Real-Time Rendering, Third Edition

This book is a great collection of almost current practical rendering techniques.Very basic theories/ideas for game engine, basis for game client programming as well as the necessary knowledge for understanding DirectX and OpenGL, in short, almost all stuffs of graphical rendering topics are covered by this book.I think of that this book consists of three major parts by three different coauthors.(But the consistency of the entire book content is kept well; the related issues in different sections/chapters are referred/linked with each other exactly.)It covers,BASIC SUFF AND LIGHT (Basic Vector Calculus, Basic Optical Science)Basic logical tools for graphics - Matrix, Projection, Terminologies,Basic graphics concepts - Aliasing, Morphing, Sensor, Color, Texture,Characteristics of light - Spectrum of Light, Irradiance, Reflection/Refraction, etc.RENDERING TECHNIQUE (More Artificial Technique)Illumination, Shading, Mapping, Effects, Bill boarding, Fogging, Silhouette, Cartoon-Rendering, etc.GEOMETRY AND PERFORMANCELine, Surface, Culling, LOD, Space Partitioning, Collision, Performance, GPU Pipeline, etc.It cites a lot of references on graphics/rendering/shader books, mathematics, journals, treaties and articles on the both side of online and offline.But the subjects/content of each section are written in brief and clear way to understand them due to that this book tries to avoid using complex formulae or equations.Recommending to find/read the original references to get more details for those kind of formulae, this book focuses on the major flow of how the techniques are derived and applied to.Again, it is very helpful to people who want to get a stout understanding for rendering technology.Strongly Related Books with this;Physically Based Rendering : From Theory to Implementation (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) (The Interactive 3d Technology Series), ShaderX6: Advanced Rendering, 3D Game Engine Design, Second Edition: A Practical Approach to Real-Time Computer Graphics (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology), Real-Time Collision Detection (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3-D Technology)Thanks.

This is, by far, one of the most thorough books I've read on computer graphics. It has a great overview of a lot of different topics related to real-time rendering, from lighting models to collision detection, and all the math that is involved. Make no mistake, there is a lot of math in this book. I will be honest, on some pages with dense equations my eyes glazed over somewhat. But it is great to have the equations to refer back to, and there are ample references given if you want to find out more.The thing to realize is that there is not a whole lot of code in this book. Sometimes pseudo-code will be giving, to illustrate an algorithm, but there is not stuff you can just copy and paste. If you are working on a 3D engine, this book should certainly be in your library, but you will need more to finish the job. So look to combine this book with one on your API of choice (OpenGL or DirectX) and another book that focuses on the architecture (I liked Game Engine Architecture by Jason Gregory).All in all I think it was a great read, and I feel a lot more comfortable with the basic concepts of rendering after reading the book. If you are in the field, or looking to get into the field, this is basically required reading. Highly recommended.

This is my favorite 3D graphics book by a wide margin. The writing is clear, concise and quite up-to-date (assuming you have the most recent edition). Every page contains concise, unobtrusive references to 1200 excellent sources of information (books, articles, links). For example, if you see [987] in the text, just find entry [987] in the appendix to find the name of a book, article, link or PDF with more information.What's best about this text is how well chosen and written are the topics. Their intention is always to describe the best up-to-date techniques to implement solutions to every aspect of real-time 3D graphics, with only enough general or historical discussion of each topic to provide a foundation to understand the current state-of-the-art. This is simply the perfect practical approach. Their complementary website is an absolute gold mine of references and advice.If I could only buy one general book on 3D graphics, this would definitely be it. It is a perfect complement to special-purpose books on specific APIs (OpenGL or DirectX) or GPU shading languages (GLSL or CG or HLSL) that describe the specific graphics environment and software tools you need to implement your 3D applications. If your choice is OpenGL/GLSL, then "Realtime Rendering" is the perfect complement to the OpenGL SuperBible (4th~5th edition) and the OpenGL Shading Language (3rd edition).

Probably the best comprehensive introduction to computer graphics if you already have a little exposure to computer graphics. It talks about the theories behind most of the features that you will see in a game engine or 3d software (unity, blender). If you have taken a 101 on unity or blender, this is the book to help you understand what is going on underneath.DON'T get the kindle version, it is just pdf images (table of content links don't work, page takes up only half of the phone screen, cannot zoom in)