Below I’ll give you my selections for the best Computer Graphics books by a few categories. I will cover these and other great books more in depth later.
1. The Ray Tracer Challenge: A Test-Driven Guide to Your First 3D Renderer (Pragmatic Bookshelf) (2019)
Brace yourself for a fun challenge: build a photorealistic 3D renderer from scratch! It’s easier than you think. In just a couple of weeks, build a ray-tracer that renders beautiful scenes with shadows, reflections, brilliant refraction effects, and subjects composed of various graphics primitives: spheres, cubes, cylinders, triangles, and more. With each chapter, implement another piece of the puzzle and move the renderer that much further forward. Do all of this in whichever language and environment you prefer, and do it entirely test-first, so you know it’s correct. Recharge yourself with this project’s immense…
2. Mathematics for Computer Graphics (Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science) (2017)
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 in this completely revised and expanded fifth edition.The first five chapters cover a general introduction, number sets, algebra, trigonometry and coordinate systems, which are employed in the following chapters on vectors, matrix algebra, transforms, interpolation, curves and patches, analytic geometry and barycentric coordinates. Following this, the reader is introduced to the relatively new…
3. Mathematics for Computer Graphics and Game Programming: A Self-Teaching Introduction (2019)
Designed to explain the mathematical concepts involved in computer graphics and its entities, this book is ideal for courses in computer graphics, engineering, game development, as well as for professionals in industry. It begins with simple concepts such as how an image is generated on the screen and then moves to cover the different algorithms for the generation of simple geometry on the screen. The following chapters include two-dimensional and three-dimensional transformations, parametric representation of planar curves and parametric representation of space curves such as cubic splines, Bezier curves,…
4. Timing for Animation, Second Edition (2009)
A classic of animation education since it first published in 1981. Copies of Timing for Animation have been sitting dog-eared and spine-split on desks and workstations around the world, wherever animation is produced for more than 25 years. All you need to breathe life into your animation is at your fingertips. All the vital techniques employed by animators worldwide are explained using dozens of clear illustrations and simple, straightforward directions. Learn how animations should be arranged in relation to each other, how much space should be used and how long each drawing…
5. Engineering & Computer Graphics Workbook Using SOLIDWORKS 2019 (2019)
Engineering & Computer Graphics Workbook Using SOLIDWORKS 2019 is an exercise-based workbook that uses step-by-step tutorials to cover the fundamentals of SOLIDWORKS. The intended audience is college undergraduate engineering majors, but it could also be used in pre-college introductory engineering courses or by self learners. The text follows an educational paradigm that was researched and developed by the authors over many years. The paradigm is based on the concurrent engineering approach to engineering design in which the 3-D solid model data serves as the central hub for all…
6. Autodesk Fusion 360: A Power Guide for Beginners and Intermediate Users (2nd Edition) (2019)
textbook has been designed for instructor-led courses as well as for self-paced learning. It is intended to help engineers and designers, interested in learning Fusion 360, to create 3D mechanical designs. This textbook is a great help for new Fusion 360 users and a great teaching aid for classroom training. This textbook consists of 14 chapters, total 734 pages covering major workspaces of Fusion 360 such as MODEL, ANIMATION, and DRAWING. The textbook teaches you to use Fusion 360 mechanical design software for building parametric 3D solid components and assemblies as well as creating animations and 2D…
7. Foundations of Game Engine Development, Volume 2: Rendering (2019)
This second volume in the Foundations of Game Engine Development series explores the vast subject of real-time rendering in modern game engines. The book provides a detailed introduction to color science, world structure, projections, shaders, lighting, shadows, fog, and visibility methods. This is followed by extensive discussions of a variety of advanced rendering techniques that include volumetric effects, atmospheric shadowing, ambient occlusion, motion blur, and isosurface extraction. Emphasis is placed on practical implementation, and code is included. #19,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5 in Game…
8. Engineering & Computer Graphics Workbook Using SOLIDWORKS 2018 (2018)
