Check out The Game Institute , you can get their Game Developer backage for 99$ which comes with a TON of material, including work from Frank DeLuna. They have recently upgraded ALOT so I would recommend this to anyone. (You also get access to the source of nice new game engine of theirs called 'Carbon')

Frank Luna's intro to 3d game programming and DX11 is a very excellent beginner to intermediate level book.

amazon.com/dp/1936420228/ref=a…did=1K23PV09B9459RKRTR7K&

Once you're fairly comfortable with DX11 i suggest getting Jason Zink's Practical Rendering and Computation with Direct3D 11. This is more of a reference with some chapters covering practical application like tessellation, types of rendering (deferred and light pre-pass), paraboloid mapping, etc...

amazon.com/Practical-Rendering…r=1-1&keywords=jason+zink

Also, Frank Luna is one of the instructors in Game Institute.

Here's a website I found a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to going through yet.

rastertek.com/

It seems to have tutorials that cover a wide range of graphics related topics in both OpenGL and DirectX.

If you also want to go the OpenGL route (I prefer OpenGL), check out OGLDev for more modern OpenGL tutorials, the usual recommendations are NeHe tutorials, however they are pretty well outdated as they almost all use the fixed function pipeline which is deprecated now, OGLDev begins you at learning the programmable pipeline.

Essentially DirectX is multiple libraries, one of which is Direct3D which is the counter-part to OpenGL.

Essentially what both libraries accomplish is the same thing, the rendering of 3D worlds, they are however quite different in their API and the way they do things.

Direct3D is a Microsoft product which is designed solely for Microsoft systems (with the exception of the Mac now which may be limited), OpenGL is managed by a non-profit group (Kronos) and was originally designed for a specific workstation however it was made in such a way that it would work on almost any platform, and that really shows today as you can see that it runs on.

- Windows
- Linux
- BSD (and all the other more obscure OS's)
- Mac
- Android

It runs on much more than just this though, there is pretty big debates on what is the better API, but when it comes down to it you need to decide what you like better, today, OpenGL and Direct3D 11 are comparable with very few differences, OpenGL did have many feautures above Direct3D but now they are on even ground (In my opinion).

The API's are vastly different, here are unique advantages from both

Direct3D


- OOP design, using the windows COM system (this can be a high point, unless you hate COM like me)
- Contains alot of higher level systems, like it's own math library, FX files etc.
- Much better driver support, as it is targeted at few systems and has been better developed by GPU manufacturers

OpenGL

- simple C style interface, some people will hate this ( I am weird, because I do everything OOP, but prefer OpenGL)
- Runs on a ton of systems, if you want to build your game for more than just Windows, this will do it
- Unfortunately no default math libraries, OpenGL focuses on the low level graphics, it gives you ALOT of power but makes you do a bit more leg work

When it comes down to it both do the same thing, they receive Geometry and information on how the geometry should be rendered, and creates an end result displaying 2D or 3D graphics, if you ask me what to use, I would say OpenGL, if you ask another person they may say Direct3D, do your research, and find what is right for you.

That is by far the most unbiased report of the differences between DirectX and OpenGL I've ever read. And it was still a little biased.

DirectX vs OpenGL can spark epic holy wars between graphics programmers. I use Direct3D in all my projects for one reason: When I first started getting in Windows programming, OpenGL had no 2D component so I ended up using DirectDraw for everything. It's also what the book I was reading at the time used. It's been over a decade and I've never had a reason to switch. When DirectDraw went away, I switch over to Direct3D with a locked camera looking down the Z-axis. My usage of DirectX is based entirely on the complete lack of desire to learn another graphics API.

I don't like graphics programming though, so you probably shouldn't listen to me.

-Rez

Thanks I tried to give an unbiased answer, however if his question was more like, which API SHOULD I use, my answer may have been more like "OpenGL of course....was that a prank question?" lol maybe not.

I have used both, particularly what I found I didn't like about learning Direct3D was that as a beginner I was learning alot of things like Device Enumeration, and other setup code, and as a beginner I wanted to learn about drawing an such, with OpenGL it is so simple to set up (even more so with SDL) that you can jump straight into the graphics rendering part of things.

The best OpenGL book is called the OpenGL "red book", this isn't a tutorial book (although there is a bit in it), but instead it is the definitive guide to using OpenGL. I believe it is actually produced by Kronos, I would recommend a couple of things, read through these 2 websites.

Lazyfoo
This one now has OpenGL as well as SDL tutorials, try not to learn OpenGL from here as I believe he uses the fixed function pipeline, however if you want to learn how to setup OpenGL with SDL then this is the one to use.


OGLDev
These are the best programmable pipeline beginner tutorials I have found.

You should be able to find the red book on the OpenGL website, or google it

I feel like I should gather a list of people's favorite books and post it somewhere. I get asked that question a lot and, quite frankly, I haven't needed at an intro to programming or intro to DirectX in over a decade, so I don't what the good current ones are.

-Rez

I have borrowed Game Engine Architecture by Jason Gregory from a friend and it is similar to GCC, it has a different view on things, and covers some things not done in GCC, where GCC also covers things that it does not, it has a decent bit on animation systems for instance.

Highly recommended that you set that one for last, it is more along the lines of, if you have an engine set up, here is how to make certain things better.

Red book is good, but be mindful that there are alot of deprecated things that may not be updated, OpenGL is backwards compatible with old cold, but the currently supported code is ALL programmable pipeline.

.

some of my friends who already have more expierence on programming with directx said this was a good book to start with:
amazon.com/Introduction-3D-Gam…20228/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z

Although if never read it myself.


-edit- oh nevermind this book was already mentioned -edit-