As the field of computer graphics develops, techniques for modeling complex curves and surfaces are increasingly important. A major technique is the use of parametric splines in which a curve is defined by piecing together a succession of curve segments, and surfaces are defined by stitching together a mosaic of surface patches.

"An Introduction to Splines for Use in Computer Graphics and Geometric Modeling" discusses the use of splines from the point of view of the computer scientist. Assuming only a background in beginning calculus, the authors present the material using many examples and illustrations with the goal of building the reader's intuition. Based on courses given at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Waterloo, as well as numerous ACM Siggraph tutorials, the book includes the most recent advances in computer-aided geometric modeling and design to make spline modeling techniques generally accessible to the computer graphics and geometric modeling communities.

"Physically-Based Modeling for Computer Graphics: A Structured Approach" addresses the challenge of designing and managing the complexity of physically-based models. This book will be of interest to researchers, computer graphics practitioners, mathematicians, engineers, animators, software developers and those interested in computer implementation and simulation of mathematical models.
* Presents a philosophy and terminology for "Structured Modeling"
* Includes mathematicl and programming techniques to support and implement the methodology
* Covers a library of model components, including rigid-body kinematics, rigid-body dynamics, and force-based constraint methods
* Includes illustrations of several ample models created from these components
* Foreword by Al Barr

This is a practical perspective on simulation aimed at working scientists and engineers. Amply illustrated, the book provides many examples with computer coding. New topics, such as animation, concept modeling, and logic transfer are covered in detail.

An authoritative book for hardware and software designers. Caches are by far the simplest and most effective mechanism for improving computer performance. This innovative book exposes the characteristics of performance-optimal single and multi-level cache hierarchies by approaching the cache design process through the novel perspective of minimizing execution times. It presents useful data on the relative performance of a wide spectrum of machines and offers empirical and analytical evaluations of the underlying phenomena. This book will help computer professionals appreciate the impact of caches and enable designers to maximize performance given particular implementation constraints.

This practical handbook provides a broad overview of the major elements of pattern recognition and image processing (PRIP). Currently the only handbook in the field, it is designed as a source of "quick answers" for those interested in the theoretical development and practical applications of PRIP techniques.
Twenty years of research, development, and innovations in applications are documented in this comprehensive work. Written by leading researchers in the field, chapters deal with
statistical and syntactic pattern recognition
feature selection and extraction
cluster analysis
image enhancement and restoration
shapes, texture, and motion
computer vision
computer systems and architectures for image processing and various industrial and biomedical applications.
Engineers, computer scientists, other professionals, and students interested in applying PRIP techniques will find the Handbook of Pattern Recognition and Image Processing to be an invaluable reference source.

*The classic reference, with over 25,000 copies in print, has been massively expanded and thoroughly updated to include state-of-the-art methods and 400+ all-new full color images At ILM, compositing is one of the most important tools we use. If you want to learn more, this excellent 2nd-edition is detailed with hundreds of secrets that will help make your comps seamless. For beginners or experts, Ron walks you through the processes of analysis and workflows - linear thinking which will help you become deft and successfully tackle any shot. - Dennis Muren ASC, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic Ron Brinkman's book is the definitive work on digital compositing and we have depended on this book as a critical part of our in-house training program at Imageworks since the 1999 Edition. We use this book as a daily textbook and reference for our lighters, compositors and anyone working with digital imagery. It is wonderful to see a new edition being released and it will certainly be required reading for all our digital artists here at Imageworks. - Sande Scoredos, Executive Director of Training & Artist Development, Sony Pictures Imageworks The Art and Science of Digital Compositing is the only complete overview of the technical and artistic nature of digital compositing. It covers a wide range of topics from basic image creation, representation and manipulation, to a look at the visual cues that are necessary to create a believable composite. Designed as an introduction to the field, as well as an authoritative technical reference, this book provides essential information for novices and professionals alike. *17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith. *Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more

All disc-based content for this title is now available on the Web.

*17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith.

*Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more

Virtual Machine technology applies the concept of virtualization to an entire machine, circumventing real machine compatibility constraints and hardware resource constraints to enable a higher degree of software portability and flexibility. Virtual machines are rapidly becoming an essential element in computer system design. They provide system security, flexibility, cross-platform compatibility, reliability, and resource efficiency. Designed to solve problems in combining and using major computer system components, virtual machine technologies play a key role in many disciplines, including operating systems, programming languages, and computer architecture. For example, at the process level, virtualizing technologies support dynamic program translation and platform-independent network computing. At the system level, they support multiple operating system environments on the same hardware platform and in servers.
Historically, individual virtual machine techniques have been developed within the specific disciplines that employ them (in some cases they aren t even referred to as virtual machines ), making it difficult to see their common underlying relationships in a cohesive way. In this text, Smith and Nair take a new approach by examining virtual machines as a unified discipline. Pulling together cross-cutting technologies allows virtual machine implementations to be studied and engineered in a well-structured manner. Topics include instruction set emulation, dynamic program translation and optimization, high level virtual machines (including Java and CLI), and system virtual machines for both single-user systems and servers.
*Examines virtual machine technologies across the disciplines that use them operating systems, programming languages and computer architecture defining a new and unified discipline.
*Reviewed by principle researchers at Microsoft, HP, and by other industry research groups.
*Written by two authors who combine several decades of expertise in computer system research and development, both in academia and industry."

