December 28, 2025
Santa, send GPUs and drama
Learn computer graphics from scratch and for free
Free graphics lessons ignite game-maker dreams, donation vibes, and big-brand gripes
TLDR: Scratchapixel launched free 3D graphics lessons, a Vulkan course, and a book-in-progress. The crowd cheered open education, praised the site for ditching AI thumbnails, swapped game-maker dreams, and fought over tech monopolies—turning a tutorial drop into a feel-good learning moment with a side of brand flame wars.
Scratchapixel just dropped a fresh batch of free, beginner-friendly lessons on making 3D images, plus a new course on Vulkan (a low-level tool that talks directly to your graphics card) and even a physical book for your “desert island” emergency. The community went full mix of cozy and chaotic. One fan cheered, “a good reminder for Santa to drop a donation,” framing this as the wholesome antidote to paywalled, dusty textbooks and secretive industry slides. Another thanked the team for listening to last year’s feedback and removing those AI-generated thumbnails—yes, that mini-drama lives on, with receipts: link.
Then came the confessionals: a commenter admitted they “failed upward” into data jobs but always wanted to make games—now they finally see a path. Meanwhile, a purist flexed: “no game engine, no GPU,” vowing to build a software renderer from scratch like it’s the CrossFit of coding. The spiciest thread? Brand wars. One user blasted “NVidia’s monopoly,” dragged AMD, and side-eyed Google, turning the tutorial drop into an anti-corporate rally. Through it all, people loved the hands-first, theory-later approach, the math-as-reference, and the weird-but-cool lessons. In short: feel-good free education meets hobbyist ambition meets hardware hot takes—classic internet energy.
Key Points
- •Scratchapixel launched a new project to expand discussion and learning in 3D programming and related themes.
- •A dedicated course focused on the Vulkan API is being offered.
- •An upcoming physical book will serve as a computer graphics reference.
- •Lessons are structured to deliver hands-on results before introducing theory.
- •Content includes math references, image handling and color management, procedural generation, and techniques for 3D tools.