Welcome to CSC 341/CSC 630Introduction to Computer Graphics

Instructor Susanna Wei

Office: BL 214 Phone: (610) 660-1563 Email: swei@sju.edu Office hours:

Tuesday 2:00 - 4:00 Thursday 2:00 - 4:00 Or, by appointment

About the course

Logistics Room: B/L 225 Meeting time: Tuesday, Thursday 4:00 – 5:15pm Course Web page: www.sju.edu/~swei/CSC341

Use your SJU username/password Announcements will be made through the web page, make

sure you check it often.

Required Text (Strongly recommended that you buy it) Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using

OpenGL Edward Angel, Addison Wesley Which edition: 5th

Recommended Text OpenGL: A Primer, Edward Angel

Beginners guide to OpenGL

About the course

Reference Texts (good source of advanced information) OpenGL Programming Guide: The official Guide to Learning

OpenGL (Fourth Edition) aka “The Redbook” Available online at www.opengl.org

OpenGL Reference Manual aka “The Bluebook” Available online at www.opengl.org

PLUS Take notes in class!!! Material outside of the book

Course Goals

Introduce you to an exciting field in CS Teach you

Fundamentals of computer graphics How various elements that underlie computer graphics

(algebra, geometry, algorithms, data structures, optics) interact in the design of graphics software systems

OpenGL API and GLUT …so that you can design and implement your own

graphics applications Gain good insight into how complex computer

graphics applications, such as games and movies, are produced. “How did they do that??”

And, hopefully have some fun.

What do you need to know ?

Programming! We will use C/C++ (OpenGL is not OO)

You also need to be comfortable with some math Linear algebra (We will review it) Basic trigonometry (cosines, etc.)

Course Work

Programming projects due midnight on the due date, electronic submission.

Zip everything into a single directory. (Detailed instructions will be provided.)

late penalty 10% up to 24 hours late, 20% for every additional day

I will ask for a demo if need be.

Programming

C/C++ and OpenGL OpenGL:

most widely used graphics library standard. GL (basic OpenGL) GLU (OpenGL Utilities): higher level operations, such as drawing

curved surfaces We also need GLUT (OpenGL Utility Toolkit) (for C/C++ only)

To handle windows and user interaction Microsoft Visual C++

installed in BL 225 and the labs Check the course web page for instructions of setting up

OpenGL on your own PC’s And other links related to OpenGL

Your programs must compile on department lab machines. But you are free to develop on any platform if you prefer to do so.

Exams

Two exams midterm comprehensive final

Tentative weights Homeworks and projects: 35 % Midterm: 30 % Final : 35 %

Academic Honesty

Okay to “discuss” general solution strategies BUT, you should work independently when it comes

to Formulating/writing/programming solutions You cannot share code or any written material

ALSO, you have to acknowledge any assistance you have received (book, internet, person)

About you

Name Programming language: C/C++/Java/other? Windows/Unix/Linux/Mac? Programming experience

2, >2, >5? Calc III (undergrads)? Any course in Linear algebra

(grads)? What do you expect from this course?

What is Computer Graphics?

Computer graphics: concerned with all aspects of generating images and animations using a computer. Hardware and software systems

Main tasks: modeling: creating and representing the geometry of

objects in the 3D world rendering: generating 2D images of the 3D scenes animation: describing how objects change in time

Computer Graphics

Producing photorealistic images is a complex task A field that is in great demand Grown enormously over the past 20 years.

Dates back to 1960’s with Ivan Sutherland Development of very simple software to produce line drawings

of 2- and 3-dimensional scenes Today, possible to produce images that are

indistinguishable from photographs

Rendering Realism

Graphics Applications

Used in diverse areas Science Engineering Medicine Industry Art Entertainment Advertising Education and Training

Four major groups

Graphics Applications

1. Display of Information a medium to convey information gain insight into data

Maps Statistical plots Data analysis in medicine: 3D

visualization of CT (computed tomography)/ MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) data

Scientific visualization Conversion of data to geometric

entities Gives researchers means to interpret

vast amounts of data (fluid flow, molecular biology, math)

Graphics Applications

2. Computer Aided Design (CAD) Engineering, architecture

Mechanical parts (e.g. car industry), buildings Iterative process

Graphics Applications

3. Simulation and Animation Flight simulators ( virtual worlds for training pilots) Games and educational software Movies Virtual Reality

Person can act as a part of a computer generated scene using special devices

e.g. training a surgical intern

Graphics ApplicationsMovies

Graphics ApplicationsGames

Graphics Applications

4. User interfaces They are everywhere! Windows, icons, menus Graphical network browsers (IE, Netscape, Firefox)

For next class

Read Chapter 1 of Angel.