Visual Basic Graphics Programming: Hands-On Applications and Advanced Color Development

All the tools you need to create the full range of Visual Basic(r) color graphics applications Expert Rod Stephens provides you with everything you need to add advanced graphics to your applications in this in-depth introduction to graphic programming with Microsoft Visual Basic. From images using as few as 16 colors to "true-color" applications that use more than 16 million, he shows you how to create the full range of color graphics applications. You'll learn how to use Visual Basic controls to create impressive graphic effects without having to buy expensive add-on products. This book/CD-ROM package also explains how to integrate imaging, animation, and two- and three-dimensional graphics into an application. And you'll find the tools to manipulate color images, overlay one image on another, build scrolled windows, and much more. The Second Edition covers: * New API functions * Bitmap image morphing * New algorithms for hidden surface removal * Print preview with multiple pages and scales * Image processing, including high color and true color * Examples of controlling animation using simulation * New examples that demonstrate shape-distorting transformations * New examples of fractals and tilings * Gouraud shading, Phong shading, and texturing * Ray tracing speed improvements * Ray tracing for new kinds of objects The CD-ROM includes: * More than 400 complete, ready-to-run example programs * Pictures to use with the example programs * Images generated by the programs * Color images of many of the figures from the book * Source code for all example programs from the First Edition

Table of Contents:
Introduction xiii Part One: Working with Windows 1 Chapter 1 Visual Basics 3 Visual Basic Coordinate Systems 3 Graphic Container Controls 13 Scrolled Windows 27 When to Draw 30 Controlling Controls 34 Graphical Controls 47 Color 49 Summary 54 Chapter 2 Using the API 55 The Genie 55 Using the API 56 Useful API Functions 65 Summary 80 Chapter 3 Advanced Color 81 Color Models 81 Bitmaps 84 Color Palettes 91 Summary 111 Chapter 4 Advanced Text 113 Multiple Colors and Fonts 114 Text Metrics 117 CreateFont Function 119 Editable Text 134 Summary 139 Chapter 5 Printing 141 Printer Objects 141 Selecting a Printer 142 Printer Properties 144 Printer Control Methods 146 The PrintForm Method 146 High-Resolution Printing 147 Printing Text 148 Print Preview 150 Multipage Print Preview 152 Printer Scale Properties 156 Scaling Objects to Fit 158 High Resolution PrintForm 160 Summary 162 Part Two: Image Processing 163 Chapter 6 Point Processes 165 Obtaining Images 165 Programming Tools 166 Point Processes 171 Multiple Image Processing 185 Summary 190 Chapter 7 Area Processes 191 Spatial Filtering 191 Rank Filters 203 Geometric Transformations 204 Summary 222 Part Three: Animation 223 Chapter 8 Bitmap Animation 225 Animation Basics 225 Drawing Animation 236 Summary 244 Chapter 9 Advanced Animation 245 Controlling Animation 245 Tweening and Morphing 253 Specialized Animation 262 Summary 277 Part Four: Two-Dimensional Graphics 279 Chapter 10 Fractals and Tilings 281 Fractals 281 Tilings 318 Summary 321 Chapter 11 Drawing Curves 323 Lines and Circles 323 Parametric Curves 324 Curve Fitting 330 Polynomial Curve Fitting 331 Parametric Curve Fitting 344 Summary 361 Chapter 12 Two-Dimensional Transformations 363 Modeling Two-Dimensional Objects 363 Windows and Viewports 369 Two-Dimensional Transformations 384 Display Data Structure 408 Summary 416 Part Five: Three-Dimensional Graphics 417 Chapter 13 Three-Dimensional Transformations 419 Simple Transformations 419 Inverse Transformations 429 Projections 429 Perspective Viewing 442 Composing Transformations 446 Three-Dimensional Objects 461 Summary 464 Chapter 14 Surfaces 465 Simple Surfaces 465 Parametric Surfaces 498 Surfaces of Transformation 514 Summary 530 Chapter 15 Hidden Surface Removal 531 Backface Removal 531 Depth-Sort 539 Summary 559 Chapter 16 Shading Models 561 The Physics of Lighting 561 Diffuse Reflection 562 Ambient Light 566 Distance 567 Specular Reflection 570 Smooth Shading 576 Summary 583 Chapter 17 Ray Tracing 585 A Brief Warning 587 Ray-Tracing Basics 587 Ray Tracing in Visual Basic 589 Bounding Volumes 598 Scanline Culling 599 Other Objects 601 Recursive Ray Tracing 622 Adaptive Depth Control 636 Texture Mapping 637 Summary 641 Part Six Beyond Three Dimensions 643 Chapter 18 Higher-Dimensional Transformations 645 Temporal Projection 645 Spatial Projection 647 Four-Dimensional Transformations 647 Summary 661 Chapter 19 Mathematical Tools 663 Vectors and Matrices 663 Transformation Matrices 670 Distances 675 Platonic Solids 678 Summary 692 Index 693