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Real-Time Rendering, Fourth Edition 4th Edition, Kindle Edition

by Tomas Akenine-Mo¨ller (Author), Eric Haines (Author), Naty Hoffman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 222 ratings
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Thoroughly updated, this fourth edition focuses on modern techniques used to generate synthetic three-dimensional images in a fraction of a second. With the advent of programmable shaders, a wide variety of new algorithms have arisen and evolved over the past few years. This edition discusses current, practical rendering methods used in games and other applications. It also presents a solid theoretical framework and relevant mathematics for the field of interactive computer graphics, all in an approachable style.

New to this edition: new chapter on VR and AR as well as expanded coverage of Visual Appearance, Advanced Shading, Global Illumination, and Curves and Curved Surfaces.

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  1. ISBN-13
    978-1138627000
  2. Edition
    4th
  3. Publisher
    A K Peters/CRC Press
  4. Publication date
    August 6, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    1026734 KB
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tomas Akenine-Möller is a professor in computer science with specialization in computer graphics and image processing at the Department of Computer Science, Lund University, Sweden. Over the past years, I've built my own computer graphics group, LUGG (Lund University Graphics Group).

Eric Haines currently works at NVIDIA on interactive ray tracing. He cofounded the Journal of Graphics Tools and the Journal of Computer Graphics Techniques. He is also the creator and lecturer for the Udacity MOOC Interactive 3D Graphics.

Naty Hoffman is currently Principal Engineer & Architect at Lucasfilm’s Advanced Development Group. Previously he was Vice President of Technology at 2K. Prior to that he was employed at Activision (working on graphics R&D for various titles, including the Call of Duty series), SCEA Santa Monica Studio (coding graphics technology for God of War III), Naughty Dog (developing PS3 first-party libraries), Westwood Studios (leading graphics development on Earth and Beyond) and Intel (driving Pentium pipeline modifications and assisting the SSE / SSE2 instruction set definition).

Angelo Pesce currently serves as a Technical Director for Activision Central Technology where he helps the Call of Duty studios with rendering R&D. His interest in Computer Graphics started in his teens by joining the demoscene community. In the past he has worked on rendering solutions for companies such as Milestone, Electronic Arts, Capcom and Relic Entertainment.

Sebastien Hillaire is a senior rendering engineer pushing visual quality, performance and workflows within the Frostbite team at Electronic Arts. He obtained his PhD in Computer Science from the French National Institute of Applied Science in 2010, during which he focused on using gaze tracking to enhance virtual reality user experiences.

Michał Iwanicki currently works as a Technical Director in Activision Central Technology group, where he focuses on graphics related research. He worked on rendering and engine code for games in The Witcher, The Last of Us, and the Call of Duty series

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07FSKB982
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ A K Peters/CRC Press; 4th edition (August 6, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 6, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1026734 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Up to 4 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 1198 pages
  • Format ‏ : ‎ Print Replica
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 222 ratings

About the author

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Eric Haines

Eric Haines

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I'm a Senior Principal Engineer (read, "programmer") at Autodesk, a company that makes more software than you might realize, e.g., Max, Maya, and Softimage. I've been there for over fifteen years, previously working twelve years for a little startup begun by my advisor, Don Greenberg, called 3D/Eye. I graduated with an MS from the Program of Computer Graphics at Cornell in 1985 and have been in Ithaca ever since - it's been a career goal, in a sense: college town, beautiful lakes and trails, plenty of arts and culture, no major highway, and cold winters that help slow growth. Prior to Ithaca I worked on satellites a few years in Princeton with RCA Astro-Electronics. I graduated with a BS in Computer Science from RPI in 1980. I've done research in the areas of ray tracing, radiosity, and interactive shadows, and have contributed to a number of books.

That's the resume filler. Where I have spent a fair bit of my time and effort over the past few decades is in being an active member in the community of computer graphics people. I do my bit to provide useful resources and make things interesting: blogging and editing, maintaining the Graphics Gems code repository, reviewing for the Journal of Graphics Tools and the new Journal of Computer Graphics Techniques, editing the Ray Tracing News, running the Fantasy Graphics League, etc. Which sounds altruistic, or maybe egotistical, but analysis aside, it's what I find I like to do. I also run a popular wildflower identification site - go figure. But I also admit to wasting way too much time on FPS games like the Battlefield series and Left 4 Dead.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
222 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book's content informative and interesting, with useful references for further research. However, some of them report issues with pages falling out or detaching from the book. The images are grainy and low-resolution, making it difficult to see what the diagram is trying to convey. There are also complaints about poor page binding, loose pages, and thin paper. Opinions differ on the text clarity - some find it clear and readable, while others say it's not clear and math formulas are unreadable.

