Book Image

Mathematics for Game Programming and Computer Graphics

By : Penny de Byl
5 (1)
Book Image

Mathematics for Game Programming and Computer Graphics

5 (1)
By: Penny de Byl

Overview of this book

Mathematics is an essential skill when it comes to graphics and game development, particularly if you want to understand the generation of real-time computer graphics and the manipulation of objects and environments in a detailed way. Python, together with Pygame and PyOpenGL, provides you with the opportunity to explore these features under the hood, revealing how computers generate and manipulate 3D environments. Mathematics for Game Programming and Computer Graphics is an exhaustive guide to getting “back to the basics” of mathematics, using a series of problem-based, practical exercises to explore ideas around drawing graphic lines and shapes, applying vectors and vertices, constructing and rendering meshes, and working with vertex shaders. By leveraging Python, Pygame, and PyOpenGL, you’ll be able to create your own mathematics-based engine and API that will be used throughout to build applications. By the end of this graphics focussed book, you’ll have gained a thorough understanding of how essential mathematics is for creating, rendering, and manipulating 3D virtual environments and know the secrets behind today’s top graphics and game engines.
Table of Contents (26 chapters)
1
Part 1 – Essential Tools
9
Part 2 – Essential Trigonometry
14
Part 3 – Essential Transformations
20
Part 4 – Essential Rendering Techniques

Summary

We’ve now covered the fundamental aspects of computer graphics. With all these elements, anything can be drawn on the screen. Although the examples we have worked with have been exclusively 2D, the very same principles are used throughout 3D, as you will discover while working through this book. You now have enough knowledge to construct your own simple 2D graphics projects that integrate external images and fonts and make use of mouse interactions.

In Chapter 3, Line Plotting Pixel by Pixel, we will take a look behind the scenes of the higher-level drawing methods that have been examined in this chapter, with a step-by-step look at an algorithm that has been used since the birth of computer graphics to process how individual pixels should be colored when drawing a line.