GPU Pro 4: Advanced Rendering Techniques

by Wolfgang Engel (Editor)

GPU Advanced Rendering Techniques presents ready-to-use ideas and procedures that can help solve many of your day-to-day graphics programming challenges. Focusing on interactive media and games, the book covers up-to-date methods for producing real-time graphics.

Section editors Wolfgang Engel, Christopher Oat, Carsten Dachsbacher, Michal Valient, Wessam Bahnassi, and Sebastien St-Laurent have once again assembled a high-quality collection of cutting-edge techniques for advanced graphics processing unit (GPU) programming. Divided into six sections, the book begins with discussions on the ability of GPUs to process and generate geometry in exciting ways. It next introduces new shading and global illumination techniques for the latest real-time rendering engines and explains how image space algorithms are becoming a key way to achieve a more realistic and higher quality final image. Moving on to the difficult task of rendering shadows, the book describes the state of the art in real-time shadow maps. It then covers game engine design, including quality, optimization, and high-level architecture. The final section explores approaches that go beyond the normal pixel and triangle scope of GPUs as well as techniques that take advantage of the parallelism of modern graphic processors in a variety of applications.

Useful to beginners and seasoned game and graphics programmers alike, this color book offers practical tips and techniques for creating real-time graphics. Example programs and source code are available for download on the book’s CRC Press web page. The directory structure of the online material closely follows the book structure by using the chapter numbers as the name of the subdirectory.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engel, Wolfgang in GPU Pro 4: Advanced Rendering Techniques pushes the idea that we keep waiting to feel ready before we start anything, and "ready" never actually shows up. I felt like it was solid, because the stories are about regular folks, like a mechanic who opened a bakery at forty-six, not influencers selling a mindset. The chapter on first attempts got me thinking about the three half-written emails sitting in my drafts since March. You don't have to agree with everything, but it definitely forces you to rethink how much of your waiting is just fear in a nice outfit.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, GPU Pro 4: Advanced Rendering Techniques ends the way a good night out ends: tired, a little wistful, and wishing it lasted longer. Wolfgang Engel knows exactly when to stop, which is rarer than you'd think. A few lulls along the way, sure. Recommend for anyone who loves a satisfying last page, skip if you hate bittersweet.