Real-Time Rendering (2nd Edition)

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One would think that the title of Tomas Moller's and Eric Haines's book, Real-Time Rendering, would be a contradiction in terms. How can such a computationally intensive process as rendering computer graphics ever hope to be done on the fly, in the blink of an eye, without delay--in short, in real time?

The term rendering, as it applies to computer graphics, refers to the mathematically intensive process of creating a picture or sequence of frames based on geometry. The duration of this process is dependent on the complexity of the scene (a forest with many trees and thousands of leaves will take much longer to render than a scene consisting of a white box over a gray background) and the speed of the hardware doing the calculations.

When Pixar's Toy Story was first released, the computer animation community was all abuzz with how it was done, and someone at Pixar mentioned that over 100 SGI workstations were used for rendering the frames over the course of almost two years. Someone else extrapolated this data and figured out that the same movie could have been rendered on one contemporary PC over the course of about 80 years.

The authors deftly answer the question, not only asserting that it can be done, but since this book is a programmer's guide, they list snippets of programming algorithms that help outline how it can be done.

Because the software and hardware is constantly and rapidly evolving due to the insatiable need for more realistic and complex graphics, the book avoids getting too specific. To quote the authors, "The field is rapidly evolving, and so it is a moving target." This lack of specificity doesn't detract from the usefulness of the book, though. Instead, it works at a higher, more abstract level, describing approaches to rendering techniques using generic algorithms. It is up to the programmer to apply these methods to the specific program or system on which it is to be implemented.

Real-Time Rendering describes some very complex methods, and this book is not for the average computer graphics creator. However, if you are working in an industry that depends on real-time rendered animation--like the gaming, medical, or military fields--or you are building the next-generation real-time render engine, this book will offer insight and concepts you can use to build some impressive software. --Mike Caputo

Book Description

Building on the success of Real-Time Rendering, this completely revised and updated second edition addresses new developments in rendering realistic three-dimensional images in a fraction of a second. It discusses the latest graphics hardware capabilities, while also presenting theoretical underpinnings and algorithms of lasting value.

The book contains chapters as diverse as:
Transforms
Visual appearance
Acceleration algorithms
Advanced shading techniques (new chapter)
Curved surfaces (new chapter)

With topics including:
Pixel shaders
Subdivision surfaces
Intersection algorithms
Pipeline tuning

Customer Reviews:

Updated Graphics Bible.......2007-02-17

This book not only teaches the fundamental concepts of 3D graphics and lighting, but is also a great reference manual to have around. It is completely API independent and focuses on the theory in order to build an understanding of how things actually work. I would definately recommend this book to anyone interested in graphics programming as it will give you a solid base to work from.

how to live without it.......2007-01-24

Real-time rendering is a perfect resource to bring always :) with you and read something about this world.

I find it really useful and elegant and complete

Everything I was looking for.......2006-03-25

I acually read this book cover to cover theres alot of information in the book and its a great book to refer back to. Its really good as a companion with OpenGL. theres some directx stuff in it too but there seems to be more with OpenGL references.

High level presentation of rendering techniques.......2006-01-01

This is not a book of algorithms on computer graphics methods. Instead, it is a comprehensive high-level survey of rendering techniques for making the graphics appear to occur in real time. This book has a very academic tone to it, and with the exception of chapter 3 which is on matrix transforms, it has precious few implementation details. Some reviewers have called it a successor to Foley and Van Dam's classic text, but I find this misleading. That book is primarily about computer graphics techniques, and is not that concerned with real-time issues. The bibliography of this book is extensive and impressive, and if you are doing research on the subject it is probably essential, especially if you are interested in the subject of virtual reality where real-time presentation is a must. However, if you are just looking for pseudocode or more "cool effects" to insert into a game or graphics program you are writing/programming you would do best to look elsewhere.

Decent survey/reference book.......2005-12-13

I was greatly disappointed with the first edition of this book. There is nothing new herein that cannot be culled from the latest presentations/whitepapers posted on NVIDIA/ATI websites, from the standpoint of real time graphics.

