This is the eBook version of the printed book.
This third volume of the best-selling GPU Gems series provides a snapshot of today?s latest Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) programming techniques. The programmability of modern GPUs allows developers to not only distinguish themselves from one another but also to use this awesome processing power for non-graphics applications, such as physics simulation, financial analysis, and even virus detection?particularly with the CUDA architecture. Graphics remains the leading application for GPUs, and readers will find that the latest algorithms create ultra-realistic characters, better lighting, and post-rendering compositing effects.

Major topics include

• Geometry
• Light and Shadows
• Rendering
• Image Effects
• Physics Simulation
• GPU Computing

Contributors are from the following corporations and universities:

3Dfacto
Adobe Systems
Apple
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
CGGVeritas
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Cornell University
Crytek
Czech Technical University in Prague
Dartmouth College
Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment
Eindhoven University of Technology
Electronic Arts
Havok
Helsinki University of Technology
Imperial College London
Infinity Ward
Juniper Networks
LaBRI?INRIA, University of Bordeaux
mental images
Microsoft Research
Move Interactive
NCsoft Corporation
NVIDIA Corporation
Perpetual Entertainment
Playlogic Game Factory
Polytime
Rainbow Studios
SEGA Corporation
UFRGS (Brazil)
Ulm University
University of California, Davis
University of Central Florida
University of Copenhagen
University of Girona
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
University of Tokyo
University of Waterloo

Section Editors include NVIDIA engineers: Cyril Zeller, Evan Hart, Ignacio Casta?o, Kevin Bjorke, Kevin Myers, and Nolan Goodnight.

The accompanying DVD includes complementary examples and sample programs.

?The GPU Gems series features a collection of the most essential algorithms required by Next-Generation 3D Engines.?
?Martin Mittring, Lead Graphics Programmer, Crytek

This third volume of the best-selling GPU Gems series provides a snapshot of today?s latest Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) programming techniques. The programmability of modern GPUs allows developers to not only distinguish themselves from one another but also to use this awesome processing power for non-graphics applications, such as physics simulation, financial analysis, and even virus detection?particularly with the CUDA architecture. Graphics remains the leading application for GPUs, and readers will find that the latest algorithms create ultra-realistic characters, better lighting, and post-rendering compositing effects.

Major topics include

• Geometry
• Light and Shadows
• Rendering
• Image Effects
• Physics Simulation
• GPU Computing

Contributors are from the following corporations and universities:

3Dfacto
Adobe Systems
Apple
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
CGGVeritas
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Cornell University
Crytek
Czech Technical University in Prague
Dartmouth College
Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment
Eindhoven University of Technology
Electronic Arts
Havok
Helsinki University of Technology
Imperial College London
Infinity Ward
Juniper Networks
LaBRI?INRIA, University of Bordeaux
mental images
Microsoft Research
Move Interactive
NCsoft Corporation
NVIDIA Corporation
Perpetual Entertainment
Playlogic Game Factory
Polytime
Rainbow Studios
SEGA Corporation
UFRGS (Brazil)
Ulm University
University of California, Davis
University of Central Florida
University of Copenhagen
University of Girona
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
University of Tokyo
University of Waterloo

Section Editors include NVIDIA engineers: Cyril Zeller, Evan Hart, Ignacio Castaño, Kevin Bjorke, Kevin Myers, and Nolan Goodnight.

The accompanying DVD includes complementary examples and sample programs.

Hubert Nguyen, Manager of Developer Education at NVIDIA, is a graphics engineer who worked in the NVIDIA Demo Team before moving to his current position. His work is featured on the covers of GPU Gems (Addison-Wesley, 2004) and GPU Gems 2 (Addison-Wesley, 2006).

?The GPU Gems series features a collection of the most essential algorithms required by Next-Generation 3D Engines.?
?Martin Mittring, Lead Graphics Programmer, Crytek

This third volume of the best-selling GPU Gems series provides a snapshot of today?s latest Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) programming techniques. The programmability of modern GPUs allows developers to not only distinguish themselves from one another but also to use this awesome processing power for non-graphics applications, such as physics simulation, financial analysis, and even virus detection?particularly with the CUDA architecture. Graphics remains the leading application for GPUs, and readers will find that the latest algorithms create ultra-realistic characters, better lighting, and post-rendering compositing effects.

Major topics include

• Geometry
• Light and Shadows
• Rendering
• Image Effects
• Physics Simulation
• GPU Computing

Contributors are from the following corporations and universities:

3Dfacto
Adobe Systems
Apple
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
CGGVeritas
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Cornell University
Crytek
Czech Technical University in Prague
Dartmouth College
Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment
Eindhoven University of Technology
Electronic Arts
Havok
Helsinki University of Technology
Imperial College London
Infinity Ward
Juniper Networks
LaBRI?INRIA, University of Bordeaux
mental images
Microsoft Research
Move Interactive
NCsoft Corporation
NVIDIA Corporation
Perpetual Entertainment
Playlogic Game Factory
Polytime
Rainbow Studios
SEGA Corporation
UFRGS (Brazil)
Ulm University
University of California, Davis
University of Central Florida
University of Copenhagen
University of Girona
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
University of Tokyo
University of Waterloo

Section Editors include NVIDIA engineers: Cyril Zeller, Evan Hart, Ignacio Castaño, Kevin Bjorke, Kevin Myers, and Nolan Goodnight.

