It seems to me that this edition of GPU Gems is a step up from Volume 2. The articles are much better illustrated with more pseudocode and with the background mathematics better explained than in the previous edition. Like the other books in the series, there is not enough complete information to write an application from start to finish, but if you have a background in computer graphics it should be enough to get you started. However, the entire book assumes that you are already a professional graphics programmer well-versed in some higher-level language that also has a good grasp of advanced mathematics and even some physics. For example, a knowledge of partial differential equations is required to completely understand the chapter on real-time simulation and rendering of 3D fluids. Other chapters require a background in digital signal processing. It is also assumed that the reader is famililar with graphics API such as DirectX or OpenGL and their associated high-level programming languages - HLSL,GLSL, or Cg. Therefore it will probably be the rare individual that will be able to fully comprehend and utilize the entire book. I would recommend this book for the professional graphics programmer to add to their reference library. The following is the detailed table of contents and the contributors in each case:
Part I - GEOMETRY
Chapter 1: Generating Complex Procedural Terrains Using the GPU
Ryan Geiss, NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 2: Animated Crowd Rendering
Bryan Dudash, NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 3: DirectX 10 Blend Shapes: Breaking the Limits
Tristan Lorach, NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 4: Next-Generation SpeedTree Rendering
Alexander Kharlamov, Iain Cantlay, Yury Stepanenko - NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 5: Generic Adaptive Mesh Refinement
Tamy Boubekeur, Christophe Schlick - University of Bordeaux
Chapter 6: GPU-Generated Procedural Wind Animations for Trees
Renaldas Zioma, Electronic Arts/Digital Illusions CE
Chapter 7: Point-Based Visualization of Metaballs on a GPU
Kees van Kooten, Gino van den Bergen - Playlogic Game Factory
Alex Telea, Eindhoven University of Technology
PART 2 - LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
Chapter 8: Summed-Area Variance Shadow Maps
Andrew Lauritzen, University of Waterloo
Chapter 9: Interactive Cinematic Relighting with Global Illumination
Fabio Pellacini, Dartmouth College
Milos Hasan, Kavita Bala - Cornell University
Chapter 10: Parallel-Split Shadow Maps on Programmable GPUs
Fan Zhang, Hanqiu Sun - The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Oskari Nyman, Helsinki University of Technology
Chapter 11: Efficient and Robust Shadow Volumes Using Hierarchical Occlusion Culling and Geometry Shaders
Martin Stich, mental images
Carsten Wächter, Alexander Keller - Ulm University
Chapter 12: High-Quality Ambient Occlusion
Jared Hoberock, Yuntao Jia - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chapter 13: Volumetric Light Scattering as a Post-Process
Kenny Mitchell, Electronic Arts
PART 3 - RENDERING
Chapter 14: Advanced Techniques for Realistic Real-Time Skin Rendering
Eugene d'Eon, David Luebke - NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 15: Playable Universal Capture
George Borshukov, Jefferson Montgomery, John Hable - Electronic Arts
Chapter 16: Vegetation Procedural Animation and Shading in Crysis
Tiago Sousa, Crytek
Chapter 17: Robust Multiple Specular Reflections and Refractions
Tamás Umenhoffer, BLászló Szirmay-Kalos - Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Gustavo Patow, University of Girona
Chapter 18: Relaxed Cone Stepping for Relief Mapping
Fabio Policarpo, Perpetual Entertainment
Manuel M. Oliveira, Instituto de Informática--UFRGS
Chapter 19: Deferred Shading in Tabula Rasa
Rusty Koonce, NCsoft Corporation
Chapter 20: GPU-Based Importance Sampling
Mark Colbert, University of Central Florida
Jaroslav Kr¡ivánek, Czech Technical University in Prague
PART 4 - IMAGE EFFECTS
Chapter 21: True Impostors
Eric Risser, University of Central Florida
Chapter 22: Baking Normal Maps on the GPU
Diogo Teixeira, Move Interactive
Chapter 23: High-Speed, Off-Screen Particles
Iain Cantlay, NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 24: The Importance of Being Linear
Larry Gritz, Eugene d'Eon, NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 25: Rendering Vector Art on the GPU
Charles Loop, Jim Blinn - Microsoft Research
Chapter 26: Object Detection by Color: Using the GPU for Real-Time Video Image Processing
Ralph Brunner, Frank Doepke, Bunny Laden - Apple
Chapter 27: Motion Blur as a Post-Processing Effect
Gilberto Rosado, Rainbow Studios
Chapter 28: Practical Post-Process Depth of Field
Earl Hammon, Jr., Infinity Ward
PART 5 - PHYSICS SIMULATION
Chapter 29: Real-Time Rigid Body Simulation on GPUs
Takahiro Harada, University of Tokyo
Chapter 30: Real-Time Simulation and Rendering of 3D Fluids
Keenan Crane, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ignacio Llamas, Sarah Tariq - NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 31: Fast N-Body Simulation with CUDA
Lars Nyland, Mark Harris - NVIDIA Corporation
Jan Prins, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapter 32: Broad-Phase Collision Detection with CUDA
Scott Le Grand, NVIDIA Corporation
Chapter 33: LCP Algorithms for Collision Detection Using CUDA
Peter Kipfer, Havok
Chapter 34: Signed Distance Fields Using Single-Pass GPU Scan Conversion of Tetrahedra
Kenny Erleben, University of Copenhagen
Henrik Dohlmann, 3Dfacto R&D
PART 6 - GPU COMPUTING
Chapter 35: Fast Virus Signature Matching on the GPU
Elizabeth Seamans, Juniper Networks
Thomas Alexander, Polytime
Chapter 36: AES Encryption and Decryption on the GPU
Takeshi Yamanouchi, SEGA Corporation
Chapter 37: Efficient Random Number Generation and Application Using CUDA
Lee Howes, David Thomas - Imperial College London
Chapter 38: Imaging Earth's Subsurface Using CUDA
Bernard Deschizeaux, Jean-Yves Blanc, CGGVeritas
Chapter 39: Parallel Prefix Sum (Scan) with CUDA
Mark Harris, NVIDIA Corporation
Shubhabrata Sengupta, John D. Owens - University of California, Davis
Chapter 40: Incremental Computation of the Gaussian
Ken Turkowski, Adobe Systems
Chapter 41: Using the Geometry Shader for Compact and Variable-Length GPU Feedback
Franck Diard, NVIDIA Corporatiion
