Have questions about LunarG, the Vulkan® SDK, available Vulkan® ecosystem tools to help developers tune graphics performance, or OpenXR™? If so, below are some frequently asked questions and answers.
LunarG performs work for a wide variety of companies:
Clients that require specialized, graphics engineering expertise and/or additional engineering resources beyond those currently available at their company. LunarG engineers can tackle a project alone or work alongside your team.
Graphics software engineers with many years of expertise in 3D graphics and GPU software tools, shader, and compute technologies, such as Vulkan®, DirectX, GLSL, OpenXR, SPIR-V™, and OpenGL. Our engineers develop in Windows®, Linux, Android™, and macOS® environments and have a passion for 3D Graphics and GPU software technologies.
LunarG is a trusted partner for innovative GPU software tools and development, providing tools and services used by thousands of developers - accelerating the creation of next-gen applications. LunarG’s uniqueness lies in its blend of technical mastery, community trust, and strategic positioning. They’re not just a vendor—they’re a foundational player in the graphics ecosystem, empowering developers while maintaining flexibility to innovate.
When GPU software programming challenges threaten to slow down production and derail goals, we provide expert solutions and help engineering teams recover their velocity and deliver premium products to their customers and stakeholders as planned.
Unlike contractors who need handholding, LunarG provides expert consultants who bring leadership, strategy, and solutions to the table. We see ourselves as problem-solving partners, and we are invested in your success as much as our own. As the leading problem solvers for Vulkan API development tools and GPU programming, we free up your time, ensure top quality production, and provide the relief you need to move forward with confidence and focus on what you do best.
LunarG has developed a variety of resources to aid in creating Vulkan applications. The following tools are available:
Yes. LunarG makes the ecosystem tools available in the Vulkan® SDK.
Refer to the documentation (Docs) section of the Vulkan® SDK download site (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/doc/sdk).
The Vulkan® SDK provides you with a variety of resources to aid in creating Vulkan® applications. The SDK includes:
The Vulkan® SDK is available on the Vulkan® SDK download site.
The SDK offers a number of advantages:
Vulkan® drivers do not perform error checking. drivers assume that the For optimal performance, Vulkan drivers assume that the application is using the Vulkan API correctly. The validation layers are the key for identifying errors in using the API during development. The layers check for correct implementation of the Vulkan® API and return any errors found. You can enable validation layers during application development, and then disable them for production shipments to maximize performance.
Yes, the KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Samples repository provides samples demonstrating the use of the Vulkan API.
You can capture a capture file of the Vulkan® API calls and replay them using the capture tools. Commonly, application developers share application workloads with third parties, such as IHVs (independent hardware vendors), who don’t have access to their application.
As an example, this capability is useful for reporting a rendering problem to an IHV. The capture file reduces the need for the IHV to set up an environment to reproduce the problem.
Consistent loader behavior across platforms is key to Vulkan®. The Vulkan® loader:
The SDK supports Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 11 (64-bit), Linux (Ubuntu, Arch, and Fedora), and macOS. For the specific distributions refer to the documentation found on the Vulkan® SDK download site (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/).
The Vulkan® shader language is SPIR-V, which is a low-level binary intermediate representation (IR). The Vulkan® API requires the SPIR-V format for all shaders. SPIR-V splits the compiler chain, enabling high-level language front ends to emit programs in a standardized intermediate form to be ingested by Vulkan®.
No. You can use existing GLSL shaders with the included tool glslangValidator, which creates SPIR-V shaders from equivalent GLSL shaders. DXC will convert HLSL shaders to SPIR-V. The Slang compiler can generate SPIR-V from HLSL 2018 and GLSL.
SPIR-V tools are included with the Vulkan® SDK. Examples of existing tools are: an optimizer, a disassembler, an assembler, a validator, and a remapper. See the SDK documentation on the Vulkan® SDK download site for a current list of available SPIR-V tools (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/doc/sdk/latest/windows/spirv_toolchain.html).
Documentation for the Vulkan® SDK is available on the Vulkan® SDK download site. It includes (but is not limited to):
LunarG curates the Vulkan® SDK by providing ongoing maintenance for the loader and validation layers and ongoing development to produce samples, other tools, and new layers. For SDK-related support from LunarG, submit issues on the Vulkan® SDK download site.
OpenXR is a Khronos royalty-free, open standard that provides high-performance access to Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) -- collectively known as XR -- platforms and devices.
OpenXR strives to allow developers to create cross-platform experiences by simplifying AR and VR software development with the goal of enabling applications to reach a wider range of hardware platforms without the need to re-write code or port to new platforms.
LunarG participated in the OpenXR Working Group since its inception. LunarG developed the initial loader, apidump and validation API layers. LunarG created a proof-of-concept implementation of capturing and replaying OpenXR API calls. LunarG supports clients with OpenXR projects.
GPU software development teams often run into roadblocks they can’t move on their own. LunarG is the industry’s leading problem-solving partner for GPU programming. We provide the tools, expertise, and passion you need to keep moving forward and deliver innovative, quality products. Let us know how we can help your next project succeed.
