Book Description
This exceptional, full-colour Autodesk Maya Press title - produced by Autodesk, the software's creators - uses Sony's full-length animated "Open Season" for the book's all-new hands-on tutorials for Maya 8. By following the step-by-step tutorials, readers will learn the Maya interface and the basics of modeling, texturing, animating, and visual effects using real-world production files from a full-length feature film. The DVD provides further reinforcement with instructor-led tutorial videos and other resources for extended learning.
With this book readers will:
- Become familiar with the Maya User Interface
- Work in 3D space
- Model with NURBS (Spline)
- Model with Polygons
- Set Keyframes and Motion Paths
- Learn to use Trax Non-linear animation
- Apply Forward and Inverse Kinematics
- Deform surfaces
- Set cameras and lights
- Create Shaders and Textures
- Discover rendering techniques
- Explore particles and Dynamics
- Begin to use MEL (Maya Embedded Language)
Customer Reviews:
Great step by step.......2007-08-31
This book is an amazing beginner book. Within the first few lessons you have an understanding of how to use maya and the Projects are excellent.
I have learnt so much from this book.
Follow it page for page and you will be able to master Maya
Helpful Book.......2007-08-10
This book is well structured and easy to use for reference. It is set at a good level for beginning learning. If you want a book that goes more in depth about more advanced things in Maya, this might not be for you. This book contains a good foundation for learning, but does not go in depth when it comes to critical processes such as skin weights.
An Excellent Way to Learn Maya.......2007-08-07
I purchased this book recently for a 3D animation class I am taking at school, and I have found it to be an excellent way to learn Maya. Although this book is for Maya version 8, I use version 8.5 and have noticed only very minor differences (nothing to worry about).
This book is in full color, which makes the screenshots easy to follow. The introduction starts out with a general overview of all aspects of Maya, which helped me to understand better how things worked together from the very beginning. Each of the five major projects in the book focus on reproducing elements from Sony Picture's CG movie Open Season, as shown on the book cover. These projects are completely new from the Maya 7 version of this book. It was kind of cool to create things that were used in a real movie.
I felt the learning curve was pretty well thought out. The writers of the book realize how complex the Maya software is, and they give you instructions on how to perform certain tasks several times before expecting you to remember on your own. The book also comes with a supplementary DVD which contains lots of extras, including the completed Maya files from every chapter in the book, just in case you get stuck or want to skip ahead.
This book is an excellent learning tool for someone new to Maya, or perhaps an intermediate user who wants to more fully understand how to use the software.
for beginner.......2007-07-23
this book shows very easy way to study maya program.
colorful and thoughful.
Excellent resource.......2007-07-08
Learning Autodesk Maya 8|Foundation +DVD
by Autodesk Maya Press is an excellent guide to the wonderful world of 3D animation using the Maya 8 software. The authors guide you through the complete process involved in working on an animated feature film and the hands-on projects provide you with an excellent opportunity to develop the skills to work at a major studio.
George Leslie Hicks
Hicks Animation Studios
Book Description
- Written by an industry veteran who has used Maya in such films as Mortal Kombat and Shrek, this full-color book offers advanced, professional-level techniques for texturing and lighting for rendering 3D models in Maya
- Begins with an introduction of various lighting concepts, then offers readers detailed explanations of Maya's numerous hidden features so they can achieve amazing results quickly
- Features an unparalleled exploration of Maya's Hypershade, where animators create connections between shaders, texture maps, lights, cameras, and geometry
- Provides a thorough look at rendering in Maya, including everything from batch rendering to global illumination workflow and HDRI techniques
- The CD-ROM includes the Maya Personal Learning Edition, textures, tools, professional shaders, and more
Customer Reviews:
Excellent for Professionals.......2007-08-13
I bought this manual to help me ugrade from Maya 7.0 to Maya 8.5 and it's become my most prized and relied upon resource. Every tutorial I've gone through has worked perfectly (no missing steps or errors so far), Mr. Lanier writes coherently & well, and each new topic is presented in a straightforward and matter-of-fact fashion.