That being said, the book in conjunction with the book's online resources site is pretty much a stand alone reference on the state of the art in rendering techniques today.

Real-Time Rendering Tricks and Techniques in DirectX (Premier Press Game Development (Software))

Average customer rating:

Best Direct3D Book I've Seen Thus Far
Good book
Good book
Simply Amazing D3D learning book!
Finally

Real-Time Rendering Tricks and Techniques in DirectX (Premier Press Game Development (Software))
Kelly Dempski
Manufacturer: Course Technology PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1931841276

Book Description

The last several years have seen some exciting advances in the field of real-time graphics. Starting slowly for beginning programmers, this book begins by reviewing recent 3D graphics developments and with an introduction to vectors, matrices, colors, and lighting. Then, it's on to rendering graphics! Learn various vertex and pixel shader techniques, discover how to use video as a texture, and get the scoop on several techniques for picking objects in a scene. Whatever your level of programming expertise, let this book serve as your guide to mastering the possibilities of real-time programming.

Customer Reviews:

Best Direct3D Book I've Seen Thus Far.......2003-09-15

I picked this book up about a year ago as it seemed to start from the beginning and cover much ground. Little did I know at the time that this would be the best book I'd find on the topic a year later. The coverage on shadow volumes and shadow maps is impressive. The discussion of things such as the depth buffer and stencil buffers is good. Plus having access to the various vertex and pixel shaders code made it easy to learn from just reviewing the code.

Outside of the SDK, this is the only D3D book that I continue to reference, even as I move to DirectX 9.

Good book.......2003-05-29

This book helped me understand vertex shaders and pixel shaders, which was the point of the book. The only thing I did not like about the book was that some of the code had bad logic. But its very readable code and I must give the guy props, he must have coded this super fast. Plus his chapter on video was werid and hard to understand and the code was akward and to me was out of place in the book. It had way to much source code and no explaination of why it works. His other book on curves was good too ... check it out.

Good book.......2003-05-29

Simply Amazing D3D learning book!.......2003-02-28

Hi! I guess I'll start by saying what do you have to know and have in order to benefit from the material covered in this book. First of all, you must have some experience in win32 programming under windows, because the author does show you the code required for your app to work, but doesn't explain it. Second, you have to have a VC++ 6.0 compiler and Dx8.0 RunTime/SDK to compile and write any sample programs. Third, you have to know some Object Oriented Programming, such as classes and pointers. And the last thing you have to have is the enthusiasm to fuel your work. Now on to the review. The author provides very good and clear examples, as well as very much actual code needed to accompish them. The book teaches D3D from top to bottom, everything from simple polygons to complex model loading and pixel/vertex shaders! I must go ahead and agree with the 1st review that this book has everything the "Special Effects" book lacked. By this I mean it doesn't just give you function prototypes and leaves you stuck by fuguring out what to put in them, it actually provides very good and concise code. So if you really want to start learning power of D3D at its best, for your apps/games/anything you better go ahead and grab this book! This will skyrocket you skills to the next level. I highly recommend this book for beginning gamedevelopers!(like me). With the huge incomes in entertainment industry in the future you will place yourself in a very good position.

Finally.......2002-05-19

Fantastic book for those wanting a reference title to vertex shaders and pixel shaders... Bezier curve shader deformations, color manip via pixel shaders, etc...

This is everything that the "Special Effects" book lacked, including special effects and correct linear algebra : ) It's almost as if someone edited this book before it went to press, which is really saying something for the folks over at Premier Press.

Customer Reviews:

A Big Help.......2003-09-14

This book is a huge help to game developers. I found it a great read while writing my first game engine. It covers so much stuff it makes you want to try and add it all to your game! I am really happy with this book.

