SE 313 – Computer Graphics
Lecture 1: Introduction
Lecturer: Gazihan Alankuş
Please look at the last three slides for assignments (marked with TODO)
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Briefly
• A class with
– Very little coding (no struggling with OpenGL code)
– Some mathematics (linear algebra)
– A lot of theoretical information about modern computer graphics
techniques
– A lot of practice with state-of-the-art graphic tools
• All lectures will be in a lab setting
– Many assignments that you will perform during the lecture and get
graded
• Preparatory homeworks before most lectures
– Quizzes about homeworks
• Term project
– Groups of at most 3
– Weekly individual updates
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Outline
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Me
Class
Logistics of class
You
HOMEWORK 1!!!
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Outline
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Me
Class
Logistics of class
You
HOMEWORK 1!!!
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Instructor
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Dr. Gazihan Alankuş
METU, BS 2002, MS 2005
WUSTL, PhD 2011
Is now an Assistant Professor
Background
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Some industry experience (including Google)
I do research on games
Now I get to teach games
reasonable > idealistic
• Please use [email protected] for classrelated e-mail exchange
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Can you understand me?
• English language is just a tool, not a goal.
– The goal is to communicate and learn.
• Stop me when you don’t understand
something.
• In general, be active in class.
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TA
• Erdem OKUR <[email protected]>
• Will be present in the labs
– Grading
– Helping with your problems
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Outline
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Me
Class
Logistics of class
You
HOMEWORK 1!!!
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The Goals of This Class
• Main goal: Equip video game programmers with
information related to game visuals
– What the mathematical foundations of 3D geometry is
– How you can represent models of objects with 3D
geometry
– How you can apply modern techniques to create 3D scenes
– How you can create 3D assets to be used in video games
• Secondary goal: Provide useful information and
experience for programmers that are not game
developers.
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Class
• What is computer graphics?
– Let’s watch some videos
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SE 313: Computer Graphics
• What it is
– Theoretical basis of 3D graphics
– Modern computer graphics techniques
– Using modern computer graphics tools
– Creating 3D assets for games and interactive
applications
• What it is not
– Creating user interfaces with forms, etc.
– Low-level GPU programming (with OpenGL)
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Graphics vs. Vision
• Computer Vision
– images -> computer
• Computer Graphics
– computer -> images
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Computer Graphics
• Using computers to generate, manipulate and
store images of virtual scenes
• There are different ways
– We will not be focusing on programming GPUs to
render in real-time
– We will learn about the theory behind computer
graphics
– We will have a practitioner's perspective and will
use modern tools for implementation
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How Do Computers Create and Display
Images?
• Define and store abstract representation of a
scene
• Perform the necessary projection for the
output device (2D image, 3D hologram)
• Use the output device (monitor) to display it
to the user
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Computer Monitors
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Computer Monitors
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Today We Have Better Displays
• Active matrix systems (LCD, Plasma, LED, etc)
• 3D displays (with or without glasses)
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They All Display Pixels
• The images are stored and displayed as a
matrix of colored points
Mixture of red, green and blue
[adobe.com]
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The Goal is to Fill the Pixels
• Various mathematical techniques to convert
your data to pixel output
• Good news: Computers do this for us, so we
don’t have to worry about this anymore
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What We Need to Do Instead
• Create a mathematical model that defines a
complete scene
– Modeling tools
• Get the computer to convert it to an image
– Rendering tools
• To use these tools effectively you need to
– Learn the theoretical background
– Practice with tools to get an intuitive sense
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More Specifically
Blender
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Unity
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Class
• Learning about computer graphics techniques and applying
them using modern tools
• This is my first time teaching this version of the class. There
can be mistakes.
• Syllabus is online in the class home page:
– http://ects.ieu.edu.tr/syllabus.php?section=ce.cs.ieu.edu.tr&course_c
ode=SE%20313&cer=0
– Book is very useful
• Theory + OpenGL (you can ignore)
• Get the book!
• Reading assignments
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Outline
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Me
Class
Logistics of class
You
HOMEWORK 1!!!
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Logistics
• Website
– http://homes.ieu.edu.tr/galankus/teaching/12fall/se313/
– Reach from my homepage (Google me if you
must)
• Slides and extra material
• Google group
– http://groups.google.com/group/ieu-se313-graphics-fall-2012
– I will send announcements using the Google group
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Logistics
• Grades
– Attendance (except today)
– Lab assignments / homeworks / quizzes
– Project
– Midterm
– Final
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Labs/Lectures
• Before you come to class, there will be a
homework that will teach you the basic
concepts of the subject
• At the beginning of the class there will be a
quiz to test whether you did your homework
• The lecture will teach you the subject and give
you a chance to practice
• Towards the end of the lecture you will
perform an assignment and will be graded
right away
• You can bring your own laptops.
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Projects
• Various projects related to computer graphics
– You choose the topic
• I will supply sample topics that you can choose from
• You can merge this with projects from other classes
– Groups of at most three
• Expectation will be proportional with group size
• Everybody contributes
– Submit a report along with the sources of the actual
work
– You can use other people’s work (samples, libraries,
models, textures, etc.), but you have to clearly
indicate it. I will not tolerate cheating.
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Outline
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Me
Logistics of class
You
Class
HOMEWORK 1!!!
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Let’s get to know you
• Introduce in detail, from where, etc.
• Registered? Why?
• What do you expect
– from this class?
– to see happen by the end of semester?
• What do you know about computer graphics?
• Have you used any visual tools?
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Questions?
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Outline
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Me
Logistics of class
You
Class
HOMEWORK 1!!!
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TODO: Google Group
• Do either one of these:
– Go to http://groups.google.com/group/ieu-se313graphics-fall-2012 and apply for a membership.
– Or, send an e-mail to [email protected] and
I will invite your e-mail to the Google group. You
will have to accept the invitation.
• I will use this for class announcements
• You can also send questions, comments,
helpful tips, or announcements to it but I will
moderate your e-mails.
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TODO: Homework 1.a (preparation)
• Download and install these (or use lab
computers at 609 or 601)
– Blender - http://www.blender.org/
– Unity - http://www.unity3d.com/
– Gimp - http://www.gimp.org/
• Watch the video from the link below to learn
how to navigate in the Maya interface by
dragging the mouse with the Alt key and the
three different mouse buttons. We will use
the same kind of navigation in Blender
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLal5VLFcAY
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TODO: Homework 1.b (Blender intro)
• Run Blender, switch to the Maya preset in the
splash screen (or in File->User preferences>Input). This way, you can use the same kind
of navigation (Alt+drag) that is in Unity.
• Watch the 7 short videos from here
and practice them in Blender. Note
the difference in navigation
(Blender default vs Maya presets)
and adapt yourself to it.
– http://cgcookie.com/blender/getstarted-with-blender/
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TODO: Homework 1.c (the deliverable)
• Run Blender, switch to the Maya preset in
the splash screen (or in File->User
preferences->Input). This way, you can use
the same kind of navigation (Alt + mouse
drag) that is in Unity.
• Using the mesh primitives (Add->Mesh),
write down (at least) the first letter of
your name (check the example image on
the right). Feel free to have fun with it.
• Save the image (after rendering, Image>Save As Image) and the .blend file (File>Save As). Send them to Erdem, who is
the assistant for this course.
• Use this kind of a subject (copy-paste this
and modify):
– SE 313 Homework 1 Ali Veli
201203021030
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