CSU0021 Computer Graphics © Chun-Fa Chang CSU0021 Computer Graphics September 10, 2014

CSU0021 Computer Graphics© Chun-Fa Chang

CSU0021 Computer Graphics

September 10, 2014


What is Computer Graphics?


Computer Games

• Real-time, at least 10 FPS (frames/second)

• Also stimulated the graphics hardware industry– such as NVIDIA and ATI, – Game consoles (Xbox 360, PS3…etc.)

Computer Games

• State-of-the-Art lighting and shader effects


Computer Animations• Offline, photorealistic rendering based

on accurate lighting simulation.


• The Cars, by Pixar

Graphics Hardware

• GPUs are hundreds-core processors.– nVidia GTX 780 has 2304 CUDA cores


Image source: NVIDIA


What is 3D Graphics?

(Note: No 3D glasses required)


What is Computer Graphics?

• More specifically, what is 3D graphics?

• We call this 2D graphics:


What is 3D?

• Is this 3D graphics?


• And this?


Computer Graphics: 1960-1970

• Wireframe graphics

• Project Sketchpad

• Display Processors

• Storage tube


Raster Graphics

• Allow us to go from lines and wireframes to filled polygons


Computer Graphics: 1980s & 1990s

Realism comes to computer graphics

smooth shading environmental mapping

bump mapping


Computer Graphics: 2000-

• Photorealism

• Graphics cards for PCs dominate market– Nvidia, ATI, 3DLabs

• Game boxes and game players determine direction of market

• Computer graphics work flow in movie industry: Maya, 3D Studio, Lightwave

New Trend

• High Performance 3D Graphics– Global illumination and ray tracing– Heterogeneous computing with CPU+GPU

(OpenCL)

• Parallel computing for the masses.

• 3D Graphics on Mobile Platforms– OpenGL ES shaders on Android or iOS– WebGL and HTML5


Programmer’s View: 1990s


Workstation:Silicon Graphics,HP, SUN, IBM

X Windows

OpenGL

PC w/Intel CPU

MS Windows

Apple Macintosh

Mac OS

DirectX ??



Workstation:Silicon Graphics,HP, SUN, IBM

X Windows

OpenGL

PC w/Intel CPU + NV or ATI GPU

MS Windows

MBP, MBA

Mac OS

DirectX, OpenGLOpenGL

iPhone

iOS

OpenGL ES

ARM

Android

OpenGL ES



PC w/Intel CPU + NV or ATI GPU

MS Windows

MBP, MBA

Mac OS

DirectX, OpenGL OpenGL

iPhone,iPad

iOS

OpenGL ES

ARM, Intel

Android

OpenGL ES

Game Engines: Unity, Unreal, CryEngine, Snowdop…etc.

What to Teach in a Computer Graphics

Course?• “I want to write a game ASAP!” – Unity– Pros: quick, cross platform (PC & mobile)– Cons: less flexibility, limited future

• WebGL Our future choice

• OpenGL Our choice now!

• Raster graphics – line drawing, polygon rasterization



3D Graphics Programming• Application Programming Level (Learning to

Drive):1. Describe the objects in 3D coordinates.2. Set up the camera.3. Call OpenGL (or any other 3D API).

• Implementation of a Renderer (Under the Hood):

1. Transform 3D coordinates to 2D.2. Apply lighting.3. Draw the dots (pixels).


Hands-On Approach

• We will look at both levels in parallel.– In some assignments, you will program in

the application level. In the graphics pipeline assignments, we will create a 3D renderer.

• A lot of coding, but most of the design is already done for you. It should be fun!


Course Plan• Draw something first

• Then make them look pretty or make them move really fast!

• Some 3D models from Internet:– http://www.3drender.com/challenges/index.htm

http://www.3drender.com/challenges/index.htm


Some Advices

• This course involves a lot of programming in C or C++.

• Do not take this course if:– You are not confident about your

programming skill– The ideal time is during your junior or

senior year. (The same course will be offered again next year.)

Documents

CSU0021 Computer Graphics © Chun-Fa Chang CSU0021 Computer Graphics September 10, 2014