Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists (Premier Press Game Development) [Paperback]

Sebastien St-Laurent (Author)

Book Description

Series: Premier Press Game Development | Publication Date: May 13, 2004

This is the first book approaching the topic of shaders in such an accessible manner. By taking a simple, easy-to-follow approach to the high-level language of this topic and separating itself from 3D API's "Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists" brings the world of real-time shading to a broad audience, ranging from the game programming hobbyist to the seasoned game developer. This unique combination of its simple approach and the wide variety of techniques that are covered makes "Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists" a one-of-a-kind guide that can serve as both a tutorial for the classroom and a reference manual that can be used by developers throughout the development cycle.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Programmable shaders are the best and latest in the computer graphic industry. With the latest generations of video cards out there developed by ATI Technologies and nVidia, it is now possible to draw interactive scenes on a computer with an unsurpassed realism. With the current rate of advancement in this field, it is only a matter of years before the quality of graphics generated matches the visuals in some of most recent Hollywood movies such as "I, ROBOT" or "Spider Man 2". Some of the most anticipated video games this year, such as Doom 3, HALO 2 and Half-Life 2, take full advantage these cards and I wanted to show my readers exactly how easily it could be done.

Most books out there which cover the topic of programmable shaders also covered broadly the topic of computer graphics. I wanted to do something different and focus in-depth on the specific topic of programmable shaders. To accomplish this, I have taken advantage of a tool called RenderMonkey, developed by ATI Technologies, to quickly prototype shaders and spend less time worrying about the other aspects of computer graphics.

About the Author

Sebastien St-Laurent holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Sherbrooke University in Québec (Canada) where he graduated at top of his class with a 3.9 GPA in 1999. From 1999 to 2003, he has been working for Z-Axis, LTD (an Activision Studio) and have worked on many video game titles including : Space Invaders (PC), Dave Mira Freestyle BMX (Playstation and PC), Dave Mira Freestyle BMX2 (Xbox), Aggressive Inline (Xbox) and BMX XXX (Xbox). Sebastien was the Xbox lead engineer for the company with tasks ranging from 3D engine development to shader and special effect creation. He is now a graphics engineer for Microsoft Corporation where he works on the next version of the Microsoft Flight Simulator. Sebastien St-Laurent has also recently published "Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists". A complete resume has been included at the end of this proposal for more complete information.

Product Details

• Paperback: 483 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (May 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592000924
• ISBN-13: 978-1592000920
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars In dire need of an editor, December 22, 2007

By 

James O'Donnell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists (Premier Press Game Development) (Paperback)

This book is fantastic for artists or programmers looking to get started with shader programming. Anyone with a little C++ experience (or similar) ought to be able to get a good grip on the material in this book. Lots of practical techniques are introduced at a introductory level. The other great thing about this book is that it covers the use of ATi's Rendermonkey software for the creation and visualization of shaders. This is a great boon, as some similar books like The Cg Tutorial presume you already have a working real-time 3D engine you can write shaders for, and are already experienced with DirectX or OpenGL programming. Providing and explaining the use of a user-friendly API like Rendermonkey makes this book well-suited for entry-level programmers.

I would have rated this book 5 stars based on these qualities, but much to my chagrin the book is weighed down by an inexcusable amount of typos and errors. The overall effect is that the author never even tested his own code, as MULTIPLE shaders presented in the book simply do not work as described by the author. Furthermore, in some of these cases (two major examples including the motion blur shader and the depth of field depth-impostor shader) the sample/reference code included on the CD does not work either, so the reader is left high and dry, wondering what the problem is. The author's website only includes errata for one error (which is neither of the above cited examples.) I have not yet completed this book, in fact, I'm only a third of the way through; but I can only assume the path ahead will be similarly rocky.

These problems are particularly egregious as the book is ostensibly targeted towards beginners, who will be poorly equipped to solve the author's errors. While it could be said that this is an effective way of learning the language (i.e. learning by doing research and correcting the author,) it sometimes makes the process very discouraging and slow-going. Beyond these errors, the book is a fantastic introduction to learning real-time shaders and is accessible to artists even if they have little programming experience. A second edition of this book, rectifying the many errors in the book, would be a must-have for anyone interested in learning shader programming. Until then, however, the reader will have to be patient and willing to meet the book half-way on a lot of occasions.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for artists, July 2, 2005

By 

David A. Jones "3D Monkey" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists (Premier Press Game Development) (Paperback)

I'm a 3D Artist/Animator not a programmer, heck I couldn't program my way out of a wet paper bag. I've been trying to teach myself how to write shaders for awhile. I've had some success playing around, but didn't really understand what I was doing, and have been looking for a good book on the subject for awhile. Most books are very technical and aimed at only programmers, and while I have nothing but respect for my programmer friends I think artists should be more involved in writing shaders, after all they're the ones that have to create all the art assests the shaders will be used on.

This book is very artist friendly, it does require a slight amount of technical and mathematic ability, but it doesn't drown you in the technical jargon, complicated math tables and diagrams, but rather has you jump onto ATI's RenderMonkey and learn by getting your hands dirty. It does a great job of breaking down HLSL and explaining how a shader is put together.

While it starts out very simple, it still manages to cover some more advanced techniques... render to texture shaders, high dynamic range lighting, spherical harmonics, advanced real-time shadows, parallax mapping, and displacement mapping.

My only complaint with the book is some small typos, and some of the examples have some small errors. Nothing major, but the lack of any errata on the publisher or author's website to correct them is very frustrating.

If you're already an established shader programmer looking for some new tricks and techniques... this book probably isn't for you; but if you're from a more of an artist background, not the best programmer, or just starting to learn shader programming, I highly recommend checking this one out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly focused review of shader programming, October 29, 2004

By 

K. Reynolds - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists (Premier Press Game Development) (Paperback)

Breaking into the world of shader technologies can be a daunting task and a constructing a library of accurate knowledge is essential. "Shaders for Game Progammers and Artist" is one of the most focused books I have ever purchased. It only covers 'shaders' and does not attempt to present the surrounding technologies of DirectX or OpenGL programming. At fist this tight focus disturbed me, as I did not have a secondary support book like "Programming Vertex and Pixel Shaders". Put these two books together and constantly cross-reference the code and you have the solution to understanding the core of building good shaders. (One other note:) You might want to add "3d Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development".