[gameprogrammer] Re: 18 hours

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 15:26:15 -0600, "Bob Pendleton" <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
said:
> 
> Some time this year I will be trying to teach the basics of 3D graphics
> for game programmers in 6 classes of 3 hours each. It has been a looong
> time since I learned 3D graphics and so I only vaguely remember what was
> hard to learn and what was not. The assumption is that the students know
> how to program in C/C++, but there is no math requirement and no
> graphics requirement. I have a few other lectures that I plan to use to
> cover the basics of graphics hardware and I concepts such as a pixel and
> a surface and so on. 

Well, you're going to need to do at least one class of maths, I would
think, maybe more depending on the average level of the students.  Eric
Lengyel's Maths for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics would be
good for this, although it might be better to have one overall book.

> What I would like to hear from you is what you, as game programmers,
> would want to learn. What do you think are key concepts. What was hard
> for you to learn, and so on. You could help me a lot by telling me about
> your experiences learning 3D graphics. 

I found it easiest to learn this stuff with lots of practical examples. 
What does this concept actually mean for programming?  It's not so hard
to go back and fill in the gaps later, if you've got a basic
understanding of the concept and where it fits in.

> Oh, yeah... before I forget. What are the books and websites that helped
> you the most? I tend to stick to Foley & van Dam "Computer Graphics,
> Principles and Applications". But, I have had complaints from students
> about using that book. 

I don't like Foley et al for learners.  It's a really hard book,
honestly.  Something simpler would be better - can't think of anything
off the top of my head though.  Maybe one of the LaMothe books?  They're
quite simply written.

Dave.
-- 
  Dave Slutzkin
  Melbourne, Australia
  daveslutzkin@xxxxxxxxxxx



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