Linux 3-D Graphics Programming [With CDROM]

by Norman Lin

Currently, there are no directly competitive titles to Lin's title, and considering the explosive growth of not only 3-D graphics but the Linux operating system, this new book will be valuable to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 155622723X
• ISBN13: 9781556227233
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Wordware Publishing
• Length: 598 Pages
• Weight: 2.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 7.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Good book to start open source development

I am a senior at University of DeVry in Game and Simlution Programming and this book fits in right with what I am learning at the time. It seems a little overtechnical at times but as I learn more about programming, I'm starting to understand it more and more. Its a good book but it needs to be updated. The scariest problem was not being able to run the code in the book until I found the update. The code on the disk needs to be updated via the authors web site which doesn't seem to be working when I checked. I had to google the title and find the updates that I finally got to work. Other than that it's cool. It's not as bad as some of the reviews I read. Be warned though, I think the author doesn't realize how smart he is and sometimes takes that fact for granted when he talks to his audience. Other than this, I think the author should make this a wiki-book or publish another more updated work.

Great (introduction) 3D Graphics Programming book

Norman Lin's Linux 3D Graphics Programming book is an excellent book for those with a programming background who wish to dive into the world of real time 3D graphics programming. The book is very well written and gives step by step explanations of all the concepts introduced as well as the most of the source code. 3D graphics is a complex subject and the author realizes that (lots of) hand-holding is very helpful in understanding the concepts introduced. This book covers the basics, i.e. rasterization, transformations, projections, and some modelling. In teaching all of these subjects, the author provides what is constantly missing from other books and what I feel is very important in the learning process - rationale for why things are done a certain way. The author clearly realizes this, and this is among the strongest points of the book. Other strong points of this book include:1) Some books simply discuss the concepts behind 3D graphics without providing incite into actually implementing them, i.e. accessing the screen, creating offscreen buffers, which data structures are best suited for a task. This books, aimed toward novices, does both.2) The author starts out by giving an introduction to graphics under Linux, with background on software as well as hardware rendering (using OpenGL/Mesa as well as the aging Glide API). This is great for those who aren't yet familiar with graphics under the Linux operating system.3) The code is object oriented - the author dedicates a section to explain the benefits of an object oriented approach in creating a graphics library.4) Software rendering is stressed, althrough hardware rendering is covered as well. Very important in creating a 3d engine - using OpenGL without understanding how it does the things it does will only get you so far.5) The book is NOT just Linux specific. Linux is the author's choice of implementation but all the concepts can be applied to other operating system. The object oriented approach allows for the graphics library to be implemented in other OS's - the appendix even discusses compilation under Windows.6) All tools to get started are available on the companion cd-rom as well as free on the internet. The source code used in the book, the Debian distribution of Linux, the compiler tools and libraries, and the modelling software Blender (for use in the chapter that discusses modelling) are all included.7) The author is very knowledgable in Linux and is clearly a advocate for the operation system :).The author assumes you are sufficient in C/C++ programming. This is a fair assumption as you really have to be in order to do graphics programming. Be warned however, that the source code may not compile right away under other Linux distributions besides Debian and newer versions of gcc. Some modifications in the source code (very minor) may be required in order for the code to compile correctly - something you should be able to do. If not, perhaps you should hold o

Excellent read.

=This is a great book.1) It actually goes into the detail of X11 pixel formats and xshm. As an xlib programmer the generic class to determine pixel formats is great. It is superior is a number of ways to the evil O'Reily books in its dealing with XImage and graphics under linux.2) It ALSO goes over the basic foundations of 3d programming, and software rendering; as well as introducing the concepts of interfaces using c++ classes (factories, etc). For anyone who has not done this before, this is an excellent book. For anyone who has: It is probably still worth a read. Unless you are truely a master at linux graphics programming, there's probably something to be gleaned from this book. >However, fair warning: This is not a trivial topic. Reading the book end to end will achieve nothing. <<p>Anyhow: I enjoyed the book. I thought it was worth while. My regards to the author!

Excellent Read

To start with, let me just say; I'm a second year electrical engineering / computer science uni student. In Australia. =PThis is a great book.1) It actually goes into the detail of X11 pixel formats and xshm. As an xlib programmer the generic class to determine pixel formats is great. It is superior is a number of ways to the evil O'Reily books in its dealing with XImage and graphics under linux.2) It ALSO goes over the basic foundations of 3d programming, and software rendering; as well as introducing the concepts of interfaces using c++ classes (factories, etc). For anyone who has not done this before, this is an excellent book. For anyone who has: It is probably still worth a read. Unless you are truely a master at linux graphics programming, there's probably something to be gleaned from this book. And if you are a master, why would you buy it?However, fair warning: This is not a trivial topic. Reading the book end to end will achieve nothing. I have highlighted (in bright yellow marker ;) about 1/2 the book. And spent a lot of time drawing pictures and trying understand what it said. This book requires a fair bit of study. I took me what? About 3 weeks to work through the whole thing. Having said so, it wasn't hard. I just haven't done much of this before, so I spent a lot of time programming examples to prove that the actually worked. =PAnyhow: I enjoyed the book. I thought it was worth while. :) My regards to the author!

From the Author

First and foremost: Check out the book's page on the web for the latest information and a detailed table of contents.Linux 3D Graphics Programming is volume I of a two-volume work. Volume II (Advanced Linux 3D Graphics Programming) is due out in July 2001.This book is for the beginning to intermediate 3D programmer. It explains both practical and theoretical issues involved in programming real-time 3D graphics applications under Linux.What makes this book unique:1) It explains every concept thoroughly, with an intuitive, *geometric* approach. Ever wondered what the homogeneous "w" coordinate is? Ever wondered *why* 3D graphics "look 3D"? Or what Renaissance paintings can teach us about 3D graphics? What "perspective projection" actually means? How you can do "Descent-style" camera rotation, and why this works? This book explains all the fundamentals, in a clear way, and lays a solid theoretical foundation.2) It explains the often neglected topic of 3D modeling, showing how to use the 3D modeler Blender (included on the CDROM) to create and import 3D models into your programs. This means you can create great looking models and cool 3D programs. Forget about simple rotating cubes - you can make models as complex as you like. This book shows you how.3) All of the programs are written using freely available tools under Linux (GCC, Mesa). The code itself is released under the GPL, free for use in your projects.4) The code also compiles under Windows.5) Plenty of standalone demonstration programs plus a 3D application library. No code is left unexplained. Every class, member variable, and method is explained in the book, in a bottom-up fashion. There is no hand-waving, and there are no black-boxes in the code. You get to experience and understand the development of the entire code base, with all of the theoretical AND practical issues.The advanced volume, due out in July 2001, is targeted at readers who have already mastered the concepts in this first volume. It covers such topics as texture- and light mapping, z buffering, portals, BSP trees, particle systems, collision detection, digital sound, physics, content-development systems, and more.