Computer Graphics I (4003-570-70 / 4005-761-70)

Course Information

Instructor: Reynold Bailey
Email: rjb@cs.rit.edu
Phone: (585) 475-6181
Office hours:    Monday, Wednesday, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM, Room 70-3517
                         
Class times: Monday, Wednesday, 6:00 PM - 7:50 PM, Room 70-1610

Course URL: http://www.cs.rit.edu/~rjb/CG1_20091.htm

Description

Computer Graphics I is a study of the hardware and software principles of interactive raster graphics. Topics include an introduction to the basic concepts, 2D and 3D modeling and transformations, viewing transformations, projections, rendering techniques, graphical software packages and graphics systems. Students will use computer graphics packages and implement fundamental computer graphics algorithms.

Course Goals

• Students will be able to describe the history and evolution of computer graphics, both hardware and software.
   
• Students will be able to describe and implement 2D graphics and algorithms including line drawing, polygon filling, clipping, and transformations.
   
• Students will be able to explain the concepts and techniques used in 3D computer graphics including viewing transformations, hierarchical modeling, color, lighting and texture mapping.
   
• Students will be exposed to current computer graphics research areas.
   
• Students will be able to use a current graphics API (OpenGL).
   
• Students will be able to describe algorithms and techniques fundamental to 3D computer graphics and explain the relationship between the 2D and 3D versions of such algorithms. Students will be able to reason about and apply these algorithms and techniques in new situations.

Prerequisite

Third year standing or permission of instructor

Please see me as soon as possible if you haven't reached this level. If you aren't at least a third-year student, or you have not come through an equivalent preparatory programming sequence, there is a very good chance that you don't have sufficient programming experience to allow you to succeed in this course.

Texts

Required:
Donald Hearn and M. Pauline Baker, Computer Graphics with OpenGL (3rd Edition), Prentice-Hall, 2003, ISBN: 0130153907

Recommended:
OpenGL Architecture Review Board, OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Version 2.1, Sixth Edition, Addison-Wesely, 2008, ISBN: 0321481003

Richard S. Wright, Jr., Benjamin Lipchak, Nicholas Haemel, OpenGL SuperBible: Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference Fourth Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2007, ISBN: 0321498828

Requirements and Grading

Exams:
Two exams are scheduled for this course:

• Midterm:  two-hour exam.
• Final: two-hour exam during finals week. The final exam will not be comprehensive

Both exams will be weighted equally in the calculation of your final grade.

Note to graduate students: A deeper understanding of the material is expected of graduate students. Hence, the graduate and undergraduate versions of the exams may not be the same.

Pipeline Implementation:
In lieu of exams, students may choose a more programming heavy option where they will be implementing a portion of the graphics pipeline from scratch. This option may be attractive to grad students as well as students with a desire to pursue advanced graphics courses.

Homework:
Homework will be announced in class and posted on the course website. Due dates are also listed. Generally, students will have 1 week to complete homework assignments.

Programming Assignments:
There will be four programming projects this quarter. Programming assignments will be posted on the course website. Generally, students will have 2 weeks to complete programming assignments.

Problem sets:
Problem sets and their solutions will be posted on the course website. Although they will not be collected or graded, I suggest you attempt to work the problems before looking at the answers, to help ensure that you understand the concepts. The material in the problem sets are good fodder for exam questions.

Grad Report (graduate students only):
Each graduate student is expected to research a topic relative to computer graphics and prepare a 10-15 page report. Please see:
http://www.cs.rit.edu/~rjb/RITcourses/20091/ComputerGraphics1/public/gradreport.pdf  for specific information

Submissions

Dropboxes will be available on the myCourses website for submission of homework, assignments, pipeline implementation, and the grad report.

Policy on Late Submissions

It is extremely important to continue to make progress as the course progresses. As such, late deliverables will be not be allowed. If you foresee any problems with meeting a deadline, please see the instructor well in advance of the deadline to work out alternate arrangements.

Tentative Schedule

Lecture Notes: Slides presented in class will be posted in the content area of myCourses.

