ah2e+@andrew.cmu.edu (Aaron Noel Hughes) (09/14/90)
Can anybody recommend several books on graphics to an beginner? Any and all replies welcome. Thanks, Aaron "Life Kills" -A Split Second
wheelan@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca (Bill HEELAN) (09/26/90)
ah2e+@andrew.cmu.edu (Aaron Noel Hughes): > Can anybody recommend several books on graphics to an beginner? Any and > all replies welcome. I've found the following to be a pretty good introduction: "Fundamentals of Three-Dimensional Computer Graphics" by Alan Watt Copyright 1989 by Addison-Wesley ~430 pages, ISBN 0-201-15442-0 The chapters are: 1 - Basic three-dimensional theory 2 - A basic reflection model 3 - A more advanced reflection model 4 - Incremental shading techniques 5 - The rendering process 6 - Parametric representation of three-dimensional objects 7 - Ray tracing 8 - Advanced ray tracing 9 - Diffuse illumination and the development of the radiosity method 10 - Further realism: shadows, texture and environment mapping 11 - Functionally based modelling 12 - Anti-aliasing techniques 13 - Three-dimensional animation 14 - Colour science and computer graphics Appendix A - Viewing transformation for a simple four-parameter viewing system Appendix B - A wireframe system Appendix C - An implementation of a renderer Appendix D - The Utah teapot [gives the data] Appendix E - Some theoretical concepts Appendix F - Highlight detection - the H test This concentrates mainly on rendering and the like (as opposed to constructing curves and surfaces, etc.). If you're interested in curves and surfaces, the following book is devoted to two and three-dimensional transformations, plane and space curves and "surface description and generation": "Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics", 2nd edition by David F. Rogers and J. Alan Adams Copyright 1990, 1976 by McGraw-Hill ~600 pages, ISBN 0-07-053529-9 (apparently also available in soft-cover) If the subject matter is what you're interested in, and you like examples this book may be for you. It contains many numerical examples -- more than I've seen in most texts. Have fun! - Bill (wheelan@cs.mcgill.ca)
jfh@cs.brown.edu (John Forbes Hughes) (09/27/90)
In article <cavw=Xy00WAz00nlMs@andrew.cmu.edu> ah2e+@andrew.cmu.edu (Aaron Noel Hughes) writes: >Can anybody recommend several books on graphics to an beginner? Any and >all replies welcome. > >Thanks, > >Aaron > >"Life Kills" -A Split Second At the risk of tooting my own horn, I can recommend "Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice," by Foley, van Dam, Feiner, and Hughes. The fourth author has a particularly fine name, as you will notice :-). I also recommend heartily the book Graphics Gems, recently much discussed in this group. I am told that Hill's book on graphics (which is less encyclopedic than ours) is a very nice introduction, particularly if you want to be led by the hand through some things. You should also look at the Frequently Asked Questions posting that appears monthly on this newsgroup for other sources. -John Hughes