3D Computer Graphics

I have an earlier version of this book and I've always found it to be one that I return to time and again. It was one of the first three graphics programming books I bought during the same early career book shopping session, it was definately the most useful of the three and it's stayed with me ever since, where other books have been and gone.It's generally very easy to read and very informative. It has a good progression of topics that introduce the reader to graphics programming concepts.The thing I most like about this is that it covers much of the foley and van dam book, but avoids the many irrelevant sections and is a little more to the point. It's like a more concise reference to that book, which is also one that I would recommend.The only thing I don't like about the updated version is the new layout, typeface and style. The old version just seems so much more appealing to me.If you program game or computer graphics, then this is a reliable book to have in your collection.

Contrary to what the other reviews say, I believe this is an excellent book for beginners in the 3D computer graphics world. However, that being said, you will need some basic math skills to be able to understand and apply the concepts in this book. If you are unfamilar with linear algebra, you should probably start with studying up on your math skills first. With the basic math skills, this book does a great job of introducing the basics to almost every major topic you'll see in 3D computer graphics programming. The book doesn't go into great detail at times, but the simplicity of this book is the winning ingredient that allows beginners to grasp the basics before moving on to indepth research in paticular topics of 3D graphics that interest them.

The other reviews are right that this is not a beginner's book. However, it is a terrific book for those that are familiar with the basics of graphics and want to learn a very modern view of modeling and rendering. There are a few rough spots, but overall the book is well-written, nicely illustrated, and extremely up-to-date. Also, the author really seems to understand the material in both rendering and modeling. That alone makes the book a real treat.

After reading Foley, et. al. I found this book refreshing. While there is much not covered, the wealth of information for the beginner is very good. Also, whereas Foley covers many aspects of computer graphics outside of 3D, this one doesn't meaning that by Chapter 2 you're talking about the math involved, rather than waiting until Chapter 5. Also, this book covers curved surfaces as a good introduction, perhaps a little too early, and presents it well. Chapter 3, Viewing Systems is the best introduction to the transformation and projection process I've encountered and Chapter 5 is a good introduction into the entire rendering pipeline, including shading techniques. There is lots of math for those who want it (and everyone will eventually need it), but it doesn't take away from the topic if you skip it the first time around.Some of the drawbacks is the he uses a left handed coordinate system, while I greatly prefer right and is the mathematical standard, meaning unless you know this, you'll have some strange problems. Other than that, I would recommend this one over Foley's "Bible" to everyone.

This book presents all the basic elements concerning 3D graphics, such as geometric modeling, view projctions, rendering, texture mapping, etc... The teaching style of the author is great, which means that this book is fully understandable. However, I'd like to see the written algorithms in C or C++ and not in the elementary Pascal language.