I am still unable to edit my site for some days, no ftp access, no posting, I don't even have the time to bother
finding a free host to post stuff under contraints that hurt both the visitor and me.
But I am writing a few nifty papers, in french, for my class, in addition to the default OpenGL course:
it turns out that I now am turning into a freak as far as gfx development is concerned (not that I was bad, but I've kind of leaped forward fast).
One of them is about gfx algorithmy in general, from 2d to 3d to 2.5 d, ending with an openning on GLSL, the current advanced programming technology for graphics.
And I think it manages to sum up a lot of things.
It is aimed at people who have a grasp of languages like Java or C though, anybody can read it, it would bore people who have no interest in gfx or coding, and the code samples will only be useful to coders
So, if you feel you can give it a worthy review, I would *much* appreciate sending a fragment of it (outline and first two pages)
to someone who would act as a... beta reader?
I didn't paid attention to the fact you said 'in french'. So I guess I should give it a go. Could you please send the preview at p01 [at] opera [dot] com
No prob for the english version, thanks guys. I think it's aimed at people with less experience than you, but your input
will still be gold (hell, platinum). Be informed that only the GLSL part and some of the OGL are likely to be new to you.
Just give me a couple of days: it's 3 am and I am still finishing an ogl project which includes bezier curves, bezier based volumes, rendering to textures,
mp3 via fmod, some alpha blending play with environment maps, and of course a decent timer.
I have a Java test on monday, basic stuff.
And.. *blushes*.
I have a vb gui design assignment for the same monday. Haven't even seen the teacher yet, but I'll make him cry for having challenged me on something like vb.
He should be in jail. I am in for a 6/6, then I'll call the police.
Not worthy review == "it suxx0rz becoz I want to do DirectX using VeeBee and I've tried to copy/paste
your code to veebee studio .originalnaming.net 2036, but it didn't run, said sumthing 'bout syntax.
Your syntax suxx0rz, I rule."
...
So rest assured you do qualify.
Still am utterly busy, though, I've kind of gone past the point called "overload", thank God, easter is coming. But my lil' paper won't have to wait that long to reach you.
Not only, not to me. 2.5d refers to "all sorts of things" that are based on a
2d map for 3d calculations, eg. bumpmapping, displacement maps, heightfields, wolfenstein and raycasted stuff,
and so forth..
That part of the tut focuses particularly on displacement actually, which is groundwork for some nice GLSL atuff:
parallax or dot3 bumpmaps, for instance, or normal mapping.
It sure won't teach you how to do all those things in detail: there are tons of tuts and ready-made code to download anyway,
it's more like "tying ends together and guiding you through my very own -book of shadows-".
Eg. drawing a line through essential topics of gfx algorithmy, allowing you to better select what suits your needs,
which algorithms, alternatives, shortcuts to some so good looking effects - yet so cheap in terms of cpu.
From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England Insane since: May 2003
posted 04-12-2006 03:08
Mauro: I'm probably too inexperienced to be worth wasting the time on, but if you'd be prepared to, I'd love to take a read over anything you're willing to provide, and try to provide constructive criticism about it! (By the way, I'm happy with either language - I've got French exams coming up!)
Now that everybody wants it, I am starting to feel the pressure ... will have to tweak it a little more to match your expectations.
And I am still in "hectic" mode, running from duties to cuties and the other way round.. Work makes for stress, stress makes for need to have fun, need to have fun makes for charming encounters, who eat up time, causing more stress, and so on and so forth.
And it all ends up in one giant infinite loop. It's so hard, yet so good to be me
Unless I am dead by then, Friday == easter holidays, then I can sort my stuff out and mail the whole of you.
(looks at the past 10 hours spent at work, at the course he should attend tonight, at the party and hottie he'll see right after, and at the next day of work, and ponders...)
From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England Insane since: May 2003
posted 04-15-2006 04:51
TwoD: Nah, that's just pure straight up maths, not really that hard (I mean, I wrote that when I was 13). It's slightly easier because you can solve everything the directly logical way, and it all works. The other methods are harder, because they rely upon 'tricks' that are much cleverer, but much less obvious. As an example, the collisions between two polygons is a fairly trivial bit of maths. However, finding that point in a 4d universe, in an efficient way, is very much less so! (IMHO)
Mauro: Thanks very much, and please do feel free to get the hectic sections out of the way first!
wrayal
(oops, just occured to me, this paper is graphics only, but my general ideas still hold...I think ;P)
French version of the early draft sent to P01 and Moonshadow, for now. Because it's in french.
