Book Announcement: The Complete Effect and HLSL Guide

  • Article

In my press release earlier today i've announced two new books. Well, one book and one booklet. I've decided to include a more detailed description of my book taken from www.ParadoxalPress.com.

Also note that Paradoxal Press is conducting a pre-order special. If you pre-order now, you get a special price of 29.99 and in addition, free shipping and a free copy of The Complete HLSL Reference.

Below is the information for The Complete Effect and HLSL Guide...

DESCRIPTION

The topic of The Complete Effect and HLSL Guide is shader development and management, and therefore it is written for any developers who have some interest in being efficient at using and integrating shaders within their applications. This book is written to serve as both a teaching and reference manual, making it a must-have to everybody from hobbyist programmers to professional developers. The approach taken throughout The Complete Effect and HLSL Guide makes it the perfect book for anyone who wants to integrate shaders into their application and take advantage of the power of the DirectX effect framework and the HLSL shading language.

FEATURES

  • Introduction to both the HLSL shading language and effect file development including their detailed syntax and use.
  • Complete reference along with performance considerations to every HLSL and assembly shader instructions.
  • Introdution the DirectX Effect Framework and complete overview to its API.
  • Optimization tips and tricks to make the best out of your shaders.
  • Coverage of all the main components of the Effect Framework in addition to putting the pieces of the puzzle together allowing you to develop a shader management framework.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1 – The HLSL Shading Language

  • Chapter 1: Shaders and the HLSL Shader Language
  • Chapter 2: The Structure of HLSL
  • Chapter 3: Functions, Nothing but Functions
  • Chapter 4: Shader Examples

SECTION 2 – The Effect Files

  • Chapter 5: The Effect File Format
  • Chapter 6: Semantics and Annotations
  • Chapter 7: Shader Optimization and Shortcuts

SECTION 3 – The DirectX Effect Framework

  • Chapter 8: Framework Overview
  • Chapter 9: The EFFECT
  • Chapter 10: Sharing Parameters
  • Chapter 11: Effect State Manager
  • Chapter 12: Effect Compiler and Include Manager

SECTION 4 – Appendices

  • Appendix – A: Shader Assembly Instructions
  • Appendix – B: HLSL Instruction Reference
  • Appendix – C: Standard Semantics and Annotations

AUTHOR BIO

Sebastien St-Laurent holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Sherbrooke University in Quebec (Canada) where he graduated at top of his class in 1999. Since then, he worked on many video game titles including: Space Invaders, Dave Mira Freestyle BMX, Dave Mira Freestyle BMX2, Aggressive Inline, BMX XXX. Sebastien is now currently employed with the Microsoft Corporation where he is a graphics developer for the Microsoft Game Studios. Sebastien St-Laurent is also a published author who has written “Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists” and is currently working on his next title and doing some editorial work for the upcoming ShaderX4 book.

Help me and my wife out, check out my sponsors: :