, how to leverage Actions and the use of NavigatorPanes for multiple panels, and how to process touch events and use them to control a 3D scene rendered in OpenGL using Qt objects and JavaScript®. In the webcast, we will also expand on the original content with more Cascades tips and tricks based on new Cascades features coming in the next BlackBerry 10 beta release, and demonstrate at least one additional sample app demonstrating some of the integration techniques not covered before.

Registration is now open, so get signed up and reserve your seat today!

Miss the first three webcasts? No problem!

If you would like to attend the fourth webcast but missed the first three, don’t worry — they are available on-demand from the Cascades microsite. Feel free to watch these webcasts, follow along with the sample applications demonstration, and code at the same time. You’ll be able to get caught up on all the information needed to take full advantage of the fourth webcast session.

On the topic of videos: if you are unable to attend this fourth session, rest assured that it too will be posted to the Cascades microsite shortly following its presentation, so keep watch of the site for updates.

I am eagerly looking forward to the upcoming webcasts and interacting with you all again!