Re: [GSOC 2022]: Integrate FreeType with alternative rendering engines

[Werner LEMBERG]

Hello Anurag,


> I am interested in contributing to the project “Integrate FreeType
> with alternative rendering engines” as part of GSOC 2022 and have
> been learning about it for some time.

Great!

> Reading through the mailing list discussions and building on the
> work of other contributors, I have been successful in creating
> prototype renderer module for FreeType that is based on the font-rs
> rasteriser.  The renderer module is written in C and is very
> barebones at the moment, since I wanted to discuss with the
> community and wait for an official approval for my proposal before
> investing too much effort in any particular direction.

OK.

> Having briefly studied the renderers mentioned at FreeType’s GSOC
> page, I believe the best course of action would be to first properly
> integrate a font-rs based renderer in FreeType and then working on
> optimizing the implementation by studying the code of font-go and
> fontdue.

Such an analysis would be part of the project.

> I am currently studying the code of Fontdue and since it started as
> a fork of font-rs I hope integration will not be too tough.
> Pathfinder seems to be very different from the other renderers, I
> need to study more about it, and will try to determine the best way
> to integrate it with FreeType.

Again, all those details should be part of the project.

> I am also working on a way to properly benchmark the different
> implementations and would appreciate any pointers regarding it.

I think the comparison diagrams in Raph Levien's blog entry on font-rs
page are quite a good start.

> I have submitted my draft proposal to the GSOC website, and humbly
> request the mentors to take a look at it and provide feedback.

Will do so soon.


    Werner