Introduction DirectX vertex and pixel shader programming

Short Description
This book covers DirectX vertex and pixel shader programming with the High-Level. Shading Language (HLSL) compiler provided with the DirectX SDK. …

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Content
1
P A R T I
Until the advent of shader-capable hardware in 2001, graphics accelerators used a
fixed-function graphics pipeline implemented in hardware. Specific graphics
algorithms were “fixed” into the graphics chip, and the quality and availability of
these algorithms differed on graphics cards depending upon the hardware vendor.
This made it quite challenging to create a game that looked the same on different
graphics cards while being visually unique.
It was a huge improvement to the visual quality of games when graphics cards
with programming interfaces to their graphics-processing unit (GPU) became available.
This step was influenced by a software package named Photorealistic Render-
Man(tm) from Pixar Animation Studios, which had existed for more than a decade
prior. Pixar’s use of RenderMan in the development of feature films such as Toy Story,
A Bug’s Life, and Finding Nemo has resulted in a level of photorealistic and non-photorealistic
graphics that has amazed audiences worldwide.
Today, the graphics card is programmed in assembly or in one of the high-level
languages like the High-Level Shading Language (HLSL) provided by the DirectX
SDK or the OpenGL shading language (GLSL). However,…