Computational Structures in Computer Graphics
Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department
Catalog descriptions
CAP4730: Computational Structures in Computer Graphics
Credits: 3; Prereq: COP 3530.
A study of the major topics in computer graphics; display and output technology;
two and three dimensional manipulations; space
curves and surfaces; hidden surface removal and shading models.
Prerequisites
COP 3530: Data Structures
Textbooks and other required material
1. Interactive Computer Graphics : a Top-Down Approach With Opengl
Edward Angel, James Rigney / Paperback / Published 2000
2. (recommended) Opengl Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning
Opengl, Version 1.x by Mason Woo, Jackie Neider, Tom Davis, ..
3.
(recommended) The Annotated Vrml 2.0 Reference Manual,
by Rikk Carey, Gavin Bell, Addison-Wesley Pub Co
Course Objectives
cap 4730, Computer Graphics is an introductory undergraduate level course
that combines state-of-the-art theory and practice in building and
exploring a high-level graphics environments based on the current
industry standards, OpenGL, VRML and C++.
Topics to be covered
(see http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~jorg/cap4730/overview.html)
1. General background (2 weeks):
Hardware, Software (libraries), Geometric Objects, Polyhedra
2. Interaction (1 week):
picking, dragging
3. Coordinate Transformation (3 weeks):
homogenous coordinates, barycentric coordinates, Viewing,
Projections
4. Shading, Rendering (3 weeks):
Z-buffer, Phong illumination model,
texture mapping, transparency
5. Implementation Pipeline (2 weeks):
rasterization, clipping
6. Curves and surfaces (1 weeks)
Bezier, B-spline forms
7. modeling hierarchy and animation (2 weeks)
Class schedule
Three 50 minute sessions.
Professional components
1. Develop the students' understanding of the visual interface for
Engineering Science and Design, its unique advantages and limitations.
For example, the students should understand the difference
between scene layout supporting the user's work flow and
overly ornate graphics gimmicks; they should understand
that realism can be supported even under the limitations
of real time display.
2. Educate the students in the structured design of graphics
environments; this includes hierarchical design of scene
graphs, and the structuring of the OpenGL state.
Program objectives
1. The students should be able to
design an interactive graphics scene
in standard graphics software and on standard graphics hardware.
1a. The students should be able to abstract the graphics setup and
thereby be able to anticipate the functionality of similar
graphics environments, say VRML based toolkits, and harware.
2. The students should understand and appreciate the
limitations of current graphics environments,
both hardware and software,
say the lack of ray tracing or radiosity in OpenGL.
3. The students should understand the mathematical foundations
of graphics environments, eg the role of homogenous coordinates,
the computation of surface normals, or simple viewing transformations.
4. The students should understand the data structures for efficient
modeling and rendering of complex scenes.
of graphics environments.
5. The students should have an appreciation of the visual and
artistic aspects of the graphics design process.
Persons and Date
Prepared by Dr. Jorg Peters in Nov 1999.