Finally, a non-technical introduction to Pixar's RenderMan written for artists!

'How to Render' shows how the human brain interprets the visual world around us. Author Scott Robertson explains the subject of visually communicating the form of an object in easy to understand step-by-step lessons through the use of drawings, photography and even 3D digital imagery.

Thoroughly revised, this third edition focuses on modern techniques used to generate synthetic three-dimensional images in a fraction of a second. With the advent of programmable shaders, a wide variety of new algorithms have arisen and evolved over the past few years. This edition discusses current, practical rendering methods used in games and other applications. It also presents a solid theoretical framework and relevant mathematics for the field of interactive computer graphics, all in an approachable style. The authors have made the figures used in the book available for download for fair use.:Download Figures. Reviews Rendering has been a required reference for professional graphics practitioners for nearly a decade. This latest edition is as relevant as ever, covering topics from essential mathematical foundations to advanced techniques used by today’s cutting edge games. -- Gabe Newell, President, Valve, May 2008 Rendering ... has been completely revised and revamped for its updated third edition, which focuses on modern techniques used to generate three-dimensional images in a fraction of the time old processes took. From practical rendering for games to math and details for better interactive applications, it's not to be missed. -- The Bookwatch, November 2008 You'll get brilliantly lucid explanations of concepts like vertex morphing and variance shadow mapping—as well as a new respect for the incredible craftsmanship that goes into today's PC games. -- Logan Decker, PC Gamer Magazine , February 2009

Master the Newest Blender Techniques for Creating Amazing 3D Characters: From Design and Modeling to Video Compositing Now fully updated for Blender 2.83 LTS (Long-Term Support) and beyond, Learning Blender, Third Edition, walks you through every step of creating an outstanding 3D animated character with Blender, and then compositing it in a real video using a professional workflow. This edition covers the extensive interface changes of the software, as well as many improvements and some almost fully rewritten chapters to showcase more modern workflows. Still the only Blender tutorial to take you from preproduction to final result, this guide is perfect for both novices and those moving from other software to Blender (open source and free software). Author Oliver Villar provides full-color, hands-on chapters that cover every aspect of character creation: design, modeling, unwrapping, texturing, shading, rigging, animation, and rendering. He also walks you through integrating your animated character into a real-world video, using professional camera tracking, lighting, and compositing techniques. The rich companion website ( blendtuts.com/learning-blender-files) will help you quickly master even the most complex techniques with bonus contents like video tutorials. By the time you're done, you'll be ready to create outstanding characters for all media -- and you'll have up-to-date skills for any 3D project, whether it involves characters or not. Learn Blender's updated user interface and navigation Create your first scene with Blender and the Blender Render and Cycles render engines Organize an efficient, step-by-step pipeline to streamline workflow in any project Master modeling, unwrapping, and texturing Bring your character to life with materials and shading in both Cycles and EEVEE (the new real-time render engine included in Blender) Create your character's skeleton and make it walk Use Camera Tracking to mix 3D objects into a real-world video Transform a raw rendered scene into the final result using Blender's compositing nodes Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.

Computer Graphics from Scratch demystifies the algorithms used in modern graphics software and guides beginners through building photorealistic 3D renders. Computer graphics programming books are often math-heavy and intimidating for newcomers. Not this one. Computer Graphics from Scratch takes a simpler approach by keeping the math to a minimum and focusing on only one aspect of computer graphics, 3D rendering. You’ll build two complete, fully functional renderers: a raytracer, which simulates rays of light as they bounce off objects, and a rasterizer, which converts 3D models into 2D pixels. As you progress you’ll learn how to create realistic reflections and shadows, and how to render a scene from any point of view. Pseudocode examples throughout make it easy to write your renderers in any language, and links to live JavaScript demos of each algorithm invite you to explore further on your own. Learn how to: Use perspective projection to draw 3D objects on a 2D plane Simulate the way rays of light interact with surfaces Add mirror-like reflections and cast shadows to objects Render a scene from any camera position using clipping planes Use flat, Gouraud, and Phong shading to mimic real surface lighting Paint texture details onto basic shapes to create realistic-looking objects Whether you’re an aspiring graphics engineer or a novice programmer curious about how graphics algorithms work, Gabriel Gambetta’s simple, clear explanations will quickly put computer graphics concepts and rendering techniques within your reach. All you need is basic coding knowledge and high school math. Computer Graphics from Scratch will cover the rest.

3D Modeling For Beginners aims to help you become the best 3D modeler you can be. This book will help you get started with modeling in 3D and you will learn some important concepts about 3D modeling as well as some of the popular techniques which you can utilize to create any 3D model. You will learn about creating hard-surfaced objects like vases, tables and chairs. You will get a thorough overview of the steps needed to approach modeling detailed human characters. You will also learn about how to approach the creation of epic 3D environments. This book shares tips and tricks throughout, that will help you become a better 3D modeler and ways to speed up your workflow. Practicing is one of the best ways to become better at any skill. Towards the second half of the book, there are a number of exercises covering the creation of a variety of different 3D objects, of which you are highly encouraged to follow along, to get practice and ultimately gain confidence in being able to tackle any 3D project with ease. Although this book is designed for beginners, it is aimed to be a solid teaching resource since it will cover almost everything about 3D modeling. There are 12 chapters and over 200 pages of helpful advice, lessons and exercises that are solely aimed at making you a better 3D modeler. This book avoids any jargon and will explain concepts in an easy-to-understand manner. Furthermore, this book is written in a personable manner where I share my own experiences as a 3D modeler. Blender, the open-source 3D software, is utilized for the exercises in this course. While Blender users may gain a slight advantage from using this book, any person with any 3D software should be able to follow this book. The tools and techniques described in this book can be transferred to other 3D software. Thus, the one prerequisite of this book is that you, at the very least, know the bare basics of navigating your way around your preferred 3D software. By the end of this book, you will understand the main concepts and techniques of 3D modeling. You will also gain confidence in being able to tackle your own 3D modeling projects on your own. More specifically, in this book, you will learn about: - Ways to become a better 3D modeler - The Essentials of the 3D Viewport - Modeling Tools - Modifiers - 3D Modeling Methods - Hard-surfaced Modeling - Organic Modeling - Environment Modeling - More Exercises - High-Poly vs. Low-Poly - Texturing your 3D Model - Showcasing and selling your 3D Models Subscribe to the email list at ThilakanathanStudios.com to receive regular 3D Modeling tutorials for FREE!