CSC 4840/6840, COMM 6840, FILM 4840, GrD4840

Computer Graphics Imaging

Spring 2009

 

Course Syllabus

Instructor:                    Dr. Ying Zhu

Office:                         34 Peachtree Street (One Park Tower) #1441

Office hours:               Tuesdays 3:00 – 5:00pm

Office phone:              (404) 413-5713

Email:                          yzhu (at) cs.gsu.edu

Web page:                   http://www.cs.gsu.edu/yzhu/4840-6840/home.htm  

 

Class hours:                Tuesday & Thursday 1:00pm – 2:15pm

                                   General Classroom Building 517

 

The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.

DESCRIPTION

 

This course teaches the basic 3D computer graphics techniques, such as mesh modeling, curves and surfaces, transformation, materials, lighting, texture mapping, and animation. Students will use the open source 3D modeling and animation tool Blender (www.blender3d.org) to study these techniques and develop course projects. By the end of this class, students are expected to create a short 3D animation film.

 

This course assumes no prior knowledge of computer graphics.

 

It is helpful to compare this course with CSc4820/6820 (Computer Graphics Algorithms). While both courses teach basic 3D computer graphics techniques, their focuses are different and the contents of the two courses supplement each other. In CSc4820/6820 students will spend much time studying real-time rendering issues through OpenGL programming. On the other hand, no programming is required in this course and the focus is on modeling and animation.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

 

By the end of the semester students are expected to have a general understanding of the following:

  1. The fundamentals of computer graphics
  2. Basic modeling and animation techniques
  3. How to use Blender to create 3D content
  4. State of the art in 3D computer graphics

PREREQUISITES

  • Same as GrD 4840/Film 4840 (for undergraduate students) or COMM6840 (for graduate students);
  • Or consent of the instructor

TEXT AND REFERENCES

TENTATIVE COURSE TOPICS

The covered topics will include, but not limited to, the following:

  • Basic and advanced mesh modeling
  • Curves and surfaces
  • Deformable models
  • Materials and lighting
  • Texture mapping
  • Character animation
  • Key-frame based animation
  • Motion capture based animation
  • Ray tracing, radiosity and other rendering issues
  • Advanced special effects

 

The above topics are tentative and may change as the course progresses.

 

GRADING PLAN

 

For all students:

  • Assignments: 20%
  • Projects: 70%
  • Presentations: 10%

 

The grading scale is as follows:

  • A: 90+
  • B: 80 - 89
  • C: 70 - 79
  • D: 60 – 69
  • F: < 60

 

Each student's letter grade for the course will depend directly on the numerical scores earned on the projects and exams.

WITHDRAWAL

 

March 2 is the last day to withdraw and possibly receive a “W”.

 

LECTURE NOTES

Lecture notes will be posted on the course web page.

PROJECTS & ASSIGNMENTS

 

To be announced.

 

TEACHING ASSISTANT

 

To be announced.

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS 

 

Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first contact Disability Services (Student Center, Room 230, extension 3-9044) and obtain a formal letter from that office authorizing special handling of the student.  They should then schedule an appointment with the instructor to make appropriate arrangements. 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

 

Attendance to all lectures is highly recommended.  If you miss a class, you still are responsible for the material covered that day, including project or homework assignments and changes in schedules.

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE  

 

Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class and/or exam should notify the instructor in advance and discuss acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence.

UNIVERSITY POLICY ON ACADEMIC HONESTY

 

Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the University's policy on academic honesty, which is located in section 409 of the faculty handbook.