Perlin's Noise with OpenGL

Question

I was studying Perlin's Noise through some examples @ http://dindinx.net/OpenGL/index.php?menu=exemples&submenu=shaders and couldn't help to notice that his make3DNoiseTexture() in perlin.c uses noise3(ni) instead of PerlinNoise3D(...)

Now why is that? Isn't Perlin's Noise supposed to be a summation of different noise frequencies and amplitudes?

Qestion 2 is what does ni, inci, incj, inck stand for? Why use ni instead of x,y coordinates? Why is ni incremented with
ni[0]+=inci;
inci = 1.0 / (Noise3DTexSize / frequency);
I see Hugo Elias created his Perlin2D with x,y coordinates, and so does PerlinNoise3D(...).

Thanks in advance :)

Answer 1

I now understand why and am going to answer my own question in hopes that it helps other people.

Perlin's Noise is actually a synthesis of gradient noises. In its production process, we must compute the dot product of a vector pointing from one of the corners flooring the input point to the input point itself with the random-generated gradient vector.

Now if the input point were a whole number, such as the xyz coordinates of a texture you want to create, the dot product would always return 0, which would give you a flat noise. So instead, we use inci, incj, inck as an alternative index. Yep, just an index, nothing else.

Now returning to question 1, there are two methods to implement Perlin's Noise:
1.Calculate the noise values separately and store them in the RGBA slots in the texture
2.Synthesize the noises up before-hand and store them in one of the RGBA slots in the texture

noise3(ni) is the actual implementation of method 1, while PerlinNoise3D(...) suggests the latter.

In my personal opinion, method 1 is much better because you have much more flexibility over how you use each octave in your shaders.

Answer 2

My guess on the reason for using noise3(ni) in make3DNoiseTexture() instead if PerlinNoise3D(...) is that when you use that noise texture in your shader you want to be able to replicate and modify the functionality of PerlinNoise3D(...) directly in the shader.

My guess for the reasoning behind ni, inci, incj, inck is that using x,y,z of the volume directly don't give a good result so by scaling the the noise with the frequency instead it is possible to adjust the resolution of the noise independently from the volume size.