As a professional Video Game Artist, I've reccommended this manual to our enitire company of 300, and will continue to do so to everyone else. In the past, decent documentation on the finer points of Maya has been elusive, but Mr. Lanier has saved us! I will be adding his other manuals to my library.
Wow.......2007-03-09
This Book is just Perfect...it tells you EVERYTHING about the Lighting and the Texturing.... if you want to learn about that 2 things... Buy This Book NOW
A Maya book absolutely worth owning.......2007-03-08
Lee Lanier has approached the writing of his latest book with the same intensity, accuracy, and zeal that he demonstrated when he was my teacher at De Anza College several years ago. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Maya, and of Maya lighting in particular. The material is laid out methodically and in great detail. Lee never glosses over a topic, but goes in depth to provide insight into the theory behind every concept. I highly recommend this fine book.
Great resource, lots of good information.......2007-01-04
I've read a number of Maya books over the past few years. Most focus on basic-intermediate usage. Lanier's book is a great resource for learning advanced tips and theory, with many color pictures. This is the best book I've found about using Hypershade nodes to build professional materials.
I particularly liked that the included DVD contains Maya project files for every scenario pictured in the book (although most of the cool models are not included, just simple geometric primitives). These project files contain great setups comparing different lighting and rendering settings. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in learning intermediate-advanced Maya topics.
Excellent !.......2006-11-18
I've been reviewing several books on this topic, and this one's a winner! It's specific and useful and goes into great detail about nodes in Hypershade and how to use them that the manuals don't.
If you're serious about reaching an advanced level with your Maya rendering skills, then this book is for you. Just buy it now, and you can thank me later! In terms of lighting design and the esthetic side of things, I also like the book Digital Lighting and Rendering, 2nd Edition by the Pixar artist Jeremy Birn, I think the idea to buy both of these together is an unbeatable combination for any serious Maya user!
Book Description
3D Construction Modeling is a user friendly book that walks you through the construction process for a small house. It is not only practical but the only guide that shows you step-by-step how to build a construction model using SketchUp 4.0. The book and CD-ROM feature a trial version of the modeling software, video tutorials and real-world construction details in ten easy graphic lessons. This unique narrative is designed to introduce novices to key features of construction modeling as well as inform advanced users of the advantages of preconstruction visualization. 3D Construction Modeling uses an innovative, simple comic format to bring busy professionals and students up to speed and enhance productivity in a very short period of time.
Customer Reviews:
Incredably helpful.......2007-05-12
When the book/CD came I had problems getting the CD to work Didn't know if it was me or the CD or my PC. I contacted Mr.Fukai and he e-mailed me back immediatly. He stayed with me through a dozen Emails trying to help me.
The CD was bad BTW and he had his wife send me out a new one that worked just fine.
I was a bit exhausted from it all by the time the CD came but stuff happens to the best of us.
The CD is incredably helpful along with the book of illustrations. I haven't gotten through even half of it due to my work load but I'm sure when I continue with it I won't have much trouble in spite of being PC challenged.
Mr.Fukai I think has this book geared for people like myself as well as hard core PC users.
He seems to be doing his best to take you through it one step at a time slowly and deliberate.
I highly recommend this book/CD
Outstanding............................2007-01-16
The book is awsome! The instructions are so detailed and outlined. I plan on building my own family home, this is the Book!
As for the author, a master of his craft!
Mr. Fukai and Mrs. Babara Fukai, You have both left a wonderful lasting memory in my mind!
Thanks You
Michael in San Antonio Texas
Great Way to Learn SketchUp.......2006-07-05
I am sure if you are a Google fan you now know that they offer SketchUp for free. Dr. Fukai's book assumed you had a limited amount of time (480 minutes) using the SketchUp 4.0 trial version included with his book. I can say that his book is truly one fantastic way to learn a lot about the details of modeling with SketchUp. Dr. Fukai's interactive "shorties" allows you to go over as often as needed to learn the details of this 3D software. I was having some difficulty part way through the tutorials and emailed Dr. Fukai and received detailed instructions on how to proceed. He is an excellent teacher and his book is highly recommended.