Real Time Rendering & Games Technology.......2003-05-29

Volume II picks up where Volume I left off by concentrating on more current real time rendering and game engine topics. Where Volume I painted a broad sweeping overview of real time graphics topics, Vol. II extends this and ties in more closely with how many of those ideas affect the actual creation of games in a real 3d games engine called 'fly3d2' included on CD with the text (a more current and improved version of 'fly3dsdk' from Vol. I). All source code is included for the engine and can be kept current via the website through downloads as it is steadily updated. ... the complete source code for all engine modules and utilities requires purchase of the book.
Mr. Policarpo the coauthor maintains the site and regularly contributes to threads so support remains current (a real blessing in a rapidly advancing science such as this).

Some of the topic covered include: Gamespace (BSP, PVS...) management, LightMap creation and challenges, Camera control, Collision Detection and Response, Path Planning and AI, Shader and TexureMapping with various effects, Character Animation, Skeletal Mesh Animation and related issues as well as the fly3d2.0 environment and support and tutorials to play with and to make these ideas real...

The book covers most of the features include in the engine and anticipates extensions that may some day be added as well. The engine design is modular and lends itself to the creation of plugins that can leverage classes already included or that are completely new created by the user. Users can design levels, characters, objects, and control how they interact with the engine. Tutorials are included in the book as well as on the website with new ones being added by members of the community quite regularly. The modular design (in C++) and utilities that adapt Microsoft's Visual Studio and Discreet's 3dsmax (as well as Quake level conveter and a few others) allow seamless integration of these tools into the environment for a wealth of creative possibilities.

The text is clearly and concisely written and Mr. Watt demonstrates a commanding expertise in these topics without a lot of gimmicky embellishments or self-aggrandizement common in other more fly-by-night texts. This is a real hardcover edtion made to last by a quality computer technology publisher. Watt obviously maintains a close relationship with coauthor Policarpo the designer of the fly3d engine so writing ties in well with the fly3d platform but is not limited by or to it.

I cheerfully recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning the sometimes difficult and challenging topics of game creation, expansion and maintenance. It is a demanding subject not for the weak of heart that can be difficult and time consuming to master. I've found there are a lot of other books out there that promise to deliver by tempting the potential buyer with the ease and completeness their books will include; however, I have not come across any others as yet that come close to the coverage and approach this (and the previous) volume supplies.

Before I bought this book I already had tried other approaches to learning this material but found the all the books I'd bought offered poor to none of the support and potential that 3d Games Vol. II together with the fly3d platform delivers. To learn this material one needs to be able to play with the ideas and be excited about the possibilities and have the ability to play with real tools in a real games environment. 3d Games Vol. II is concise, helpful, well-written, and enjoys a small but dedicated community available through the website.

Book Description

B> With this book, authors Watt and Policarpo introduce the theory behind the design of computer games and detail advanced techniques used in the industry, such as: physically based animation; advanced scene management; pre-calculation techniques/image-based rendering; advanced motion capture; and artificial intelligence. Readers will be able to develop their own games within the games "skeletons" accompanying the book, and will learn how to program complex games. The book is divided into six parts: Foundations (which covers the foundations of 3D computer graphics), Classical 3D Graphics, Real-Time Rendering, Control of Objects, 2D Technology, and Software Technology. An appendix on Fly3D SDK Tutorials is also included, and the accompanying CD contains the Fly3D SDK games engine. This books is appropriate for programmers who want to be able to develop their own computer games.

Customer Reviews:

This ones nothing to brag about..........2005-08-11

... I agree with some of the previous negative reviews. I find the flow of the text unpleasant and the book lacked an introduction - where's the pedagogy? It seems as if someone with competence in the field but without alot of forethought just sat down and wrote it, and Addison Wesley didn't bother to have an editor help out in any way. Anyway, this book is in line with the rest of Addison-Wesley's books. Half of the courses that I take require textbooks from Addison Wesley. The courses are always difficult thanks to these second rate books. I recommend Wiley above all publishers but stay away from Addison Wesley if you can. They just dont seem to give a smack about the quality.

excellent book.......2005-06-04

I almost did not buy this book because of some of the earlier reviews, but since it was the only book I could find that provided a comprehensive theoretical, as well as practical, introdution to 3D games I went ahead and bought it anyway. I found that the book is, indeed, an excellent introduction to computer games. I would like to clear up issues addressed by earlier reviews.

