Description

Texts

Listed below is an optional text that may be helpful in this course.  Note, however, that neither book is not required and lecture material will not be taken from these books:

	Physicall Based Rendering: From Theory to Implementation, 4th Edition by Matt Pharr, Greg Humphries, and Wenzel Jakob Morgan-Kauffman, 2023 Freely available on-line at http://www.pbr-book.org/
	Ray Tracing from the Ground Up by Kevin Suffern, AK Peters, 2007

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to describe, discuss and apply the high level functional modules that make up the GI image synthesis pipeline and relationships between these modules

• Students will be able to describe, discuss and apply classical and popular techniques employed by computer graphics professionals in implementing the functionality of each of these modules.

• Students will be able to specify, design, implement, document, and present a large software project related to Global Illumination and computer image synthesis.

• Students will be able to comprehend and summarize technical papers from the computer graphics literature
  

Requirements and Grading

• Programming Assignments-- Starting with the 1st week, assignments will be given on a weekly basis.  In most cases, the assignment will be due the following week.   Each of the assignments will build upon the work done on the previous assignments.   More info on assignments is available here .

•  Project --  A semester long project that illustrates in-depth knowledge of one aspect of the image synthesis pipeline as presented in the course.  The choice of project should reflect the interests and motivations of each student in taking this course.   In short, it is hoped that this course will provide each student with the opportunity to undertake a semester long task in computer graphics that he or she has just been yearning to do.

  Team projects are acceptable, however, the complexity of the project should reflect the number of members of the team and all team members are expected to contribute equally to the final project.

  More info on class projects is available here .

• Weekly Activities -- A collection of activities will assigned on weekly basis...The purpose of these activities is to prime the students for the lectures to be given each week.  All of the activities deliverables are due before the lecture on Monday and should be submitted via mycourses.  The tasks required each week will be posted on mycourses the week before it is due.  The weekly activities will usually involve:

• Readings -- In order to get used to reading the Computer Graphics literature, students will be required to read seminal papers corresponding to the topic to be given in lectures.   Papers are listed in the READING LIST and will be linked from weekly posts in the DISCUSSION area of mycourses.   On-line activities will be referenced by and included as part of the weekly On-line activity (see below).

• On-line activities - Each week, a simple (and hopefully fun) activity will be assigned for the student to complete.  Usually, this activity will involve running an on-line applet or application, and taking (and submitting) a screenshot of the application at work.   It will also require reading of the PRIMARY paper for the week.  Except for week 1, the online activity will be posted on the DISCUSSION area of mycourses, the Wednesday before the week the topic will be discussed.   Students will have 1 week to complete the activity.   Submissions for the activities must be made before the start of the Tuesday lecture.

The final grade will be determined using the following weights:

Project	35%
Assignments	40%
Weekly Activities	25%

Policy on Late Submissions

Policy on Academic Dishonesty

• RIT's Honor Code (from the RIT Student Policy Library).
  A general statement that sets standards of behavior for all members of the RIT community.

• RIT's Academic Integrity Policy (from the RIT Student Policy Library).
  Defines the basic forms of academic dishonesty (cheating, duplicate submission, and plagiarism) and explains the official RIT policy regarding academic dishonesty.

Consequences of any discovered academic dishonesty incidents will be applied as specified in these policies.

A Note about Generative AI Tools

Generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Bing Chat, GitHub CoPilot, midjourney, and others) can be very helpful, but they also pose some risks--not just because they may provide inaccurate responses, but also because they make it very easy for you to avoid learning core concepts that are fundamental building blocks in advanced work. 

We will be doing an awful lot of coding in the class, as a means for you to learn the fundamentals of Graphics concepts and systems.   The real learning comes from the doing as opposed to presentation of the solutions.  As such, for this course, you cannot use generative AI tools in any manner to write your programs. When learning fundamental skills, you need to ensure that you master the basics. If I doubt authorship, I may ask you to explain the code or re-create aspects of the code in one of our labs – you must show that you have mastered the fundamentals.  Thus, for this class, use of Generative AI tools will not be allowed.

Policy on Discrimination and Harassment

RIT is committed to providing a safe learning environment, free of harassment and discrimination as articulated in our university policies located on our governance website. RIT's policies require faculty to share information about incidents of gender based discrimination and harassment with RIT's Title IX coordinator or deputy coordinators, regardless whether the incidents are stated to them in person or shared by students as part of their coursework.

If you have a concern related to gender-based discrimination and/or harassment and prefer to have a confidential discussion, assistance is available from one of RIT's confidential resources on campus (listedbelow).

1. The Center for Women & Gender: Campus Center Room 1760;585-475-7464; CARES (available 24 hours/7 days a week) Call or text 585-295-3533.

2. RIT Student Health Center: August Health Center, 1st floor;585-475-2255.

3. RIT Counseling Center: August Health Center, 2nd floor, room 2100;585-475-2261.

4. The Ombuds Office: Student Auxiliary Union/Room 1114; 585-475-7200or 585-475-2876.

5. The Center for Religious Life: Schmitt Interfaith Center, room 1400;585-475-2137.

6. NTID Counseling & Academic Advising Services:2nd Floor Lynden B. Johnson; 585-475-6468 (v), 585-286-4070 (vp)