Viewport Render Target
date: 06/27/2026
Today I added the foundation for the Anvil editor viewport.
Instead of rendering directly to the swapchain, the scene now renders into an offscreen render target. The editor can display that target inside an ImGui viewport panel.
What changed
Section titled “What changed”- Added viewport render target support
- Created an editor viewport panel
- Rendered the scene into an ImGui image
- Began separating editor UI from renderer ownership
Why this matters
Section titled “Why this matters”This is a major step toward a real editor workflow. The viewport is now just another panel, which means future tools like gizmos, camera controls, scene picking, and play mode can build on top of it.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- Add viewport focus/hover detection
- Route input only when the viewport is active
- Add entity selection from the viewport
- Improve draw layer and rotation support