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Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL
Interactive Computer Graphics fourth edition presents introductory computer graphics concepts using a proven top-down, programming-oriented approach and careful integration of OpenGL to teach core concepts. The fourth edition has been revised to more closely follow the OpenGL pipeline architecture and includes a new chapter on programmable hardware topics (vertex shaders). As with previous editions, readers learn to program three-dimensional applications as soon as possible. The Fourth edition focuses on core theory in graphics. Topics such as light-material interactions, shading, modeling, curves and surfaces, antialiasing, texture mapping, and compositing and hardware issues are covered.
816 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 27, 2008
I really liked programming graphics, but it was just soooooo much work for what felt like so little result.
March 21, 2017
Awesome book
January 15, 2012
This is an introductory book about OpenGL. We had an optional course on OpenGL in University and this book was required reading for this course.
Chapter 1 introduces some basic concepts, such as camera models and ray tracing.
Chapter 2 gets us started wih the OpenGL API.
Chapter 3 discusses input devices, the client-server perspective and menus.
Chapter 4 starts with a bit of geometry and linear algebra. This is followed by an OpenGL example. The chapter ends with transformations supported by OpenGL.
Chapter 5 deals with projections and perspective.
Chapter 6 is about light, light sources, reflection and ray tracing.
Chapter 7 involves studying implementation algorithms for geometric transformations, clipping and rasterization.
Modeling the real world is the topic of Chapter 8. This includes physical models based on elementary Newtonian mechanics.
Chapter 9 teaches us about curves and splines.
Chapter 10 mentions texture mapping, bit and pixel operations, composition techniques, sampling and aliasing.
The chapter titles could have been a bit longer and more descriptive. The book goes over some mathematics and theory. However, it never gets very challenging. I would not buy the book for that. There are lots of OpenGL examples. This is the strength of the book. Although the book has color plates and a nice hard cover, the code does not have syntax highlighting. You might say that I am too used to IDE’s, but I have seen syntax highlighting in at least one book, so it should be possible. I give this book 3 stars out of 5.
Chapter 1 introduces some basic concepts, such as camera models and ray tracing.
Chapter 2 gets us started wih the OpenGL API.
Chapter 3 discusses input devices, the client-server perspective and menus.
Chapter 4 starts with a bit of geometry and linear algebra. This is followed by an OpenGL example. The chapter ends with transformations supported by OpenGL.
Chapter 5 deals with projections and perspective.
Chapter 6 is about light, light sources, reflection and ray tracing.
Chapter 7 involves studying implementation algorithms for geometric transformations, clipping and rasterization.
Modeling the real world is the topic of Chapter 8. This includes physical models based on elementary Newtonian mechanics.
Chapter 9 teaches us about curves and splines.
Chapter 10 mentions texture mapping, bit and pixel operations, composition techniques, sampling and aliasing.
The chapter titles could have been a bit longer and more descriptive. The book goes over some mathematics and theory. However, it never gets very challenging. I would not buy the book for that. There are lots of OpenGL examples. This is the strength of the book. Although the book has color plates and a nice hard cover, the code does not have syntax highlighting. You might say that I am too used to IDE’s, but I have seen syntax highlighting in at least one book, so it should be possible. I give this book 3 stars out of 5.
October 21, 2009
This book was used as recommended reference book for my university degree. I found that extremely strange. Despite the seemingly introductory nature of its descriptive, this book has several flaws.
For starters, it assumes a strong mathematical foundation - there are a large number of formulas in here, made worse by the fact that some of them are incorrect.
The next problem is organization. The chapters and sections are fragmented and difficult to read through. The examples themselves are poorly explained, made worse by poor explanations on the principles behind the examples, and made even worse by the fact that many of the referenced examples are actually not in the book (on the website, I later found out)!
The exercises are an exercise in futility. The mention of OpenGL in its title really means that you need to be good in OpenGL before even bothering to attempt the exercises. It only touches OpenGL in a cursory manner.
Overall, unless you are already familiar with computer graphics programming, this book is not suitable. Even when coupled with the OpenGL Programming Guide book, this book barely rises above confusing.
For starters, it assumes a strong mathematical foundation - there are a large number of formulas in here, made worse by the fact that some of them are incorrect.
The next problem is organization. The chapters and sections are fragmented and difficult to read through. The examples themselves are poorly explained, made worse by poor explanations on the principles behind the examples, and made even worse by the fact that many of the referenced examples are actually not in the book (on the website, I later found out)!
The exercises are an exercise in futility. The mention of OpenGL in its title really means that you need to be good in OpenGL before even bothering to attempt the exercises. It only touches OpenGL in a cursory manner.
Overall, unless you are already familiar with computer graphics programming, this book is not suitable. Even when coupled with the OpenGL Programming Guide book, this book barely rises above confusing.
September 24, 2018
I’m guessing Angel is a mathematician.
The code examples in this book are sub par, they were buggy and problematic when I was an undergrad, and they don’t look any prettier now that I’ve got a couple of decades under my belt.
To be fair, this is not a book about OpenGL itself, but rather the science involved in generating a synthetic image using mathematical techniques, and how those tools are represented by the OpenGL API.
Some of it is only relevant to people trying to write their own rendering engines or design their own GPUs, these are areas that could have been dropped from the book without depriving its stated audience of any crucial information, conversely some useful areas don’t get the attention they deserve.
Useful to read as a cross-section, but in too complex a style to properly match that introductory tempo.
The code examples in this book are sub par, they were buggy and problematic when I was an undergrad, and they don’t look any prettier now that I’ve got a couple of decades under my belt.
To be fair, this is not a book about OpenGL itself, but rather the science involved in generating a synthetic image using mathematical techniques, and how those tools are represented by the OpenGL API.
Some of it is only relevant to people trying to write their own rendering engines or design their own GPUs, these are areas that could have been dropped from the book without depriving its stated audience of any crucial information, conversely some useful areas don’t get the attention they deserve.
Useful to read as a cross-section, but in too complex a style to properly match that introductory tempo.
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March 15, 2010Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL
March 27, 2018
Textbook
April 11, 2017
This textbook's content is very useful. Good examples with good explanation.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews