Books

(Of course I'm biased, but...)

I'd recommend Real Time Rendering Tricks and Techniques in DirectX (currently the featured book on the site). It isn't exactly a beginner's book, but it does cover some basic concepts. Also, it covers shaders extensively.

This could be a good thing for a beginner, because shaders are much more explicit than "normal" DX8 functionality. You can see exactly what's going on. Depending on your current level, that might be very interesting.

Also, the book was meant to be a complement to some of the nVidia presentations, Foley and Van Dam, etc. There are alot of sources that offer great explanations, but very little implementation details. The point of the book is to show how things are actually done.

If you are starting from the very beginning, I like to recommend the OpenGL red book. It's not DX (obviously), but it offers good conceptual explanations. A book like Foley and Van Dam is also good for concepts, but I tend toward books with implementation details.

Short answer: Spend some time at Amazon/a bookstore/the library and choose a book that "feels right" to you. Also, pay attention to reviews. There are some very bad books out there as well.

[edited by - crazedgenius on April 17, 2002 3:34:21 PM]

I was finally able to pick up my copy of Real-Time Rendering Tricks and Techniques in Directx, and I would have to say that it's an excellent book for learning the more advanced parts of DirectGraphics along with some beginner stuff. No other book out there that I know of go's in depth with vertex and pixel shaders like this book (though the Special Effects with Directx book has a good introduction to them along with a chapter on toon shading).

With 40 chapters on subjects like, per pixel lighting, shadowing, motion blur, toon shading, you name it. And to top it off, most of the chapter's conclude with a paragraph on performance considerations or limitations on each technique that's used (this is very useful).

Overall, excellent job CrazedGenius

I'd also like to add that if your looking for more than just learning DirectGraphics, then take a look at Special Effects Game Programming with DirectX 8.0 or Programming Role-Playing Games with DirectX. They include chapters on subjects like DirectGraphics, DirectInput, DirectSound, Particle scripting, ect..But not the advanced DirectGraphics stuff that you'll see in Real-Time Rendering with Directx.

[edited by - JohnG on April 17, 2002 9:49:47 PM]

Wow! many thanks - the highlights you list were exactly the kinds of things that I hoped people would like. Now, if only someone would write an Amazon review I think most people don't know what the book actually contains...


[edited by - crazedgenius on April 17, 2002 11:32:32 PM]