Real-time graphics programming is often considered a dark art, full of complex mathematics and esoteric tools. Even experienced programmers can find the material difficult to absorb. Furthermore, the rapid pace of advancement makes modern graphics programming a moving target, and establishing a foothold can be difficult. Quality educational material is a necessity for newcomers to the field.
DirectX Essentials LiveLessons …
Real-time graphics programming is often considered a dark art, full of complex mathematics and esoteric tools. Even experienced programmers can find the material difficult to absorb. Furthermore, the rapid pace of advancement makes modern graphics programming a moving target, and establishing a foothold can be difficult. Quality educational material is a necessity for newcomers to the field.
DirectX Essentials LiveLessonsintroduces viewers to graphics programming through a moderately deep-dive into shader programming and the Direct3D API. Dr. Paul Varcholik guides viewers with a practical, hands-on approach to modern DirectX application development. While these videos are geared towards programmers, no prior knowledge of graphics programming or 3D math is required. The lessons begin with “Hello, World!” style rendering (drawing a single point and triangle) and extend into introductory lighting models including ambient and diffuse lighting, specular highlights, point lights, and spotlights. The videos also cover texture mapping, environment mapping, normal mapping, and color blending and introduce viewers to 3D math in a straight-forward, stress-free fashion.
The source code repository for this LiveLesson can be found at www.informit.com/title/9780134115955.
About the Author
Dr. Paul Varcholikis a twenty-year veteran of the software development industry and has spent the past ten years writing video games. He was a lead software engineer at Electronic Arts working on titles including Madden NFL Footballand Superman Returns. He is currently a programming instructor at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA)—a graduate degree program in game development at the University of Central Florida. Paul is also the author of Real-Time 3D Rendering with DirectX and HLSL: A Practical Guide to Graphics Programming.
Skill Level
What You Will Learn
Who Should Take This Course
Course Requirements
Table of Contents
Introduction
Lesson 1: Introducing DirectX
Learning Objectives
1.1 Create your first DirectX application
1.2 Examine a C++ application framework
1.3 Write your first HLSL vertex and pixel shaders
1.4 Explore the DirectX graphics pipeline
Lesson 2: Understanding 3D Math
Learning Objectives
2.1 Understand vectors
2.2 Understand matrices
2.3 Investigate transformations
Lesson 3: Providing Shader Input
Learning Objectives
3.1 Use DirectX buffers
3.2 Pass uniform data to shaders
3.3 Render 3D models
Lesson 4: Mapping Textures to 3D Objects
Learning Objectives
4.1 Use textures in shaders
4.2 Explore texture addressing
4.3 Understand texture filtering
Lesson 5: Lighting 3D Objects
Learning Objectives
5.1 Explore ambient lighting
5.2 Understand diffuse shading and directional lighting
5.3 Discover specular highlighting
5.4 Implement point lighting
5.5 Implement spot lighting
Lesson 6: Discovering Additional Rendering Techniques
Learning Objectives
6.1 Explore texture cubes
6.2 Implement fog
6.3 Understand color blending
6.4 Implement normal mapping
6.5 Survey other rendering techniques
Summary
About LiveLessons Video Training
LiveLessons Video Training series publishes hundreds of hands-on, expert-led video tutorials covering a wide selection of technology topics designed to teach you the skills you need to succeed. This professional and personal technology video series features world-leading author instructors published by your trusted technology brands: Addison-Wesley, Cisco Press, IBM Press, Pearson IT Certification, Prentice Hall, Sams, and Que. Topics include: IT Certification, Programming, Web Development, Mobile Development, Home and Office Technologies, Business and Management, and more. View all LiveLessons on InformIT at: http://www.informit.com/livelessons
Introduction
DirectX Essentials LiveLessons: Introduction
Lesson 1: Introducing DirectX
Learning Objectives
1.1 Create your first DirectX application
1.2 Examine a C++ application framework
1.3 Write your first HLSL vertex and pixel shaders
1.4 Explore the DirectX graphics pipeline
Lesson 2: Understanding 3D Math
Learning Objectives
2.1 Understand vectors
2.2 Understand matrices
2.3 Investigate transformations
Lesson 3: Providing Shader Input
Learning Objectives
3.1 Use DirectX buffers
3.2 Pass uniform data to shaders
3.3 Render 3D models
Lesson 4: Mapping Textures to 3D Objects
Learning Objectives
4.1 Use textures in shaders
4.2 Explore texture addressing
4.3 Understand texture filtering
Lesson 5: Lighting 3D Objects
Learning Objectives
5.1 Explore ambient lighting
5.2 Understand diffuse shading and directional lighting
5.3 Discover specular highlighting
5.4 Implement point lighting
5.5 Implement spot lighting
Lesson 6: Discovering Additional Rendering Techniques
Learning Objectives
6.1 Explore texture cubes
6.2 Implement fog
6.3 Understand color blending
6.4 Implement normal mapping
6.5 Survey other rendering techniques
Summary
DirectX Essentials LiveLessons: Summary