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Content qualityInformation qualityText clarityPage falloutImage qualityPage bindingPaper thickness
10 customers mention "Content quality"10 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's content. They find it interesting and a great purchase. However, some customers have issues with the Kindle format.

"The content of this series is top notch...." Read more

"While the contents of the book are absolutely phenomenal, the quality of construction for the book itself is abysmal...." Read more

"...After reading a good portion of this book, the content really is amazing. It is such a shame that the hard copy is flawed." Read more

"...It's really a shame because so far the book has been very interesting and a great purchase." Read more

4 customers mention "Information quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and excellent. They say it's a foundational text in the field, with ample detail and references for further research.

"...It's the foundational text of the field...." Read more

"Goes into enough detail to explain, with many references for further research. Good coverage of many different areas." Read more

"Informative and just excellent." Read more

"Amazing Knowledge, Embarrassing Book Construction..." Read more

7 customers mention "Text clarity"3 positive4 negative

Customers have different views on the text clarity. Some find it clear and useful, while others mention color accuracy is poor and the text is not clear, making it difficult to read through the book. Math formulas are also reportedly unclear.

"...Images are grainy and low resolution, color accuracy is poor, the TEXT IS NOT CLEAR (come on!),..." Read more

"...The text is clear and images serve their purpose...." Read more

"...Most of the math formulas are not readable, since you cannot tell the difference between suffix and exponent. Besides, it contains numerous errors...." Read more

"...It just arrived today and it looks and feels like an actual textbook print job...." Read more

12 customers mention "Page fallout"0 positive12 negative

Customers are unhappy with the pages falling out of the book. They say the pages slide out and detach from the book easily, making it difficult to read through.

"...Several pages fell out when turning and more are very loose. As others have shared, the print quality on the 4th edition is terrible...." Read more

"...Flipping through the first chapter I’ve already had 3 more pages slide right out in my hand as if they had just been lightly placed in by hand...." Read more

"...It seems like every 15 pages or so has a loose page that will fall out. I suspect the entire inventory of books have this issue...." Read more

"...A page fell out and it felt and looked like someone printed this on their home printer and glued it together...." Read more

9 customers mention "Image quality"2 positive7 negative

Customers find the images grainy and low-resolution, making it difficult to see what the image or diagram is trying to convey.

"...Some of the images are slightly lower resolution than what you may find elsewhere and the pages are thin, but the book is nearly 1200 pages and the..." Read more

"...Images are grainy and low resolution, color accuracy is poor, the TEXT IS NOT CLEAR (come on!),..." Read more

"...The papers are thick and images do have high resolution (at least for me). Overall I'm very happy with the purchase, cannot wait to read it!" Read more

"...The picture print quality is very bad, extremely grainy. I have seriously seen better printing from 20 year old inkjets...." Read more

8 customers mention "Page binding"0 positive8 negative

Customers are unhappy with the page binding of the book. They mention that some pages are not properly bound and fall out of the book, while others say they were loose or not glued in at all.

"...And it wasn’t because the spine broke or the page tore out. It wasn’t glued in at all!..." Read more

"...The pages seems like they're not even bound. The attached picture depicts the quality of the first book received...." Read more

"...Unfortunately the printing is cheap and binding is absolutely horrible. Many pages come off like they are not even glued in (they probably aren't?)." Read more

"...Pages are loose and the print quality feels like printed with home printer...." Read more

6 customers mention "Paper thickness"0 positive6 negative

Customers dislike the paper thickness. They say it's very thin, like a goldfish cover.

"...slightly lower resolution than what you may find elsewhere and the pages are thin, but the book is nearly 1200 pages and the image quality is..." Read more

"...The print quality is fine in my opinion. The paper is a little thin but the glossy full color pages make up for it...." Read more

"...and the paper is so thin that just lightly turning pages can easily tear it...." Read more

"...This 4th edition is made of thin cheap paper that could easily be torn with a careless page turn...." Read more

Buyer beware hard copy and open book after receiving.
4 out of 5 stars
Buyer beware hard copy and open book after receiving.
I'd love to own this book because the content looks amazing. But I am about to return my second copy after returning the first.Both books I've received have had pages just fall out. The pages seems like they're not even bound. The attached picture depicts the quality of the first book received. I opened to the physically based shading section only to have the page slide out. It seems like every 15 pages or so has a loose page that will fall out. I suspect the entire inventory of books have this issue.Do yourself a favor, don't bother buying a hard copy of the 4th edition. If you've already ordered a copy, check around page 301 for loose pages.edit: I am changing my review from 1 start to what it is now. After reading a good portion of this book, the content really is amazing. It is such a shame that the hard copy is flawed.
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Top reviews from the United States

Heath Farrow
5.0 out of 5 stars Bad page binding in some copies
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2020
Verified Purchase
The page binding of the first chapter or two is terrible. Several pages fell out when turning and more are very loose. As others have shared, the print quality on the 4th edition is terrible. I might try ordering a second copy but my expectations are low.

