The Magic of Computer Graphics

by Noriko Kurachi

Computer graphics is a vast field that is becoming larger every day. It is impossible to cover every topic of interest, even within a specialization such as CG rendering. For many years, Noriko Kurachi has reported on the latest developments for Japanese readers in her monthly column for CG World . Being something of a pioneer herself, she selected topics that represented original and promising new directions for research. Many of these novel ideas are the topics covered in The Magic of Computer Graphics . Starting from the basic behavior of light, the first section of the book introduces the most useful techniques for global and local illumination using geometric descriptions of an environment. The second section goes on to describe image-based techniques that rely on captured data to do their magic. In the final section, the author looks at the synthesis of these two complementary approaches and what they mean for the future of computer graphics.

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Computer graphics, from the perspective of relating, rendering equation, back to actual processes, is quite involved. Much of what is presented here, is more closely related, to ray tracing, plenoptic functions, and the simpler, projective geometry based, 4D lightfield. It curtails, well with the newer "physically based rendering", but I suspect this book is a fair deal older.