Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!sun-barr!lll-winken!arisia!glassner
From: glassner@arisia.Xerox.COM (Andrew Glassner)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Graphics Gems (final repost)
Keywords: graphics, gems, book, algorithms
Message-ID: <3524@arisia.Xerox.COM>
Date: 11 Oct 89 00:33:12 GMT
Organization: Xerox PARC
Lines: 115

This is the final posting of this message.  I am
reposting for two reasons: first, to reach students
and faculty at schools that run on a quarters
schedule (and thus may have missed earlier postings)
and second to urge anyone who has thought of contributing
to actually get around and do it!

Think of the number of times you've seen a message
like "I'd like an algorithm to do X..." followed by a
flurry of "Me too"s.  Often there's some lively 
discussion, which ends with a good summary in some form:
a piece of pseudo-code, an equation, or a pointer to a
more general technique in the literature that didn't
seem applicable at first.

That level of activity evidences interest in a topic.
A good answer should live on after the lifetime of its
net dicussion.  If you have provided the definitive answer
to one of these discussion, you're sitting on a Gem!

I encourage folks to think back on their times of
developing code and remember where you got stuck.  Did you
find a good solution to your problem?  Probably someone else
will get stuck at that point again someday - write down
your solution and share it with the world.

If you've contributed and shared on the net, please
consider contributing to this book.  You may never see
"how do I convert a 24 bit picture to 8 bits" again!

-Andrew

--------


CONTRIBUTE TO A NEW BOOK FOR COMPUTER GRAPHICS PROGRAMMERS!

Contributions are solicited for a new book, tentatively
titled GRAPHICS GEMS.  This book will be a collection of
short notes by and for computer graphics programmers and
researchers.  The basic idea is to create a book similar
to the CRC Mathematics Handbook, only tailored to
the subject of computer graphics.

The motivation for Graphics Gems comes from a desire to
document and share the many techniques that are a necessary
part of every graphics programmer's toolbox, yet don't appear
in the standard literature.  Each Gem represents a solution
to a problem: not necessarily a research result, nor even a
deep observation, but simply a good, practical technique
for dealing with a typical computer graphics programming
problem.  A typical Gem may be a code fragment, a short analysis
of an interesting problem, a bit of mathematics, a data structure,
or a geometric relationship.

Here are some appropriate topics for Gems - this list
contains only a few suggestions for topics that might
be covered by interesting Gems, and is far from complete:

Two Dimensions: Fill, smooth, blur, dither, 2d plots,
line drawing, curve drawing, bounding boxes,
overlapping boxes, efficient bitblit (example: automatic
selection of tick marks on a plot).

Three Dimensions: Scan conversion, highlight detection,
shading, isosurfaces, ray intersection, form factor
calculation, visibility, texturing, transformations,
deformations, smoothing, 3d plotting, parameterizations,
surface subdivision, texturing functions, bounding boxes
(example: fast shading formulae).

Graphics: Colormap hacking, object manipulations,
sampling, filtering, optics, interaction techniques,
modelling primitives, efficient rendering, edge detection
(example: reconstruction from stochastic sampling).

General Math: Algebra, calculus, geometry (e.g. why normals
don't move under the same transformations as surfaces).

Programming: Numerical integration, root finding, root polishing,
data structures (objects), data structures (programs), inner loops,
interactive debugging, graphical debugging, color map hacking,
over- and under-flow detection and correction, unusual functions 
(e.g. polynomial root-finding).

Most Gems will be about 1 or 2 final printed pages (4 or 5 pages
of typewritten, double-spaced manuscript), though if you choose
to include source code the listings may run longer.  Rough figures
and equations will be professionally redrawn by the publisher.
Each contributor will have a chance to review the final copy for
his or her Gems before publication.  Each Gem will be clearly
identified with the name and affiliation of its contributor(s). 
Each contributor will receive a complimentary copy of the final book.
 
If you have developed a nice solution to a problem that others
might encounter, be it a data structure, an inner loop, or
even an algebraic simplification that makes your programs shorter
and more robust, then it would probably make a splendid Graphics Gem.
Write it up and send it to the editor at the address below, either
in hardcopy or electronic mail.  Acceptable formats are plain text,
nroff, TeX, MacWrite, and Microsoft Word (Macintosh).  I would 
like to receive a rough draft of all Gems by November 1989.
 
Contribute and share your favorite tricks and techniques with 
the rest of the community!
Send your Graphics Gems to:

Andrew Glassner
Editor, Graphics Gems
Xerox PARC
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA  94304  USA
email: glassner.pa@xerox.com
phone: (415) 494 - 4467