Update: ordered a second copy direct from Amazon instead of third party. Page binding looks much better and there doesn't appear to be any loose pages.
One person found this helpful
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Patrissimo
5.0 out of 5 stars Be Skeptical of the Negative Reviews
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2019
Verified Purchase
I am puzzled as to why this book has received such negative reviews. Most of the disappointment has been directed at the print quality of the text. Some of the images are slightly lower resolution than what you may find elsewhere and the pages are thin, but the book is nearly 1200 pages and the image quality is perfectly fine. The text is clear and images serve their purpose. I have verified that I have received the first printing, so unless there were some major variations in the printing process, all I can say is that the dissatisfaction with the book is at least a little hyperbolic.

If you are on the fence about buying this book because of the negative reviews, I would urge you to reconsider. This is the book to buy if you are looking for an all-in-one source to learn about real-time graphics. If you are a game developer, software engineer, or just looking to learn more about this subject, you need to buy this book. It's the foundational text of the field. This edition in particular is very up-to-date, with huge additions over the previous edition including several chapters on real-time ray-tracing, volumetric rendering, and modern GPU architecture.

If you were like me and were uncertain about the book because of the print quality, I can say for myself that I have found these claims to be greatly exaggerated.
43 people found this helpful
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Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars Great overview of state of the art real-time rendering, with some looks into the future
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book is a great overview of real-time rendering and a strong addition to the series. This series have never been about implementation details, if you want a DX12 or Vulkan tutorial you should look elsewhere. If you want a comprehensive overview of features that go into a modern game engine and the theory behind them this book is for you. No other single reference approaches the breadth of this book.

The print quality is fine in my opinion. The paper is a little thin but the glossy full color pages make up for it. Definitely not worth a 2 star review.
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book, Absolutely Horrid Print Quality
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
The content of this series is top notch. If you want to learn anything about realtime graphics and rendering form basics to advanced topics, you can't go without one of these books.

However, as other reviewers have noted, the 4th addition of Realtime Rendering is a joke in terms of print quality. After reading other reviews, I didn't think it would be that bad, but it literally does not compare to the 3rd edition I have sitting on my shelf. Really, it doesn't compare to ANY OTHER TECHNICAL BOOK I've bought in the last decade. Images are grainy and low resolution, color accuracy is poor, the TEXT IS NOT CLEAR (come on!), and the paper is so thin that just lightly turning pages can easily tear it. Compared to the previous edition which I've owned for years, I doubt this book will stand up to just a single read through. And when you put the two side by side and open up to similar pages, its just depressing.

I mean, seriously, I have many other books by CRC Press and they're usually top quality. I don't know why this one is so astronomically different.

Its unfortunate I have to give this book a 1 star review, I really have relied a lot on this series throughout my career as a professional software developer. But this book is absolutely not worth $89 + tax. If you want one of these, consider the 3rd edition. If you need the latest info, perhaps try the e version for half price. I may keep mine since I already have it and I'm reading through it. But at its current price and quality, I cannot recommend anyone else bother with this.
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book, Absolutely Horrid Print Quality
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2018
The content of this series is top notch. If you want to learn anything about realtime graphics and rendering form basics to advanced topics, you can't go without one of these books.

However, as other reviewers have noted, the 4th addition of Realtime Rendering is a joke in terms of print quality. After reading other reviews, I didn't think it would be that bad, but it literally does not compare to the 3rd edition I have sitting on my shelf. Really, it doesn't compare to ANY OTHER TECHNICAL BOOK I've bought in the last decade. Images are grainy and low resolution, color accuracy is poor, the TEXT IS NOT CLEAR (come on!), and the paper is so thin that just lightly turning pages can easily tear it. Compared to the previous edition which I've owned for years, I doubt this book will stand up to just a single read through. And when you put the two side by side and open up to similar pages, its just depressing.

I mean, seriously, I have many other books by CRC Press and they're usually top quality. I don't know why this one is so astronomically different.

Its unfortunate I have to give this book a 1 star review, I really have relied a lot on this series throughout my career as a professional software developer. But this book is absolutely not worth $89 + tax. If you want one of these, consider the 3rd edition. If you need the latest info, perhaps try the e version for half price. I may keep mine since I already have it and I'm reading through it. But at its current price and quality, I cannot recommend anyone else bother with this.
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44 people found this helpful
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Christopher Barber
5.0 out of 5 stars Must-have reference for understanding modern rendering pipelines
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2018
Verified Purchase
I have probably only gotten through a fraction of the material in this book so far, but it has been
extremely useful for my understanding of lighting and shading as it works in current versions of
popular game engines and Unreal in particular. There have been significant advances in rendering
in the last five to ten years that are missing from the previous edition of this book.