The accompanying DVD includes complementary examples and sample programs.

“The GPU Gems series features a collection of the most essential algorithms required by Next-Generation 3D Engines.”
—Martin Mittring, Lead Graphics Programmer, Crytek

This third volume of the best-selling GPU Gems series provides a snapshot of today’s latest Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) programming techniques. The programmability of modern GPUs allows developers to not only distinguish themselves from one another but also to use this awesome processing power for non-graphics applications, such as physics simulation, financial analysis, and even virus detection—particularly with the CUDA architecture. Graphics remains the leading application for GPUs, and readers will find that the latest algorithms create ultra-realistic characters, better lighting, and post-rendering compositing effects.

Major topics include

• Geometry
• Light and Shadows
• Rendering
• Image Effects
• Physics Simulation
• GPU Computing

Contributors are from the following corporations and universities:

3Dfacto
Adobe Systems
Apple
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
CGGVeritas
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Cornell University
Crytek
Czech Technical University in Prague
Dartmouth College
Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment
Eindhoven University of Technology
Electronic Arts
Havok
Helsinki University of Technology
Imperial College London
Infinity Ward
Juniper Networks
LaBRI–INRIA, University of Bordeaux
mental images
Microsoft Research
Move Interactive
NCsoft Corporation
NVIDIA Corporation
Perpetual Entertainment
Playlogic Game Factory
Polytime
Rainbow Studios
SEGA Corporation
UFRGS (Brazil)
Ulm University
University of California, Davis
University of Central Florida
University of Copenhagen
University of Girona
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
University of Tokyo
University of Waterloo

Section Editors include NVIDIA engineers: Cyril Zeller, Evan Hart, Ignacio Castaño, Kevin Bjorke, Kevin Myers, and Nolan Goodnight.

The accompanying DVD includes complementary examples and sample programs.

Even better, than GPU Gems 1/2

Though I had no time to read most of the articles, I can say that this book is even better than GPU 1/2. It is still more narrative than educational (comparing to ShaderX series), but nevertheless I got useful material from it.
For example, the methods for ray-marching (multiple robust reflections and refractions chapter) are going to be used in our company.
I would recommend it for all professionals in 3D graphics, image/video processing and GPU (GP GPU) computing.

Good book, i would like to see more code

The third version of the GPU Gems serie is also the best version i think. Every topic is up-to-date and gives the reader a lot to think about. I have read the whole book (some of the chapters i just skimmed through) and i must say that this book is good! The reason i only give it 4 stars is the disc that comes with it. Not every chapter comes with example code (only executables and/or videos)! To be able to take fully advantage of the book you have to know, among other things, 3D programming using Direct3D 10 already. The "Intended audience" should know the fundamentals of DirectX or OpenGL. I think it takes some more than just the fundamentals to be able do something good other than just copy-paste the code from the disc.

It’s a good thing to read this book even if you are not an excellent programmer already. You will learn things that you will find hard to learn from somewhere else. Read the book to update yourself to the new generation of rendering.

Students; If you are looking for topics for bachelor or masters thesis, then this book has a lot of good examples, in theory, of what you can do to improve the techniques.

Pros/Cons
+ Covers new and good techniques
+ Easy to read, excellent!
+ Disc has some good and useful stuff

- Some techniques will be hard to implement if you are no expert because the chapters (not all!) are too shallow (writer assume that the reader knows a lot already).
- Some chapters come without (full) source code


Maybe this was not a precise review of the book but i tried to describe my view. Buy this book, it’s really good and as a serious developer you should have this book on the shelf!

A five star book for advanced graphics programmers only

It seems to me that this edition of GPU Gems is a step up from Volume 2. The articles are much better illustrated with more pseudocode and with the background mathematics better explained than in the previous edition. Like the other books in the series, there is not enough complete information to write an application from start to finish, but if you have a background in computer graphics it should be enough to get you started. However, the entire book assumes that you are already a professional graphics programmer well-versed in some higher-level language that also has a good grasp of advanced mathematics and even some physics. For example, a knowledge of partial differential equations is required to completely understand the chapter on real-time simulation and rendering of 3D fluids. Other chapters require a background in digital signal processing. It is also assumed that the reader is famililar with graphics API such as DirectX or OpenGL and their associated high-level programming languages - HLSL,GLSL, or Cg. Therefore it will probably be the rare individual that will be able to fully comprehend and utilize the entire book. I would recommend this book for the professional graphics programmer to add to their reference library. The following is the detailed table of contents and the contributors in each case:

Part I - GEOMETRY
Chapter 1: Generating Complex Procedural Terrains Using the GPU
Ryan Geiss, NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 2: Animated Crowd Rendering
Bryan Dudash, NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 3: DirectX 10 Blend Shapes: Breaking the Limits
Tristan Lorach, NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 4: Next-Generation SpeedTree Rendering
Alexander Kharlamov, Iain Cantlay, Yury Stepanenko - NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 5: Generic Adaptive Mesh Refinement
Tamy Boubekeur, Christophe Schlick - University of Bordeaux

