Rendering References

Here are some of the sources that I found while developing my software Renderer. I hope that by categorizing these and organizing them I might help others who are also building similar projects or just want to learn about some specific beginner topics in CG.

Note that although some sources discuss implementation details using a graphics library such as DirectX or OpenGL — like in any tutorial from LearnOpenGL or Modern OpenGL — I believe they are still relevant even if you are not planning on using any libraries. They are included because they've done a fantastic job explaining concepts in such a way that they can be implemented independent of whatever library you're using.

Feel free to message me with any corrections or dead links you find!

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Table of Contents

• 1.0 - Computer Graphics & Rendering
  • 1.1 - CG Courses
  • 1.2 - Graphics Pipeline Overviews
  • 1.3 - Rasterization
  • 1.4 - Matrix Transforms
  • 1.5 - Reverse Z projection Matrix
  • 1.6 - Backface Culling
  • 1.7 - View Frustrum Culling
  • 1.8 - Shading & Illumination Models
  • 1.9 - Perspective Correct Texture Mapping
  • 1.10 - Tangent Space Normal Mapping
  • 1.11 - Understanding Physically Based Rendering
  • 1.12 - Testing Models & Textures Resources
• 2.0 - Mathematics
  • 2.1 - Linear Algebra & Vectors
  • 2.2 - Homogeneous coordinates
• 3.0 - Software Development
  • 3.1 - Understanding CMake
  • 3.2 - SDL2 Single Pixel access
  • 3.3 - Image Reading / Loading
  • 3.4 - Writing a Vector Math Library
  • 3.5 - Understanding SIMD & Autovectorization
  • 3.6 - Multithreading & OpenMP in C
  • 3.7 - Design Patterns
  • 3.8 - Object-Oriented Design Alternatives
  • 3.9 - How to Architect Engines

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1.0 - Computer Graphics & Rendering

1.1 - CG Courses

• Learn OpenGL
• TinyRenderer
• 3D software Engine from Scratch David Rousset
• Modern OpenGL Tutorials
• CSC 471:Introduction to computer graphics
• Stanford CS248: Interactive Computer Graphics
• EDAN35 - High Performance Computer Graphics
• Computer Graphics From Scratch - Gabriel Gambetta
• Rendering - CatLikeCoding

1.2 - Graphics Pipeline Overviews

• A trip through the Graphics Pipeline 2011 - Fabian Giesen
• OpenGL Rendering Pipeline - Song Ho Ahn
• Life of a triangle - NVIDIA's logical pipeline
• The lost art of 3D rendering without shaders by Matthijs Hollemans
• A Crash Course on Programmable Graphics Hardware - Li-Yi Wei

1.3 - Rasterization

• Triangle rasterization in practice - Fabian Giesen
• Rasterization Rules - Microsoft
• The Bresenham Line Algorithm- Tom Carter
• A Parallel Algorithm for Polygon Rasterization - Juan Pineda
• Rasterization - Michael Doggett

1.4 - Matrix Transforms

• The camera Transform - UC Davis
• Frames of Reference and Projection - CGLearn
• Projection Transform - Microsoft
• Viewing II: the mathematics of perspective - Marc Levoy
• Understanding the View Matrix - Jeremiah Van Oosten
• The transformation pipeline – a “Spatial Odyssey” - Ana Mihut
• OpenGL Projection Matrix - Song Ho Ahn
• OpenGL Transformation - Song Ho Ahn

1.5 - Reverse Z projection Matrix

• Depth Precision Visualized - Nathan Reed
• Creating Vast Game Worlds - Emil Persson
• How many floating-point numbers are in the interval [0,1]? - Daniel Lemire
• Projection Matrix Tricks - Eric Lengyel

1.6 - Backface Culling

• Backface culling - Ken Power
• A fast real-time back-face culling approach - Vadim Manvelyan
• A Compact Method for Backface Culling - Osnat Levi

1.7 - View Frustrum Culling

• Fixing frustum culling - Íñigo Quílez
• View frustum culling - Fabian Giesen
• View Frustum Culling Tutorial - Lighthouse3D
• An Exact Algorithm for Finding Minimum Oriented Bounding Boxes - Jukka Jylanki

1.8 - Shading & Illumination Models

• Illumination Models and Shading - cs155
• Lec 2: Shading Models - Kavita Bala

1.9 - Perspective Correct Texture Mapping

• Perspective Texturemapping - Mikael Kalms
• Perspective Texture Mapping - Chris Hecker
• The barycentric conspiracy - Fabian Giesen
• Perspective correct barycentric coordinates - Thread
• What's the most efficient way to find barycentric coordinates? - Thread