While the quality of the pictures in this edition would have been improved by glossier paper and
higher-quality printing, that would have made the book even thicker than it already is, and I didn't
buy the book for the pictures in any case. To really understand rendering effects, you really need to
see them on screen in any case.
8 people found this helpful
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Michael Crassweller
2.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Knowledge, Embarrassing Book Construction
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2019
Verified Purchase
While the contents of the book are absolutely phenomenal, the quality of construction for the book itself is abysmal. Opened the book, flipped a few pages and BAM one of the preface pages came out in my hand. And it wasn’t because the spine broke or the page tore out. It wasn’t glued in at all! Flipping through the first chapter I’ve already had 3 more pages slide right out in my hand as if they had just been lightly placed in by hand. I’m not even sure I can do anything about this by requesting a replacement since the comments here all complain about the same thing.
3 people found this helpful
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Anonymous Purchaser
4.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware hard copy and open book after receiving.
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2018
Verified Purchase
I'd love to own this book because the content looks amazing. But I am about to return my second copy after returning the first.

Both books I've received have had pages just fall out. The pages seems like they're not even bound. The attached picture depicts the quality of the first book received. I opened to the physically based shading section only to have the page slide out. It seems like every 15 pages or so has a loose page that will fall out. I suspect the entire inventory of books have this issue.

Do yourself a favor, don't bother buying a hard copy of the 4th edition. If you've already ordered a copy, check around page 301 for loose pages.

edit: I am changing my review from 1 start to what it is now. After reading a good portion of this book, the content really is amazing. It is such a shame that the hard copy is flawed.
Customer image
Anonymous Purchaser
4.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware hard copy and open book after receiving.
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2018
I'd love to own this book because the content looks amazing. But I am about to return my second copy after returning the first.

Both books I've received have had pages just fall out. The pages seems like they're not even bound. The attached picture depicts the quality of the first book received. I opened to the physically based shading section only to have the page slide out. It seems like every 15 pages or so has a loose page that will fall out. I suspect the entire inventory of books have this issue.

Do yourself a favor, don't bother buying a hard copy of the 4th edition. If you've already ordered a copy, check around page 301 for loose pages.

edit: I am changing my review from 1 start to what it is now. After reading a good portion of this book, the content really is amazing. It is such a shame that the hard copy is flawed.
Images in this review
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31 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Andreas Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Canada on October 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
Goes into great depth and detail on the mathematics of light transport and physical based rendering. I actually implemented the Hammon BRDF for diffuse material (page 355), and it works well!
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Domenico Andrea Montereale
5.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo per una overview
Reviewed in Italy on November 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
Anche solo per rispolverare alcune nozioni o per sfogliare le pagine è molto bello. Da una visione generale ma approfondita su tutta la pipeline. Però se si vogliono approfondire alcuni approcci o algoritmi bisogna leggere l'argomento e poi trovare le informazioni altrove.
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Michael
5.0 out of 5 stars Exzellenter Überblick
Reviewed in Germany on May 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
Wie komplex das Thema ist, mag man daran erahnen, dass das Buch trotz über 1000 Seiten nur einen Überblick liefert. Die Verfahren werden kurz beschrieben und dann wird auf die weiterführende Literatur verwiesen. Dafür liefert das Buch einen sehr breiten Überblick, mit vielen Verweisen darauf, in welchen konkreten Spielen welche Techniken angewendet werden. Das Buch ist von unschätzbarem Wert, wenn es um den Überblick über den Stand der Technik oder die Auswahl eines geeigneten Verfahrens für einen bestimmten Zweck geht. Auch als Hintergrundwissen für die Anwendung von Renedering / Game Engine Software oder die Erstellung von Materials ist das Buch ideal. Wenn man solche Verfahren aber in Code umsetzen möchte, braucht man in der Regel noch weiterführende Literatur - das Buch steht bei mir also in der Nähe des Sofas und nicht des Computers.
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Himanshu G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Page Quality
Reviewed in India on September 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
The page quality is good
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Victor
5.0 out of 5 stars Imprescindible en la librería
Reviewed in Spain on November 6, 2019
Verified Purchase
El contenido es de 10. Amplía enormemente los conocimientos básicos en la materia que se pueden encontrar por internet y no le falta de nada, ejemplos reales y casos de uso incluidos, muy recomendable.
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