Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

by Edward Angel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Computer animation and graphics--once rare, complicated, and comparatively expensive--are now prevalent in everyday life from the computer screen to the movie screen. Interactive Computer Graphics is the only introduction to computer graphics text for undergraduates that fully integrates OpenGL(R) and emphasizes application-based programming. Using C and C++, the top-down, programming-oriented approach allows for coverage of engaging 3D material early in the course so students immediately begin to create their own 3D graphics. Low-level algorithms (for topics such as line drawing and filling polygons) are presented after students learn to create graphics. This book is suitable for undergraduate students in computer science and engineering, for students in other disciplines who have good programming skills, and for professionals.

From the Back Cover

FIFTH EDITION

Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL®

Edward Angel, University of New Mexico

 

This book introduces students to the core concepts of computer graphics with full integration of OpenGL and an emphasis on application-based programming. using C and C++, the top-down, programming-oriented approach allows students to quickly begin creating their own 3D graphics. Low-level algorithms, such as those for line drawing and filling polygons, are presented after students learn to create interactive graphics programs.

 

This book covers all the topics in a fundamental course, including lighe-material interactions, shading, modeling, curves and surfaces, antialiasing, rasterization, texture mapping, and compositing.

 

KEY FEATURES

• NEW! Up-to-date coverage on the newest texturing techniques, such as multi-texturing and bump mapping.
• NEW! Expanded coverage of modeling and procedural methods, including procedural noise.
• NEW! Expanded coverage of scene graphs and real time.
• NEW! Expanded coverage of programmable shaders.
• Revised treatment of demo programs.

Edward Angel is Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Media Arts at the University of New Mexico where he was the first Presidential Teaching Fellow. He holds a PhD from the University of Southern California and a BS in Engineering from the California Institute of Technolgy. He is also the director of Art, Research, Technology, and Science Laboratory (http://artslab.unm.edu) at the University of New Mexico.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 864 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 5 edition (April 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321535863
• ISBN-13: 978-0321535863
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,440 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lovely colour plates, September 25, 2005

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL (4th Edition) (Hardcover)

Stop! If you have this book in hand, the first thing you should do is turn to the colour plates in the centre of the book. Slowly (there is no need to hurry) look at each. Don't worry if some of the labels use technical terms that you are unaware of. The book teaches you those.

Admire the beauty of the plates. It gives an overview of much of current computer graphics. Far more inspiring than a page of written synopsis. The idea is to be motivated enough to learn the text. It is a good test of whether you might like the book. Hopefully you are drawn to this field because it interests you. It might sound frivolous to give such emphasis to the plates. In many other fields, this would be true. But here, inherently, the plates represent the goals.

As to the text, it comes well illustrated with numerous diagrams of three dimensional geometry. That's what this is mostly about. And the ray tracing optics that is overlaid on the geometry.

The maths assumes a good familiarity with matrix algebra. And the understanding of how matrices are used in maths and physics to model rotation and translation and scaling. The idea of matrix multiplication representing concatenating of transformations is one of the key elements to grasp. It does get more involved. In 3d, there are surfaces, and often you need to know the tangent plane or the normal to a point on the surface. Partial derivatives are needed for this.

You also get a thorough going over of OpenGL. Chosen because it gives you a powerful graphics language, that lets you learn the concepts quicker. Far quicker than if you had to hand code a lot of the basic operations.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for a class, September 29, 2007

By	Andrew Polack - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL (4th Edition) (Hardcover)

This text is great for a class on graphics. The reader may find it challenging to do a self-study however as it assumes a lot of prior mathematics... some of which the reader would not have unless he/she has studied the field of graphics before. While the book does cover most of the math in it either directly or in an appendix in the back, the book's treatment of the material is decidedly utilitarian and lacks the depth or breadth that a true mathematical text would have on such material. It is for this reason that it receives only 4 out of 5 stars. As an aid to lectures in class, this book is very good, provided one's professor covers the requisite math needed in order to understand it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, May 4, 2009

By	Charles Mcdonald (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent textbook. I've just completed an undergraduate course in computer graphics using this text and it made the course much easier and more interesting. It clearly explains the content using appropriate examples. However, this book is for an upper level college course and is not suitable for beginners.