Customer Reviews

3D Graphics Programming for Windows (Microsoft Programming Series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Nigel thompson created a wrapper based on a wrapper based on two other wrappers... there's wrappers everywhere!!! This book belongs only to my garbage can!!! It teaches you nothing about DirectX/Direct3D; it only teaches you not to judge a book according to its cover. A nonsense book with a nice cover.

I foolishly bought this expensive doorstop thinking I might learn something about Direct3D. Unfortunately all it really tells you about is how to use the author's own wrapper library. (Which doesn't compile with the Direct X 5 SDK... you have to use Direct X 2 on the CD. Obsolete or what?)

The good and bad of this book is that it gives you a hunk of code to start with for 3d graphics. He provides documentated wrapper classes for DirectX. If you want the DirectX implementation hidden this is a good thing. If you want to put your efforts into understanding the "Real Deal" this is a digression.

The author describes the purpose of the book well: with the c++ classes he provides users only have to worry about the WHAT and not the HOW part of the graphics. As a c++ programmer, without this book I used to spend 80-95% of my time working out the details of the graphics. Now in the case of 3D graphics it is around 15-20%. If you have been following the development of computer graphics, you may be familiar with the free POV raytracing package. I found the usage of these wrapper classes and POV somewhat similar (apart from the fact the the former is c++ code and the later is script language) so if you have been a POV user you may start using these classes immediately without having to understand a whole new concept.

If you want to tell your boss you've mastered the Direct3D engine, just DON'T DO THAT! But you're free to tell him that you have a great knowledge with the wrapper classes the author wrote! And I'm sure that's NOT what you're looking for. However, using the author's wrapper classes is very clear and straight forward, and you may get to know some of the fundmentals of 3D graphics and Direct3D. Anyway, you won't get much informatin about the real world of Direct3D!!! And that's just too bad!!

If you want to learn the author's framework, then it is a passable book. However, as he himself admits, it is not a production quality library, and he was not at the time and expert C++ programmer. This might have been somewhat forgivable if the library itself had been explained in the context of Direct 3d architecture, but there is very little of that.

I found that the one chapter on the Direct3D Imediate mode ok, but slim. The rest of the book was very simplistic. Most of the samples are very basic and never cover more advanced topics in full. Not recommended for serious developers looking for a Direct3D Imediate mode book. This is for the beginner, looking for a quick way into 3d graphics and not interested in many of the details of DirectX. Regardless of quality, it still only lightly covers DirectX 2, 4 versions out of date. Wait till the next pressing...

To be fair to this book, I must point out that I'm not that experienced with programming in Visual C++, the language of this book. But I have read a lot of computer books, and I know a good one from a bad one. This one is terrible.

I was very disappointed in this book. The Direct3D functions that Nigel talks about are encapsulted in his own custom library that comes on the CD. While this might be fine for learning purposes (learning the ins and outs of *Nigel's library*), it renders the book useless for a professional programmer who wishes to incorporate Direct3D functions into a program without the overhead and requirements of the wrapper that Nigel has written. The wrapper requires the outdated DirectX 2 library which, in addition to being obsolete, illustrates the hazards of using a wrapper for the evolving DirectX standard.

Nigel Thompson won't be getting any more of my hard earned dollars for a long time. Shame on him for putting out this piece of garbage.

The book's title accurately describes its contents. It teaches "3D Graphics Programming" (not Direct3D) using "C++ Programming Techniques with Direct3D."

Portions of the Direct3D Retained Mode API are encapsulated in MFC-savvy C++ classes (e.g. C3dDevice, C3dViewport, etc.). These classes are used exclusively in the examples to teach the "basics of 3D graphics programming." (Also, there are weird pictures of Nigel in an odd duck shirt.)

If you are a professional SWE/Programmer looking for a book on Direct3D, keep looking... THIS IS NOT IT. (But like I said, if you'd read the title, you would realize this...)

Overall good book, especially interesting chapters about modeling and creating movies (AVI files). Some interesting math stuff.
Drawback (at least for me): he uses his own API wrapper, the 3DPlus library (which is integrated with MFC)