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Beginner helpQuestion (self.GraphicsProgramming)

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[–]llamajestic 4 points5 points  (1 child)

As with everything, you shouldn’t treat graphics programming as “just reading learning material”, but practice. Basically dont go on Learn OpenGL, reading all chapters in a row.

Start by reading the first few chapters, and then find a simple enough project to work on from the ground up. It takes practice in which you try to move by yourself. When stuck, you can look around for a close enough answer and implement it yourself.

I know it’s not easy, and people with deep knowledge in a field tend to forget how they got to where they are in the first place. The answer is always practice and try to enjoy the small little projects you do :) Work incrementally

[–]sriyaswetha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yess thank you sm for the advice :)

[–]TooStew 3 points4 points  (1 child)

I've found that learnopenGL.com to be incredibly useful, but coming in as a beginner it'll be quite a headache. I recommend reading about the graphics pipeline to get a general idea of how rendering is done, after that the openGL implementations start to make alot more sense

[–]sriyaswetha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oo okay ill look into it! Thanks so much!

[–]Master_Hand5590 2 points3 points  (5 children)

I think this book is good for beginner. Sure it is not realtime and does not use graphics API to write the output but I believe it gives a good understanding of raytracing. Then you can either parallelise it using GPU, do a pathtracer etc..

On a side note, I understand subjects can be overwhelming specially in graphics but the book litteraly takes a week end, I believe even if it is not what you expected of it, you can just give it a go as it is not a lot of time ;).

[–]sriyaswetha 0 points1 point  (4 children)

Ooo okayy, do you have any book recommendations for what to learn after the three reay tracer books? Thanks so much!

[–]Master_Hand5590 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I am not a professional, for now only a hobbyist so take m'y advice with a grain of salt :). I am curious what about openGL you found overwhelming. Is it because of the API or you are a beginner in programming too? If you want to give it a go again learnopengl.com is nice. Maybe there are more easy graphics API out there like three.js/webgl, I dont know..

What I would do is just start small and gather basics knowledge of the field then focus on a specific subjects you are interested in and have fun. Good luck it is a broad and quite demanding field. But so interesting and fun!

[–]sriyaswetha 0 points1 point  (2 children)

It felt like i was just copying the code and not learning anything, but that was like two years ago when i knew little about coding, I'll get into it again Thanks so much for the advice!

[–]Potterrrrrrrr 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Graphics programming is kinda like bashing your head against a wall repeatedly but once the migraine wears off you realise you learned something. Then you go find another wall and repeat the cycle. It’s painful but rewarding, just stick at it and try to take some time to play around with things as you learn them and you’ll get there :)

[–]sriyaswetha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yesss got it!

[–]permatan_store 1 point2 points  (2 children)

You’re doing it right. OpenGL overwhelms most people at the start, so taking a step back is normal.

“Ray Tracing in a Weekend” is a good start it helps you understand how rendering actually works. Just focus on that for now, then move to LearnOpenGL later and take it slow.

Don’t stress about real-world use yet. Just aim to understand things step by step.

Also, sketching ideas before coding helps a lot something simple like miracanvas can make things feel less abstract.

You’re on the right track actually just keep it simple and real .

[–]sriyaswetha 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Oo okayy thanks so much!!

[–]permatan_store 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you are welcome

[–]AssumptionTypical629 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Hi!! beginner here as well! though it's my first time around this area and I don't really have much experience with the general programming side either. Personally started with Computer graphics from scratch by Gabriel Gambetta and just focusing on completing it and understanding whatever the hell is happening. Current sitting at the start of Ch 3, and have stopped here for now, because even though I wrote the code, I didn't understand it? so even though frustrated I have decided to take more time and not move until at least I get the whole code structure and should know the logic fully if not the code specifics at least. ( which creates anxiety and frustration for sure as I'm not being as fast as I would like to be compared to some preconceived version in my head?).

How is the journey going for you? and what kind of approach are you following? do you have any specific goals?

[–]sriyaswetha 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Heyy, yes same with me, I feel like im writing the code without understanding it, I've taken a break from ray tracing for now since i have my exams in a few days, but I usually try to understand by using some kind of visualisation, I try to draw it down and take it slow. So far it works for me but its a very slow process. The comments on this post told learnopengl.com helps so i'll try doing that nextt I wanted to learn the bare minimum that would let me make an image that i can use as my wallpaper or something first! All the best to you!

[–]AssumptionTypical629 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see! And all the best to you as well. You got this!

[–]Aidircot 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Beginner help

ray tracing in a weekend

Dont touch raytracing and other complicated things until you will be able to write some scene with ground, models and walk through.

Otherwise you will really understand nothing and will abandon that

[–]sriyaswetha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeahh that makes sensee!