pcb@gator.cacs.usl.edu (Peter C. Bahrs) (07/20/90)
Is figure 5.6 really figure 5.8 and figure 5.7 really figure 5.6 and figure 5.8 really figure 5.7? Mathematically and algorithmically, I think this book will be great for out undergraduate and 1st graduate course in graphics. I wish some of the systems references were a little more up to date. i.e. Not much on the X window system (especially Interviews). Microsoft windows is hardly mentioned (is it?). This book reduces the load the students have to pay for the course, currently a 4 book set. I think this book with Glassners ray tracing book will work fine.
jfh@cs.brown.edu (John Forbes Hughes) (07/20/90)
In article <11787@rouge.usl.edu> pcb@gator.cacs.usl.edu (Peter C. Bahrs) writes: >Is figure 5.6 really figure 5.8 and >figure 5.7 really figure 5.6 and >figure 5.8 really figure 5.7? > OOPS--Yes, your renumbering is correct. Thanks for catching it. > >Mathematically and algorithmically, I think this book will be great for >out undergraduate and 1st graduate course in graphics. Thank you. > I wish >some of the systems references were a little more up to date. >i.e. Not much on the X window system (especially Interviews). Microsoft >windows is hardly mentioned (is it?). > It's true that not too many of the details of the X window system are discussed, and Microsoft windows may not even get a mention. But the general topic of window managers, and even some details on how to implement them, *are* covered. It's tough to know what to say about such things, except "There's this system out there. The books that describe it are longer than this one. If you really care, you'll go read them." Oh, it's true we should have said something about the networking aspects of X, but then where do you stop? We were already at 1200 pages and several years behind scheduled publication date. You can't imagine the agony of watching people in comp.graphics ask, repeatedly, "When is the new edition of Foley and van Dam coming out?" -John Hughes
rick@hanauma.stanford.edu (Richard Ottolini) (07/20/90)
This volume is nice. The unevenness is due to the fact the text is somewhere between being an edited collection of reprints (four main authors and a half dozen additional contributing authors) and a single author textbook. In article <11787@rouge.usl.edu> pcb@gator.cacs.usl.edu (Peter C. Bahrs) writes: >Is figure 5.6 really figure 5.8 and >Mathematically and algorithmically, I think this book will be great for >out undergraduate and 1st graduate course in graphics. I wish >some of the systems references were a little more up to date. >i.e. Not much on the X window system (especially Interviews). Microsoft >windows is hardly mentioned (is it?). Due to space, the volume had to choose the examples that were the most educationally innovative. InterViews should have been covered. XWindows and MWindows are engineering successes but aren't the most innovative IMHO. The book did have graphical examples that were generated with 1990 software, particularly the RenderMan suite.
palmer@mwunix.mitre.org (Forrest Palmer) (07/25/90)
Without starting a religous war, anyone care to compare the Foley, et. al. book with the Roger's "Procedural/Graphical Elements" books? I.e., which is more useful for the beginner/expert, which is more readable, etc.