Chapter 6: GPU-Generated Procedural Wind Animations for Trees
Renaldas Zioma, Electronic Arts/Digital Illusions CE

Chapter 7: Point-Based Visualization of Metaballs on a GPU
Kees van Kooten, Gino van den Bergen - Playlogic Game Factory
Alex Telea, Eindhoven University of Technology

PART 2 - LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
Chapter 8: Summed-Area Variance Shadow Maps
Andrew Lauritzen, University of Waterloo

Chapter 9: Interactive Cinematic Relighting with Global Illumination
Fabio Pellacini, Dartmouth College
Milos Hasan, Kavita Bala - Cornell University

Chapter 10: Parallel-Split Shadow Maps on Programmable GPUs
Fan Zhang, Hanqiu Sun - The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Oskari Nyman, Helsinki University of Technology

Chapter 11: Efficient and Robust Shadow Volumes Using Hierarchical Occlusion Culling and Geometry Shaders
Martin Stich, mental images
Carsten Wächter, Alexander Keller - Ulm University

Chapter 12: High-Quality Ambient Occlusion
Jared Hoberock, Yuntao Jia - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chapter 13: Volumetric Light Scattering as a Post-Process
Kenny Mitchell, Electronic Arts

PART 3 - RENDERING
Chapter 14: Advanced Techniques for Realistic Real-Time Skin Rendering
Eugene d’Eon, David Luebke - NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 15: Playable Universal Capture
George Borshukov, Jefferson Montgomery, John Hable - Electronic Arts

Chapter 16: Vegetation Procedural Animation and Shading in Crysis
Tiago Sousa, Crytek

Chapter 17: Robust Multiple Specular Reflections and Refractions
Tamás Umenhoffer, BLászló Szirmay-Kalos - Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Gustavo Patow, University of Girona

Chapter 18: Relaxed Cone Stepping for Relief Mapping
Fabio Policarpo, Perpetual Entertainment
Manuel M. Oliveira, Instituto de Informática--UFRGS

Chapter 19: Deferred Shading in Tabula Rasa
Rusty Koonce, NCsoft Corporation

Chapter 20: GPU-Based Importance Sampling
Mark Colbert, University of Central Florida
Jaroslav Kr¡ivánek, Czech Technical University in Prague

PART 4 - IMAGE EFFECTS
Chapter 21: True Impostors
Eric Risser, University of Central Florida

Chapter 22: Baking Normal Maps on the GPU
Diogo Teixeira, Move Interactive

Chapter 23: High-Speed, Off-Screen Particles
Iain Cantlay, NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 24: The Importance of Being Linear
Larry Gritz, Eugene d’Eon, NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 25: Rendering Vector Art on the GPU
Charles Loop, Jim Blinn - Microsoft Research

Chapter 26: Object Detection by Color: Using the GPU for Real-Time Video Image Processing
Ralph Brunner, Frank Doepke, Bunny Laden - Apple

Chapter 27: Motion Blur as a Post-Processing Effect
Gilberto Rosado, Rainbow Studios

Chapter 28: Practical Post-Process Depth of Field
Earl Hammon, Jr., Infinity Ward

PART 5 - PHYSICS SIMULATION
Chapter 29: Real-Time Rigid Body Simulation on GPUs
Takahiro Harada, University of Tokyo

Chapter 30: Real-Time Simulation and Rendering of 3D Fluids
Keenan Crane, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ignacio Llamas, Sarah Tariq - NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 31: Fast N-Body Simulation with CUDA
Lars Nyland, Mark Harris - NVIDIA Corporation
Jan Prins, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapter 32: Broad-Phase Collision Detection with CUDA
Scott Le Grand, NVIDIA Corporation

Chapter 33: LCP Algorithms for Collision Detection Using CUDA
Peter Kipfer, Havok

Chapter 34: Signed Distance Fields Using Single-Pass GPU Scan Conversion of Tetrahedra
Kenny Erleben, University of Copenhagen
Henrik Dohlmann, 3Dfacto R&D

PART 6 - GPU COMPUTING
Chapter 35: Fast Virus Signature Matching on the GPU
Elizabeth Seamans, Juniper Networks
Thomas Alexander, Polytime

Chapter 36: AES Encryption and Decryption on the GPU
Takeshi Yamanouchi, SEGA Corporation

Chapter 37: Efficient Random Number Generation and Application Using CUDA
Lee Howes, David Thomas - Imperial College London

Chapter 38: Imaging Earth’s Subsurface Using CUDA
Bernard Deschizeaux, Jean-Yves Blanc, CGGVeritas

Chapter 39: Parallel Prefix Sum (Scan) with CUDA
Mark Harris, NVIDIA Corporation
Shubhabrata Sengupta, John D. Owens - University of California, Davis

Chapter 40: Incremental Computation of the Gaussian
Ken Turkowski, Adobe Systems

Chapter 41: Using the Geometry Shader for Compact and Variable-Length GPU Feedback
Franck Diard, NVIDIA Corporatiion