This is not a book for learning OpenGL. Rather, it uses OpenGL to teach the fundamentals of computer graphics. A solid, modern text, and recommended as a precursor for our own book. Additional resources are available, such as source code, powerpoint lectures, etc.

A standard college text on the topic. Not focused on real-time rendering, it covers the field of computer graphics in general. Note that this book has not been updated in some time. PowerPoint figures and source code are also available.

Starting with 2D and moving to 3D, this book covers the basics of classical computer graphics, though with little coverage of modern interactive techniques. It covers the areas of model representation---polygonal meshes, splines, etc.---more than most texts. Table of Contents available online.

This book has evolved from a 500-page book that Peter Shirley wrote by himself to a 800-page 3rd edition co-authored with Steve Marschner and with "guest chapters" by ten notable graphics professionals (full disclosure: including Naty Hoffman). Its focus is as a textbook of the theory and practice of computer graphics as a whole. One minor drawback is the use of color plates, though this reduces the price.

The Red Book, it's the favored guide for understanding OpenGL. Ignore the Amazon ratings, which are more a function of the OpenGL 3.0 controversy than the book itself.

If the Red Book fails you, this is the next place to go. The book's source code is online.

A comprehensive guide to GLSL.

From a skim, this looks to be a comprehensive, well-illustrated book of how to do most common interactive rendering algorithms with DirectX 10. There's a good mix of text and code samples.

Excellent edited collections of articles on interactive graphics, in well-produced volumes. These books were edited by NVIDIA employees, so there is a high level of NVIDIA participation. Note that all articles are free on the web.

The ShaderX series, and subsequent GPU Pro, edited by Wolfgang Engel et al.

These books are also edited collections of articles dealing with new graphics techniques that use vertex and pixel shaders. Some are nuts and bolts practical, others are about new techniques in development. The ShaderX books collection website has links to resources for all these books. Note that the first three volumes are free for download; despite their age, they contain some valuable articles. For example, the two articles in ShaderX²: Tips & Tricks coauthored by Marwan Ansari have excellent information about post-processing effects.

A book on collision detection techniques. Solid theory coupled with the author's own practical experience makes this book an excellent choice for practitioners in the field. In addition to describing a wide range of relevant algorithms, the author also discusses optimization, numerical precision, robustness, and other topics critical in creating a workable interactive system. See the author's web site for more information.

This book covers types of optimization, how to set and achieve goals, discussion of specific tools (VTune, PIX, PerfHUD, etc.), where bottlenecks can occur and how to test for them, and in-depth coverage of CPU and GPU issues. Graphics and engine performance are the focus, including multicore and networking optimization, plus a chapter on consoles and another on managed languages. It’s a worthwhile book for just about anyone interested in optimization. These guys are veteran experts in this field, and the book gives specific advice and practical tips in many areas. Full review here.

An incredible volume focused on practical computational geometry. It includes a wide array of object/object intersection methods and other common algorithms. It also gives a solid grounding in much of the mathematics behind the methods. The book has a companion web site.

A book dealing with a wide variety of real-time related topics, with solid theory and code. Somewhat math intensive at times, but we prefer this to hand-waving. This book offers the author's way of implementing various algorithms; do not expect a survey of techniques, but rather in-depth coverage of a particular solution. Pure gold, and the related web site is a (inter)national treasure. A related book is Eberly's 3D Game Engine Architecture: Engineering Real-Time Applications with Wild Magic, December 2004, which is about the WildMagic architecture used in 3D GED.

This book is about just that, how to make a professional-grade game rendering system, from soup to nuts. Eberly's two books are the previous notable works in this area, but are quite different than this new volume. While they focus almost exclusively on algorithms, this book attempts to cover the whole task of developing an engine: what to use for source control, dealing with memory management and in-game profiling, input devices, SIMD, and many other practical topics. There is also algorithmic coverage of rendering, animation, collision detection and physics, among other areas. Naturally, the amount of information on each area is limited by page count (the book's a solid 860 pages), but in my brief skim it looks like most of the critical areas and concepts are touched on. You won't become an expert in any one area from this volume, but it looks like you'll have some reasonably deep understanding of the elements that go into making a game engine. Quite an impressive work, and I know of nothing else in this area that is so detailed.

There are many books in the Game Programming Gems series:

• Game Programming Gems, edited by Mark DeLoura
• Game Programming Gems 2, edited by Mark DeLoura: Google Books sample
• Game Programming Gems 3, edited by Dante Treglia
• Game Programming Gems 4, edited by Andrew Kirmse
• Game Programming Gems 5, edited by Kim Pallister
• Game Programming Gems 6, edited by Mike Dickheiser
• Best of Game Programming Gems, edited by Mark DeLoura; "best of: collection from the first six
• Game Programming Gems 7, edited by Scott Jacobs
• Game Programming Gems 8, edited by Adam Lake

A wide range of Graphics Gems-like articles (with which it is not affiliated), it has many articles on subjects relevant to real-time rendering. There are tidbits on intersection calculations, collision detection, LOD and progressive meshes, texture mapping effects, sprite effects, shadows, vertex and pixel shader tricks, and much more. There is also material on modelling, skinning, and animation. About a quarter or more of each book is on artificial intelligence and other topics, so the focus is not exclusively on computer graphics.

This is a great collection of all sorts of tricks and techniques used in interactive rendering. It's a little dated but still has a huge amount of practical information inside. A very old version is available on the web; the book is considerably updated.

This book covers a wide range of topics in the area, by experts in the field. It discusses such aspects as mesh simplification, terrain rendering, and many algorithmic methods for accelerating image generation. The book has a companion web site. It is also available as part of Morgan Kaufmann's Rendering ebook Collection.

Old, but with useful algorithms and a code base that is maintained with bug fixes, so there's little code rot. A series of 5 books with a wide range of algorithms for all sorts of areas of computer graphics; visit the web site for a listing of articles, Amazon and Google Books excerpt links, and the latest code.

A collection of columns from IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, these talk about all sorts of nitty gritty details and algorithms not covered in other texts. Admittedly, most people will not need to implement software rendering algorithms, but there are still many useful tidbits here, as well as masterful tutorials on signal processing, alpha compositing, and other key topics.

A pleasant introduction to various elements of 2D and 3D analytical geometry and linear algebra. Numerous illustrations help build up an intuitive understanding of various procedures. Also, you have to love a book with a chapter called "Eigen Things".

This book gives the underpinnings of mathematics used in 3D interactive applications. A wide range of topics is covered: the rendering pipeline (in Chapter 0), transforms (of course), lighting and shading, billboarding, collision detection, curves and surfaces, plus physics, ray tracing, and more. It is not a book for beginners, but is the place to go if you want to understand exactly how and why various operations are performed.

An extensive book on computational geometry, with a focus on presenting algorithms that are useful. Well researched, well written, well referenced. No source code, but such code can usually be found elsewhere.