Real-Time Rendering (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

~ Tomas Akenine-Moller (Author), (Author) "Real-time rendering is concerned with making images rapidly on the computer..." (more)
Key Phrases: occluding power, screen grid cell, rasterizer stage, Technologies Inc, Texturing Figure, Cel Damage (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One would think that the title of Tomas Moller's and Eric Haines's book, Real-Time Rendering, would be a contradiction in terms. How can such a computationally intensive process as rendering computer graphics ever hope to be done on the fly, in the blink of an eye, without delay--in short, in real time?

The term rendering, as it applies to computer graphics, refers to the mathematically intensive process of creating a picture or sequence of frames based on geometry. The duration of this process is dependent on the complexity of the scene (a forest with many trees and thousands of leaves will take much longer to render than a scene consisting of a white box over a gray background) and the speed of the hardware doing the calculations.

When Pixar's Toy Story was first released, the computer animation community was all abuzz with how it was done, and someone at Pixar mentioned that over 100 SGI workstations were used for rendering the frames over the course of almost two years. Someone else extrapolated this data and figured out that the same movie could have been rendered on one contemporary PC over the course of about 80 years.

The authors deftly answer the question, not only asserting that it can be done, but since this book is a programmer's guide, they list snippets of programming algorithms that help outline how it can be done.

Because the software and hardware is constantly and rapidly evolving due to the insatiable need for more realistic and complex graphics, the book avoids getting too specific. To quote the authors, "The field is rapidly evolving, and so it is a moving target." This lack of specificity doesn't detract from the usefulness of the book, though. Instead, it works at a higher, more abstract level, describing approaches to rendering techniques using generic algorithms. It is up to the programmer to apply these methods to the specific program or system on which it is to be implemented.

Real-Time Rendering describes some very complex methods, and this book is not for the average computer graphics creator. However, if you are working in an industry that depends on real-time rendered animation--like the gaming, medical, or military fields--or you are building the next-generation real-time render engine, this book will offer insight and concepts you can use to build some impressive software. --Mike Caputo --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

Real-Time Rendering has been a required reference for professional graphics practitioners for nearly a decade. This latest edition is as relevant as ever, covering topics from essential mathematical foundations to advanced techniques used by today's cutting edge games. --Gabe Newell, President, Valve

Real-Time Rendering provides a solid introduction to the essential techniques every graphics programmer should know. It also serves as a great reference for finding relevant publications and is a joy to read. --Martin Mittring, Lead Graphics Programmer, Crytek

One of my favorite graphics books is Real-Time Rendering. . . . If you only get one graphics book, get this one. --Ron Fosner, author of Real-Time Shader Programming --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 900 pages
• Publisher: AK Peters, Ltd.; 2 edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568811829
• ISBN-13: 978-1568811826
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #356,359 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 3D GAME PROGRAMMERS ULTIMATE COMPANION, October 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Real-Time Rendering (Hardcover)

This book is simply put, a must have. If you are building an graphics pipeline for 3d games and need to know about things such as lens flares collision detection (hierarchical), pipeline optimization and general 3D math. Get This book. It is like the FOLEY and VAN DAMM book except it focuses on real time rendering (interactivity) I recoomend this book highly, as i got it yesterday and skimmed over most chapters and read the first two completely. This author writes not from a boring perspective, but of an fresh easily readible text format which basically teaches you the theory and gives you the inspiration to test it out on whatever platform you wish. This book should have come out sooner, is my only gripe. Purchase Book, grab a nice cup of joe, find a quiet corner and make sure to bring a pen/pad.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff, August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Real-Time Rendering (Hardcover)

For a long time, I've looked for a book like this. Getting into graphics programming can be a real pain, because you either have books that don't discuss the issues involved with any depth whatsoever, or you wind up with tomes like Foley and VanDam, which can be overpowering to those not already versed in the subject.

This book does a fine job of bridging the gap, so to speak. For starters, the authors cover a very wide range of computer graphics topics, and do so in depth. The writing style is quite good, which helps a lot. Also, the text's illustrations and color photos in the middle of the book provide a good counterpoint to the topics being discussed.

For those readers who need a math review, or who don't know the math to begin with, an appendix in the back does a good job of going over the important mathematical points relevant to computer graphics.

That said, let me warn those of you out there who are "true beginners" that this book assumes you've had at least some previous exposure to computer graphics. It doesn't have to be that much exposure, but this text hits the ground running, and it's a good idea to have another, introductory book on hand to help you out should you get stuck or lost here. I'd reccomend Hearn and Baker's book- a personal favorite.

Also, those of you hard-core coders out there may be disappointed to learn that no API specific code is discussed here, with one or two exceptions. This is a theory book, period, and it does its job very well.

Up to date, filled with discussion topics no other book touches, and with an excellent footnoting scheme for those who want to learn more- this book is one to look at.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for graphics/game programmers, November 13, 2000

By	Dave Astle (GameDev.net) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Real-Time Rendering (Hardcover)

Real-Time Rendering is a wonderful all-around resource that belongs on the desk of any serious graphics programmer. Moller and Haines have taken a great deal of the research done in this area over the past decade and compiled it into a single, very well-written work. For each topic covered, several algorithms are discussed, with the strengths and weaknesses of each. Although pseudo-code is occasionally provided, source code is not, which I consider a plus, as it causes the focus of the book to remain on the algorithms themselves, not the implementation thereof.

Given the nature of the book, it's not one I'd recommend to beginners; although the first several chapters include a very clear and API-independent introduction to 3D graphics, the rest of the book is well beyond the scope of what most beginners will find useful. However, for anyone serious about the creation of high-performance graphics engines, this book is an indispensable resource.