Introduction To Computer Graphics And The Vulkan Api

This textbook is designed to introduce the reader to the exciting topic of computer graphics from a grounds-up practical perspective. Organised around the Vulkan API, the book includes numerous practical examples in the body of the text as well as explaining technical limitations and engineering solutions. It is also one of the purposes of this book to introduce the reader to the development aspect of shader programming and the enormous flexibility and possibilities. This book provides an introductory guide to getting started with computer graphics using the Vulkan API. The book focuses on the practical aspects with details regarding previous and current generation approaches, such as, the shift towards more efficient multithreaded solutions. The book has been formatted and designed with sample program listings and support material, so whether or not you are currently an expert in computer graphics, actively working with an existing API (OpenGL or DirectX), or completely in the dark about this mysterious topic, this book has something for you. If you're an experienced developer, you'll find this book a light refresher to the subject, and if you're deciding whether or not to delve into graphics and the Vulkan API, this book may help you make that significant decision.

Introduction to Computer Graphics with the Vulkan API provides a beginners guide to getting started developing graphical applications. The book focuses on the practical aspects with details regarding technical changes to previous generation approaches, such as, the shift towards more efficient multithreaded solutions. The book has been formatted and designed with sample program listings and support material, so whether or not you are currently an expert in computer graphics, actively working with an existing API (OpenGL or DirectX), or completely in the dark about this mysterious topic, this book has something for you. If you're an experienced developer, you'll find this book a light refresher to the subject, and if you're deciding whether or not to delve into graphics and the Vulkan API, this book may help you make that significant decision.

Discover how to build impressive 3D graphics with the next-generation graphics API—Vulkan About This Book Get started with the Vulkan API and its programming techniques using the easy-to-follow examples to create stunning 3D graphics Understand memory management in Vulkan and implement image and buffer resources Get hands-on with the drawing process and synchronization, and render a 3D graphics scene with the Vulkan graphics pipeline Who This Book Is For This book is ideal for graphic programmers who want to get up and running with Vulkan. It's also great for programmers who have experience with OpenGL and other graphic APIs who want to take advantage of next generation APIs. A good knowledge of C/C++ is expected. What You Will Learn Learn fundamentals of Vulkan programing model to harness the power of modern GPU devices. Implement device, command buffer and queues to get connected with the physical hardware. Explore various validation layers and learn how to use it for debugging Vulkan application. Get a grip on memory management to control host and device memory operations. Understand and implement buffer and image resource types in Vulkan. Define drawing operations in the Render pass and implement graphics pipeline. Manage GLSL shader using SPIR-V and update the shader resources with descriptor sets and push constants. Learn the drawing process, manage resources with synchronization objects and render 3D scene output on screen with Swapchain. Bring realism to your rendered 3D scene with textures, and implement linear and optimal textures In Detail Vulkan, the next generation graphics and compute API, is the latest offering by Khronos. This API is the successor of OpenGL and unlike OpenGL, it offers great flexibility and high performance capabilities to control modern GPU devices. With this book, you'll get great insights into the workings of Vulkan and how you can make stunning graphics run with minimum hardware requirements. We begin with a brief introduction to the Vulkan system and show you its distinct features with the successor to the OpenGL API. First, you will see how to establish a connection with hardware devices to query the available queues, memory types, and capabilities offered. Vulkan is verbose, so before diving deep into programing, you'll get to grips with debugging techniques so even first-timers can overcome error traps using Vulkan's layer and extension features. You'll get a grip on command buffers and acquire the knowledge to record various operation commands into command buffer and submit it to a proper queue for GPU processing. We'll take a detailed look at memory management and demonstrate the use of buffer and image resources to create drawing textures and image views for the presentation engine and vertex buffers to store geometry information. You'll get a brief overview of SPIR-V, the new way to manage shaders, and you'll define the drawing operations as a single unit of work in the Render pass with the help of attachments and subpasses. You'll also create frame buffers and build a solid graphics pipeline, as well as making use of the synchronizing mechanism to manage GPU and CPU hand-shaking. By the end, you'll know everything you need to know to get your hands dirty with the coolest Graphics API on the block. Style and approach This book takes a practical approach to guide you through the Vulkan API, and you will get to build an application throughout the course of the book. Since you are expected to be familiar with C/C++, there is not much hand-holding throughout the course of the book.

The Definitive VulkanTM Developer’s Guide and Reference: Master the Next-Generation Specification for Cross-Platform Graphics The next generation of the OpenGL specification, Vulkan, has been redesigned from the ground up, giving applications direct control over GPU acceleration for unprecedented performance and predictability. VulkanTM Programming Guide is the essential, authoritative reference to this new standard for experienced graphics programmers in all Vulkan environments. Vulkan API lead Graham Sellers (with contributions from language lead John Kessenich) presents example-rich introductions to the portable Vulkan API and the new SPIR-V shading language. The author introduces Vulkan, its goals, and the key concepts framing its API, and presents a complex rendering system that demonstrates both Vulkan’s uniqueness and its exceptional power. You’ll find authoritative coverage of topics ranging from drawing to memory, and threading to compute shaders. The author especially shows how to handle tasks such as synchronization, scheduling, and memory management that are now the developer’s responsibility. VulkanTM Programming Guide introduces powerful 3D development techniques for fields ranging from video games to medical imaging, and state-of-the-art approaches to solving challenging scientific compute problems. Whether you’re upgrading from OpenGL or moving to open-standard graphics APIs for the first time, this guide will help you get the results and performance you’re looking for. Coverage includes Extensively tested code examples to demonstrate Vulkan’s capabilities and show how it differs from OpenGL Expert guidance on getting started and working with Vulkan’s new memory system Thorough discussion of queues, commands, moving data, and presentation Full explanations of the SPIR-V binary shading language and compute/graphics pipelines Detailed discussions of drawing commands, geometry and fragment processing, synchronization primitives, and reading Vulkan data into applications A complete case study application: deferred rendering using complex multi-pass architecture and multiple processing queues Appendixes presenting Vulkan functions and SPIR-V opcodes, as well as a complete Vulkan glossary Example code can be found here: Example code can be found here: https://github.com/vulkanprogrammingguide/examples

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.

