Mathematical Topics from 3D Graphics - 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development - page 475

10.12 Further Reading

A student seeking a good background in graphics is encouraged to divide his
or her reading across the spectrum, from “ivory tower” theoretical principles
at one end, to “here is some source code that runs on a particular platform
and probably will be obsolete in 5 years” on the other. We have made an
attempt here to select, from the large body of graphics literature, just a
few sources that are especially recommended.
Fundamentals of Computer Graphics [61] by Shirley provides a solid
introductory survey of the fundamentals. Written by one of the field's
founding fathers, it is used as the first-year textbook for graphics courses at
many universities, and is our recommendation for those near the beginning
of their graphics education.
Glassner's magnum opus Principles of Digital Image Synthesis [23] has
stood out among the theoretical works for its comprehensive scope and
continued relevance since it was first published in 1995. For a reader wishing
to learn “how graphics really works,” as we described at the start of this
chapter, this masterwork is required reading, even though it is inexplicably
underappreciated in the video game industry. Best of all, both volumes
have recently been made available in electronic form for free (legitimately).
You can find them on books.google.com. A consolidated, corrected PDF
should be available soon.
Phar and Humphreys' Physically Based Rendering [53] is an excellent
way to learn the proper theoretical framework of graphics. Shorter and
more recent than Glassner's, this text nonetheless provides a broad the-
oretical foundation of rendering principles. Although this is an excellent
book for theoretical purposes, a unique feature of the topic is the source
code for a working raytracer that is woven throughout, illustrating how the
ideas can be implemented.
Real-Time Rendering [1], by Akenine-Moller et al., gives a very broad
survey of issues specific to real-time rendering, such as rendering hardware,
shader programs, and performance. This classic, in its third edition at the
time of this writing, is essential reading for any intermediate or advanced
student interested in real-time graphics.
The OpenGL [49] and DirectX [14] API documentations are certainly
important sources. Not only is such reference material necessary from a
practical standpoint, but a surprising amount of knowledge can be gained
just by browsing. Nearly a generation of OpenGL users have grown up on
the “red book” [50].
The subtleties related to radiometry and color spaces that we glossed
over are explained in more detail by Glassner [23] and also by Phar and
Humphreys [53]. Ashdown [3] and Poynton [55] have written papers that
are approachable and freely available.