Vector Analysis For Computer Graphics

This book is a complete introduction to vector analysis, especially within the context of computer graphics. The author shows why vectors are useful and how it is possible to develop analytical skills in manipulating vector algebra. Even though vector analysis is a relatively recent development in the history of mathematics, it has become a powerful and central tool in describing and solving a wide range of geometric problems. The book is divided into eleven chapters covering the mathematical foundations of vector algebra and its application to, among others, lines, planes, intersections, rotating vectors, and vector differentiation.

This second edition has been completely restructured, resulting in a compelling description of vector analysis from its first appearance as a byproduct of Hamilton's quaternions to the use of vectors in solving geometric problems. The result provides readers from different backgrounds with a complete introduction to vector analysis. The author shows why vectors are so useful and how it is possible to develop analytical skills in manipulating vector algebra. Using over 150 full-colour illustrations, the author demonstrates in worked examples how this relatively young branch of mathematics has become a powerful and central tool in describing and solving a wide range of geometric problems. These may be in the form of lines, surfaces and volumes, which may touch, collide, intersect, or create shadows upon complex surfaces. The book is divided into eleven chapters covering the history of vector analysis, linear equations, vector algebra, vector products, differentiating vector-valued functions, vector differential operators, tangent and normal vectors, straight lines, planes, intersections and rotating vectors. The new chapters are about the history, differentiating vector-valued functions, differential operators and tangent and normal vectors. The original chapters have been reworked and illustrated.

This book is a complete introduction to vector analysis, especially within the context of computer graphics. The author shows why vectors are useful and how it is possible to develop analytical skills in manipulating vector algebra. Even though vector analysis is a relatively recent development in the history of mathematics, it has become a powerful and central tool in describing and solving a wide range of geometric problems. The book is divided into eleven chapters covering the mathematical foundations of vector algebra and its application to, among others, lines, planes, intersections, rotating vectors, and vector differentiation.

John Vince explains a wide range of mathematical techniques and problem-solving strategies associated with computer games, computer animation, virtual reality, CAD, and other areas of computer graphics. Covering all the mathematical techniques required to resolve geometric problems and design computer programs for computer graphic applications, each chapter explores a specific mathematical topic prior to moving forward into the more advanced areas of matrix transforms, 3D curves and surface patches. Problem-solving techniques using vector analysis and geometric algebra are also discussed. All the key areas are covered including: Numbers, Algebra, Trigonometry, Coordinate geometry, Transforms, Vectors, Curves and surfaces, Barycentric coordinates, Analytic geometry. Plus – and unusually in a student textbook – a chapter on geometric algebra is included.

Geometric algebra (a Clifford Algebra) has been applied to different branches of physics for a long time but is now being adopted by the computer graphics community and is providing exciting new ways of solving 3D geometric problems. The author tackles this complex subject with inimitable style, and provides an accessible and very readable introduction. The book is filled with lots of clear examples and is very well illustrated. Introductory chapters look at algebraic axioms, vector algebra and geometric conventions and the book closes with a chapter on how the algebra is applied to computer graphics.

This is a concise and informal introductory book on the mathematical concepts that underpin computer graphics. The author, John Vince, makes the concepts easy to understand, enabling non-experts to come to terms with computer animation work. The book complements the author's other works and is written in the same accessible and easy-to-read style. It is also a useful reference book for programmers working in the field of computer graphics, virtual reality, computer animation, as well as students on digital media courses, and even mathematics courses.

Sir William Rowan Hamilton was a genius, and will be remembered for his significant contributions to physics and mathematics. The Hamiltonian, which is used in quantum physics to describe the total energy of a system, would have been a major achievement for anyone, but Hamilton also invented quaternions, which paved the way for modern vector analysis. Quaternions are one of the most documented inventions in the history of mathematics, and this book is about their invention, and how they are used to rotate vectors about an arbitrary axis. Apart from introducing the reader to the features of quaternions and their associated algebra, the book provides valuable historical facts that bring the subject alive. Quaternions for Computer Graphics introduces the reader to quaternion algebra by describing concepts of sets, groups, fields and rings. It also includes chapters on imaginary quantities, complex numbers and the complex plane, which are essential to understanding quaternions. The book contains many illustrations and worked examples, which make it essential reading for students, academics, researchers and professional practitioners.

Students studying different branches of computer graphics have to be familiar with geometry, matrices, vectors, rotation transforms, quaternions, curves and surfaces and as computer graphics software becomes increasingly sophisticated, calculus is also being used to resolve its associated problems. In this 2nd edition, the author extends the scope of the original book to include applications of calculus in the areas of arc-length parameterisation of curves, geometric continuity, tangent and normal vectors, and curvature. The author draws upon his experience in teaching mathematics to undergraduates to make calculus appear no more challenging than any other branch of mathematics. He introduces the subject by examining how functions depend upon their independent variables, and then derives the appropriate mathematical underpinning and definitions. This gives rise to a function’s derivative and its antiderivative, or integral. Using the idea of limits, the reader is introduced to derivatives and integrals of many common functions. Other chapters address higher-order derivatives, partial derivatives, Jacobians, vector-based functions, single, double and triple integrals, with numerous worked examples, and over a hundred and seventy colour illustrations. This book complements the author’s other books on mathematics for computer graphics, and assumes that the reader is familiar with everyday algebra, trigonometry, vectors and determinants. After studying this book, the reader should understand calculus and its application within the world of computer graphics, games and animation.