Computer Graphics I

4003-570-02 / 4005-761-02 (Fall 2007)

Assignment #3: 3D Drawing / Animation in OpenGL

Date posted: October 17, 2007
Date due: October 27, 2007 at 11:59 p.m.

Drop box available at myCourses

Purpose

The purpose of this programming assignment is to provide

an understanding of modeling in 3D,
an understanding of the 3D viewing model, particularly OpenGL's version,
an understanding of hierarchical models,
an understanding of how to create animation, and
an understanding of the use of callback functions in creating interactive graphics.

Task

In this project, you will develop a program which illustrates the use of OpenGL to perform animation using 3D objects.

What you draw is completely up to you, within the constraints of the following requirements:

Your 3D model must contain at least five objects. You are free to use the GLUT and/or GLU objects (teapot, sphere, etc. -- See Chapter 8 in text for some examples) if you wish, or you may define your own. Your objects must be obviously different in some characteristic (shape, color, etc.) so that they are easy to spot. Include at least one hierarchical model.
You must use at least two different, explicit (i.e., not the default) camera positions. Initially, your program should be using the first camera position; use the number keys to switch between camera positions. An input of '1' should switch to the first position and '2' to the second; if you have more positions, use number keys '3' through '9'.
Animate one or more of the objects in your scene using the standard transformation routines. Each transformation must be used; you may use them all at once, in sequence, in response to user input, on separate objects, etc., but all must be used. You may also experiment with other methods of animation (e.g., multiple images in sequence). Animation should not begin until the user enters the character 'a' on the keyboard. Once animation has begun, you may use other user input to control it (e.g., dragging the right mouse button to control rotation, etc.).
Once it has started, animation must continue even without further user input; this can be a repetitive event (e.g., blinking eyes in a character), or a series of random changes (e.g., an ice skater randomly skating around a pond).
Recognize the character 'q' as a request to quit the program.

You will need to use the following OpenGL/GLUT routines:

Routine(s)	Purpose
`glutKeyboardFunc` `glutMouseFunc` `glutMotionFunc` `glutPassiveMotionFunc`	Callbacks for handling keyboard and mouse input
`glutIdleFunc`	Callback to use for continuous animation
`glRotate` `glScale` `glTranslate*`	OpenGL transformation routines
glPushMatrix glPopMatrix	Transformation matrix stack controls

If you recognize user input other than the required keyboard input mentioned above ('1', '2', 'a', 'q'), put detailed usage instructions (e.g. how to use the mouse to control animation, other keys for selecting more camera positions, etc.) in a file named README, and submit this with your solution.

You may, if you wish, also experiment with lighting, materials and textures, fog, etc., but this is not a requirement for this assignment, as you will be using these in Project 4.

Notes:

You are expected to use at least, EACH of the routines mentioned above..
"Best Of" selections from previous quarters are available for your viewing from the page http://www.cs.rit.edu/~ncs/Courses/570.shtml. You'll need to copy the executable into your Unix account to run them. I will select the "best" of your submittals to add to the web page and for use in future demonstrations.

Useful sample code for OpenGL can be found here and here. Please feel free to use these as a starting point.

What to submit

Please submit all files necessary to build and run your program. This includes source files, header files, project files, and Makefiles. If possible submit an executable also. In addition, the submission should include a README that indicates the platform on which your assignment is built, as well as notes on how to build and run your project.

Platform specific OpenGL libraries should exist on each platform that supports OpenGL. (In most cases, these libraries are supplied by the manufacturer of the graphics card present on your system). If you are planning on using the Suns for your project, please make use of the following header.mak file to see the proper libraries that need to be linked and the locations of those libraries. (Note that if you use makemake or gmakemake, the contents of this file will be incorporated into the Makefile produced).

All submission should be made using myCourses. Look for the folder named "Programming Assignment 3" in the dropbox area.

Assessment

Your grade will be based on the complexity of your output (i.e., how interesting it is, how many objects you have, etc.), your animation, how your program responds to user input, your program design, and your internal documentation.

While the primary goal of this project is for you to draw something using the required elements described above, a portion of your grade is based (subjectively) on how ``interesting'' (complex, unusual, etc.) your design is. I realize that not everyone is an accomplished artist; photorealistic depiction of objects is not a requirement - effort is more important.