Acknowledgments

First, I have to thank God for somehow turning an innumerable amount of seemingly bad decisions into gold. Including against all “good advice” to get into computer graphics and OpenGL in particular. Second, I have to thank my wife LeeAnne. There was no way I could take on the fourth edition of this book, and I initially decided not to take this project on. She pretty much made me do it—and without complaining or whimpering shouldered all Boy Scout meetings, Girl Scout meetings, music lessons, school meetings, parent orientations, bake sales, fund raisers, soccer practices (NO I did not miss any games!), trips to the doctor, shopping trips, grocery runs, friends birthday parties, social engagements of every size and shape, and pretty much all of Christmas. Many late nighters were also made possible by a thermos of “Mamma’s Magic Mojo”; Starbuck’s, eat your heart out! All three of my brilliant children, Sara, Stephen, and Alex, thanks so much for letting Daddy hide out every night after dinner—and not giving me too much grief over missed movies and camping trips.

Thank you Benjamin Lipchak and Nick Haemel for being first-class coauthors. Your contributions to the book have had a lot to do with its recent longevity. Special thanks because you were both crazy enough to do this twice! Thanks to AMD/ATI for letting these guys out of the box, and for the use of some really cool sample shaders. The editors and staff at Addison Wesley have also been fantastic. Debra Williams-Cauley was especially patient and somewhat creative when it came to getting this project off the ground. Working with Songlin Qiu has been a great pleasure, and I especially appreciated her frequent encouragement just when I felt like this project would never end. Cheri Clark, thanks for making me look like I didn’t sleep through high school English! Thank you, Lori Lyons, for being persistent about those pesky deadlines. I am also honored to have had Dave Shreiner, Paul Martz, and Brian Collins involved in this edition. Paul and Brian’s review of the chapters has without a doubt increased the caliber of this edition substantially over my past efforts.

Many thanks also go out to Apple—in particular Kent Miller for some help on the Mac chapter—but also to everyone on the Apple OpenGL mailing list for many questions answered, and tips just picked up by trolling! NVIDIA also chipped in, with thanks in particular to Brian Harvey and Cass Everitt for being responsive to questions, and especially thanks to Michael Gold and Barthold Lichtenbelt for a conference call getting me up to speed on the OpenGL situation in Windows Vista. Thanks, too, to Robert Kennett at AMD/ATI for updating some code for me in the Windows chapter.

Many thanks to Full Sail for their support over the past few years by allowing me the privilege of teaching OpenGL on a part-time basis. I come in for a few hours, I get to talk about what I really love to talk about, and the audience has to act as though they enjoy it and pay attention. I even get paid. How on earth I keep getting away with this is beyond me!

Thank you, Rob Catto, for covering for me and looking the other way from time to time. Ed Womack, you are a scholar and a gentleman, and your F-16 model rocks. I’m sorry I defaced it with an OpenGL logo[el] but I couldn’t help myself. Thanks also to my lab specialist Chris Baptiste, for a great attitude and for teaching my class from time to time so that I could get some other work done. Finally, I’d like to thank Software Bisque for this contractors dream “day job” of making great astronomy software, and getting paid to use OpenGL on a daily basis. Steve, Tom, Daniel, and Matt, you are all a class act. Working with you guys is an honor and privilege, not to mention a total blast!

—Richard S. Wright Jr.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging my colleagues at AMD who have unselfishly given their valuable time and advice reviewing my chapters, and leaving me to take all the credit. These folks are the masters of the OpenGL universe, and I am fortunate to work side by side with (or sometimes hundreds of miles away from) this caliber of individual on a daily basis. In particular, I’d like to thank Dan Ginsburg, Rick Hammerstone, Evan Hart (now at NVIDIA), Bill Licea-Kane, Glenn Ortner, and Jeremy Sandmel (now at Apple). Thanks to technical editors Paul Martz and Brian Collins for their depth and breadth of knowledge and for unleashing it mercilessly. And most of all, thanks to Richard Wright for the opportunity to work with you again on this project.

Thanks to the team of editors and other support staff at Addison-Wesley for transforming my lowly text into something I’m proud of. Your eagle eyes spared me from sweating the details, making writing hundreds of pages much less strenuous.

Thanks to WPI professors Mike Gennert, Karen Lemone, John Trimbur, Susan Vick, Matt Ward, Norm Wittels, and others for the solid foundation I lean on every day. A shout out to all my friends at GweepNet for distracting me with PC game LAN parties when I was burnt out from too much writing. To my entire extended family, including Beth, Tim, Alicia, Matt, Jen, and Corey, thanks for tolerating my surgically attached laptop during the winter months. To Mom and Dad, for providing me with top-quality genetic material and for letting me bang away on the TRS-80 when I should have been outside banging sticks against trees, I am forever grateful. To brother Paul, your success in everything you do provides me with nonstop healthy competition. To sister Maggie, you redefine success in my eyes every time I see you. You both make me proud to have you as siblings. Last, but not least, I’d like to thank my wife, Jessica, for the science project she’s been assembling in her belly while I funnel all my attention into a laptop computer. It’s time for our project now.

—Benjamin Lipchak

First, I would like to thank Richard and Benj for allowing me the opportunity to collaborate on this project. You guys have been great and very supportive for a new author. Thanks for putting up with all my silly questions. Also, thanks to ATI. What a great stomping ground for someone to get started in graphics! A special thanks to all of my friends and mentors at ATI—you all have been a great help and resource, and the best in the field!

I would also like to acknowledge the editors and staff at Addison Wesley. You have been incredibly helpful throughout the entire process. Thanks for all your hard work in polishing our text and keeping us on track.

Last, and certainly not least, I would like to thank my wife Anna, and all of my family for putting up with my distraction through this whole process. You graciously have been patient, even through the holidays, as I struggled with my deadlines. Anna, your dedication to medicine and your own publications has given me the strength to finish this project. Thank you for all your support and encouraging words, despite being even busier than I.

—Nicholas Haemel