The Graphics Codex

An essential mobile reference for 3D computer graphics.

Category	Price	Seller	Device
Education	$9.99	Morgan McGuire	iPhone, iPad, iPod

“Both readable and solid, the Graphics Codex provides the reader with the essence of 3D computer rendering.”
- Eric Haines, Autodesk and coauthor of Real-Time Rendering

“I own and use the Graphics Codex. Is it a reference tool, a companion to a textbook, an alternative to a textbook, or a self-study guide? It can work in any of these roles, but I think it is in fact a new thing. It's a thing we'll be seeing a lot of...dollar for dollar, it's the best scholarly information I have ever purchased.”
- Peter Shirley, University of Utah and coauthor of Fundamentals of Computer Graphics

The Graphics Codex features:

▸ 14 chapters of lecture notes on physically-based rendering
▸ 400 cross-referenced equations and diagrams
▸ Links to external DirectX, OpenGL, Unity, Mitsuba, and other API documentation
▸ Links to primary sources and textbooks, with page numbers and PDFs
▸ Free updates with new content every month
▸ All entries stored locally--no network connection required
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About the author, Dr. Morgan McGuire:

I'm a computer science professor at Williams College, researcher at NVIDIA, and professional game developer. My commercial game credits include the Skylanders, Call of Duty, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Titan Quest series. I coauthored Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice 3rd edition and Creating Games: Technology, Mechanics, and Content, and have published research papers in SIGGRAPH, I3D, and HPG. I received my Ph.D. and M.Sc. from Brown University and B.S. and M.Eng. from M.I.T.

For years I've been carrying books and notes between home, office, school, lab, and consulting clients. I wrote this app to carry in my pocket the essential diagrams, images, and equations for 3D graphics work.

There's no outsourcing or other company involved in this project. Just e-mail me your suggestions and bug reports for the next update at [email protected]. Follow my development blog and twitter feeds at http://graphicscodex.com

Reviews

I respect the curator, but the implementation needs improvement!
Zeredhd

I doubt Direct3d developers need an iPad app but this developer (me) jumped on the idea that that Morgan3D, the guy i'd been reading on RSS from his twitter feed, would curate an essential library of 3D stuff. And he has! There's no visible search box! Come on! I don't care who translated your MathXML or LaTex or WHATEVER. I load the app and watch the lower left corner tell me layout times. Come on, Morgan! Cache it or crash it!

Needs work
Ominae392

The content sems to be there but there are many problems. The two biggest: Scrolling doesn't work. It "sort of" slides but you need to move your finger really slowly. Like snail pace slow. Even then you can't get mich further than the "b's". The other major problem is the content display. Most of the time when I select a topic, nothing happens. I'm greeted with a blank page that never loads. Shutting the app down and restarting it lets me see about 4 pages before the app craps out again. All in all a really sad showing.

Broken app
openglsdl

Scrolling is broken on the index which makes browsing complicated. Good information if you can get the app to scroll to it.

Much improved
lhkbob

This update brings a lot of performance improvements that make it much easier to use

Exactly what I needed
Mx7f

I do research in computer graphics and have found this app to be an invaluable resource. Whenever I've forgotten a piece of radiometry or need a refresher on basically anything to do with graphics, I can find exactly what I need with very clear explanations using this app. It also seems to be update relatively often with more content, which is great. I saw some negative comments with regards to some functionality, like scrolling; the last few updates seem to have fixed these issues completely.

Clean and Approachable
Kdog-alp

Super app! Obviously, super cool to have such a thin textbook and easy to navigate. The layout is great - very clean, allowing the information to be very approachable.

Amazing
thebeast33

This app is absolutely incredible. It is by far the best reference on the subject of graphics I have ever seen. I have also used it just to look up some really basic math topics like trig properties. Best of all, it gets updated each month with new material. Absolutely worth the $10 if you are into computer graphics, video game programming, or need a reference for your math/computer classes.

Total victory against traditional graphics textbook
luckyfreez

We used this as one of the two textbooks for our computer graphics class at Williams College. The other textbook is a traditional paper one, serving as a supplement. I would say that this app totally beats the traditional textbook because - the contents are very to the point and clear - graphics is more about visual communication. Great pictures/graphs and variations on styles and colors help a lot in reading and understanding - mobility. It will be great to have easy access to some reference to the graphics all the time, yet the more comprehensive the book is, the heavier it will be for carrying. This app stays in my iPhone and adds no weight for carrying it! - knowledge network. All knowledge points and linked and clickable, impossible on a traditional textbook. - price. Single digit vs 3-digit that you can easily find at bookstore Enough said. All graphics educators should consider using it and recommending others to use it.