Preface
Taken as a whole, the topics covered in this book will enable you to create a
complete s u ite of programs for three-dimensional computer animation, modeling
and image synthesis. It is about pr actical algor ith ms for each stage in the creative
process. The text takes you fr om the construction of polygonal models of objects
(real or imaginary) through rigid body animation into hierarchical character
animation and finally down the rendering pipeline for the synthesis of realistic
images of the models you build.
The content of the first edition of the book, published in 2001, aros e from my
experience of working on two comprehensive commercial 3D animation and mod-
eling app lication programs (Envisage 3D and SoftFX) for the personal computer ...