I'd like to learn .......2005-09-23
I study architecture in Havana, Cuba. I'd like to learn more about this matter specially 3d Architectural Working Drawings but, I can not have possibilities to buy any of yor books. Can you help me out? thanks, Roany.
Good book for beginners.......2005-07-21
This book provide a good foundation for a beginning Sketchup user. The combination of video and print addresses the needs of different types of learning. Professional narration would help the videos. This is not the book for 3D organic modeling or advanced architecture users.
Book Description
"An excellent book for beginners as well as advanced 3ds Max users. A valuable reference that covers everything you'd want to know."
--Andre Surya, Award-winning Digital Artist
A favorite of 3ds Max artists from beginners to pros!
Why is 3ds Max Bible a perennial bestselling favorite? Because whether you're a beginner looking for a tutorial to get you up to speed your first day or an expert needing a reference to Max's advanced features, it's all here. Loaded with advice, professional tips, and more than 150 step-by-step lessons, this is the most comprehensive reference-tutorial on 3ds Max on the market, and the one you'll turn to again and again.
* Organize and blend sequences with the new Animation Layers feature
* Explore Sun and Sky, Car Paint, and other new mental ray shaders
* Combine and divide objects with ProBoolean and ProCutter
* Create more accurate dynamic animations with updated reactor tools
* Add greater realism with enhanced and integrated hair and fur tools
* Reference objects, materials, and controllers with XRef
Animate a dancing cartoon moose
Isolate mapping surfaces with the Quick Planar map button
Add realistic motion to your model's hairstyle
What's on the DVD?
You'll find before-and-after example files for every tutorial in the book. The DVD also includes:
* Models and textures to customize for your own designs
* Rendered AVI files of animations used in the tutorials
* All the Max files for every tutorial
* Adobe tryout versions of After Effects(r), Photoshop(r) CS2, Illustrator(r) CS2, and Premiere Pro
System Requirements: See the DVD appendix for details and complete system requirements.
Customer Reviews:
greatest.......2007-10-01
I'm begginer but the book has step by step about the software.
A bible, really... Really great!
Detailed but under-illustrated.......2007-09-17
This is an excellent and highly detailed reference for the program 3ds Max 9. As near as I can tell it mentioned every button and command that 3ds Max has available. My main criticism is that it is highly under-illustrated. While every function and button is mentioned, as a beginner to 3ds Max, I found that I often could not find the command being referred to in the text, whereas a screen shot would have quickly, and clearly shown what I should look for. In addition, since 3ds Max is such a sophisticated and detailed program which is great, it is often not readily apparent how all the various settings and parameters that can be entered for a given effect should be used. This book mentions most, if not all of the parameters, but examples as to how they are used in an actual project would have been good. There are short tutorials on the main features of the program, but these are generally restricted to singe effects. This book is probably for a more advanced user who is familiar with all the commands and knows how to use them to create a 3d scene, but would like a more detailed explanation of various functions in 3ds Max. Definitely well written though, and the DVD with the material and software described in the examples is great.
Done it again!.......2007-08-04
I've had two of these books over the years. They are fantastic reference to have.
Excellent.......2007-07-17
Perfect for beginners...after the opening tutorial, step-by-step walkthrough to understanding all aspects of the program. Would reccomend to anyone!
OOPS missing 1059-1154.......2007-06-24
This is a good book, Wiley Publishing messed things up though. It is missing over a 100 pages. As soon as I got it I searched for the chapters on MaxScript and detected the omission. The book itself is great; but the publishers omission is not acceptable. I have informed Amazon about this and hopefully they will recover the missing chapters. The DVD does have a complete version of the book which is very helpful in the interim.
