Real-Time 3D Rendering with DirectX and HLSL: A Practical Guide to Graphics Programming(Game Design)

Get Started Quickly with DirectX 3D Programming: No 3D Experience Needed

This step-by-step text demystifies modern graphics programming so you can quickly start writing professional code with DirectX and HLSL. Expert graphics instructor Paul Varcholik starts with the basics: a tour of the Direct3D graphics pipeline, a 3D math primer, and an introduction to the best tools and support libraries.

Next, you’ll discover shader authoring with HLSL. You’ll implement basic lighting models, including ambient lighting, diffuse lighting, and specular highlighting. You’ll write shaders to support point lights, spotlights, environment mapping, fog, color blending, normal mapping, and more.
Then you’ll employ C++ and the Direct3D API to develop a robust, extensible rendering engine. You’ll learn about virtual cameras, loading and rendering 3D models, mouse and keyboard input, and you’ll create a flexible effect and material system to integrate your shaders.

Finally, you’ll extend your graphics knowledge with more advanced material, including post-processing techniques for color filtering, Gaussian blurring, bloom, and distortion mapping. You’ll develop shaders for casting shadows, work with geometry and tessellation shaders, and implement a complete skeletal animation system for importing and rendering animated models.

You don’t need any experience with 3D graphics or the associated math: Everything’s taught hands-on, and all graphics-specific code is fully explained.
Coverage includes

•    The Direct3D API and graphics pipeline
•    A 3D math primer: vectors, matrices, coordinate systems, transformations, and the DirectX Math library
•    Free and low-cost tools for authoring, debugging, and profiling shaders
•    Extensive treatment of HLSL shader authoring
•    Development of a C++ rendering engine
•    Cameras, 3D models, materials, and lighting
•    Post-processing effects
•    Device input, component-based architecture, and software services
•    Shadow mapping, depth maps, and projective texture mapping
•    Skeletal animation
•    Geometry and tessellation shaders
•    Survey of rendering optimization, global illumination, compute shaders, deferred shading, and data-driven engine architecture




Table of Contents:
Introduction     1
PART I:  AN INTRODUCTION TO 3D RENDERING     5
Chapter 1  Introducing DirectX     7
A Bit of History     8
The Direct3D 11 Graphics Pipeline     9
Summary     21
Chapter 2  A 3D/Math Primer     23
Vectors     24
Matrices     27
Transformations     31
DirectXMath     35
Summary     41
Chapter 3  Tools of the Trade     43
Microsoft Visual Studio     44
NVIDIA FX Composer     47
Visual Studio Graphics Debugger     53
Graphics Debugging Alternatives     55
Summary     56
Exercises     56

PART II:  SHADER AUTHORING WITH HLSL     57
Chapter 4  Hello, Shaders!     59
Your First Shader      60
Hello, Structs!     68
Summary     70
Exercises     71
Chapter 5  Texture Mapping     73
An Introduction to Texture Mapping     74
A Texture Mapping Effect     75
Texture Filtering     81
Texture Addressing Modes     86
Summary     89
Exercises     89
Chapter 6  Lighting Models     91
Ambient Lighting     92
Diffuse Lighting     97
Specular Highlights     105
Summary      114
Exercises     114
Chapter 7  Additional Lighting Models     115
Point Lights     116
Spotlights     124
Multiple Lights     130
Summary     139
Exercises     139
Chapter 8  Gleaming the Cube     141
Texture Cubes     142
Skyboxes     145
Environment Mapping     149
Fog     154
Color Blending     159
Summary     167
Exercises     168
Chapter 9  Normal Mapping and Displacement Mapping     169
Normal Mapping     170
Displacement Mapping     178
Summary     181
Exercises     181

PART III:  RENDERING WITH DIRECTX     183
Chapter 10  Project Setup and Window Initialization     185
A New Beginning     186
Project Setup     186
The Game Loop     195
Window Initialization     199
Summary     204
Exercise     204
Chapter 11  Direct3D Initialization      205
Initializing Direct3D     206
Putting It All Together     219
Summary     232
Exercise     232
Chapter 12  Supporting Systems     233
Game Components     234
Device Input     248
Software Services     265
Summary     268
Exercises     268
Chapter 13  Cameras     269
A Base Camera Component     270
A First-Person Camera     277
Summary     281
Exercise     281
Chapter 14  Hello, Rendering!      283
Your First Full Rendering Application     284
An Indexed Cube     306
Summary     314
Exercises     314
Chapter 15  Models     315
Motivation      316
Model File Formats    316
The Content Pipeline     317
The Open Asset Import Library     317
What’s in a Model?     318
Meshes     320
Model Materials     321
Asset Loading     323
A Model Rendering Demo     331
Texture Mapping     334
Summary     340
Exercises     340
Chapter 16  Materials     341
Motivation      342
The Effect Class     342
The Technique Class     347
The Pass Class     348
The Variable Class     350
The Material Class     352
A Basic Effect Material     357
A Skybox Material     364
Summary     369
Exercises     370
Chapter 17  Lights     371
Motivation      372
Light Data Types     372
A Diffuse Lighting Material     373
A Diffuse Lighting Demo     377
A Point Light Demo     383
A Spotlight Demo     386
Summary     387
Exercises     387

PART IV:  INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL RENDERING TOPICS     389
Chapter 18  Post-Processing     391
Render Targets     392
A Full-Screen Quad Component     396
Color Filtering     401
Gaussian Blurring     410
Bloom     419
Distortion Mapping     425
Summary     433
Exercises     433
Chapter 19  Shadow Mapping     435
Motivation      436
Projective Texture Mapping     436
Shadow Mapping     456
Summary     466
Exercises     467
Chapter 20  Skeletal Animation     469
Hierarchical Transformations     470
Skinning     472
Importing Animated Models      476
Animation Rendering     489
Summary     496
Exercises     496
Chapter 21  Geometry and Tessellation Shaders     497
Motivation: Geometry Shaders     498
Processing Primitives     498
A Point Sprite Shader     499
Primitive IDs     507
Motivation: Tessellation Shaders     508
The Hull Shader Stage     510
The Tessellation Stage     512
The Domain Shader Stage     514
A Basic Tessellation Demo     518
Displacing Tessellated Vertices     520
Dynamic Levels of Detail     524
Summary     527
Exercises     528
Chapter 22  Additional Topics in Modern Rendering     529
Rendering Optimization     530
Deferred Shading     543
Global Illumination     544
Compute Shaders     545
Data-Driven Engine Architecture     550
The End of the Beginning     553
Exercises     553
Index     555



About the Author :
Dr. Paul Varcholik is a programming instructor at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), a graduate degree program in game development at the University of Central Florida. Before coming to FIEA, Paul was a lead software engineer at Electronic Arts, where he worked on video game titles including  Madden NFL Football and  Superman Returns. A 20-year software industry veteran, he has taught college courses on software and game development since 1998. Paul has written extensively on topics including robotics, 3D user interaction, and multi-touch interfaces. He is author of the  OpenGL Essentials LiveLessons video series on graphics development.