A collection of excerpts from, DirectX Essentials LiveLessons (Video Training): www.informit.com/store/directx-essentials-liveless… Description: 5+ Hours of Video Instruction -- Real-time graphics programming is often considered a dark art, full of complex mathematics and esoteric tools. Even experienced programmers can find the material difficult to absorb. Furthermore, the rapid pace of advancement makes modern graphics programming a moving target, and establishing a foothold can be difficult. Quality educational material is a necessity for newcomers to the field. DirectX Essentials LiveLessons introduces viewers to graphics programming through a moderately deep-dive into shader programming and the Direct3D API. Dr. Paul Varcholik guides viewers with a practical, hands-on approach to modern DirectX application development. While these videos are geared towards programmers, no prior knowledge of graphics programming or 3D math is required. The lessons begin with “Hello, World!” style rendering (drawing a single point and triangle) and extend into introductory lighting models including ambient and diffuse lighting, specular highlights, point lights, and spotlights. The videos also cover texture mapping, environment mapping, normal mapping, and color blending and introduce viewers to 3D math in a straight-forward, stress-free fashion. Click here for more info and to view a complete table of contents: www.informit.com/store/directx-essentials-liveless…