They have a very different point of view, methinks (extreme coder and extreme gfx artist perspectives), so let's see what they think,
then I can evolve, translate, and send the next draft to the whole of you.
... 20 widgets to go
[edit] the security crew at the Gathering is really zen. I've been sitting at ~2m from the ground for a while, on top of our booth, with the laptop on my lap. And none of them asked me to go down 'coz I could fall flat on the LCD screens and laptop right below me. [/edit]
Paper sent, you are welcome.
The original intent was raising the level of gfx programming in my class: they are decent engineers, not extreme coders yet, they needed a hand -badly-.
So I am glad it reaches a broader audience, and am surprised everyday by the reactions.
The contents is a bit "light" for the time being in terms of algorithmy, but interesting in terms of "sharing a savoir-faire (know how)".
I've got to set the focus on other priorities for a few days... And yes, among them, four more ladies, some new, some already known, some discovered in a new light, all cool,
some amazing. For once, I may even pick one and stick around for some time. Time will tell. I've become terribly picky and it's getting worse everytime I meet a new girl.
And then there is the VB teacher who got mad when I told him pissy poor VB6 refused to start on my pc, and I had used VB 2005.
It's above his cracky butt's head... .Net? Internet? The 3rd millenium? Got to solve the VB 6 setup on my laptop and code some s* interface or he might start whining again, and that's
painful to see.
P01, they're used to seeing all sorts of flying things and geeks, so no surprise if they're not stunned by a castor sitting on top of a booth.
Reminds me of yodel's "Wildlife" documentary, shown at the Gathering 00: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=11868
From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England Insane since: May 2003
posted 04-19-2006 00:41
Mauro: I've read what you sent me, but I think I'd better make my comments in english to avoid misunderstandings (I'm sure your english will be better than my french!).
I thought the introductory section was well written and very interesting - it's always interesting to read about the difference between the light entering your eye, and what your brain actually "sees".
There was one mathematical mistake that stuck out - 255*255*255=/=2^24. I'm guessing you mean 256^3 ;p
In particular, I thought the use of pictures throughout was good.
One other thing that might be of interest to discuss whilst explaining pixels is the concept of a sub-pixel font, which may further help to illustrate the concept.
(I think I may have spotted a couple of grammatical mistakes, but it would be very arrogant of me to point them out :\)
Frankly, I'm sorry I don't have more to say - some of it was new to me, such as the alpha/transparency stuff which I've only looked at in a very minor way in the past, so all I can say is it was very informative and an effective way of learning.
I'm sorry if I was meant to e-mail you, as PO1 and Moonshadow may have done, but I thought it may aid discussion if I wrote this here. I have some bad news though - I've been banned from the network at school (long story...) so I won't be able to participate on here during the week from now on for a while
Again, many congratulations, I very much enjoyed reading it.
Wrayal is right, it's 256^3, not 255.
And you're right in spotting the defects, that's what I want.
And you'd be right, not arrogant, in pointing out potential grammatical mistakes (although I have an excellent french, I happen to mix up the three languages I speak).
AND.. the "sub-pixels" are up next: the "it's interesting and I've learnt something" bit
makes for more motivation.
Thanks Insanedrive as well, as I said, an english version is in the works, and about getting "lucky"...
well, I am not paid, don't get marks on this: I just happen to have encompassed the whole program
of our gfx course in one single project, the first, delivered a couple of months ago, and now I want to help.
So this is here to spread out info about a passion... it's for free, I don't need luck
But I'll take your wishes for the competition(s) I may/will probably enter this year.
I just spotted a few phrases that sound more like a casual discussion than a paper, but it might be a difference inherent to Swiss French and French, or more likely that you know your audience won't bother.
When you say that the RGB components must be clipped within [ 0 ; 255 ], and give the example [ 255 ; 0 ; 512 ], I think you should strengthen your point and say that, after the bitwise magic to combine the components, this color would actually be interpreted as [ 255 ; 2 ; 0 ].