Book Description
Let this in-depth professional book be your guide to Blender, the powerful open-source 3D modeling and animation software that will bring your ideas to life. Using clear step-by-step instruction and pages of real-world examples, expert animator Tony Mullen walks you through the complexities of modeling and animating, with a special focus on characters. From Blender basics to creating facial expressions and emotion to rendering, you’ll jump right into the process and learn valuable techniques that will transform your movies.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent!.......2007-08-25
If you are new to Blender and 3d animation, this book will help you to "open your mind to the possibilities". You will learn to build and animate your own character step by step. Easy to follow and very well explained. The included DVD has a lot of animation samples and source files used in the book. Go for it!
Great Blender Intro and Character Design.......2007-08-17
Of all the books I've read on 3D, this is the first that actually has been useful and direct to me. I have been using Blender 3D for a year now, but I found that there was alot of cool features that I missed that I then learned from this book.
Besides a great introduction, this book flows smoothly with the creation of a face from only a reference photo (with all the intermediate steps to get there), and then the rest of the book is showing how to build a a fully rigged (ready for animation) character from scratch. I am so amazed with this book.
This is a definitely a worthwhile book. I teach Blender 3D for a organization at Texas A&M University, and I suggest this to them all.
Animation Motivated Novices .......2007-08-13
Great book for the Blender Project. The intro says it all, for Blender Pros and highly motivated novices. Great tutorial and all the pieces included on CD.
excellent deal.......2007-06-13
This product arrived around a month from the day the purchase was made. the product arrived in excellent conditions, And I also found it{s cheaper than in other websites.
Exactly what I needed........2007-06-01
I've been learning Blender for a while now, piecing it together from stray tutorials and such, but with this very affordable book, I've found exactly what I needed. I already knew a lot of what the book covers, but it helped fill in some gaps that most online tutorials take for granted, and gave me a whole, more complete view of how to go about my business with Blender. I would definately buy another book from this author.
Book Description
Game artists, architects, simulation developers, web designers and enthusiasts alike can learn to create everything from bricks to books in Photoshop with this step-by-step instructional guide. Because texture is 99% of what a gamer sees when playing, this topic deserves considerable coverage but has gotten little attention. Unlike anything on the market, this book is the first of its kind to provide an in-depth guide to game texturing with hundreds of high-quality examples. This guide teaches everything a game artist will need to know-from researching textures, basic artistic principles, tools and techniques, to specific step-by-step tutorials that explain how to create textures for a myriad of environments. The goal of this book is to give the reader a guide that will actually help them secure a job as a developer/artisteven providing them with images created using the tutorials that can be used in a portfolio.
* Learn everything you need to create stunning, professional textures from one easy to follow guide which features tutorials and over 500 high-quality images
* Follow the step-by-step tutorials to learn how to create suitable images which you can add to your portfolio and WOW prospective employers
* Companion CD includes sample textures and electronic versions of images you saw in the bookall the tools you need in one place!
* Hit the ground running or get a leg up on the competition with the tips, tricks, and real world examples featured in this comprehensive guide
Customer Reviews:
Useful introductory overview.......2007-06-14
This book is useful as a jumping-off point for using Photoshop to create textures, and covers most of the basic topics that someone new to both Photoshop and texturing would need to know. However, you'll need to search for additional resources to complete the journey that this book starts you on, since it's a pretty basic overview with a few confidence-building exercises that give you a taste of the possibilities.
Excellent. Really!.......2007-05-26
Unlike the rewiever who gave this book 1 star, I am giving 5. Because unlike him, I find this full-color book very well written and very useful. It goes beyond basic texture creation tutorials. The first half of the book explains theory behind good textures and texture creation as well as ways to take pictures for your own textures. It gives lot of examples to demonstrate various points. The second half of the book is the tutorial part. The tutorials are detailed and easy to follow. The only negative thing I find about this book is, that the tutorials give you exact values for everything without explaining why these values were actually chosen. However, it is up to the user to make his/her own tweeking and see, how changing these values effect the final result. Also, I would like to see how these textures are applied to a specific UV layout, which the book does not discuss. But then again, the book is about creating textures, not applying them to your model, so I do not hold it against it. After all, the textures that are created in the tutorials are nicely done and you certainly can find a good use for any of them. So, five stars it is.
