| This book is a collection of articles that explain the foundations of
shader programming, from the High Level Shading Language and
version 3.0 shader models to shadow mapping and stencil shadow
volumes. The following provides a brief overview of these articles:
Jason L. Mitchell and Craig Peeper, one of the creators of HLSL
and the compiler, have written the best introduction to HLSL there
is in “Introduction to the DirectX High Level Shading Language.”
Because it comes from the official source, this article covers everything
that an HLSL programmer needs and a lot more.
The vs_3_0 and ps_3_0 shader models will be available in thirdgeneration
shader graphics hardware. These shader versions are
much more flexible and powerful than the previous versions, offering
vertex texturing capabilities, predication, static and dynamic flow
control, vertex stream frequency, and much more. Nicolas Thibieroz,
Kristof Beets, and Aaron Burton from PowerVR have written an
introduction to this shader model that explains every new feature
and includes a source snippet.
Michal Valient’s article “Advanced Lighting and Shading with
Direct3D 9” covers some more advanced lighting models including
Phong, Oren-Nayar, and Cook-Torrance. He implements these algorithms
with ps_1_4, ps_2_0, ps_3_0, and HLSL. This is the most
extensive treatment of this topic available.
There are several different ways to use fog to produce a specific
mood in games. Markus Nuebel shows all possible ways to implement
fog in a way that is easy to understand. The six example
programs make using fog as easy as possible. |
