Program Overview

CS 543 Computer Graphics, Fall Semester 2010

Course Overview

The CS 543 Computer Graphics course is offered in the Fall Semester of 2010. The lectures take place in room FL-311 on Tuesdays from 6pm to 8:50pm.

Instructor and Office Hours

The instructor for the course is Prof. Emmanuel Agu, located in room FL-139. Office hours are held on Tuesdays from 4pm to 5pm, with additional hours available by appointment.

Required and Supplemental Texts

• The required text for the course is "Computer Graphics using OpenGL (Third edition)" by F.S. Hill Jr. and S Kelley.
• Supplemental texts include:
  • "OpenGL(R) Distilled" by Paul Martz
  • "OpenGL(R) SuperBible: Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference (4th Edition)" by Richard S. Wright, Benjamin Lipchak, and Nicholas Haemel
  • "OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Versions 3.0 and 3.1 (7th Edition)" by Dave Shreiner and The Khronos OpenGL ARB Working Group

Facilities and Software

• Assignments should be completed in C/C++ and can be developed on either Unix or Windows.
• The final executable must run on the WPI CCC Unix machines, with clear instructions provided in the documentation on how to run it.
• Compiled graphics code may consume more than one megabyte of disk space.
• Software utilities used in the course include OpenGL, which is installed on the CCC machines, and MiniGL, a simplified interface to OpenGL provided for project 4.

Grade Policy

• The grade policy for the course is as follows:
  • 50% exams (2 exams)
  • 50% assignments (5 projects)

Notes

• Reading is mandatory, and working ahead is encouraged.
• Exams are based on lectures, readings, and project knowledge, making class attendance strongly encouraged.
• Working and discussions in pairs are allowed, but each student must submit unique projects.
• Cheating is strictly forbidden and defined as taking credit for work not done or knowledge not possessed.

Assignment Submission

• Assignments should be submitted using the turnin facility.
• Both the executable and source code must be turned in.
• Documentation must include the structure of the project, what each file contains, and instructions for compiling and running the program.
• A well-organized README ASCII text file is typically sufficient for documentation.
• Insufficient documentation will result in a loss of points.

Projects

• There are five projects in the course:
  • 1 project in 2D and interaction
  • 3 projects in 3D
  • 1 project in ray tracing
• The 3D projects involve modeling and rendering a robot for an amateur robot design contest.
• Students should keep the level of detail and complexity in their object low initially and then enhance it as desired.
• Late assignments are penalized 15% per day, and assignments will not be accepted if more than 4 days late.

Schedule

• The course schedule is as follows:
  • Week 1 (Aug 31): Overview, graphics intro, basic HW/SW, OpenGL/GLUT intro
  • Week 2 (Sept 7): 2D systems, window-to-viewport mapping, clipping, fractals, points, scalars, vectors
  • Week 3 (Sept 14): 3D transformations and coordinate systems, 3D modeling
  • Week 4 (Sept 21): 3D modeling using polygonal meshes, synthetic camera, 3D viewing, view volume, and projection
  • Week 5 (Oct 5): 3D clipping, illumination, shading
  • Week 6 (Oct 12): Texturing, hidden surface removal, shadows
  • Week 7 (Oct 19): Midterm exam
  • Week 8 (Nov 2): Raster graphics
  • Week 9 (Nov 9): Curves, color spaces, ray tracing
  • Week 10 (Nov 16): Ray tracing
  • Week 11 (Nov 23): No class (Thanksgiving break)
  • Week 12 (Nov 30): Ray tracing
  • Week 13 (Dec 7): Ray tracing
  • Week 14 (Dec 14): Final exam

Class Slides and Resources

• Class slides are available for each lecture, covering topics from introduction to graphics to ray tracing.
• Additional resources include old exams, web resources for OpenGL, and galleries of past student work.