Worthless.......2007-05-24
Utterly worthless book that provides horrid explanations. Really not worth the money, or even a look, it's just a low quality excuse for a book with most of it's "tutorials" being available free on the internet.
Outstanding.......2007-02-07
Very well written and beautifully illustrated. One of the best Photoshop books I've ever seen.
One of the best i have so far.......2007-02-06
After looking though the first set of tuts for making the textures. It pretty simply. There were not miss prints or typos, i never got lost while doin any of them and even more so i put in my own style while following these steps.
Book Description
Create positively dazzling effects with the unique insights and practical advice in this innovative guide from a working professional Maya artist. Need to create plasmatic energy by lunch? Animate a field of sprouting daisies before tomorrow’s meeting? Fashion a force field by Friday? With Maya’s flexible toolset and the unique tutorials in this book, you’ll learn how to solve real-world problems, improvise, and finish your professional assignments on time and with flair.
Customer Reviews:
Great idea for effects artist that want to go beyond the basics.......2007-07-23
This is one of the best effects books I've purchased. It's not intended for people that just start out with effects, it's meant for people that want to learn to do actually work. I like the realworld format of the book, with projects that are similar to what you would get in actual production. Great Book!
A must have for Maya users........2007-06-10
This book is a must have for Maya users who are interest in becoming VFX artists or Generalists.
I've bought many Maya books and I must say that I feel I've gotten the biggest bang for my buck with one.
Looking forward to Eric Keller's next book.
Rudy Sarzo
Interesting read.......2007-05-30
Its not as boring as other manuals, and it explains how to accomplish things, while bringing the ideas of how to use them in better situations. I really enjoy the reality of client speak that is presented in it.
Go beyond Maya.......2007-05-13
This is an excellent book for advanced maya users, teaches some great tricks with latices and light effects.
Has some nice little Gems!.......2007-04-06
If you are interested in taking your existing knowledge of Maya to the next level then Eric's book is a great place to start. The book is laid out logically and easy to follow. The step-by-step examples have plenty of color images makeing it easy to understand. Eric has touched on very broad areas from texturing to rigging some complex setups. There are plenty of Mel and expression examples that add some more complexity with nice results. Many of examples Eric shows can be used for an array of other projects that you may encounter later on.
Book Description
Presents an introduction to programming interactive computer graphics, with an emphasis on game development, using real-time shaders with DirectX 9.0. It teaches the fundamentals of Direct3D and shader programming, after which the reader will be prepared to go on and learn more advanced techniques. The book is divided into three main parts. Part I explains the mathematical tools that will be used throughout this book. Part II shows how to implement elementary 3D techniques, such as defining 3D geometry, lighting, texturing, alpha blending, and stenciling by using shaders and the HLSL. Part III is largely about applying Direct3D to implement a variety of interesting techniques and special effects, such as working with meshes, character animation, terrain rendering, picking, particle systems, environment mapping, normal mapping, and rendering to textures.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best technical books I've ever read.......2007-05-20
I'm a software developer and am going to start working in games development shortly. I needed to get up-to-speed on DirectX 9.0c for games development really fast, and I thought I would have to take an expensive course at the local university to do so. After just completing the first 4 chapters of this book, I've changed my mind. This book has everything you would want to get a solid introduction into 3D games development. If you have any ambition to enter this field, get this book, and if you're a first-time game graphics developer like me, read it from front to back. You won't reget it.
THE 3D Game Programming Book to Get!.......2007-05-14
This book is absolutely amazing! I could gush for pages about what a great book this is, so I will keep it short and tell you simply to buy this book if you want a great intro to 3D Game Programming!
You gonna have to work for it!.......2007-03-09
Execellent Book. There's a few issue's with compiling code you will need visual studio 2005 if you dont want to pull all your hair out.
But I learn somthing new every time I read a Chapter and thats what its all about.