Driven by demand from the entertainment industry for better and more realistic animation, technology continues to evolve and improve. The algorithms and techniques behind this technology are the foundation of this comprehensive book, which is written to teachyou the fundamentals of animation programming.

In this third edition, the most current techniques are covered along with the theory and high-level computation that have earned the book a reputation as the best technically-oriented animation resource. Key topics such as fluids, hair, and crowd animation have been expanded, and extensive new coverage of clothes and cloth has been added. New material on simulation provides a more diverse look at this important area and more example animations and chapter projects and exercises are included. Additionally, spline coverage has been expanded and new video compression and formats (e.g., iTunes) are covered.

* Includes companion site with contemporary animation examples drawn from research and entertainment, sample animations, and example code * Describes the key mathematical and algorithmic foundations of animation that provide you with a deep understanding and control of technique * Expanded and new coverage of key topics including: fluids and clouds, cloth and clothes, hair, and crowd animation *Explains the algorithms used for path following, hierarchical kinematic modelling, rigid body dynamics, flocking behaviour, particle systems, collision detection, and more"

The field of multidimensional data structures is large and growing very quickly. Here, for the first time, is a thorough treatment of multidimensional point data, object and image-based representations, intervals and small rectangles, and high-dimensional datasets. The book includes a thorough introduction; a comprehensive survey to spatial and multidimensional data structures and algorithms; and implementation details for the most useful data structures. Along with the hundreds of worked exercises and hundreds of illustrations, the result is an excellent and valuable reference tool for professionals in many areas, including computer graphics, databases, geographic information systems (GIS), game programming, image processing, pattern recognition, solid modeling, similarity retrieval, and VLSI design. Award Winner in 2006 Best Book competition in Professional and Scholarly Publishing from the Association of American Publishers.

Morgan Kaufmann would like to congratulate Hanan Samet on receiving the UCGIS 2009 Research Award

Read the announcement here: http: //www.ucgis.org/summer2009/researchaward.htm
* First comprehensive work on multidimensional data structures available, a thorough and authoritative treatment.
* An algorithmic rather than mathematical approach, with a liberal use of examples that allows the readers to easily see the possible implementation and use.
* Each section includes a large number of exercises and solutions to self-test and confirm the reader's understanding and suggest future directions.
* Written by a well-known authority in the area of spatial data structures who has made many significant contributions to the field.
The author's website includes: Spatial Index Demos"

"The Student's Guide to VHDL" is a condensed edition of "The Designer's Guide to VHDL, " the most widely used textbook on VHDL for digital system modeling. "The Student's Guide" is targeted as a supplemental reference book for computer organization and digital design courses.
Since publication of the first edition of "The Student's Guide, " the IEEE VHDL and related standards have been revised. The "Designer's Guide" has been revised to reflect the changes, so it is appropriate that "The Student's Guide" also be revised.
"In The Student's Guide to VHDL, 2nd Edition, " we have included a design case study illustrating an FPGA-based design flow. The aim is to show how VHDL modeling fits into a design flow, starting from high-level design and proceeding through detailed design and verification, synthesis, FPGA place and route, and final timing verification. Inclusion of the case study helps to better serve the educational market. Currently, most college courses do not formally address the details of design flow. Students may be given informal guidance on how to proceed with lab projects. In many cases, it is left to students to work it out for themselves. The case study in "The Student's Guide" provides a reference design flow that can be adapted to a variety of lab projects.

"Heterogeneous Computing with OpenCL "teaches OpenCL and parallel programming for complex systems that may include a variety of device architectures: multi-core CPUs, GPUs, and fully-integrated Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) such as AMD Fusion technology. Designed to work on multiple platforms and with wide industry support, OpenCL will help you more effectively program for a heterogeneous future.