About the blitting, you say that the back buffer is copied to the front buffer. But usually ( I mean in an application where you have access to the hardware, like in C/C++ using DirectX/OpenGL ) the two pointers are simply swapped so swapping the screens is free.
But that's a good beginning.
TwoD: Dunno about DreamHack, but we'd like to be at the Solsoken and the Assembly. I just hope it won't compromise my possibility to enter the browser demo compo at the Assembly.
wrayal: Don't worry. I didn't take your remark badly. Actually I appreciate when people spot my mistakes and misspellings.
quote:
the two pointers are simply swapped so swapping the screens is free.
I know, but page flipping details are secondary to the broader audience who doesn' know
what a pointer is (or to Java only developpers for that matter), and are part
of a basic OGL course, which is not the aim of my paper.
Thanks for the pointers and the time spent reviewing, will post again when an english version is available. Actually, I will set the following milestones:
1) Filling it up to the 3d part (2 and 2.5 d covered)
2) Translating
Indeed, it was a good read. And in my humble opinion, you mixed well explanations, examples and images so that any reader would enjoy reading the paper.
Nonetheless I have some minor remarks
Whenever you detail a technique (e.g. bitwise operators and masks or blending modes), it is good to include a link to a good ressource explaining more about this technique. Of course it is not compulsory, however if the reader didn't understand everything or wants to know more about something you mentionned, it is really appreciated.
I didn't spot grammar mistakes... I would have re-formulated some sentences, but as Poi said above, it is probably because of the differences between our languages. Otherwise, I would recommend avoiding the use of so many quotes, in most cases they are not needed. I spotted a typing mistake at the top of page 6 too : 'une résultat' should be 'un résultat'.
Very few points would require more explanation to newbies. See what Poi said above... And about transparency, perhaps it would be useful to detail that 0 means no transparency and 255 full transparency, as well as joining an image and it's alpha channel as an example. But since the intended audience is made of engineers, there shouldn't be any problem at all.
Coolness, thanks guys, will take all these in account when reformatting.
The odd swiss cheesy grammar should be corrected as well, the default french language comes from France after all..
Just a question is Microsoft Certification
worth anything when writing your
test in VB or C#?
This fall there will be new certifications
path in VB and C#. The only thing good
about it is there will be one less test. You
will have to take one more test if you
wish to be a developer.
Zyprexa: FYI I've heard that a few companies directly throw the resumés mentionning Microsoft Certifications into the trashcan for the reason that 1: according to them any idiot can get an MSC, 2: if someone feels worthy to mention having an MSC, he/she doesn't have the mind set of the persons working in the company.
Err.. did you say CeeShark? I mean. C crap? I mean.
I am a proficient Java, C, C++ developer and about to get a uni degree in software engineering.
While some companies heavilly rely on MS. I LOATHE MS.
As a Java developer, to me, C# is a parody, like.... not a funny one.
I'm about sure your intent was good, but, well, it's kinda like saying to a brazilian pro soccer player "have you ever considered getting a real career in Tadjikistan?" More or less.
The answer is ~no way~ as far as I am concerned. Plus you forgot to read what I was saying....
I mentionned that VB assignment because it was a real pain in the behind and I found the teacher pathetic at sticking to VB6 for a high level course.
I LOATHE VB teachers too. At least, stubborn idiots like mine.
So if you don?t believe in C# certification
then Sun Java certification is worth something.
I was thinking about it to supplement my degree.
It?s all about keeping current. You are only as
good as you last trick. And that is why this
guy here is writing his white paper on graphics.
Right.
"The guy here" who is writing his paper is ME, and it's not about my last trick. I don't understand what you're trying to say about certifications.
I am not sure you understand what I am saying, or what you are saying for that matter.
I don't want to sound rude but let's stay on topic if you don't mind. And don't worry about my professional qualifications.
If you really want to make a debate about what professional certs are worth, do it in the Philososilliness forum, or at least,
in a thread of it's own, okay?
posted 04-08-2006 15:38
I didn't paid attention to the fact you said 'in french'. So I guess I should give it a go. Could you please send the preview at p01 [at] opera [dot] com
... will have to tweak it a little more to match your expectations.