Excellent for anyone wanting to learn Direct X, HLSL and other game concepts.......2007-01-02
Overall this is an exceptionally well written book. The text is easy to read, and concise, though that's not to say you understand everything the first time you read it.
The code framework is also pretty good, the naming conventions are decent and the code is clearly written. The framework is consistent throughout the book, and uses inheritance and minor polymorphism which manages to hide a lot of the Direct3D / Win32 initialization, so once you are past these chapters you needn't concern yourself with this code again, and you can intend focus on the code that Frank is trying to explain.
The design is also very modular, a good example of this is found in Chapter 21: Exercise 4 where it asks you to integrate an Environment Mapped sphere for the sky, and Normal mapped water, into a scene which shows a Castle and trees / grass. This was pretty easy, as it just required shifting a few art / source files and tying some loose ends.
The book contains many exercises, a lot of which I found very helpful in understanding the material presented in the text and code samples, they give a good sense of accomplishment and I recommend them if you want to fully understand the concepts taught, and most are generally doable with a bit of research into the DirectX SDK, and rereading the text.
The text also does an excellent job of explaining key DirectX functions, and is usually a lot more approachable than the SDK. It also explains the use of the DirectX texture tool, and Terragen ( a free terrain generator, which is very easy to use)
For anyone looking to learn DirectX 9, HLSL, and the fundamental concepts behind games, then this book will serve as a solid foundation for those willing to take the time to read and understand it.
Very good book for learning how to use DirectX9.......2006-12-24
This is a great book. Mr. Luna provides an incredible amount of information all with good detail and clear wording. He doesn't waste time by teaching you irrelevant or outdated topics that aren't used anymore like other books. The more difficult topics are explained well and example code is abundant. This book is recommended for any aspiring game programmer.
Book Description
Designed for busy Maya users like you, this guide offers dozens of how-tos, workarounds, and shortcuts culled from years of experience in a fast-paced, deadline-driven production pipeline. You’ll discover tricks and timesavers on texturing particles, customizing Paint Effects brushes, modeling polygon faces, creating facial rigs with wire deformers, and much more—and helpful full-color illustrations reinforce the concepts. From modeling, animating, and rigging to texturing and lighting, this book will help you streamline workflow and improve your skills.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing........2007-03-19
This book is full of useful tips and tricks which are presented in a clear and concise manner. The Photo-reference for every item is unequalled by any other Maya book I own. It's a new standard showing how important it is that full color graphics accompany the text for a subject based on graphics production.
I think that Kirk guy is way more handsome than Chandler... But they both add some very useful knowledge to an already knowledgably written subject.
Another "Must Have" Reference for Maya users........2007-03-14
Lee does it again with this reference for all us Maya users of various skill levels. He gives practical tips based on experience in everyday film production! It covers an entire production pipeline using Maya. He even covers Mel scripting in an elementary way, but with advanced functionality! If you are getting into Maya, and want to learn some professional short cuts, or if you've been using Maya every day and want to pick up some new tricks.. This is a resource I can't recommend enough as a Maya user myself.
A unique Maya book.......2007-03-09
A great book to have around for all skill levels. Autodesk Maya is such a deep program, that you find yourself stumbling upon new approaches and techniques each time you use it. This book is a great source to give you a deeper sense of it's functionality. It's packed with years of experience and innovative ideas that can come to life in Maya.
James Chandler.......2007-03-05
Lee really has this book thing down. I love his second book. And wow is that James Chandler handsom.
truly the master.......2007-03-02
Lee Lanier is definitely a Maya wizard. His tips and techniques go across so many components of this powerful software that it's easy to see why they wanted him to write this, his second book. This book is perfect for those who have some Maya background, and I'm sure you will find it to be exactly what your library needs.
Amazon.com
Aimed at the working Visual C++ game developer, 3D Game Engine Design provides a tour of mathematical techniques for 3-D graphics, and the source code that's used to implement them in state-of-the-art video game engines. If you work in the game industry (or would like to), this book will serve you well, because it delivers excellent best practices for algorithms and programming techniques that'll help your software keep up with the competition.