All assignments, readings, and homework will be posted on the course website. Special events such as homework and exam dates will also be posted on the course website. Please stay informed by visiting the course website regularly throughout the quarter.

Academic Honesty

It is a shame that this must be stated at all, but there are always a few students who do not abide by the rules of proper academic conduct. For the record:

• You may discuss the homework and assignments freely with each other.
• However, this does not mean that someone else can do your work for you. Any work you submit must contain a significant intellectual contribution by you.
• The corollary is that you may not do someone else's work for them either. Both the supplier and recipient of the material are guilty of cheating and will be treated as such.
• Any help you receive from someone must be acknowledged in the work submitted. Please be specific (what exactly did you get help with).  Failure to acknowledge the source of a significant idea or approach is considered plagiarism and not allowed.
• Helping someone does not mean giving them a copy of your code. You will get a zero for submitting someone else's code as your own. You will get a zero for distributing your code to others. Please do not risk it!

Those who behave in a dishonest or unethical manner in computer science courses, or in their dealings with the Computer Science Department, are subject to disciplinary action. In particular, dishonest or unethical behavior in the execution of assigned work in a computer science course will be treated as follows:

1. For a first offense, the student involved will receive a grade of zero on the assignment. [A stronger penalty may be exacted, if, in the judgment of the instructor, the offense involves a flagrant violation of basic ethical standards.]
2. For a second offense, in the same or a different course, the student will receive a failing grade for that course.
3. A third offense will be referred to judicial affairs.

Complete policy details regarding cheating and classroom conduct can be found at the following links

• Department of Computer Science policy on academic dishonesty (cheating): http://www.cs.rit.edu/programs/academicIntegrity
  Please read and be aware of the consequences.
   
• Code of conduct for use of Department of Computer Science facilities: http://www.cs.rit.edu/usr/local/pub/doc/CodeOfConduct.txt
   
• RIT policy on general student conduct: http://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/Manual/sectionD/D18.html
   

Important Links (more will be added)

• Official page for OpenGL: http://www.opengl.org/
   
• Official Page for GLUT: http://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut.html
   
• Installing FreeGlut for Visual Studion 2008: http://tempvariable.blogspot.com/2008/02/installing-freeglut-on-visual-studio.html
   
• Nate Robbins home page (GLUT for Windows / OpenGL tutorials): http://www.xmission.com/~nate/opengl.html
   
• GLUT for Mac OS X: http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/glut/index.html
   
• Using OpenGL with Visual Studio .NET2003 (courtesy of Jonathon Donaldson): http://csf11.acs.uwosh.edu/cs371/visualstudio/
   
• OpenGL video tutorials: http://www.videotutorialsrock.com/
   
• NeHe Productions OpenGL tutorials (excellent site): http://nehe.gamedev.net/
   

Python specific links

• pyOpenGL (direct OpenGL bindings): http://pyopengl.sourceforge.net/
   
• OpenGLContext (helpful framework based on pyOpenGL): http://pyopengl.sourceforge.net/context/index.html
   
• pyGame (bindings for SDL): http://www.pygame.org/
   
• Useful library: PIL (Python Imaging Library): http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/
   
• Useful library: NumPy (fast arrays and matrices): http://numpy.scipy.org/
   
• Python Documentation: http://www.python.org/doc/
  Everything you need to know about the core Python language. Includes the library reference to core libraries and an excellent handbook and tutorial.
   
• 3-D Programming with Python: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4830
  An old, but straightforward introduction to pyOpenGL
   
• pyGame Docs: http://www.pygame.org/docs/
  Everything you need to know about pyGame (plus tutorials)
   
• pyOpenGL Docs: http://pyopengl.sourceforge.net/documentation/
  The full documentation for pyOpenGL, plus several links to other useful resources.
   

Links from previous offerings of this course (please take some time to go through theses links. Lots of good information, code samples, tutorials, and other resources are available.

• Warren Carither's list of links: http://www.cs.rit.edu/~wrc/courses/cg1/common/links.shtml
   
• Nan Schaller's list of links: http://www.cs.rit.edu/~ncs/Courses/570.shtml#resources