Eric Lengyel is a

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

specializing in

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...

development,

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

, and

geometric algebra In mathematics, a geometric algebra (also known as a real Clifford algebra) is an extension of elementary algebra to work with geometrical objects such as vectors. Geometric algebra is built out of two fundamental operations, addition and the ge ...

. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

and a master's degree in mathematics from

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. Lengyel is an expert in font rendering technology for 3D applications and is the inventor of the Slug font rendering algorithm, which allows glyphs to be rendered directly from outline data on the

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...

with full resolution independence. Lengyel is also the inventor of the Transvoxel algorithm, which is used to seamlessly join multiresolution voxel data at boundaries between different levels of detail that have been triangulated with the

Marching cubes algorithm Marching cubes is a computer graphics algorithm, published in the 1987 SIGGRAPH proceedings by Lorensen and Cline, for extracting a polygonal mesh of an isosurface from a three-dimensional discrete scalar field (the elements of which are sometime ...

. Among his many written contributions to the field of game development, Lengyel is the author of the four-volume book series ''Foundations of Game Engine Development''. The first volume, covering the mathematics of game engines, was published in 2016 and is now known for its unique treatment of

Grassmann algebra In mathematics, the exterior algebra, or Grassmann algebra, named after Hermann Grassmann, is an algebra that uses the exterior product or wedge product as its multiplication. In mathematics, the exterior product or wedge product of vectors is a ...

. The second volume, covering a wide range of rendering topics, was published in 2019. Lengyel is also the author of the textbook ''Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics'' and the editor for the three-volume ''Game Engine Gems'' book series. Lengyel founded Terathon Software in 2000 and is currently President and Chief Technology Officer at the company, where he leads development of the C4 Engine. He has previously worked in the advanced technology group at

Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gav ...

, and before that was the lead programmer for the fifth installment of Sierra's popular RPG adventure series ''

Quest for Glory ''Quest for Glory'' is a series of hybrid adventure/role-playing video games, which were designed by Corey and Lori Ann Cole. The series was created in the Sierra Creative Interpreter, a toolset developed at Sierra specifically to assist with ...

''. In addition to the C4 Engine, Lengyel is the creator of the Open Data Description Language (OpenDDL) and the Open Game Engine Exchange (OpenGEX) file format. Lengyel is originally from

Reynoldsburg, Ohio Reynoldsburg is a city in Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburban community in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. The population was 41,076 at the 2020 census. History Reynoldsburg was origina ...

, but now lives in

Lincoln, California Lincoln is a city in Placer County, California, United States, part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. Located in an area of rapid suburban development, it grew 282.1 percent between 2000 and 2010, making it the fastest-growing city over 10,000 ...

. He is a cousin of current Ohioan and "Evolution of Dance" creator

Judson Laipply Judson Laipply ( ; born March 22, 1976) is an American internet celebrity from Bucyrus, Ohio. He served as the state president of The Ohio Association of Student Councils from 1993 to 1994. He is best known for his performance in the ''Evolutio ...

Games

Eric Lengyel is credited on the following games: *

Formula One Championship Edition ''Formula One Championship Edition'' is a racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for PlayStation 3. Background The game follows the basic structure of ''Formula One 06'' for the ...

(2007), Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. *

Heavenly Sword ''Heavenly Sword'' is a 2007 action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. Gameplay The game is an action-adventure title with heavy hack and slash game ...

(2007), Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (2007), Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. * Warhawk (2007), Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. *

MotorStorm ''MotorStorm'' is a racing video game series developed by Evolution Studios, BigBig Studios, Virtuos and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The titles were off-road racing games featuring different types of vehicles with their own streng ...

(2006), Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated * Resistance: Fall of Man (2006), Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated *

Jak 3 ''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'', the third game in the series and serves as the conclusion of the ...

(2004), Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. * Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire (1998), Sierra On-Line, Inc.

Patents

Eric Lengyel is the primary inventor on the following patents:
Method for rendering resolution-independent shapes directly from outline control points

Graphics processing apparatus, graphics library module and graphics processing method

References

External links

List of publications by Eric Lengyel

Moby Games rap sheet
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of California, Davis alumni Video game programmers Computer graphics professionals Virginia Tech alumni People from Columbus, Ohio People from Reynoldsburg, Ohio People from Lincoln, California Sierra On-Line employees American chief technology officers {{videogame-bio-stub