COMP 236: Spring 2006

Course Description

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GOAL

Introduce the methods and skills for rendering computer graphics images, from modeling of polygons and closed surfaces to simulating the interactions of matter and energy that give rise to images.

PREREQ.

COMP 235 or COMP 136

APPROACH

Lecture with about one programming assignment due every 2 weeks.

COURSE OUTLINE (approx number of weeks)

Transformations, Projections, and Software                      (1.5)
   Review the mathematical tools of computer graphics and
   establish working assumptions for the course, including
   how objects will be represented, how images will be displayed,
   and what user interfaces will be used. Overview of OpenGl.


Clipping                                                        (1)
   Intersection computations; clipping lines, polylines, and polygons

Visible Surfaces  and Scan Conversion                           (1.5)
   Binary space partitioning; depth sorting; using a Z-buffer;
   scan line algorithms; Visible surface ray-tracing algorithm


Light/Object Interaction                                        (1)
   Intensity and energy; aspect of reflection; reflection models in computer
   graphics

Ray Tracing                                                     (2)
   Recursive ray tracing: illumination model and intersection; simple shadows
   bounding volumes; beam tracing; spatial coherence

Mapping Techniques                                              (1)
   Texture mapping; enviroment mapping; view-dependant mapping; bump mapping 

Rendering Methods                                               (1.5)
    shadows, global illumination

Curves and Surfaces                                             (2)
   Bezier curves; B-splines; interpolation and approximation; 
   tensor-product and triangular patches; surface fitting;
   rendering curved surfaces; subdivision surfaces

Solid Modeling                                                  (1.5)
   Representing solids; Boolean set operations; constructive solid geometry
   and boundary representations