PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Introduction

This course will give you a broad overview of the image synthesis process. Your project will provide the opportunity to investigate, in-depth, one or more aspects of this process. As the best way to learn is often by doing, the project you choose will be an important means for getting familiar with an area of the image synthesis pipeline. It is also a major means of assessment for the course. This project will require that you construct and render a 3D scene that is designed and implemented to illustrate a particular aspect of the rendering pipeline presented in this course.

You will propose your project via a short proposal. Each project will be approved by me by the end of the third week of class. If you have an idea for a project but are unsure about it, please see me as soon as possible to discuss it.

Team projects are acceptable; however, the complexity of the project must reflect the number of members of the team. All team members are expected to contribute equally to the final project. Except in the case of extraordinarily large projects, teams will consist of two people; in no case will they be larger than three people. (See me well in advance if you believe your project will qualify for the larger team size.)

Ultimately, this project will provide an opportunity for each of you to get experience with whatever it was that interested you enough about 3D Computer Graphics to sign up for this course. Choose wisely and have fun!

• Link to Current Projects (will become active once all projects are approved)
   
• Link to Current Presentation Schedule (will become active toward end of quarter)

Project Ideas

• Try out radiosity as a project.
   
• Look at selected projects from previous quarters to get ideas:

  20102
  20092
  20083, 20082
  20073, 20072
  20063, 20061
  20053, 20052, 20051
  20043, 20042
  20033, 20031
  20022, 20012 and 19994
  
  More examples, from when the course had a different format:

  19982
  19962
  Rob Gougher's 19972 Lightning Movie (mpeg) (576124 Bytes)

Requirements

1. 3D Scene Rendering

First and foremost, the project is required to present a rendered 3D scene using a rendering package (e.g. POV, Radiance), 3D programming library (e.g. Java3D, OpenGL, Direct X), or other 3D Scene Description Mechanism (e.g. VRML).

The choice of rendering system should depend upon your interests and the nature of the project being done. Many have used this project as a means to learn a given 3D system (e.g., "I've always wanted to learn Java3D"). If you plan on emphasizing realism or artistic aspects of a single static scene, a renderer like RenderMan or POVray would probably be your best choice. If your project will emphasize some sort of interactivity or animation, a 3D API such as Java3D or OpenGL may be more appropriate.

2. Emphasis of one aspect of the rendering pipeline

The main point of the project is to use the 3D scene that you create to emphasize a given aspect of the rendering pipeline. Examples include, but are not limited to,

• Realism -- Model a scene in such a way as to "recreate" a scene as rendered in a photograph or artwork.
• Non-Photorealism -- Model a scene and render it to look like a painting.
• Rich textures -- Use the programmable shading capabilities of Cg or RenderMan to create a scene with complex and interesting textures.
• Interactivity -- Using an API, create a system that allows a user to interact with the 3D scene, e.g., walkthroughs, experiment with lighting parameters, etc.
• Visualization -- Use coloring/texturing of a scene as a means of visualizing some aspect of a 3D scene.
• Illustration -- Create an applet illustrating a given technique or concept.
• Implementation -- Implementation of a given technique/algorithm from a paper
• Major enhancement to assignment -- Take one of the assignments and improve in a significant way.

No matter what project you choose, the project should clearly fit into one of the areas of the rendering pipeline as described in class. This area should be clearly indicated in your project proposal.

Project Deliverables (Submit to myCourses and maintain a web page)

1. Proposal

The proposal is a short document that describes the project to be undertaken. I have provided a template you can use for this. Your proposal should be submitted to myCourses and also be linked from your webpage.

Due date for proposals: Wednesday December 14, 2011

2. Mid-Term Update

A simple one- or two-page document that indicates your progress in completing your project. It is appropriate to include any unexpected problems you have run into, and any changes in the project scope based on these problems. Again, I have provided a template for your use. Your update should be submitted to myCourses and also be linked from your webpage. 

Due date for mid-term update: Wednesday January 25, 2012

3. Project Report/Documentation and Source Code Submission

The final report for your project must be submitted to myCourses and also linked from your web page. Again, I have provided a template for your use.

Due date for code and project report / documentation: Monday, February 27, 2012

Your submission to myCourses should include all code, along with the final report / documentation.

4. Presentation/Demonstration

During the last two weeks of the quarter, each individual or team will make a presentation to the class about their project. The presentation should highlight the 3D scene rendered as well as provide a description of the emphasized aspect of the rendering pipeline and details about the implementation. This is essentially an oral summary presentation of your report. For projects that are applications, a demo of the system is likely to be apropos. Please let me know well in advance if you need any hardware beyond that which is found in our classroom.

Peer reviews of the presentations by all members of the class are a component of your assessment. Evaluation forms will be distributed at the beginning of class on each evaluation day.

5. Team Member Evaluations

For team projects, each member of the team will have the opportunity to rate the effectiveness of the other team members and give feedback on the effectiveness of the team as a whole.

Copy these files, edit them accordingly, and submit them to the appropriate myCourses dropboxes.

• Self evaluation
• Peer evaluation

Evaluations are due on Wednesday February 29, 2012.

Grading

The project will be graded on a 100-point scale with the various parts of the project having the following weights and due dates:

Important note: no late submissions will be accepted!