This text is a virtual encyclopedia of expertise that's based on the author's own work and research in the gaming industry. It provides the mathematical notation, algorithms, and C++ code (on the accompanying CD-ROM) that are needed to build fast and maintainable game engines. Early sections start with the basics, with the math that's used to work with common 3-D objects (like spheres and boxes). Highlights include a high-powered review of quaternion algebra--in many cases, the preferred way to transform 3-D data.
The chapters on graphics pipelines explain the math that's behind representing and rendering a 3-D world in 2-D with intervening effects like lighting and texture mapping. A variety of current algorithms are provided for representing 3-D scenes, efficient picking (which allows a programmer to determine the object in a 3-D world that has been selected), and collision detection (in which objects collide virtually). In the game software of today, curves--and not individual triangles or polygons--often are used to represent 3-D objects. Algorithms that are used to turn curves into rendered surfaces are provided, too.
Later sections look at the current thinking about animation techniques for characters (including key frames, inverse kinematics, and skinning (in which digital skin is fitted over digital bone to create more realistic-looking movement)). How to represent terrain inside virtual worlds also is explained. The book closes with excellent material on such cutting-edge special effects as lens flare and projected shadows, which can add an extra level of realism to a video game. An appendix examines guidelines for designing object-oriented game software in C++.
Filled with mathematical insight and expert code that puts each principle or algorithm to work, 3D Game Engine Design provides an expert view of what goes into building a state-of-the-art game engine. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered:
- Mathematical methods and sample source code for 3-D game development
- Geometrical transformations
- Coordinate systems
- Quaternions
- Euler angles
- Standard 3-D objects: spheres, oriented boxes, capsules, lozenges, cylinders, ellipsoids
- Distance methods for a variety of shapes
- Introduction to the graphics pipeline
- Model and world coordinates
- Projecting perspective
- Camera models
- Culling techniques
- Surface and vertex attributes
- Rasterizing
- Efficiency issues for clipping and lighting
- Hierarchical scene representation, using trees and scene graphs
- Picking algorithms for a variety of 3-D shapes
- Collision detection for static and dynamic graphical objects
- Oriented bounding-box (OBB) trees
- Basics of curves and special curves (including Bezier curves and various splines)
- Curves (generating surfaces from curves by using different techniques)
- Character animation, using keyframe animation and inverse kinematics
- Skinning
- Geometrical level of detail considerations
- Techniques for generating game terrain
- Spatial sorting and binary space partitioning (BSP)
- Special effects: lens flare, bump mapping, volumetric fogging, projected light and shadows, particle systems, morphing techniques
- C++ language features for effective object-oriented design
- Reference to the numerical methods required for game mathematics
Book Description
A major revision of the international bestseller on game programming!
Graphics hardware has evolved enormously in the last decade. Hardware can now be directly controlled
through techniques such as shader programming, which requires an entirely new thought process of a
programmer. 3D Game Engine Design, Second Edition shows step-by-step how to make a shader-based graphics engine and how to tame the new technology. Much new material has been added, including more than twice the coverage of the essential techniques of scene graph management, as well as new methods for managing memory usage in the new generation of game consoles and portable game players. There are expanded discussions of collision detection, collision avoidance, and physics all challenging subjects for developers.
* Revision of the classic work on game engines the core of any game.
* Includes Wild Magic, a commercial quality game engine in source code that illustrates how to build a
real-time rendering system from the lowest-level details all the way to a working game.
* Fully revised and updated in 4 colors, including major new content on shader programming, physics,
and memory management for the next generation game consoles and portables.
Customer Reviews:
Poor pseudo-code.......2007-05-16
This book is fantastically comprehensive, though I bought it more for the CG algorithms than anything else.
My biggest gripe is with the pseudo-code. My C++ is not great, but I can get by - I found the code in general under-commented for a textbook. If you were writing software, it might be fine, but the purpose of the code is to explain the algorithms, and to work in concert with the text, which it does not. Furthermore, I found the text did not fill in the holes - I was left to try to figure out what Eberley was doing by going through the code. Possibly if I had read the whole thing through from cover to cover things would be clearer.