Engineering and Computer Graphics Workbook Using SOLIDWORKS 2018 is an exercise-based workbook that uses step-by-step tutorials to cover the fundamentals of SOLIDWORKS 2018. The intended audience is college undergraduate engineering majors, but it could also be used in pre-college introductory engineering courses or by self learners. The text follows an educational paradigm that was researched and developed by the authors over many years. The paradigm is based on the concurrent engineering approach to engineering design in which the 3-D solid model data serves as the central hub for all aspects of the design process. The…
9. The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators (2012)
The definitive book on animation, from the Academy Award-winning animator behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit?Animation is one of the hottest areas of filmmaking today–and the master animator who bridges the old generation and the new is Richard Williams. During his fifty years in the business, Williams has been one of the true innovators, winning three Academy Awards and serving as the link between Disney’s golden age of animation by hand and the new computer animation exemplified by Toy Story. Perhaps even more important, though, has been his dedication in passing along his knowledge to a new generation of animators so that…
10. Modern Mathematics And Applications In Computer Graphics And Vision (2014)
This book gathers different areas of mathematics like algebra, geometry, and topology in one place and shows applications of them to computer graphics and vision. It is written in an accessible fashion with a number of images, examples, and exercises. It is intended for upper level undergraduate students, graduate students and researchers in computer graphics, computer vision, and game programming. Zentralblatt Math This book presents a concise exposition of modern mathematical concepts, models and methods with applications in computer graphics, vision and machine…
Best Computer Graphics Books: The Ultimate Collection
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some computer graphics books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Fundamentals of Computer Graphics, Fourth Edition
Author(s): Marschner, Steve; Shirley, Peter
Publisher: A K Peters, Limited, Taylor & Francis Group [distributor, Year: Jan. 2016, Size: 81 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1629017
Geometric Algebra Applications Vol. I: Computer Vision, Graphics and Neurocomputing
Author(s): Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano
Publisher: Springer, Year: 2019, Size: 25 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2235223
Geometric Algebra Applications vol. I Computer Vision, Graphics and Neurocomputing
Author(s): Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano
Publisher: Springer, Year: 2019, Size: 19 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2235422
Mathematical Insights into Advanced Computer Graphics Techniques
Author(s): Yoshinori Dobashi, Shizuo Kaji, Kei Iwasaki
Publisher: Springer Singapore, Year: 2019, Size: 8 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2314013
Computer Graphics Through OpenGL: From Theory to Experiments
Author(s): Sumanta Guha
Publisher: CRC Press, Year: 2019, Size: 291 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2320342
Calculus for Computer Graphics
Author(s): John Vince
Publisher: Springer, Year: 2019, Size: 15 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2341935
Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics – Theory and Applications: 12th International Joint Conference, VISIGRAPP 2017, Porto, Portugal, February 27 – March 1, 2017, Revised Selected Papers
Author(s): Ana Paula Cláudio, Dominique Bechmann, Paul Richard, Takehiko Yamaguchi, Lars Linsen, Alexandru Telea, Francisco Imai, Alain Tremeau
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Year: 2019, Size: 73 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2354934
Advances in Computer Graphics: 36th Computer Graphics International Conference, CGI 2019, Calgary, AB, Canada, June 17–20, 2019, Proceedings
Author(s): Marina Gavrilova, Jian Chang, Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, Eckhard Hitzer, Hiroshi Ishikawa
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Year: 2019, Size: 97 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2408798
Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications: 13th International Joint Conference, VISIGRAPP 2018 Funchal–Madeira, Portugal, January 27–29, 2018, Revised Selected Papers
Author(s): Dominique Bechmann, Manuela Chessa, Ana Paula Cláudio, Francisco Imai, Andreas Kerren, Paul Richard, Alexandru Telea, Alain Tremeau
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Year: 2019, Size: 84 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2408986
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are really best-sellers according to Chicago Tribune, others are written by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.