1.10 - Tangent Space Normal Mapping

• Normal Transformation - Jason L. McKesson
• BUMPMAPPING WITH GLSL - Fabien Sanglard
• Textures - Kavita Bala

1.11 - Understanding Physically Based Rendering

• SIGGRAPH University - Introduction to "Physically Based Shading in Theory and Practice" - Naty Hoffman
• Physically Based Shading - knarkowicz
• Theory - LearnOpenGL
• PHYSICALLY-BASED RENDERING, AND YOU CAN TOO! - Joe “EarthQuake” Wilson
• Physically Based Rendering - Cook–Torrance - CodingLabs
• Everything has Fresnel - John Hable
• Background: Physics and Math of Shading - Naty Hoffman
• Specular BRDF Reference - Brian Karis
• Using Image Based Lighting (IBL) - Wave Engine Team
• Beyond Blinn - Gotanda
• Microfacet Models for Refraction through Rough Surfaces - Bruce Walter et al
• Specular Showdown in the Wild West - Stephen Hill

1.12 - Testing Models & Textures Resources

• Rendering Resources - Benedikt Bitterli
• 3D Models - NASA
• Morgan McGuire, Computer Graphics Archive, July 2017 (https://casual-effects.com/data)
• CC0 Textures - StruffelProductions
• High-Resolution Light Probe Image Gallery - VGL
• Cerberus Gun Mesh & Textures by Andrew Maximov
• Utah Teapot with closed lid Mesh by Nik Clark
• Fire Hydrant & Chest by @emackey PBR test models
• Louis XIV de France, Louvre, Paris by HoangHiepVu
• Gold, Marble, Painted Metal by CC0Textures.com
• Azulejos Texture by João Paulo
• Elephant, Dragon, Bunny Mesh models from Stanford 3D Scanning Repository

2.0 - Mathematics

2.1 - Linear Algebra & Vectors

• Essence of linear algebra - 3Blue1Brown's (Must subscribe if you haven't yet!)
• Geometry by Scratchapixel
• Staring Into The Matrix - Joshuea Barczak

2.2 - Homogeneous coordinates

• Explaining Homogeneous Coordinates & Projective Geometry - Tom Dalling
• Translation without homogeneous coordinates - Thread
• Programmer’s guide to homogeneous coordinates - Thread
• Homogeneous Coordinates - Song Ho Ahn

3.0 - Software Development

3.1 - Understanding CMake

• How to Build a CMake-Based Project - Jeff Preshing
• C++ Development using Visual Studio Code, CMake and LLDB - Iván Mejía
• Basic CMake usage - Martin Hořeňovský

3.2 - SDL2 Single Pixel access

• Pixel Manipulation and Surface Flipping - LazyFoo
• Texture Manipulation - LazyFoo
• SDL2 PIXEL DRAWING -GIGI

3.3 - Image Reading / Loading

• PNG Basics - Greg Roelofs
• STB single-file public domain C++ header libraries - nothings

3.4 - Writing a Vector Math Library

• On Vector Math Libraries - Nathan Reed
• C++ 3D Vector Implementation - Various

3.5 - Understanding SIMD & Autovectorization

• Performance Optimization, SIMD and Cache - Sergiy Migdalskiy
• Arrays, Part III: Vectorization - insideLoop
• A Guide to Vectorization with Intel® C++ Compilers
• Thread: my SSE code is slower than normal. why?
• A practical guide to SSE SIMD with C++ - Thomas Tonteri
• SSE Arithmetic - Stefano Tommesani

3.6 - Multithreading & OpenMP in C++

• A “Hands-on” Introduction to OpenMP - Tim Mattson & Larry Meadows
• Introduction to OpenMP - Tim Mattson (Intel)
• Loop parallelism - Victor Eijkhout

3.7 - Design Patterns

• Game Programming Patterns - Bob Nystrom
• Singleton Considered Stupid - Steve Yegge
• So Singletons are bad, then what? - Thread

3.8 - Object-Oriented Design Alternatives

• CppCon 2014:"Data-Oriented Design and C++" - Mike Acton
• Data-Oriented Design (Or Why You Might Be Shooting Yourself in The Foot With OOP) - Noel llopis
• Object-Oriented Programming: A Disaster Story - Brian Will

3.9 - How to Architect Engines

• Should game objects render themselves, or should an object manager render them? - Thread
• Game Engine Layout - Thread
• Separating game data/logic from rendering - Thread
• How to Write Your Own C++ Game Engine - Jeff Preshing