3D Programming Books

[Mummy]

Hello all,

I've stopped doing 3d stuff some years ago, i had fun coding software engines, now i want to get back in the game so i made a list of books that i found recommended on this forum and on teh internets, which books among this list you think deserve to be bought ? and which books you think that suck and should be avoided ?

Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques : Theory and Practice *
Alan H. Watt, Mark Watt (Contributor) / Hardcover / Published 1992

Computer Graphics : Principles and Practice (Systems Programming) -- *
James D.Foley(Editor), et al; Hardcover

Those two are probably the most famous books for game programmers, though they are now likely outdated, do you think it's worth getting them anyway ?

Real-Time Rendering (2nd Edition)
Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics
3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development
Game Coding Complete
Physics for Game Developers
ShaderX series
Game Programming Gems series
GPU Gems series
Advanced Game Development with Programmable Graphics Hardware, by Alan Watt and Fabio Policarpo, August 2005.
Fundamentals of Computer Graphics, 2nd Edition, by Peter Shirley et alia, July 2005.
Game Coding Complete, by Mike McShaffry, January 2005
Real-Time Collision Detection, by Christer Ericson, Dec. 2004
3D Game Engine Architecture, by Dave Eberly, Dec. 2004
Advanced Lighting and Materials With Shaders, by Kelly Dempski and Emmanuel Viale, November 2004
Demoscene: the art of real-time, edited by Lassi Tasajrvi, June 2004
Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists by Sebastien St-Laurent, May 2004.
Game Physics, by Dave Eberly, Dec. 2003
Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics, Second Edition, Eric Lengyel, Nov. 2003

My wish would be to do a modern 3D engine with a decent level of physics (might also use freeware physics engines, but i prefer to do things myself usually), primary objective is shading, realistic shadows etc.

I know C++, have experience with Direct3D and im getting good in math too, so don't worry to suggest me complex books.

[Rodéric]

+Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques : Theory and Practice *
+Computer Graphics : Principles and Practice (Systems Programming) -- *

+Real-Time Rendering (2nd Edition)
+Physics for Game Developers
+ShaderX series
+Game Programming Gems series
+GPU Gems series
+3D Game Engine Architecture, by Dave Eberly, Dec. 2004


Those are the one I know to be nice.
Should be enough reading for the next many months...

[Mr.Pink]

ShaderX series

GPU Gems series

Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists by Sebastien St-Laurent, May 2004.

Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics, Second Edition, Eric Lengyel, Nov. 2003



Must have!!!

buy also: The Cg Tutorial - nVidia, Addison Wesley 2003

[K.I.L.E.R]

For the love of all that is good, do not waste money on "Mathematics for game programming" or derivative books.

They are a horrible waste of money.
If you want to learn how to create mathematical models for physics and to do complex functions simply, then grab some real mathematical books.

Example:
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Engineering-Mathematics-Erwin-Kreyszig/dp/0471154962

Obviously grab the latest edition of any book.

[zed]

Computer Graphics : Principles and Practice (Systems Programming) -- *
James D.Foley(Editor), et al; Hardcover

brilliant book, a must have, sure a lots dated but theres still a lot to be gleaned from it, there was talk of an updated version a few years ago, dont know if its being released yet

[indigo@net]

Id honestly recommend you "Real-Time Rendering 2nd ed." by T.Akenine-Moller - imho its a must have, it will give you solid base knowledge for further studies. So read it first!

"3D Computer Graphics" by Alan Watt is also a decent book.

Then the "GPU Gems" 1 & 2 (or buy only 2 if you are short on cash, and save for 3 which should be out this year) - its hard, comparable to ShaderX series but imho covers more interesting topics.

And if you need some Direct3D refresher the "Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX9.0c A Shader Approach" by Frank Luna will do fine.

If you dont want to spend the equivalent of 8800GTX on books :wink: then buy only "Real-Time Rendering 2nd ed." and head over nvidia's, ati's and microsoft's pages and read, read, read... - if you search hard you'll find everything whats in GPU Gems and ShaderX on net for free.

[Mummy]

For the love of all that is good, do not waste money on "Mathematics for game programming" or derivative books.

Obviously grab the latest edition of any book.

Maybe those books aren't what i would expect, but i kinda disagree with you on this, there are many aspects to be considered when you are using maths on a computer which classic math books wouldn't care to.


And if you need some Direct3D refresher the "Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX9.0c A Shader Approach" by Frank Luna will do fine.


A refresh would be good, currently i've a basic 3D engine with some kind of 3D editor which lets you assign shaders, 'texture packs' (arrays of textures) and more on materials, has its own mesh and scene format too.

It also loads lightwave scenes and objects (both 5- and 6+), and i did in past a plugin for 3dsmax (which now needs to be updated on a more recent version).

If you dont want to spend the equivalent of 8800GTX on books :wink: then buy only "Real-Time Rendering 2nd ed." and head over nvidia's, ati's and microsoft's pages and read, read, read... - if you search hard you'll find everything whats in GPU Gems and ShaderX on net for free

I've ordered 500€ of books already :) (and more 460€ for non 3D books, sci-fi, hawkins, physics, chemistry, etc) though i couldn't find Real-Time rendering on the site where i made the order, grr, i will see if it's available elsewhere.

Thanks guys for your comments, know what i would like to see? a "3D books" section with reviews on B3D, i know it's an hard subject, but it'd be real nice. :wink: