3D Graphics Programming: Games & Beyond is a comprehensive guide to polygonal 3D graphics with an emphasis on techniques used in computer games. It contains descriptions of the most useful algorithms and combines them with practical programming examples to give programmers more control over their programs. The book’s structured approach enables programmers to create their own libraries if necessary. It offers a firm theoretical base that is presented in an intuitive manner. Describing both theoretical and practical issues, the book examines thoroughly the underlying mathematical principles of 3D graphics. It gives code examples and illustrations of vital concepts using an included library, which is well commented, easy to examine, change or use.

Lots of math and details - does it make my life easier?

I don’t know about this book. I has a CD with it, but I’ve bearly used it in 4 years. Some reviewers love it. It is definitely not fluff. Lots of math, and well written. BUT it’s about OpenGL and a bit about Direct3D. BUT I’ve found gaming coding books which are much more readable, 10x more useful at the same price (see any of Andre’ LeMothe’s books.

THE book for beginners

This is an exlenet book if u starting out with computer graphics. It takes you through the basic principles of CG and rasterezation of primitives and only than goes into 3d. But if you are looking for some cool GI and NURBS programming techniques this isn’t the book for you. This book does it’s job well

Not so pretty, but lots of good content

This book is a great value -- it covers quite a bit of ground in a thin, relatively inexpensive book. While lacking the visual appeal and beautiful color foils of Foley and Van Dam’s massive work, this book provides lots of valuable information.

This book is awesome!

This is a great book. It is for beginners. It assumes some math background. And is discusses the fundamental concepts that apply to graphics development in a platform independent manner. However, there is a great implementation of a game engine (3dgpl) that supports multiple platforms, so you can see the concepts at work. I love it. After this book, I plan on reading a few more advanced books on game development, OpenGL and DirectX. This book is where to start.

A hands on approach to learning Graphics Programming

A clean & simple look into the field of computer graphics, without the use of complex examples & arcane solutions. This book is by far the best I have read in the field of general graphics programming. The topics flow together in a logical manner that actually makes sense. The examples are applied solutions rather than the theological stuff you find in most other books. The straightforward style make it ideal to the beginner, yet it still contains lots of little tricks for the more advanced. A real gem.

Something for everyone...

Savchenko does a great job of clearly illustrating the fundamentals of 3d graphics programming.

I was particularly impressed with the author’s clear and understandable mathematical representations of 3d modelling (linear algebra with a touch of calculus). I will continue to use this book as a solid reference.

Don’t expect to find a lot of programming or code within the book; Savchenko tends to focus on the theoretical. The information presented is useful for building a foundation of knowledge with which to connect the multitude of concepts required to program in 3d.

The CDROM contains some very good examples. I would have preferred to see examples using the OpenGL or DirectX library, however, the 3Dgpl library, included, does the trick.