3D Programming for Windows: Three-Dimensional Graphics Programming for the Windows Presentation Foundation (Pro - Developer) [Paperback]

Charles Petzold (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pro - Developer | Publication Date: August 1, 2007

Get a focused introduction to programming 3D graphics with the Windows Presentation Foundation 3D API. Complementing his book Applications = Code + Markup, award-winning author Charles Petzold builds on XAML essentials, teaching you how to display and animate 3D graphics under the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and Windows Vista. You’ll get expert guidance and code samples in XAML and Microsoft Visual C#— helping you master the skills you need to create high-fidelity user interfaces.

Discover how to:

• Define complex 3D objects with triangle meshes
• Enhance the illumination of 3D surfaces with light and shading effects
• Color 3D figures with gradients, bitmaps, and drawings
• Add animation with transforms and vertex manipulation
• Represent linear, affine, and camera transforms by using matrices
• Calculate vector angles, angles of rotation, and axes of rotation
• Generate triangle meshes efficiently by using C# code
• Express rotation by using quaternion computation
• Provide a user interface for manipulating and drawing 3D figures

PLUS—Get Visual C# and XAML code samples on the Web

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Key Book Benefits:

-Features in-depth coverage of mesh geometries--the key technology that enables 3D in the Windows Presentation Foundation

-Written by a premier Windows programmer, Charles Petzold

-Includes code examples in XAML and Visual C#

-Supplements the Windows Presentation Foundation essentials covered in Applications = Code + Markup: A Guide to the Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation

About the Author

Charles Petzold wrote the classic Programming Windows®, which is currently in its fifth edition and one of the best-known and widely used programming books of all time. He was honored in 1994 with the Windows Pioneer Award, presented by Microsoft® founder Bill Gates and Windows Magazine. He has been programming with Windows since first obtaining a beta Windows 1.0 SDK in the spring of 1985, and he wrote the very first magazine article on Windows programming in 1986. Charles is an MVP for Client Application Development and the author of several other books including Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735623945
• ISBN-13: 978-0735623941
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #423,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong fundamentals and fun stuff too, September 18, 2007

By 

Eric Sink (Champaign, Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 3D Programming for Windows: Three-Dimensional Graphics Programming for the Windows Presentation Foundation (Pro - Developer) (Paperback)

This book is an excellent overview of WPF 3D.

Petzold blends his development experience with his math background to explain everything quite thoroughly, from the details of the API to the hows and whys of the math underneath.

* He explains why WPF 3D shades triangles differently depending on whether they share their vertices or not.

* His explanation of quaternions is probably the best I have read.

* He talks about why Viewport3DVisual is better than Viewport3D for printing.

* He explains the math behind lighting calculations.

The book contains lots of pictures, lots of sample code and a library of useful classes for WPF 3D programming.

If you're doing anything with WPF 3D, you simply must have this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and practical introduction to WPF 3D, January 17, 2009

By 

Eran Levy (Jerusalem Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 3D Programming for Windows: Three-Dimensional Graphics Programming for the Windows Presentation Foundation (Pro - Developer) (Paperback)

First, maybe it's worth mentioning that unlike most other books on 3D out there, it concentrates solely on WPF 3D, right from the beginning, and it assumes you have enough knowledge of C# .net/WPF. It doesn't "waste" half of the book trying to teach you C#/Visual Studio/XAML etc... it's a very good attitude. If you need to learn WPF/C#, read another book first. Charles Petzold has a great book on WPF, for example.

And to the book - It teaches most fundamental elements of 3D and how it's done in WPF. Meshes, models, camera, lights, textures, transforms and some basic 3D math are all there. There's also a chapter about quaternions.
Most of the material is well written, and good examples are given throughout the book, just where needed, and all well explained. The examples compile without any problem in Visual Studio 2005/2008 (the Express editions are enough btw).
All the examples are in C#.

Most of the material tends to be pretty practical and useful for real-world application. And that's particularly true to the last chapter, which try to inspire you with real world usage of WPD 3D and examples.

Just note that most of the material isn't very advanced. You'll have to learn more by yourself to write really useful 3D applications. But the book is just what it should be - gives you a very good jump start and leaves the rest for you to explore.

I highly recommend this book for anyone with knowledge of WPF who'd like to jump to the WPF 3D wagon.
Many WPF books dedicate a chapter or 2 about 3D. Even if you read one - this book have much more material and practical info about WPF 3D than those, so I highly recommend in this case as well.
Also, people with knowledge of other more advanced 3D platforms (DirecX/OpenGL) who'd like to know WPF 3D will also find this book useful.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Really good, but so light on animation, July 28, 2009

By 

John W. Conwell - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 3D Programming for Windows: Three-Dimensional Graphics Programming for the Windows Presentation Foundation (Pro - Developer) (Paperback)

I really want to give this book a 4 or 5 star rating. Petzold goes into amazing detail about almost all aspects of creating 3D images. You really cant go wrong with this book if all you are doing is building static images.

But the books coverage of animation is sadly light. Even though there is a whole chapter on animations, its really light coverage and leaves me wanting for so much more.

And the real problem with this book is, who creates static 3D images? You most likely do 3D AND animation together.

So if you need the guts details on 3D WPF rendering than this book is for you. I you need guts on animation, not so much. And if you need 3D rendering and animation, than you might as well get this book, but know that you'll need to look elsewhere for animation details.