Adds back in way to convert color to u8 array, implemented for the two RGB color types, also renames Color::linear to Color::to_linear. (#13759)

# Objective

One thing missing from the new Color implementation in 0.14 is the
ability to easily convert to a u8 representation of the rgb color.

(note this is a redo of PR https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy/pull/13739
as I needed to move the source branch

## Solution

I have added to_u8_array and to_u8_array_no_alpha to a new trait called
ColorToPacked to mirror the f32 conversions in ColorToComponents and
implemented the new trait for Srgba and LinearRgba.
To go with those I also added matching from_u8... functions and
converted a couple of cases that used ad-hoc implementations of that
conversion to use these.
After discussion on Discord of the experience of using the API I renamed
Color::linear to Color::to_linear, as without that it looks like a
constructor (like Color::rgb).
I also added to_srgba which is the other commonly converted to type of
color (for UI and 2D) to match to_linear.
Removed a redundant extra implementation of to_f32_array for LinearColor
as it is also supplied in ColorToComponents (I'm surprised that's
allowed?)

## Testing

Ran all tests and manually tested.
Added to_and_from_u8 to linear_rgba::tests

## Changelog

visible change is Color::linear becomes Color::to_linear.

---------

Co-authored-by: John Payne <20407779+johngpayne@users.noreply.github.com>

crates/bevy_color/src/color.rs

@@ -73,7 +73,12 @@ impl StandardColor for Color {}
 
 impl Color {
     /// Return the color as a linear RGBA color.
-    pub fn linear(&self) -> LinearRgba {
+    pub fn to_linear(&self) -> LinearRgba {
+        (*self).into()
+    }
+
+    /// Return the color as an SRGBA color.
+    pub fn to_srgba(&self) -> Srgba {
         (*self).into()
     }
 

crates/bevy_color/src/color_ops.rs

@@ -115,6 +115,18 @@ pub trait ColorToComponents {
     fn from_vec3(color: Vec3) -> Self;
 }
 
+/// Trait with methods for converting colors to packed non-color types
+pub trait ColorToPacked {
+    /// Convert to [u8; 4] where that makes sense (Srgba is most relevant)
+    fn to_u8_array(self) -> [u8; 4];
+    /// Convert to [u8; 3] where that makes sense (Srgba is most relevant)
+    fn to_u8_array_no_alpha(self) -> [u8; 3];
+    /// Convert from [u8; 4] where that makes sense (Srgba is most relevant)
+    fn from_u8_array(color: [u8; 4]) -> Self;
+    /// Convert to [u8; 3] where that makes sense (Srgba is most relevant)
+    fn from_u8_array_no_alpha(color: [u8; 3]) -> Self;
+}
+
 /// Utility function for interpolating hue values. This ensures that the interpolation
 /// takes the shortest path around the color wheel, and that the result is always between
 /// 0 and 360.

crates/bevy_color/src/linear_rgba.rs

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use crate::{
     color_difference::EuclideanDistance, impl_componentwise_vector_space, Alpha, ColorToComponents,
-    Gray, Luminance, Mix, StandardColor,
+    ColorToPacked, Gray, Luminance, Mix, StandardColor,
 };
 use bevy_math::{Vec3, Vec4};
 use bevy_reflect::prelude::*;
@@ -149,24 +149,12 @@ impl LinearRgba {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Converts the color into a [f32; 4] array in RGBA order.
-    ///
-    /// This is useful for passing the color to a shader.
-    pub fn to_f32_array(&self) -> [f32; 4] {
-        [self.red, self.green, self.blue, self.alpha]
-    }
-
     /// Converts this color to a u32.
     ///
     /// Maps the RGBA channels in RGBA order to a little-endian byte array (GPUs are little-endian).
     /// `A` will be the most significant byte and `R` the least significant.
     pub fn as_u32(&self) -> u32 {
-        u32::from_le_bytes([
-            (self.red * 255.0) as u8,
-            (self.green * 255.0) as u8,
-            (self.blue * 255.0) as u8,
-            (self.alpha * 255.0) as u8,
-        ])
+        u32::from_le_bytes(self.to_u8_array())
     }
 }
 
