Getting Started with Warp3D Nova: 3D Graphics Programming Tutorials

So, you'd love to create computer games or 3D graphics software. But where do you start? Here's your chance to learn 3D graphics programming using Warp3D Nova from the man who created the Warp3D Nova API himself, Hans de Ruiter.

In this tutorial series, Hans takes you from zero through to rendering 3D texture-mapped objects with lighting. By the time you're done you'll have the fundamentals of 3D graphics using Warp3D Nova, and will be ready for bigger things.

What You'll Learn

In short: how to program 3D graphics using Warp3D Nova.

Here's an overview of what's inside:

• Tutorial 1: Create a window
• Tutorial 2: Hello triangle - draw something
• Tutorial 3: A splash of algorithmic colour - procedural texture mapping
• Tutorial 4: Colour another way - per-vertex colour
• Tutorial 5: 3D at last - draw a cube
• Tutorial 6: 3D lighting - add lighting to the scene
• Tutorial 7: Animation - making objects move
• Tutorial 8: Adding texture - texture-mapping
• Tutorial 9: Normal mapping - extra realism with surface bumps and features
• Warp3D Nova gotchas - easy mistakes and how to avoid them
• GLSL shader debugging - tools and tips
• Where to go from here - next steps in your graphics programming journey

What is Warp3D Nova

Warp3D Nova is a modern shader-based 3D graphics API for AmigaOS 4.1+. To follow these tutorials, you will need an AmigaOS machine with suitable hardware (e.g., an AmigaOne X5000 with a Radeon RX 560 graphics card).

About the Author

Hans de Ruiter is a software engineer with a background in computer vision and graphics. As a child/teenager he taught himself programming, constructed electronic circuits from kitsets, and also had a keen interest both science and in building things himself. He persued these interests further at university, going all the way through to a Ph.D. (at the University of Toronto).

He’s written both graphics software and graphics drivers, giving him a broad understanding of how modern graphics cards work. He also designed and built the Warp3D Nova graphics system from the ground up, and therefore has intimate knowledge of how it works.