Work through recipes to unlock the full potential of the next generation graphics API—Vulkan About This Book This book explores a wide range of modern graphics programming techniques and GPU compute methods to make the best use of the Vulkan API Learn techniques that can be applied to a wide range of platforms desktop, smartphones, and embedded devices Get an idea on the graphics engine with multi-platform support and learn exciting imaging processing and post-processing techniques Who This Book Is For This book is ideal for developers who know C/C++ languages, have some basic familiarity with graphics programming, and now want to take advantage of the new Vulkan API in the process of building next generation computer graphics. Some basic familiarity of Vulkan would be useful to follow the recipes. OpenGL developers who want to take advantage of the Vulkan API will also find this book useful. What You Will Learn Work with Swapchain to present images on screen Create, submit, and synchronize operations processed by the hardware Create buffers and images, manage their memory, and upload data to them from CPU Explore descriptor sets and set up an interface between application and shaders Organize drawing operations into a set of render passes and subpasses Prepare graphics pipelines to draw 3D scenes and compute pipelines to perform mathematical calculations Implement geometry projection and tessellation, texturing, lighting, and post-processing techniques Write shaders in GLSL and convert them into SPIR-V assemblies Find out about and implement a collection of popular, advanced rendering techniques found in games and benchmarks In Detail Vulkan is the next generation graphics API released by the Khronos group. It is expected to be the successor to OpenGL and OpenGL ES, which it shares some similarities with such as its cross-platform capabilities, programmed pipeline stages, or nomenclature. Vulkan is a low-level API that gives developers much more control over the hardware, but also adds new responsibilities such as explicit memory and resources management. With it, though, Vulkan is expected to be much faster. This book is your guide to understanding Vulkan through a series of recipes. We start off by teaching you how to create instances in Vulkan and choose the device on which operations will be performed. You will then explore more complex topics such as command buffers, resources and memory management, pipelines, GLSL shaders, render passes, and more. Gradually, the book moves on to teach you advanced rendering techniques, how to draw 3D scenes, and how to improve the performance of your applications. By the end of the book, you will be familiar with the latest advanced techniques implemented with the Vulkan API, which can be used on a wide range of platforms. Style and approach This recipe-based guide will empower you to implement modern graphic programming techniques and help gain a solid understanding of the new Vulkan API.

Introduction to Computer Graphics and the Vulkan API reviews core mathematic fundamentals in addition to creating special effects and techniques such as hardware tessellation, compute shaders, lighting, reflections, normal and displacement mapping, shadow rendering, and character skinning. The text is organised to introduce the reader to the exciting topic of computer graphics from a grounds-up hands-on perspective. Organized around the Vulkan API, the book includes numerous practical examples in the body of the text as well as explaining technical limitations and engineering solutions. This book provides a beginners guide to getting started with the Vulkan API. The reader is guided with a practical focus with details and information regarding previous and current generation approaches, such as, the shift towards more efficient multithreaded solutions. The book has been formatted and designed with sample program listings and support material, so whether or not you are currently an expert in computer graphics, actively working with an existing API (OpenGL or DirectX), or completely in the dark about this mysterious topic, this book has something for you. If you're an experienced developer, you'll find this book a light refresher to the subject, and if you're deciding whether or not to delve into graphics and the Vulkan API, this book may help you make that significant decision.

Develop a rendering framework by implementing next-generation 3D graphics, leveraging advanced Vulkan features, and getting familiar with efficient real-time ray tracing techniques uncovered by leading industry experts Key Features Develop high-performance rendering techniques in Vulkan Automate some of the more tedious aspects like pipeline layouts and resource barriers Understand how to take advantage of mesh shaders and ray tracing Book DescriptionVulkan is now an established and flexible multi-platform graphics API. It has been adopted in many industries, including game development, medical imaging, movie productions, and media playback. Learning Vulkan is a foundational step to understanding how a modern graphics API works, both on desktop and mobile. In Mastering Graphics Programming with Vulkan, you’ll begin by developing the foundations of a rendering framework. You’ll learn how to leverage advanced Vulkan features to write a modern rendering engine. The chapters will cover how to automate resource binding and dependencies. You’ll then take advantage of GPU-driven rendering to scale the size of your scenes and finally, you’ll get familiar with ray tracing techniques that will improve the visual quality of your rendered image. By the end of this book, you’ll have a thorough understanding of the inner workings of a modern rendering engine and the graphics techniques employed to achieve state-of-the-art results. The framework developed in this book will be the starting point for all your future experiments.What you will learn Understand resources management and modern bindless techniques Get comfortable with how a frame graph works and know its advantages Explore how to render efficiently with many light sources Discover how to integrate variable rate shading Understand the benefits and limitations of temporal anti-aliasing Get to grips with how GPU-driven rendering works Explore and leverage ray tracing to improve render quality Who this book is for This book is for professional graphics and game developers who want to gain in-depth knowledge about how to write a modern and performant rendering engine in Vulkan. Familiarity with basic concepts of graphics programming (i.e. matrices, vectors, etc.) and fundamental knowledge of Vulkan are required.