First, this book does contain a lot of theory as well as practical information. It does assume a basic knowledge of calculus, linear algebra, and discrete mathematics--math that any graphics programmer (or any programmer for that matter) should have at least a basic understanding of. It also assumes a basic knowledge of computer graphics. Thus, if you are looking for a cut and paste guide to creating computer games and are not looking to actually understand how interactive 3D applications work, you should not buy this book. If you intend to learn the fundamentals necessary to become a professional game programmer, or serious hobbyist, you definitely should.

Second, although there are a few typos, I am sure that the "spelling errors" that have been cited are actually due to the fact that the book is written in European, not American, english. This means that, while probably 99% of the words are the same, subtle differences in spellings exist (such as colour instead of color and visualisation instead of visualization). This does not, however, detract from the readability of the book.

This an excellent book and, despite some of the negative reviews, it lived up to all of my expectations as a sound theoretical, as well as practical, introduction to 3D game programming.

This is an excelent book.......2003-02-25

I've been reading game development books for more than 10 years and this is certain one of the best books i've ever read. Policarpo and Watt have created a very good 3D engine that comes in a CD with the book and they explain everything about programming 3D games with this engine and general game programming. It's really Worth Buying!

Nice Source Bad book.......2003-01-28

The source for this book is for an entry level 3D engine, which is just what I wanted. But a lot of the theory (coll det etc) in the source is not explained in the book. Rather than explaining fundamental aspects they seem to throw in loads of detail about the topics that they dont seem to have covered and taken for lots of articles that you can find on the web (gamasutra for one).

Saying that the source is nice and taught me a lot, bsp trees + a bit about collisions. Im glad I have the source but the book seems thrown together and shabby. I just think they could have done a better job making it readable starting 3D engine book rather than a shabby reference book.

...to those who write reviews and those who read them.......2002-06-19

I've read reviews on this book by others. If you can't find a better book, why say that it's not worth buying? Instead of bringing up complaints, why not recommend books you think are more useful? Discouraging buying the book, you believe we should wait for improvements?

Real-time realistic rendering and high dynamic range image display and compression : (Dissertation)

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Real-time realistic rendering and high dynamic range image display and compression : (Dissertation)
Ruifeng Xu
Manufacturer: ProQuest Information and Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Distributed by ProQuest Information and Learning

A Real-Time Rendering System For Three-Dimensional Objects In Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing

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A Real-Time Rendering System For Three-Dimensional Objects In Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing
Han-Ming Chen
Manufacturer: UMI University Microfilms International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MYHCUK

Beyond photorealism: real-time rendering on the horizon.: An article from: Advanced Imaging

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Beyond photorealism: real-time rendering on the horizon.: An article from: Advanced Imaging
Len Yencharis
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Advanced Imaging, published by Thomson Gale on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1935 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Beyond photorealism: real-time rendering on the horizon.
Author: Len Yencharis
Publication: Advanced Imaging (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 19 Issue: 5 Page: 10(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

3D Games Volume 2:Animation and Advanced Real-time Rendering

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3D Games Volume 2:Animation and Advanced Real-time Rendering
Alan H./ Policarpo, Fabio Watt
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOI10S

Evaluation of 3D voxel rendering algorithms for real-time interaction on an SIMD graphics processor (Technical report. Washington University. Dept. of Computer Science)

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Evaluation of 3D voxel rendering algorithms for real-time interaction on an SIMD graphics processor (Technical report. Washington University. Dept. of Computer Science)
Don Schreiter
Manufacturer: Washington University, Dept. of Computer Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B00071MGBS

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GIT-GVU
Peter Lindstrom
Manufacturer: Graphics, Visualization & Usability Center, Georgia Institute of Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006QGM64

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