Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#1

Post by dbetteridge » Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 1:53 PM UTC

Hey HN

I've predominantly always worked in Web dev but always had an interest in 3D graphics, modelling and games.

What are your best resources for me to go from 0 to being able to write my own (basic) graphics renderer, eventually I'd like to get to the point of rendering scenes but understand that might be a long haul.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#2

Post by kev946 » Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 1:58 PM UTC

Would recommend the Pikuma 3D graphics course

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#3

Post by calebjosue » Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 2:45 PM UTC

Maybe You'd want to give a try to.

https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:UCSanDiegoX+CSE167...

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#4

Post by atan2 » Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 5:08 PM UTC

kev946 wrote: post #2

Would recommend the Pikuma 3D graphics course

that is also my suggestion as theres absolutely nothing like it! really well explained, good review of the gfx maths, and both teacher and students inside the platform are really approachable as well.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#5

Post by brudgers » Mon, Sep 23, 2024, 5:59 PM UTC

There are raytracing tutorials going back to the early 1990's at least (because there is one in Graham's Ansi Common Lisp).

Here is one in Lisp I googled: http://www.ulisp.com/show?2NWA

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#6

Post by badpun » Mon, Sep 23, 2024, 7:47 PM UTC

Check out graphicsprogramming sub-reddit, people ask that question there fairly frequently. Writing a real-time renderer basically comes down to learning a graphics API like Direct3D and then implementing various tricks and techniques from books like "Real-time Rendering".

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#7

Post by sky2224 » Tue, Sep 24, 2024, 10:10 PM UTC

I think the best place to start is by getting your hands dirty with a real deal API. https://learnopengl.com/ is a great place for that. Oh and the best part is that the book is FREE.

You'll need to be comfortable with C++, but even without in-depth knowledge of the language, the tutorial takes you quite far.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#8

Post by zoenolan » Wed, Sep 25, 2024, 7:57 PM UTC

Tiny code Christmas was a lot of fun the last couple of years. That covers a lot of the basics in a beginner friendly way.

https://tcc.lovebyte.party/

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#9

Post by zoenolan » Wed, Sep 25, 2024, 7:59 PM UTC

https://raytracing.github.io/

Re: Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming

#10

Post by cgg1 » Thu, Sep 26, 2024, 3:44 AM UTC

This is the most thorough resource I’ve found: https://www.scratchapixel.com/

Though admittedly it is a bit chaotically organized.

That one combined with the ray tracing in 1 weekend series is a good start.