@@ -310,6 +298,25 @@ impl ColorToComponents for LinearRgba {
     }
 }
 
+impl ColorToPacked for LinearRgba {
+    fn to_u8_array(self) -> [u8; 4] {
+        [self.red, self.green, self.blue, self.alpha]
+            .map(|v| (v.clamp(0.0, 1.0) * 255.0).round() as u8)
+    }
+
+    fn to_u8_array_no_alpha(self) -> [u8; 3] {
+        [self.red, self.green, self.blue].map(|v| (v.clamp(0.0, 1.0) * 255.0).round() as u8)
+    }
+
+    fn from_u8_array(color: [u8; 4]) -> Self {
+        Self::from_f32_array(color.map(|u| u as f32 / 255.0))
+    }
+
+    fn from_u8_array_no_alpha(color: [u8; 3]) -> Self {
+        Self::from_f32_array_no_alpha(color.map(|u| u as f32 / 255.0))
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(feature = "wgpu-types")]
 impl From<LinearRgba> for wgpu_types::Color {
     fn from(color: LinearRgba) -> Self {
@@ -416,6 +423,34 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(a.distance_squared(&b), 1.0);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn to_and_from_u8() {
+        // from_u8_array
+        let a = LinearRgba::from_u8_array([255, 0, 0, 255]);
+        let b = LinearRgba::new(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
+        assert_eq!(a, b);
+
+        // from_u8_array_no_alpha
+        let a = LinearRgba::from_u8_array_no_alpha([255, 255, 0]);
+        let b = LinearRgba::rgb(1.0, 1.0, 0.0);
+        assert_eq!(a, b);
+
+        // to_u8_array
+        let a = LinearRgba::new(0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 1.0).to_u8_array();
+        let b = [0, 0, 255, 255];
+        assert_eq!(a, b);
+
+        // to_u8_array_no_alpha
+        let a = LinearRgba::rgb(0.0, 1.0, 1.0).to_u8_array_no_alpha();
+        let b = [0, 255, 255];
+        assert_eq!(a, b);
+
+        // clamping
+        let a = LinearRgba::rgb(0.0, 100.0, -100.0).to_u8_array_no_alpha();
+        let b = [0, 255, 0];
+        assert_eq!(a, b);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn darker_lighter() {
         // Darker and lighter should be commutative.

crates/bevy_color/src/srgba.rs

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use crate::color_difference::EuclideanDistance;
 use crate::{
-    impl_componentwise_vector_space, Alpha, ColorToComponents, Gray, LinearRgba, Luminance, Mix,
-    StandardColor, Xyza,
+    impl_componentwise_vector_space, Alpha, ColorToComponents, ColorToPacked, Gray, LinearRgba,
+    Luminance, Mix, StandardColor, Xyza,
 };
 use bevy_math::{Vec3, Vec4};
 use bevy_reflect::prelude::*;
@@ -168,10 +168,7 @@ impl Srgba {
 
     /// Convert this color to CSS-style hexadecimal notation.
     pub fn to_hex(&self) -> String {
-        let r = (self.red * 255.0).round() as u8;
-        let g = (self.green * 255.0).round() as u8;
-        let b = (self.blue * 255.0).round() as u8;
-        let a = (self.alpha * 255.0).round() as u8;
+        let [r, g, b, a] = self.to_u8_array();
         match a {
             255 => format!("#{:02X}{:02X}{:02X}", r, g, b),
             _ => format!("#{:02X}{:02X}{:02X}{:02X}", r, g, b, a),
@@ -189,7 +186,7 @@ impl Srgba {
     /// See also [`Srgba::new`], [`Srgba::rgba_u8`], [`Srgba::hex`].
     ///
     pub fn rgb_u8(r: u8, g: u8, b: u8) -> Self {
-        Self::rgba_u8(r, g, b, u8::MAX)
+        Self::from_u8_array_no_alpha([r, g, b])
     }
 
     // Float operations in const fn are not stable yet
@@ -206,12 +203,7 @@ impl Srgba {
     /// See also [`Srgba::new`], [`Srgba::rgb_u8`], [`Srgba::hex`].
     ///
     pub fn rgba_u8(r: u8, g: u8, b: u8, a: u8) -> Self {
-        Self::new(
-            r as f32 / u8::MAX as f32,
-            g as f32 / u8::MAX as f32,
-            b as f32 / u8::MAX as f32,
-            a as f32 / u8::MAX as f32,
-        )
+        Self::from_u8_array([r, g, b, a])
     }
 
     /// Converts a non-linear sRGB value to a linear one via [gamma correction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_correction).
@@ -373,6 +365,25 @@ impl ColorToComponents for Srgba {
     }
 }
 
