Focus On Curves and Surfaces (Focus on Game Development) [Paperback]

Kelly Dempski (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 159200007X | ISBN-13: 978-1592000074 | Publication Date: November 25, 2002 | Edition: 1

"Focus On Curves and Surfaces" gives you the tools you need to build exciting, high-detail characters and backgrounds for your games! Whether you're a serious game programmer or just interested in the fields of CAD, 3D modeling, and visualization, this book gives you what you're looking for in three easy-to-follow sections. Section One starts with the conceptual building blocks of 3D graphics. Put these ideas into practice as Section Two walks you through Bezier curves, B-splines, and the more advanced NURBS (NonUniform Rational B-Splines). Finally, build upon your knowledge of curve construction as you create exciting surfaces in Section Three. Go from the basics to hardcore 3D graphics programming in a matter of pages!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Since 1995, Kelly Dempski has been a researcer at Accenture's Technology Labs working in the areas of multimedia, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Interactive TV, with a strong focus on photo-realistic rendering and interactive techniques. He has authored several papers and has had a project included in the Smithsonian's permanent collection on Information Technology. In addition to his research work, Kelly has taught Java, developed rendering engines, and dabbled in image processing and compression. Kelly is the author of "Real-Time Rendering Tricks and Techniques in DirectX" from Premier Press (March 2002).

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (November 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159200007X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592000074
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,489,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction, February 19, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: Focus On Curves and Surfaces (Focus on Game Development) (Paperback)

This is a first review I am ever writing. I was looking for a book that would give a clear explanation of bsplines and nurbs in an easy and intuitive way and found this book to serve the purpose perfectly. Highly technical books skip these concepts and go into complex mathematical concepts assuming that the reader has a perfect background. This book does not assume this. Along with explanation it also gives why this particular method is beneficial and the weaknesses of it. This is also good for those who are already familiar with the subject but like to teach it to others. I wish the author could take other complicated methamatical topics and explain them also at this level clearly outlining their use in the industry like Fourier transforms, Z transform, Wavelets etc. Computer Graphics and Computer Aided Geometric Design are fields of highly sophisticated mathematics and we need books like these for every topic.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Follow, November 28, 2004

By 

Christopher Forseth "Topher" (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Focus On Curves and Surfaces (Focus on Game Development) (Paperback)

The book is great on giving people an intuitive grasp on what a B-Spline or NURB is, allowing people to look at series of points and knowing "sorta" what the curve will look like.

The only serious lacking point is it's explanation of Knot Vectors and the reason they're ordered the way they are and what the numbers in them represent. It's a tricky subject to explain though, and the author made a good effort, but really needs to explain what the numbers DO persay. (Though if you play with the source and have a good eye it eventually makes sense). Anyway, excellent book and is the reason I'm the only person in my 3D Graphics class who knows how NURBS work (teacher included... "Just download code off the internet" he says, sheesh).

Anyway, BUY! It be good!