Computer Graphics Through OpenGL: From Theory to Experiments

The best CG book for beginners! It contains lots of examples which give you step-by-step approach to understand CG thoery. I read this book far more exciting than other CG books I got before. The only suggestion I want to give the author is to add more examples for shader-based OpenGL.

This book is fantastic. Very detailed but this doesn't dull down the experience. This book is meant for people that want to learn OpenGL properly.

I have reviewed this book in exchange for a free book. I am already familiar with this subject. I have spent a lot of time with this book. There is Lots of Math! Trigonometry, polynomials, calculus (differential, integral), matrices, linear algebra summation.... The Appendix has a math self-test with 30 problems & their solutions. The index has errors. The author has updated the index. Link: http://sumantaguha.com/files/materials/subjectAndProgramIndex.pdf Cons: 1. difficult time a. reading sections in various parts: Some are: calculus, radiosity, splines, sphere mapping At times, I needed to do further research. Throughout the book, the author mentions sections that can be skipped. He also has a Suggested Course Outlines section - see Preface pg xxvii b. understanding how the code works in some of the programs 2. no compute shaders, particles 3. Unfortunately, the solutions to the exercises are only available to a course instructor. They should be also available for self-study because the book clearly says it can be used for self-study. Pros: 1. suitable for beginners & advanced 2. Compared to Frank Luna's "Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 11" book which I'm more than 1/2 way through, Sumanta's book scores in: 1. the amount of interaction & that the interaction starts early on 2. no windows programming - uses free GLut 3. no shader programming till towards the end 4. programs for linux & mac also 5. can email the author 3. Excellent Interaction: a. about 250 programs in the source! WOW! All of them work. I used a Geforce GT 610 2gb memory graphics card. Running them in Windows: OS -doesn't matter (32-bit or 64-bit); a version that can run VS 2010 Express Note: The 64-bit instructions didn't work on a 64-bit OS. The 32-bit instructions worked on a 32-bit OS & 64-bit OS. If VS 2010Express comes in 32-bit or 64-bit versions, not sure if the instruction to use depends on which version is installed. b. Exercises too: See Preface: pg xx - Specs Section , pg xxiv -Resources 4. The Teaching Approach Used: Till the last chapters, you use pre-shader legacy opengl to do many graphical tasks. After this, you do these same things & some others with shaders using OpenGL4.3. This way is easier to learn opengl because later versions require additional learning whereas pre-shader opengl doesn't. The book uses glm (opengl mathematics) with opengl4.3 This library as pg 764 mentions: 1. simulates glsl math 2. provides replacements for discarded functions like glTranslate (), glRotate(), etc. 5. Organized Well See also Preface: pg vii TOC pg xxiv Capsule Chapter Descriptions Conclusion: The author needs to make improvements on the book to make it easier to read it entirely which I did & the book should have a correct index in it. Overall, the best CG book I've read so far. It contains a huge amount of knowledge in this subject. The book has info. that I was looking for. Despite the difficulties encountered, I progressed in learning opengl, computer graphics & the math used. I highly recommend it. ERRATA Code pg136 clown3.cpp -some helix values possibly incorrect QuadraticSplineCurve.cpp, CubicSplineCurve2.cpp - in comment says shift but it's the space bar Experimenter Source doesn't have: pg413 fakeT.cpp Appendix A TurnFilm.cpp Book pg491 Figure 12.15 v0v1v2 not v1v2v3 pg718 in the denominator in the formula at the top , the part that's 1/ 1/ 0.2 should be 1/ 0.2 -from the formula on pg 712 (19.3). The result shown used the corrected form. pg815 next to last paragraph in last sentence; t2N+3 should be t2N+4 pg816 Figure 21.22b V should be 2N + 4 not 2N + 3 pg 875 Figure C.1c Y isn't shown pg880 Figure C.2 A isn't shown POSSIBLE ERRATA: waiting to hear from the author. p473 shipmovie.cpp - # of discs in smoke stack is 55 ; shouldn't this be i<56 in the for loop? p642 shouldn't this say n' not m in 0<=j<=m ? p804 at the top shouldn't it say gl_out [gl_PatchVerticesOut] not gl_in[gl_PatchVerticesOut] p816 Figure 21.22 (c) why does v10 = v1 , v4 = v15 ? Animating Man Problem: Man 1 doesn't move at location I press n , makes a copy of Man1 right on it which is exact position . This copy is Man2 . I place Man2 somewhere on the screen. Then I goes to Man 2. I press backspace on Man2 , & it resets Man2 back on Man1's position where the copy was made. If you move Man1 & press backspace a runtime error occurs. It won't reset it to its initial configuration. Does vector only delete (man) greater than 1?

