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I've been doing similar for about a year. My target is to learn the math needed to make 3d games, so basically algebra, geometry, calculus and linear algebra.
by dcw303 3y ago
I've been doing similar for about a year. My target is to learn the math needed to make 3d games, so basically algebra, geometry, calculus and linear algebra.
I started with brilliant.org, and while I liked the level of polish in the interactive lessons, I found the lesson structure to be out of sequence, often referring to things that haven't been covered yet. They didn't seem to have put as much thought into pedagogy as Math Academy as described in TFA.
So I gave up on that and instead have been shipping several kilograms of dead tree across the pacific in the form of The Art Of Problem Solving series of textbooks. They are great, the lesson structure and building up of complex ideas from first principles is outstanding. They will humble you though, as the exercises are tough. They're also quite expensive but IMHO worth it.
Math Academy does look interesting, If I was not halfway through my series I would probably take a look. But I do enjoy having reference books on hand. Many times I've jumped back to brush up on a topic that has slipped from memory.
I solve my exercises with the most low tech solution possible, but I like the freedom it gives me to try new approaches, and nothing beats the latency between idea to ink on paper.
edit: also wanted to add that I've enrolled Chat GPT4 as my tutor. Contrary to many other's experiences that I've read, I find it to generally be very good at reasoning in this level of mathematics. It's helped me many times when I've gotten stuck. And on the occasions where it bullshitted its way to an incorrect answer, I always challenge it if I don't understand, and we ultimately find out if it hallucinated something (rare, can usually be fixed by restating the problem), or I gave it the wrong input to start with (unfortunately more common than I'd like)
- AlchemistCamp 3y agoI totally agree with you on the value in using Chat GTP when stuck. What's the scope of The Art of Problem Solving? How far does the series go?
- dcw303 3y agoAOPS audience is gifted high school kids, so it doesn't get up to the college level. The core texts are: - Prealgebra - Intro to Algebra - Intro to Counting & Probability - Intro to Geometry - Intro to Number Theory - Intermediate Algebra - Intermediate Counting & Probability - Precalculus - Calculus
- elteto 3y agoAre you doing the online classes or only the books? I wanted to register for the online classes but they seem to be heavily oriented towards interactive learning.
- dcw303 3y agoJust self study with the (physical) books. I did also try the ebook combo for the Prealgebra book, but I found typing latex in the answers to the exercises was cumbersome. I think the online classes with interactive lessons is a separate thing, but I don't have any experience with that.
- aoki 3y agoThe ones that have “instructors” and class times have chat-based sessions that you can skip if you prefer. Part of the homework is based on an adaptive problem system (Alcumus, which you can actually use for free) and part is weekly problem sets mostly based on the textbook. Writing (proof) problems are graded by a human so it is a useful way to get feedback on your proof-writing skills (if you know you are worse at it than a college math major).
- AlchemistCamp 3y agoAh, okay. I actually took calculus in 8th grade. I studied another two years past that, dropped out, and then later did a complete 180 and graduated with a literature degree. I'm now over 40 and interested in relearning the math I learned long ago and pushing a bit further than I had before.
- aoki 3y agoThere’s also an intermediate number theory class that’s basically at the level of a college elementary NT course (one that does not assume abstract algebra), an Olympiad geometry class, and a group theory class. The first two do not have a text, the third has a text but you can’t get it without enrolling.
- MrVitaliy 3y ago
- pvg 3y agoAre you using any of the stuff you're learning for whatever practical 3d game-making things you're working on? Just curious how it's working out, you've picked a pretty broad foundation as a starting point.
- dcw303 3y agoI took a brief detour late last year to study "Linear Algebra: Theory, Intuition, Code", and to my surprise it stuck pretty well. The author said the pre-reqs were just "basic high school math", but I'm glad I had recently done lots of algebra and geometry, as the difference between that and some vague memories of stuff I did 30 years ago in school is pretty wide. I haven't started any 3d game projects yet. For that, my plan is to do the webgpufundamentals.org course first. Scanning the TOC, I think I would be able to attempt it from what I learned from the linear algebra book. That said, I'm doing AOPS Intermediate Algebra at the moment, and the Precalc text covers more advanced trig and matrix stuff, so I'm thinking it would be good to finish at least to there before starting to apply the knowledge.
- pvg 3y agoYeah, it sounds like you're not far from the point where you can start jumping ahead and working backwards to fill in the bits that you're missing - that's what many people naturally and instinctively try and it can work but can also be frustrating if one misjudges one's degree of proficiency. You don't often see 'I'm just going to give myself a full secondary school maths refresher' which is more demanding on time and self-discipline but at least we know it's pretty reliable given those things.
- globalnode 3y agoi was motivated by the exact reasons you are but after a few years of maths i started to like that more than the 3d games and programming :(
- juunpp 3y agoI'm in that camp and can suggest a few recommendations in order of: https://d3dcoder.net/ https://d3dcoder.net/ -- The DX12 book is the latest edition. The books have several chapters at the beginning covering 3d transformations. https://foundationsofgameenginedev.com/ https://foundationsofgameenginedev.com/ -- The first installation, Mathematics. This will cover a lot more ground and derive things from first principles while not being overly formal. https://www.mathfor3dgameprogramming.com/ https://www.mathfor3dgameprogramming.com/ -- A lot more formal than most game/graphics math books, and goes into more depth, particularly on the linear algebra.