If you're just looking for an algorithm reference, you could do better.
VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!.......2007-01-14
Are you a professional or student working in game development? If you are, then this book is for you. Author David H. Eberly has done an outstanding job of writing a second edition of a book which focuses on the design of the scene graph management system and its associated rendering layer.
Eberly, begins this book by discussing the details of a rendering system, including transformations, camera models, culling and clipping, rastering, and issues regarding software versus hardware rendering and about specific graphics application programmer interfaces in use these days. In addition, the author discusses rendering from the perspective of actually writing all of the subsystems for a software renderer. He also takes a look at the essentials of organizing your data as a scene graph. Then, he focuses on specifically designed nodes and subsystems of the scene graph management system. The author then looks at some general concepts you see in attempting to have physical realism in a three-dimensional application. Next, he discusses a lot of mathematical detail for much of the source code you will find in Wild Magic. Then, he takes a brief look at the basic principles of object-oriented design and programming. The author continues by discussing memory management. Finally, he takes a look at a handful of sample shaders and the applications that use them.
This most excellent book is very much enhanced, describing the foundations for shader programming and how an engine can support it. Perhaps more importantly, the book is the most comprehensive reference available for the development of shader-based 3D graphics engines!
This book is not about "Game Engine Design".......2006-09-26
This book is not about "Game Engine Design" -- it's about algorithms that you may come across when writing a 3D game engine. There's very little treatment of "engine design" in this book.
Even though the title is misleading, it's still a great book if you're looking for a reference on 3D game engine algorithms.
Good, but not what you might expect.......2005-04-16
I read this a few years ago, and have referred back to it many times, but I only recently realized that I neglected to write a review of it.
This book is well-written and contains a lot of useful information. The author is one of the few people qualified to write a book of this nature, and he has done an admirable job. That said, the title is pretty misleading, since the book has very little to say about the design of a game engine. Instead, it focuses on implementation details and the math involved with them. Topics covered include geometrical methods, the graphics pipeline, tree-based scene graphics, intersections, collision detection, curves and surfaces, animation, terrain, spatial sorting (quad/octrees, portals, BSPs), special effects, object-oriented infrastructure, and numerical methods. The author doesn't gloss over anything, providing detailed mathematical derivations of how things work.
Unfortunately, the math is so heavy that unless you're already pretty familiar with the subject matter, you'll probably have a hard time with the book. Therefore, I think that the target audience is much smaller that the group that would be attracted by the title.
If you're involved in game engine development or just want to deepen your knowledge, I think you'll appreciate the fact that the author doesn't pull any punches. Otherwise, you'll probably be more interested in the author's new book 3D Game Engine Architecture, which was recently released.
Book Review.......2005-02-08
I have spent the past four years studying game development and have read many books on the subject. The technologies utilized in game development are extensive but most can be grouped into a small list, which is rendering, animation, modeling, collision detection, collision response, artificial intelligence, audio processing, input management and network communication. This book only contains technologies related to rendering, animation, and collision detection.
Eberly gives an in-depth look to game development and provides adequate solutions to every problem introduced. He does not cover every possible way each problem could be solved nor does he spend a lot of time introducing and defining each problem. Instead he assumes the reader has a general understanding of the problem and gives a quick review followed by one or two detailed solutions using the most common techniques. Eberly's writing style makes it easy to follow the accumulation of segments to the final solution. His math notation on the other hand was confusing at times. A few places he supplemented words with mathematical notation and allowed the math to do the explaining, which made it seem like he was unable to put it into words.
I have found this book to be very useful and have added it to my reference library of game development, but I would not recommend this book to someone just starting to study game development. For a reader to glean anything of use out of this book he would have to be experienced in object oriented programming, have a basic understanding of 3D rendering technologies and have a working knowledge of calculus and linear algebra.
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