GLTF loading

[AlexMollard]

Implement GLTF Loading Support

Objective

Integrate GLTF (GL Transmission Format) loading capabilities into our engine to support complex, detailed scenes with advanced materials, animations, and hierarchical structures.

Features to Implement

1. Basic GLTF parsing and loading
2. Support for complex scene hierarchies
3. Material system integration (PBR materials, textures)
4. Skeletal animation support (stretch goal)
5. Morph target support (stretch goal)
6. Efficient memory management for large models

Implementation Details

• Use a robust GLTF parsing library (e.g., tinygltf, cgltf) ~ Undecided yet
• Implement a GLTF scene importer that translates GLTF data into the engine's internal representation maybe even cache for the next engine load to save on parsing every time
• Create a material conversion system to map GLTF materials to our engine's material system
• Develop a skeletal animation system compatible with GLTF animation data (stretch goal)
• Implement morph target support for mesh deformations (stretch goal)

Engine Modifications

• Extend the asset loading pipeline to handle GLTF files (As of this ticket it only supports OBJ loading)
• Create a Scene graph and maybe a scene class that could be used to render and store the gltf nodes.
• Enhance the rendering system to accommodate GLTF-specific features (e.g., PBR materials)
• Implement or improve skeletal animation system (stretch goal)
• Add morph target support to the mesh rendering pipeline (stretch goal)

Considerations

• Performance optimization for loading large GLTF files
• Memory management for complex scenes with many assets
• Error handling and graceful fallback for unsupported GLTF features (Skeletal animations, morph target?)

Expected Outcome

This implementation will significantly enhance our engine's capability to handle complex, industry-standard 3D content, allowing for more detailed and diverse scenes, characters, and environments.