Cg Tutorial: The Definitive Guide to Programmable real-time graphics

by Randima Fernando

"Cg is the key to unlocking the power of a new generation of programmable graphics hardware. This book is the definitive introduction to Cg, and will be essential for anyone programming high-quality real-time graphics. The Cg Tutorial will teach you to use Cg to create effects never before available for real-time applications."
—Larry Gritz, Author of Advanced RenderMan (Morgan Kaufmann, 2000) "An important and timely Pixel-level procedural textures—animated clouds, fire, water, the whole bag of procedural tricks—finally go from the movie screen to the desktop. Access to computation of this power through a C-like language will usher in an exciting new era for the graphics community."
—Ken Perlin, Professor, New York University Cg (C for graphics) is a complete programming environment for the fast creation of special effects and real-time cinematic quality experiences on multiple platforms. By providing a new level of abstraction, Cg lets developers more directly target OpenGL, DirectX, Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and console platforms, such as the Xbox, without having to program directly to the graphics hardware assembly language. Cg was developed by NVIDIA Corporation in close collaboration with Microsoft Corporation, and is compatible with both the OpenGL API and Microsoft's HLSL for DirectX 9.0. The Cg Tutorial explains how to implement both basic and advanced techniques for today's programmable GPU architectures. Major topics covered 3D transformations Per-vertex and per-pixel lighting Skinning and key-frame interpolation Environment mapping Bump mapping Fog Performance optimization Projective texturing Cartoon shading Compositing The accompanying CD-ROM includes the tools needed to run the sample programs in the book.

Paperback

First published March 8, 2003

Reviews

[Forest Handford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the perfect book for an artist who wants to get more technically involved with graphics development and anybody who wants to do graphics programming.  Cg means C for graphics.  It was specifically created to give programmers and artists greater freedom in graphics output.  The code can compile to run on many operating systems including Windows, OS X, and X-box. The authors take you through the details of using the language to develop content.  They also include exercises so you can test yourself and of great importance a CD.   

[Elie De Brauwer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though nobody has mentioned cg in the past 10 years due the coming of Cuda, glsl and friends, this book still covers a missing link between the old shader less world and the current world.