Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) [Paperback]

Jim Blinn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1558603875 | ISBN-13: 978-1558603875 | Publication Date: July 15, 1996 | Edition: 1

For almost three decades eminent computer graphicist Jim Blinn has coupled his scientific knowledge and artistic abilities to foster the growth of the computer graphics field. His many contributions include the Voyager Fly-by animations of space missions to Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus; The Mechanical Universe, a 52-part telecourse of animated physics; and the computer animation of Carl Sagan's PBS series Cosmos. In addition, Blinn, the recipient of the first SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award, has developed many widely used graphics techniques, including bump mapping, environment mapping, and blobby modeling.
Blinn shares his insight and experience in "Jim Blinn's Corner," an award-winning column in the technical magazine IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications in which he unveils his most useful graphics methods and observations. This book, a compendium of 20 of the column's articles, leads you through the "graphics pipeline" offering a wealth of tips and tricks. It explores common graphics problems, many of which have never before been addressed.
An invaluable resource for any graphics professional
In his entertaining and inspirational style, Blinn examines a variety of topics to help computer graphics software and application developers recognize and solve graphics programming problems. Focusing on geometry and the graphics pipeline, he shares:

• easy to understand explanations of difficult concepts gleaned from years of teaching


• interesting examples of tricky special cases that cause conventional algorithms to fail


• highly refined algorithms for clipping, viewing, lighting, and rendering

• easy to understand explanations of difficult concepts gleaned from years of teaching
  
• interesting examples of tricky special cases that cause conventional algorithms to fail
  
• highly refined algorithms for clipping, viewing, lighting, and rendering

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jim Blinn presents an eclectic collection of 20 articles he originally wrote for Computer Graphics and Applications, an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) magazine aimed at graphics professionals. It's unapologetic about being a programmer's book, and it won't make much sense if you're not one (even less if you've forgotten your algebra). But if the shoe fits, and if you're going to be writing your own graphics routines, you stand to learn a lot from an acknowledged master.

Topics include a tour through the author's collection of circle-drawing algorithms, an introduction to animation concepts through a character called Blobby Man, musings on rendering platonic solids, detailed discussions of shadows, clipping and viewports, and investigations into the nature of pixel space. Many algorithms are presented in a generalized pseudo-code that could be easily translated into other languages. In addition to learning practical techniques, you'll also benefit from seeing Blinn's intelligent and offbeat approach to solving problems.

From the Back Cover

"[one of] the world's most renowned 3-D graphics pioneers...Blinn is a fascinating character"-Wired
Learn from the master
For almost three decades eminent computer graphicist Jim Blinn has coupled his scientific knowledge and artistic abilities to foster the growth of the computer graphics field. His many contributions include the Voyager Fly-by animations of space missions to Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus; The Mechanical Universe, a 52-part telecourse of animated physics; and the computer animation of Carl Sagan's PBS series Cosmos. In addition, Blinn, the recipient of the first SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award, has developed many widely used graphics techniques, including bump mapping, environment mapping, and blobby modeling.
Blinn shares his insight and experience in "Jim Blinn's Corner," an award-winning column in the technical magazine IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications in which he unveils his most useful graphics methods and observations. This book, a compendium of 20 of the column's articles, leads you through the "graphics pipeline" offering a wealth of tips and tricks. It explores common graphics problems, many of which have never before been addressed.
An invaluable resource for any graphics professional
In his entertaining and inspirational style, Blinn examines a variety of topics to help computer graphics software and application developers recognize and solve graphics programming problems. Focusing on geometry and the graphics pipeline, he shares:

• easy to understand explanations of difficult concepts gleaned from years of teaching


• interesting examples of tricky special cases that cause conventional algorithms to fail


• highly refined algorithms for clipping, viewing, lighting, and rendering

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1 edition (July 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558603875
• ISBN-13: 978-1558603875
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,077,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What can you say about Jim Blinn?, October 14, 1999

By 

Bruce Williams ([e-mail]) (Pasadena, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Paperback)

I am a graphics book addict, but few produce changes in my code. I passed his clipping method around to the team and we are starting to change our pipeline. We were clipping to polys in a portal engine. The new idea is to clip to a bounding rectangle FAST and let the new hardware zbuff the rough edges.

His books have these sort of 'GEMS' that you might use the week you get it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Book, Opaque Organisation, May 11, 1998

By 

Andy J Buchanan "Andy J Buchanan" (Brighton, U.K.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Paperback)

This book contains a wealth of information on the construction of a 3D pipeline, including all the geometry handling and also texture mapping. However being presented as it is, a collection of articles, makes a logical progression from start to finish a difficult task. There also seem to be gaps in some of the explanations, which is a shame as they are mostly complete and written in an easy to digest and lighthearted style. All in all, the book is packed with useful stuff, highly recommended.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE graphics pipeline book., March 12, 2001

By 

Peter S. Shirley (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Paperback)

I teach graphics and have been doing graphics for 15 years, and this book still taught me a lot. And it is a good book for a novice as well. I know that sounds implausible, but it really is true! Blinn just states things SO clearly. I was driven to write this review today after reading his discussion of perspective-correct rasterization: what a masterpiece! The rest of the book is just as good.