Resources

Optional Textbooks

• Graphics Shaders: Theory and Practice (2nd ed)
• Texturing and Painting
• Lighting and Rendering
• Physically Based Rendering: From Theory to Implementation (PBRT)
• Principles of Digital Image Synthesis (full text pdf via Creative Commons license)

Other Reference Textbooks

• Anton’s OpenGL eBook, Example Code, and Math Cheat Sheet
• OpenGL 4 Shading Language Cookbook (2nd ed)
• OpenGL Shading Language (spec)
• OpenGL Shading Language (3rd ed)
• Ray-Tracing from the Ground Up
• Ray-Tracing in a Weekend
• Production Volume Rendering (SIGGRAPH 2017 Course)
• Production Volume Rendering (SIGGRAPH 2011 Course)
• Production Volume Rendering: Design and Implementation
• Production Volume Rendering (PVR Code Repo)
• Procedural Modeling and Texturing
• Non-Photorealistic Rendering
• Non-Photorealistic Rendering (SIGGRAPH 1999 Course)
• Fundamentals of Computer Graphics (4th ed)
• Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice (3rd ed)

Math Review

• Anton’s Maths Cheat Sheet

Code

• Download this package for an example to get you started for authoring GLSL fragment shaders.

Selected Pertinent Research Papers

• 1967 Torrance and Sparrow: Theory for Off-Specular Reflection for Roughened Surfaces
• 1975 Phong: Illumination for Computer Generated Pictures
• 1976 Blinn and Newell: Texture and Reflection in Computer Generated Images
• 1977 Blinn: Models of Light Reflection for Computer Synthesized Pictures
• 1977 Crow: Shadow Algorithms for Computer Graphics
• 1980 Whitted: An Improved Illumination Model for Shaded Display
• 1981 Cook and Torrance: A Reflectance Model for Computer Graphics
• 1984 Cook, Porter, and Carpenter: Distributed Ray Tracing
• 1984 Goral, Torrance, Greenberg, and Battaile: Radiosity
• 1985 Perlin: An Image Synthesizer
• 1986 Kajiya: The Rendering Equation
• 1986 Cook: Stochastic Sampling in Computer Graphics
• 1987 Cook, Carpenter, and Catmull: The Reyes Rendering Architecture
• 1993 Lafortune and Willems: Bi-Directional Path Tracing
• 1994 Oren and Nayar: Generalization of Lambert’s Reflection Model
• 1996 Jensen: Global Illumination using Photon Maps
• 2007 Walter, Marschner, Li, and Torrance: Microfacet Models for Refraction
• 2008 Burley and Lacewell: Ptex: Per-Face Texture Mapping for Production Rendering
• 2018 ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG): Special Issue on Production Rendering and Regular Papers

Shaders, Shading Languages, and Reflectance

• The Book of Shaders by Patricio Gonzalez Vivo and Jen Lowe.
• OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL)
• Open Shading Language.
• Disney’s BRDF Explorer

Practical Physically Based Shading

• The PBR Guide by Allegorithmic
• Unreal Engine: Physically Based Materials
• Feeding a Physically Based Shading Model by S. Lagarde
• DONTNOD Physically Based Material Chart
• Physically Based Shading SIGGRAPH Course 2010.
• Physically Based Shading SIGGRAPH Course 2012.
• Physically Based Shading SIGGRAPH Course 2013.
• Physically Based Shading SIGGRAPH Course 2014.
• Physically Based Shading SIGGRAPH Course 2015.
• Physically Based Shading SIGGRAPH Course 2016.

Take particular note of the 2012 notes on Brent Burley’s presentation of Physically Based Shading at Disney which has been much referenced. Also, note the 2012 and 2013 presentations on OSL as well as the 2013 presentation on Real Shading in Unreal Engine 4. Lastly, note the talk on Bi-Directional Path Tracing at Pixar from 2016.

General Graphics

• The Graphics Codex by Morgan McGuire.
• Scratchapixel is an excellent introduction to many topics.

Rendering

• The Art of Rendering
• The State of the Art of Rendering, Part I
• The State of the Art of Rendering, Part II
• RenderMan Turns 25

Selected Pastels, Paintings, and Photographs

• Pixar Color Scripts
• Lou Romano’s Blog
• 1525 Dürer: Man Drawing a Lute
• 1609 Elsheimer: The Flight into Egypt
• 1610 Rubens: The Raising of the Cross
• 1633 Rembrandt: Storm on the Sea of Galilee
• 1642 Rembrandt: The Night Watch
• 1652 Rembrandt: An Old Man in Red
• 1655 Kalf: Still Life with Silver Jug
• 1660 Kalf: Still Life with an Aquamanile Fruit and a Nautilus Cup
• 1766 Wright: A Philospher Giving That Lecture
• 1771 Vernet: Seaport by Moonlight
• 1860 Francis: Luncheon Still Life
• 1888 Harnett: Still Life Violin and Music
• 1909 Bellows: Both Members of this Club
• 1922 Ury: Hochbahnhof Bülowstraße
• 2004 Tutor: Dream of Love
• 2006 Tutor: I Dreamed It All
• 2007 Baeder: John’s Diner with John’s Chevelle
• Photorealism Paintings by Ralph Goings

Allegorithmic Substance Painter and Designer

• PBR Guide Volumes 1 & 2
• The New Age of Procedural Texturing
• Painter Docs

• Painter Tutorials

• Designer Docs

• Designer Tutorials

• Substance B2M Docs
• Substance B2M Tutorials

Unreal Engine

• Essential Material Concepts
• Unreal Engine
• UE Docs
• UE Videos

MARI

• Mari User Guide
• Mari Tutorials at The Foundry

RenderMan

• RenderMan 20 Developer’s Guide
• Writing Patterns
• Writing Bxdfs
• Writing Integrators
• PxrOSL

Arnold

• Arnold Documentation
• Solid Angle Research

FxGuide Podcasts

• Interview with Ed Catmull
• Physically Plausible Shading at Pixar
• Solid Angle’s Marcos Fajardo on Arnold

FxGuide Video

• Weta on Rendering

Websites by Some Cool Graphics People (not considered exhaustive, obviously)

• Eric Haines
• Naty Hoffman
• Steve Marschner
• Morgan McGuire
• Matt Pharr.
• Cem Yuksel