tom mcreynolds

Today truly useful and interactive graphics are available on affordable computers. While hardware progress has been impressive, widespread gains in software expertise has come more slowly. Information about advanced techniques—beyond those learned in introductory computer graphics texts—is not as easy to come by as inexpensive hardware. This book brings the graphics programmer beyond the basics and introduces them to advanced knowledge that is hard to obtain outside of an intensive CG work environment. The book is about graphics techniques—those that don’t require esoteric hardware or custom graphics libraries—that are written in a comprehensible style and do useful things. It covers graphics that are not covered well in your old graphics textbook. But it also goes further, teaching you how to apply those techniques in real world applications, filling real world needs.

Part I Computer Graphics Intro and OpenGL: Concepts
Geometry Representation & Modeling
3D Transformations; Color, Lighting, and Surface Attributes
Rasterization; Images as Primitives; OpenGL Virtues
Image Processing; Texture Mapping
Window System Integration
Hardware Implementations of the Pipeline.

Part II Basic Techniques: Multiple Rendering Passes
Texture Mapping
Lighting
Blending and Compositing
Transparency
Antialiasing
Image Processing
Transform Techniques.

Part III: Application Specific Techniques: CAD & Modeling
Scene Realism
Natural Phenomena
Special Effects
Illustration and Artistic Techniques
Scientific Visualization
Performance Measurement & Tuning
Visual Simulation and Entertainment.

Appendices: Portability Considerations
OpenGL Extensions