Creating a Render Target

Demonstrates how to create a render target using the RenderTarget2D class.

The Complete Sample

The code in this topic shows you the technique. You can download a complete code sample for this topic, including full source code and any additional supporting files required by the sample.

Download RenderTarget1.zip.

Creating a RenderTarget

To create a render target

1. Declare variables for a render target using the RenderTarget2D class and the render target texture using a Texture2D class.

   SpriteBatch spriteBatch;
   Texture2D grid;
   RenderTarget2D renderTarget;
   

2. Create a render target, giving it the same size as the back buffer.

   renderTarget = new RenderTarget2D(
       GraphicsDevice,
       GraphicsDevice.PresentationParameters.BackBufferWidth,
       GraphicsDevice.PresentationParameters.BackBufferHeight);
   

3. Load a grid for a texture, which contains two vertical and two horizontal lines.

   protected override void LoadContent()
   {
       // Create a new SpriteBatch, which can be used to draw textures.
       spriteBatch = new SpriteBatch(GraphicsDevice);
   
       grid = Content.Load<Texture2D>("grid");
   }
   

4. Render the texture to the render target.

   This function sets the render target on the device, draws the texture (to the render target) using a SpriteBatch, and sets the device render target to null (which resets the device to the back buffer).

   private void DrawRenderTarget()
   {
       // Set the device to the render target
       graphicsDeviceManager.GraphicsDevice.SetRenderTarget(renderTarget);
   
       graphicsDeviceManager.GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.Black);
   
       spriteBatch.Begin();
       Vector2 pos = Vector2.Zero;
       spriteBatch.Draw(grid, pos, Color.White);
       spriteBatch.End();
   
       // Reset the device to the back buffer
       graphicsDeviceManager.GraphicsDevice.SetRenderTarget(null);
   }
   

5. Draw the render target texture to the back buffer.

   graphicsDeviceManager.GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue);
   
   spriteBatch.Begin();
   spriteBatch.Draw((Texture2D)renderTarget,
       new Vector2(200, 50),          // x,y position
       new Rectangle(0, 0, 32, 32),   // just one grid
       Color.White                    // no color scaling
       );
   spriteBatch.End();