Book Image

Real-Time 3D Graphics with WebGL 2 - Second Edition

By : Farhad Ghayour, Diego Cantor
5 (1)
Book Image

Real-Time 3D Graphics with WebGL 2 - Second Edition

5 (1)
By: Farhad Ghayour, Diego Cantor

Overview of this book

As highly interactive applications have become an increasingly important part of the user experience, WebGL is a unique and cutting-edge technology that brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the web. Packed with 80+ examples, this book guides readers through the landscape of real-time computer graphics using WebGL 2. Each chapter covers foundational concepts in 3D graphics programming with various implementations. Topics are always associated with exercises for a hands-on approach to learning. This book presents a clear roadmap to learning real-time 3D computer graphics with WebGL 2. Each chapter starts with a summary of the learning goals for the chapter, followed by a detailed description of each topic. The book offers example-rich, up-to-date introductions to a wide range of essential 3D computer graphics topics, including rendering, colors, textures, transformations, framebuffers, lights, surfaces, blending, geometry construction, advanced techniques, and more. With each chapter, you will "level up" your 3D graphics programming skills. This book will become your trustworthy companion in developing highly interactive 3D web applications with WebGL and JavaScript.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)

WebGL Implementation

Now, let's take a look at how we can implement vertex and normal transformations in WebGL. The following diagram shows the theory we have learned so far, along with the relationships between the steps in the theory and the implementation in WebGL:

In WebGL, the five transformations that we apply to object coordinates to obtain viewport coordinates are grouped into three matrices and one WebGL method:

  • The Model-View matrix that groups the model and view transform in one single matrix. When we multiply our vertices by this matrix, we end up in view coordinates.
  • The Normal matrix is obtained by inverting and transposing the Model-View matrix. This matrix is applied to normal vectors to ensure that they continue to be perpendicular to the surface. This is very important in cases such as lighting.
  • The Projection matrix groups the projection transformation...