Written by leaders in the parallel computing and OpenCL communities, this book will give you hands-on OpenCL experience to address a range of fundamental parallel algorithms. The authors explore memory spaces, optimization techniques, graphics interoperability, extensions, and debugging and profiling. Intended to support a parallel programming course, "Heterogeneous Computing with OpenCL" includes detailed examples throughout, plus additional online exercises and other supporting materials.
Explains principles and strategies to learn parallel programming with OpenCL, from understanding the four abstraction models to thoroughly testing and debugging complete applications.Covers image processing, web plugins, particle simulations, video editing, performance optimization, and more.Shows how OpenCL maps to an example target architecture and explains some of the tradeoffs associated with mapping to various architecturesAddresses a range of fundamental programming techniques, with multiple examples and case studies that demonstrate OpenCL extensions for a variety of hardware platforms

The power of today s motion capture technology has taken animated characters and special effects to amazing new levels of reality. And with the release of blockbusters like Avatar and Tin-Tin, audiences continually expect more from each new release. To live up to these expectations, film and game makers, particularly technical animators and directors, need to be at the forefront of motion capture technology. In this extensively updated edition of "Understanding Motion Capture for Computer Animation and Video Games," an industry insider explains the latest research developments in digital design and film, games, medicine, sports, and security engineering.

This completely updated new edition tells the complete story of motion capture, including the current state-of-the-art technology, methodology, and the explosive growth of the motion capture industry. In-depth technical explanations pair text and code, to help you understand not only the fundamental tenets of motion capture, but also the reasons behind its successes and failures. This timely new edition is an essential resource for anyone producing realistic motion graphics.
Completely revised to include almost 40% new content with emphasis on RF and Facial Motion Capture SystemsCompanion site with source code, motion capture data translator, and example files help you write conversion and motion data manipulation programsDescribes all the mathematical principles associated with motion capture and 3D character mechanicsHelps you budget by explaining the costs associated with individualized motion capture projects "

This book will introduce professional engineers and students alike to system development using Platform FPGAs. The focus is on embedded systems but it also serves as a general guide to building custom computing systems. The text describes the fundamental technology in terms of hardware, software, and a set of principles to guide the development of Platform FPGA systems. The goal is to show how to systematically and creatively apply these principles to the construction of application-specific embedded system architectures. There is a strong focus on using free and open source software to increase productivity.

The organization of each chapter in the book includes two parts. The white pages describe concepts, principles, and general knowledge. The gray pages include a technical rendition of the main issues of the chapter and show the concepts applied in practice. This includes step-by-step details for a specific development board and tool chain so that the reader can carry out the same steps on their own. Rather than try to demonstrate the concepts on a broad set of tools and boards, the text uses a single set of tools (Xilinx Platform Studio, Linux, and GNU) throughout and uses a single developer board (Xilinx ML-510) for the examples.
Explains how to use the Platform FPGA to meet complex design requirements and improve product performancePresents both fundamental concepts together with pragmatic, step-by-step instructions for building a system on a Platform FPGAIncludes detailed case studies, extended real-world examples, and lab exercises

VHDL-2008: Just the New Stuff, as its title says, introduces the new features added to the latest revision of the IEEE standard for the VHDL hardware description language. Written by the Chair and Technical Editor of the IEEE working group, the book is an authoritative guide to how the new features work and how to use them to improve design productivity. It will be invaluable for early adopters of the new language version, for tool implementers, and for those just curious about where VHDL is headed.
* First in the market describing the new features of VHDL 2008;
* Just the new features, so existing users and implementers can focus on what's new;
* Helps readers to learn the new features soon, rather than waiting for new editions of complete VHDL reference books.
* Authoritative, written by experts in the area;
* Tutorial style, making it more accessible than the VHDL Standard Language Reference Manual.

Do you spend too much time creating the building blocks of your graphics applications or finding and correcting errors? "Geometric Tools for Computer Graphics" is an extensive, conveniently organized collection of proven solutions to fundamental problems that you'd rather not solve over and over again, including building primitives, distance calculation, approximation, containment, decomposition, intersection determination, separation, and more.

If you have a mathematics degree, this book will save you time and trouble. If you don't, it will help you achieve things you may feel are out of your reach. Inside, each problem is clearly stated and diagrammed, and the fully detailed solutions are presented in easy-to-understand pseudocode. You also get the mathematics and geometry background needed to make optimal use of the solutions, as well as an abundance of reference material contained in a series of appendices.

Features
Filled with robust, thoroughly tested solutions that will save you time and help you avoid costly errors.
Covers problems relevant for both 2D and 3D graphics programming.
Presents each problem and solution in stand-alone form allowing you the option of reading only those entries that matter to you.
Provides the math and geometry background you need to understand the solutions and put them to work.
Clearly diagrams each problem and presents solutions in easy-to-understand pseudocode.
Resources associated with the book are available at the companion Web site www.mkp.com/gtcg.
* Filled with robust, thoroughly tested solutions that will save you time and help you avoid costly errors.
* Covers problems relevant for both 2D and 3D graphics programming.
* Presents each problem and solution in stand-alone form allowing you the option of reading only those entries that matter to you.
* Provides the math and geometry background you need to understand the solutions and put them to work.
* Clearly diagrams each problem and presents solutions in easy-to-understand pseudocode.
* Resources associated with the book are available at the companion Web site www.mkp.com/gtcg.