Real-Time Rendering, Third Edition [Hardcover]

This book is a great collection of almost current practical rendering techniques.

Very basic theories/ideas for game engine, basis for game client programming as well as the necessary knowledge for understanding DirectX and OpenGL, in short, almost all stuffs of graphical rendering topics are covered by this book.

I think of that this book consists of three major parts by three different coauthors.
(But the consistency of the entire book content is kept well; the related issues in different sections/chapters are referred/linked with each other exactly.)

It covers,
BASIC SUFF AND LIGHT (Basic Vector Calculus, Basic Optical Science)
Basic logical tools for graphics - Matrix, Projection, Terminologies,
Basic graphics concepts - Aliasing, Morphing, Sensor, Color, Texture,
Characteristics of light - Spectrum of Light, Irradiance, Reflection/Refraction, etc.

RENDERING TECHNIQUE (More Artificial Technique)
Illumination, Shading, Mapping, Effects, Bill boarding, Fogging, Silhouette, Cartoon-Rendering, etc.

GEOMETRY AND PERFORMANCE
Line, Surface, Culling, LOD, Space Partitioning, Collision, Performance, GPU Pipeline, etc.

It cites a lot of references on graphics/rendering/shader books, mathematics, journals, treaties and articles on the both side of online and offline.
But the subjects/content of each section are written in brief and clear way to understand them due to that this book tries to avoid using complex formulae or equations.
Recommending to find/read the original references to get more details for those kind of formulae, this book focuses on the major flow of how the techniques are derived and applied to.

Again, it is very helpful to people who want to get a stout understanding for rendering technology.

Strongly Related Books with this;
Physically Based Rendering : From Theory to Implementation (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) (The Interactive 3d Technology Series), ShaderX6: Advanced Rendering, 3D Game Engine Design, Second Edition: A Practical Approach to Real-Time Computer Graphics (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology), Real-Time Collision Detection (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3-D Technology)

Thanks.

This is my favorite 3D graphics book by a wide margin. The writing is clear, concise and quite up-to-date (assuming you have the most recent edition). Every page contains concise, unobtrusive references to 1200 excellent sources of information (books, articles, links). For example, if you see [987] in the text, just find entry [987] in the appendix to find the name of a book, article, link or PDF with more information.

What's best about this text is how well chosen and written are the topics. Their intention is always to describe the best up-to-date techniques to implement solutions to every aspect of real-time 3D graphics, with only enough general or historical discussion of each topic to provide a foundation to understand the current state-of-the-art. This is simply the perfect practical approach. Their complementary website is an absolute gold mine of references and advice.

If I could only buy one general book on 3D graphics, this would definitely be it. It is a perfect complement to special-purpose books on specific APIs (OpenGL or DirectX) or GPU shading languages (GLSL or CG or HLSL) that describe the specific graphics environment and software tools you need to implement your 3D applications. If your choice is OpenGL/GLSL, then "Realtime Rendering" is the perfect complement to the OpenGL SuperBible (4th~5th edition) and the OpenGL Shading Language (3rd edition).

The second edition of this book was great for its time but badly outdated. It glossed over topics that are becoming increasingly important in real-time graphics today such as radiometry/colorimetry, depth of field, etc. This latest edition fills in the gaps exquisitely. The expanded sections on physical light models, radiometry, etc. are an especially good introduction to the area. Other books I've read that specialized in physical light modelling left my head spinning. This book offers great introductions to algorithms that serve as valuable primers before delving into a more rigorous exploration of a given topic. However, that is not to say this book is shallow. For many purposes, the depth given is enough to start on an implementation.