SebbyBooks.Com
The Writing and Computer Graphics Projects of Sebastien St-Laurent

Home
Blog
Archive
Contact Information
Books

Self-Publishing My Next Book 11/17/2004

I am hard at work on my next title (more info on this soon). But this time will likely self-publish it since I am somewhat of a control freak! With that in mind, I have just founded Paradoxal Press, my own little publishing company. Many details are still to be worked out but my goal is to publish my own books and possibly also a few other books per year on a more co-operative model than traditional publishers use. Here is the logo for my new venture:

My Latest Book

Shaders For Game Programmers And Artists (ISBN 1592000924)

Click for more info.

Mini Website Design Contest Ended 10/12/2004

Well the date has passed and no entries has been received. I guess not enough was offered to motivate people to design a simple webpage.

Not to worry, I will be back soon with something even better... Trust me!! :)

Official RenderMonkey 1.5 Released!!!
08/16/2004

With Siggraph 2004 now over, ATI Technologies has released the official version of RenderMonkey on their website (HERE). As some of you may know, there was a preview version included on the CD-ROM with "Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists" but it has been about 4 months since I received this version and the new release includes many new features.

Here is a quick overview of what's new since Version 1.0 (I've highlighted what appears to be new since the preview version included on the CD-ROM) :

New Application Features:
  • Support for OpenGL.
  • Support for Unicode.
  • Improved Microsoft DirectX .FX file export. The exporter now minimizes namespace collisions and uses the standard annotations defined in the latest DirectX SDK. (Improved from preview version) 
  • Support for Microsoft X meshes for both OpenGL and DirectX workspaces.
  • A workspace, including all referenced models and textures can now easily be exported as a single zip file to facilitate workspace sharing. The equivalent import functionality has also been added.
  • Improved docking window support and support for generic docking window layout.
  • The application window state is now saved with each workspace which allows window positions and sizing to be persistent for each user.
  • Support for procedural geometry and texture generation
  • Addition of texture preview thumbnails for both static and dynamic textures.
  • Predefined variables use semantics, rather than names, for identification by the program. Users are now free to rename the predefined variables to match those used in their application.
  • Many new sample workspaces
New DirectX preview window features:
  • Added preview window preferences allowing users control over specific settings such as:
    • Back buffer/depth buffer/stencil buffer control
    • Multisampling type
    • Setting clear color
    • Setting default camera parameters.
  • Support for shader models 2.0a, 2.0b and 3.0
  • Multiple render target support
  • Added support for HLSL include files
  • Added an RMInclude.h file which contains RenderMonkey-custom constant definitions.
  • Added more predefined variables, see RmPredefinedVariables.txt for a list of available predefined variables.
  • Ability to take screenshots in the preview window (press 'i')
  • Ability to pause rendering in hardware-acceleration mode
     
New Shader Editor Features:
  • More efficient shader text syntax highlighting
  • The ability to control tab/space settings.
  • Improved find/replace operations.
  • New interface for adding / removing shader parameters to shaders.
New Workspace Features:
  • Drag and Drop now supported for nodes.
  • Node order can be adjusted using Drag & Drop
  • Addition of new data types of multiple dimensions (N-vectors and MxN matrices)
  • Better menu organization for adding new nodes, such as variables and textures from the workspace tree view.  
  • Automatic creation of reference nodes  
 

Websites, books and blogs...
08/12/2004

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. I've finally setup my own little website. Not that I intend of having too much going on here but I wanted to create a little corner of the world that would keep track of all my past and present projects.

Noticed how simple the website is... Just the way I like it. Anyways, I'm not a web designer nor an artist. And for sure I will not pretend to be one :)

I have recently release a book on the art of writing real-time shaders. Check the column on the right side for some more information.

I have also recently started my own personal blog. I've provided all the needed information for this in "Blog" page.

  

Home | Blog | Archive | Contact Information | Books

 Copyright or other proprietary statement goes here.
For problems or questions regarding this Web site contact [Sebastien St-Laurent].
Last updated: 12/08/05.

Hit Counter