WebGL: Up and Running: Building 3D Graphics for the Web

This is a great book for those who are comfortable in Javascript and want to get into WebGL.It's easy to read and very clear. The examples are interesting and the explanations focus on the interesting bits, rather than explain 'filler' code every time.I liked how each chapter goes a little further and keeps challenging the reader while maintaining a sense of control.The book itself focuses mostly on Three.js and I was worried about being locked in to a specific library rather than learn "the WebGL", but it made me realize how much heavy lifting a library like Three does for you. So fear not, because there's a very strong chance you'll have to pick one up too, and Three.js is the leading one so far.A lot of useful things like picking (click detection on 3D objects) are explained in details.I definitely recommend this book.

If you want to quickly use WebGL/Three.js using the author's own framework then this book is fine. But if you want to actually learn how to program WebGL with Three.js, this book is almost useless after the first chapter.In Chapters 2 and on the author uses his own framework, Sim.js, to place object on screen and animate them, so you don't actually learn anything about Three.js. The framework might save you from typing a little code, but more than once he says "It is a bit too simplistic for building large-scale applications or games, but you may still find it useful in your development work." If I'm trying to learn a language or api, inserting someone else's custom programming layer in between me and the actual language doesn't help me to learn it - it just masks the code itself and limits me to what that framework can do. I didn't want to learn Sim.js. I wanted to learn Three.js, and this book did not teach me anything more about it than how to put objects on the screen.

Doesn't go deep in details but helps a lot to get started

I bought this book with the intention of helping me with a project I was working on. For that purpose, it has been fairly spectacular. However, the book relies heavily on THREE.js and another library written by the author. Relying on THREE.js is fine, since it is quickly becoming the standard... But the application framework library that the author has written - and uses throughout all the examples - glosses over much of the intricaces of the THREE.js framework... I find myself picking apart the Sim.js code just to see what's really going on....I bought this book so I wouldn't HAVE to wade through quite so much JS to get where I needed to go... Perhaps I was looking for the wrong book - something of a THREE.js cookbook - but this book's reliance on the Sim.js framework makes it a bit of a wash in my view... Simply because your learning is coupled to that architecture.However, I do feel that if the book were taken on it's own that it could be something of a course in WebGL. And if you're cool with committing yourself to this relatively unknown Sim.js platform, then the book is freakin' awesome.It's nice that the book doesn't focus on bare metal WebGL; since that's pretty nasty stuff... But, in fear of the deep end, this book ended up too far in the shallow end of the pool.

So what exactly do I mean by that well he has years of experience? Lets talk specifically about why and who should purchase this book. If you are a flash developer, student of fine arts, computer science engineer, game developer, or someone with a passion to learn and curiosity this book is for you. I am an engineer by trade, I will tell you that this book explains the inner workings of threeJS in depth well believe me; I have spent enough time in front of a debugger and the github code base reading it verbatim to know and love a short cut when I see one! Take advantage of it. Webgl is going to boom shortly and you will be able to create applications that look and feel native because of it; even on mobile devices. I have a degree in art and this book also talks about shaders within threeJS/webgl in a no non-sense manner! That is difficult so people with a low level of technical aptitude will enjoy this book just as much as people with a high level. I really like this book and if you want a quick start on data visualization, video game programming, generative art, all on the open platform of the web well then this book is for you. Tony lays down the ground work shows you the tools of how things operate. He has insight into the industry that allows him to explain complex problems in a simple manner. He has a background that reaches all the way back to vrml and that demands respect. You should purchase this book not because I told you too but because you can learn quickly from it!

Well written, concise, great code examples hitting all the major points one would want to cover for creating interactive 3D on the web. Also great overview of 3D Graphics in general. It is a practical book written to literally get people up and running, including dealing with security and cross-origin requests including handy js functions and other components you'll need on the html side.As co-inventor of VRML and basically a major player of all 3D on the web as it has morphed through the years, clearly Tony knows his shit.How can one go wrong with a technical book that includes a quote from Barbie and has jellyfish (is this the first marine O'Reilly spirit animal?) on the cover.

The book says it is about WebGL, but it is really about three.jsI bought this book of hoping to learn about WebGL not three.js. Very little of the book covers how WebGL works fortunately Amazon has a good return policy.

Encuentro que es demasiado introductorio (aunque la serie Up and Running ya lo és) y tiene ejemplos que no me gustan demasiado para iniciarse. Creo que hay otros más interesantesl.

Nettes Buch, aber falsch betitelt. Es dreht sich hauptsächlich um Three.js und das auf teilweise oberflächlichem Niveau. ich hätte mir erhofft etwas mehr zu WebGL allgemein zu lesen.

This book makes justice to its title “…Up and Running”. It shows and explains the WebGL’s scope with simple but efficient samples. I have made an excellent choice.

WebGLの本じゃないです。この本ではThree.jsというWebGLをラッピングするフレームワークの説明をしています。WebGLのAPIとか、GLSLとかは全く触れていません。序文でWebGLではGLSLは必須だと書いているにも関わらずです。行列計算などのグラフィックで必須の基礎も全く教えていません。全てThree.jsの機能を使って、深く考えずに画面にグラフィックを表示できる事をこの本では良い事としています。この本を一通り読めばThree.jsと、それに組み込まれた既成のシェーダーを使って、一応ブラウザ上にグラフィックを表示できるようになります。けど自前のシェーダーを作りたいとか、WebGLのAPIの仕様を詳しく知りたい人には全く役に立ちません。ともかく最短コースでブラウザにグラフィックを表示したい人には良い本かも知れません。タイトルがWebGLでなく、Three.jsだったらもっと星をあげたと思います。

First of all... Delivery Time was 7-10 days. I was lucky and waited 7 days. UK -> UK Delivery... Really?Second.Title of that book says it's WebGL. And after first chapter, all the rest is about Three.js WebGL framework. And few others. So how is it? Is it WebGL or Framworks and Libraries of WebGL? I've bought this book to learn how to write framework/library like three.js, not how to use it. I'm going to read it, but that book is a one big disappointment, and I need to look for another. Great.One Extra star for a good condition of the book.