If you compare this book with others introductory CG ones you'll likely find the former simpler and clearer. You can use google books to search for transformations, triangulations, orientation, lighting, texturing, etc. and check it out in person. In some rare cases where things are less clear, especially in the first chapters, the author provide a lot of code examples that remove any doubts and often the same content is taken up again a few chapters later for a better explanation. Book's strengths: - It provides simple and exhaustive explanation of theory. - it forces you to fiddle with the code examples. In the book are often highlighted and explained the main statements only of a code example. This improves your understanding of theory and it gives you a visual effect of it. - It takes advantage of old OpenGL not only to make simpler and clearer theory but also for making easier the necessary step towards modern OpenGL. Therefore, in this case, to study the fixed-function pipeline isn't self-defeating at all. This book requires a bit of trigonometry and very little calculus. I recommend it to everyone. It is ideal not only for learner in class but also for self-learners.

If I had to choose one OpenGL/3D graphics book from my library to keep, then this would be it. In some 900 pages it covers all the bases you would hope for in an introductory text. The real strength of the book is that it covers the necessary mathematics in an engaging, intuitive, and non-abstract way. Most 3D programmers will eventually hit a wall when they discover that "cut and paste" is not going to be sufficient. The book's example programs, and there are hundreds, are short and to the point and they make concrete the necessary theory being developed in the text. The author has chosen to expose OpenGL 2.0 and 3.2 as well as 4.3. Doing so motivates the extra functionality of 4.3. The extra machinery of 4.3 is a distraction when learning the basics, so this seems like a good idea. Many programmers will also need to maintain backward compatibility for commercial reasons. Since this is an introductory book, there are algorithms that are not provided. The book does provide, though, extensive references to go beyond what is given. In short, this book is a model for how a mathematical API should be presented.

really good book for cg and opengl beginners.

Absolutely terrible book in every aspect, starting from the style and finishing with the examples.

I just have a browsing on a revised copy of this book. I considered it one of the best self-study material of computer graphics via opengl. I would add more comments in the future once I complete reading.

Di testi introduttivi sulla CG ne ho letti alcuni. Questo è mediamente più chiaro rispetto ad altri per quanto riguarda definizioni e relative dimostrazioni. In altri testi solitamente si arriva alla stessa conclusione in 2-3 righe dicendo cose del tipo "la matrice per le rotazioni rispetto all'asse z è questa ... e ci si arriva così ..." buttando lì un paio di equazioni da cui si dovrebbe dedurre, con calcoli più o meno macchinosi e noiosi, che effettivamente le cosa quadra. In questo invece l'autore si sforza di mostrarti passo passo come si arriva a tale conclusione. Spesso ci riesce in modo brillante. In altre circostanze un po' meno ma è fisiologico data la mole di informazioni presentate e comunque spesso il codice sorgente degli esempi (sterminati) aiutano a comprendere meglio. Deficita un po' nella presentazione della programmable pipeline dato che per 3/4 del testo l'autore usa la vecchia fixed function pipeline per facilitare la comprensione della teoria (cosa che gli riesce alla grande quindi non si può dargli torto per questa scelta). Per questo consiglio di integrare con un altro testo tipo quello gratuito di Joey de Vries o il redbook per quanto riguarda la programmable pipeline. In conclusione, se quello che si cerca è un primo testo sulla CG, questo è semplicemente il migliore attualmente disponibile. ps. la copia in mio possesso ha l'indice analitico completamente sbagliato. Non so se ora sia stato corretto comunque l'autore sul suo sito fornisce, oltre all'errata corrige, l'indice analitico corretto.

If I had to choose one OpenGL/3D graphics book from my library to keep, then this would be it. In some 900 pages it covers all the bases you would hope for in an introductory text. The real strength of the book is that it covers the necessary mathematics in an engaging, intuitive, and non-abstract way. Most 3D programmers will eventually hit a wall when they discover that "cut and paste" is not going to be sufficient. The book's example programs, and there hundreds, are short and to the point and they make concrete the necessary theory being developed in the text. The author has chosen to expose OpenGL 2.0 and 3.2 as well as 4.3. Doing so motivates the extra functionality of 4.3. The extra machinery of 4.3 is a distraction when learning the basics, so this seems like a good idea. Many programmers will also need to maintain backward compatibility for commercial reasons. Since this is an introductory book, there are algorithms that are not provided. The book does provide, though, extensive references to go beyond what is given. In short, this book is a model for how a mathematical API should be presented.

Exzellentes Buch, guter Aufbau, viele Beispiele und Übungsaufgaben. Das Buch hat echt Substanz, nicht so ein schnell gemachtes Buch mit kurzer Halbwertszeit.

C'est plus un livre qui parle de "Computer Graphics" que d'OpenGL. Donc pas très utile si vous voulez apprendre OpenGL. Une version plus récente est parue depuis.

This book is awesome simply put. This book provides fantastic example for learning OpenGL from the ground up. I followed this book for a computer graphics course I had and provided me with more then enough material and practical examples to help me excel in the course.