WebGL Programming Guide: Interactive 3D Graphics Programming with WebGL (OpenGL)
£38.00
Using WebGL®, you can create sophisticated interactive 3D graphics inside web browsers, without plug-ins. WebGL makes it possible to build a new generation of 3D web games, user interfaces, and information visualization solutions that will run on any standard web browser, and on PCs, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, or other devices. WebGL Programming Guide will help you get started quickly with interactive WebGL 3D programming, even if you have no prior knowledge of HTML5, JavaScript, 3D graphics, mathematics, or OpenGL.
You’ll learn step-by-step, through realistic examples, building your skills as you move from simple to complex solutions for building visually appealing web pages and 3D applications with WebGL. Media, 3D graphics, and WebGL pioneers Dr. Kouichi Matsuda and Dr. Rodger Lea offer easy-to-understand tutorials on key aspects of WebGL, plus 100 downloadable sample programs, each demonstrating a specific WebGL topic.
You’ll move from basic techniques such as rendering, animating, and texturing triangles, all the way to advanced techniques such as fogging, shadowing, shader switching, and displaying 3D models generated by Blender or other authoring tools. This book won’t just teach you WebGL best practices, it will give you a library of code to jumpstart your own projects.
Coverage includes:
• WebGL’s origin, core concepts, features, advantages, and integration with other web standards
• How and basic WebGL functions work together to deliver 3D graphics
• Shader development with OpenGL ES Shading Language (GLSL ES)
• 3D scene drawing: representing user views, controlling space volume, clipping, object creation, and perspective
• Achieving greater realism through lighting and hierarchical objects
• Advanced techniques: object manipulation, heads-up displays, alpha blending, shader switching, and more
• Valuable reference appendixes covering key issues ranging from coordinate systems to matrices and shader loading to web browser settings
This is the newest text in the OpenGL Technical Library, Addison-Wesley’s definitive collection of programming guides an reference manuals for OpenGL and its related technologies. The Library enables programmers to gain a practical understanding of OpenGL and the other Khronos application-programming libraries including OpenGL ES and OpenCL. All of the technologies in the OpenGL Technical Library evolve under the auspices of the Khronos Group, the industry consortium guiding the evolution of modern, open-standards media APIs.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Addison-Wesley Professional, 1st edition (31 July 2013) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 542 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0321902920 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0321902924 |
| Dimensions | 17.78 x 3.12 x 23.19 cm |
by A Customer
Interesting book but the use of utility functions which aren’t properly explained (certainly not at the time they’re introduced) is a major problem. It puts us in a weird state of limbo – we’re not writing ‘pure’ WebGL code, but nor are we using something like three.js, one of the widely used libraries for WebGL.
by DC Bateman
On page 5, the authors state that “learning and using webgl is easy”, sadly an assertion I find disingenuous. That said the authors then proceed to do their level best to prove they’re right, but I think that the almost immediate use of helper libraries gives some indication of just how difficult using “raw” WebGL can be.
The book is part of the Addison Wesley OpenGL Technical Library and I found it far more readable and engaging than the other OpenGL books in the series. It provides a well paced step-by-step introduction to WebGL leading to more advanced topics, with plenty of relevant explanatory diagrams and well explained code samples.
WebGL is a mix of OpenGL, JavaScript (JS), HTML5 and (the C-like) OpenGL ES Shading Language (GLSL ES), with loosely typed JS and strongly typed GLES making particularly strange bedfellows. The book covers all these areas and clearly highlights and handles the marked differences between JS and GLSL ES.
I felt the only shortcomings were the lack of a fuller description of Built-In Special Variables and Constants (e.g. gl_Position) and, given the prevalence of mobile devices that can support WebGL, not covering android touch events seems a strange oversight. But these are very minor points and do not detract from the book.
While clearly “only” an introduction (and an excellent one at that) it’s impressive just how much is covered. WebGL is a huge topic and it would be impossible to cover everything but it does a sterling job of covering the essentials. The topics covered are well judged and practical. I certainly found it to be more than adequate as a reference for the workshop I’m putting together and I’m looking forward to delving into it more deeply.
by Jim Moores
Found this a useful introduction.
by David McHale
Code in the book uses helper libraries written in Japanese. Avoid this book if you want to learn to write your own code.
by Joshua Newnham
Great book to get an overview of WebGL – comprehensive and easy to follow for anyone who have or have not worked with OpenGL.
by Selçuk Kurtoðlu
WebGL is complex but this book makes it easy to understand. If you want to draw and animate 3d objects on your website and don’t have any experience about open gl, this book is for you.
by Shinigami
In this book WebGL is described in details so much that someone can think it is detailed too much. But I think it is good. Mostly for people who do not have experience in graphics. It uses same custom libraries made for this book, but you can use this libraries as additional source of learning and book says it will explain this libraries at the end of book. I have not finished reading it yet. But I like it already.