+impl ColorToPacked for Srgba {
+    fn to_u8_array(self) -> [u8; 4] {
+        [self.red, self.green, self.blue, self.alpha]
+            .map(|v| (v.clamp(0.0, 1.0) * 255.0).round() as u8)
+    }
+
+    fn to_u8_array_no_alpha(self) -> [u8; 3] {
+        [self.red, self.green, self.blue].map(|v| (v.clamp(0.0, 1.0) * 255.0).round() as u8)
+    }
+
+    fn from_u8_array(color: [u8; 4]) -> Self {
+        Self::from_f32_array(color.map(|u| u as f32 / 255.0))
+    }
+
+    fn from_u8_array_no_alpha(color: [u8; 3]) -> Self {
+        Self::from_f32_array_no_alpha(color.map(|u| u as f32 / 255.0))
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<LinearRgba> for Srgba {
     #[inline]
     fn from(value: LinearRgba) -> Self {

crates/bevy_pbr/src/fog.rs

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use bevy_color::{Color, LinearRgba};
+use bevy_color::{Color, ColorToComponents, LinearRgba};
 use bevy_ecs::prelude::*;
 use bevy_math::Vec3;
 use bevy_reflect::{std_traits::ReflectDefault, Reflect};

crates/bevy_pbr/src/render/light.rs

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use bevy_asset::AssetId;
+use bevy_color::ColorToComponents;
 use bevy_core_pipeline::core_3d::CORE_3D_DEPTH_FORMAT;
 use bevy_ecs::entity::EntityHashSet;
 use bevy_ecs::prelude::*;

crates/bevy_pbr/src/volumetric_fog/mod.rs

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 use bevy_app::{App, Plugin};
 use bevy_asset::{load_internal_asset, Handle};
-use bevy_color::Color;
+use bevy_color::{Color, ColorToComponents};
 use bevy_core_pipeline::{
     core_3d::{
         graph::{Core3d, Node3d},
@@ -617,18 +617,9 @@ pub fn prepare_volumetric_fog_uniforms(
 
     for (entity, volumetric_fog_settings) in view_targets.iter() {
         let offset = writer.write(&VolumetricFogUniform {
-            fog_color: Vec3::from_slice(
-                &volumetric_fog_settings.fog_color.linear().to_f32_array()[0..3],
-            ),
-            light_tint: Vec3::from_slice(
-                &volumetric_fog_settings.light_tint.linear().to_f32_array()[0..3],
-            ),
-            ambient_color: Vec3::from_slice(
-                &volumetric_fog_settings
-                    .ambient_color
-                    .linear()
-                    .to_f32_array()[0..3],
-            ),
+            fog_color: volumetric_fog_settings.fog_color.to_linear().to_vec3(),
+            light_tint: volumetric_fog_settings.light_tint.to_linear().to_vec3(),
+            ambient_color: volumetric_fog_settings.ambient_color.to_linear().to_vec3(),
             ambient_intensity: volumetric_fog_settings.ambient_intensity,
             step_count: volumetric_fog_settings.step_count,
             max_depth: volumetric_fog_settings.max_depth,

crates/bevy_sprite/src/mesh2d/color_material.rs

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use crate::{Material2d, Material2dPlugin, MaterialMesh2dBundle};
 use bevy_app::{App, Plugin};
 use bevy_asset::{load_internal_asset, Asset, AssetApp, Assets, Handle};
-use bevy_color::{Color, LinearRgba};
+use bevy_color::{Color, ColorToComponents, LinearRgba};
 use bevy_math::Vec4;
 use bevy_reflect::prelude::*;
 use bevy_render::{

crates/bevy_sprite/src/render/mod.rs

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use crate::{
     ComputedTextureSlices, Sprite, WithSprite, SPRITE_SHADER_HANDLE,
 };
 use bevy_asset::{AssetEvent, AssetId, Assets, Handle};
-use bevy_color::LinearRgba;
+use bevy_color::{ColorToComponents, LinearRgba};
 use bevy_core_pipeline::{
     core_2d::Transparent2d,
     tonemapping::{

crates/bevy_ui/src/render/mod.rs

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ mod pipeline;
 mod render_pass;
 mod ui_material_pipeline;
 
-use bevy_color::{Alpha, LinearRgba};
+use bevy_color::{Alpha, ColorToComponents, LinearRgba};
 use bevy_core_pipeline::core_2d::graph::{Core2d, Node2d};
 use bevy_core_pipeline::core_3d::graph::{Core3d, Node3d};
 use bevy_core_pipeline::{core_2d::Camera2d, core_3d::Camera3d};