CSE 557: Computer Graphics
Winter Quarter 1998
Syllabus
Administrivia:
Prerequisites:
- Knowledge of data structures
- A good working knowledge of C (and hopefully C++) programming
- Some linear algebra
- Some mathematical sophistication
- (No prior knowledge of graphics is assumed.)
Text:
- Foley, van Dam, Feiner, Hughes. Computer
Graphics Principles and Practice, Second Edition in C. Addison Wesley, 1996.
Topics:
- Week 1: Introduction and Overview
- Week 2: Geometric Transformations
- Week 3: Curves
- Week 4: Surfaces
- Week 5: Ray tracing
- Week 6: Shading and textures
- Week 7: Sampling theory
- Week 8: Photometry and the rendering equation
- Week 9: Solving the rendering equation
- Week 10: Special topics
Grading:
- Projects: 80%
- Written assignments: 20%
There will be no final exam for this course.
Projects:
Projects are implemented in the graphics
instructional lab, which consists of 14 Silicon Graphics Indy
R4400s. The lab is located in Sieg 228.
Here is a tentative list of projects and dates:
- Project 0: Impressionist
- An interactive program that creates pictures that look like paintings.
- Assigned: Jan 7
- Due: Jan 20
- Project 1: Sweeper
- An interactive program that lets the user generate interesting
- surfaces by specifying a profile curve and a sweep curve (trajectory).
- Assigned: Jan 23
- Due: Feb 6
- Project 2: Ray tracer, part I
- Assigned: Feb 6
- Due: Feb 18
- Project 3: Ray tracer, part II
- Assigned: Feb 18
- Due: Mar 2
- Project 4: Ray tracer, part III or independent project
- Assigned: Mar 2
- Due: Mar 19
Projects will be graded during in-person sessions with the TA. During
the grading session, the TA will run the project to make sure that it
conforms to the project guidelines. The TA will then quiz individual
members of the team to determine how well they understand the
structure of the code, the design trade-offs, and the implemented
algorithms.
One grade will be assigned for all members of the team for the
project's implementation. Separate grades will be recorded for each
team member's "knowledge of the project." For some of the projects,
the last component of the grade will involve using your project to
create an artifact, hopefully, of some artistic merit. Extra
credit will be given for the nicest artifacts, as determined by class
vote. Click here for more information
on project grading.
Project Turn-in & Late Policy:
Assignments are due at the beginning of lecture on the due date.
This means that the modification stamp on the project executable
must be earlier than the start of lecture on the due date. Late
assignments are marked down at a rate of 33% per day (not per
lecture), meaning that if you fail to turn in an assignment on time
it is worth 66% for the first 24 hours after the deadline, 33%
for the next 24 hours, and it is worth nothing after that. In
addition, no extra credit for bells and whistles will be awarded
for any late assignment.
Exceptions will be given only in extreme circumstances and only
in advance.
CSE/557 Catalog description:
Introduction to computer image synthesis, with an emphasis on the
underlying theoretical principles in preparation for undertaking
computer graphics research. Topics vary from year to year, but may
include color perception; radiometry, photometry, and radiative
transport; geometric fundamentals, including affine and projective
geometry; data structures and algorithms from computational geometry;
curve and surface design; numerical methods, including wavelets,
optimization, and root finding; sampling theory and its relation to
image and volume processing; and physical dynamics for modeling and
animation. Laboratory project required.