Computer Graphics

Course Information

• Course Number: CS 5310
• Semester: Summer 2019
• Hours: Taught Online
• Location: Cyberspace! (i.e. online)
  • Ryder Hall 161 is held for us from 2:50pm-6:05pm on Thursdays for which you can use as a space to meet with your classmates. I highly recommend this!
• Piazza: Forum Board (Office Hour and locations are listed in forum)

Instructor

• Instructor: Mike Shah
• E-mail: mikeshah( a t )Northeastern
• (Read How to send an e-mail)
• Office: Nightingale 132A
• Office Hours: Tuesdays from noon-2pm--Google Hangout by appointment.
• Special Note:This summer I will be in San Francisco helping our other campus every week for part of the week.

Schedule/Road Map

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The following is our tentative syllabus for the course, some changes should be expected throughout the semester. I will announce in class or through e-mail any major changes.

Acquire the Course Monorepo by clicking here Do not do a 'git pull' until class starts (Occasionally I make changes/spelling corrections)

Module	Theme	Date	Topic	Assignments	Note(s)
1	Introduction	Thursday, May 9, 2019	Module 1 - Introduction to Computer Graphics, APIs, and OpenGL Lecture outline Course Structure Introduction to Computer Graphics Introduction to Graphics APIs and some History Getting Started with the Simple Directmedia Layer version 2 (SDL2) Begin Module! Lab SDL2	A1 released (Due May 17 anywhere on Earth)	-- --
2	Fundamentals of building a Software Rasterizer	Thursday, May 16, 2019	Module 2 - Introduction to C++ and Software Rasterization Lecture outline Drawing a Line Drawing a Triangle Filling in a Triangle Outputting an Image as a PPM Begin Module! Lab Basic Software Rasterizer	-- --	-- --
3		Thursday, May 23, 2019	Module 3 - Math Foundations 1 Lecture outline Linear Algebra Begin Module! Lab Starfield	A2 released (Due June 7 anywhere on Earth)	-- --
4		Thursday, May 30, 2019	Module 4 - Transformations and Viewing Lecture outline Painters Algorithm vs Z-Buffer View Frustrum Backface Culling and Draw Order Camera and Model Transform Applied Matrices Examples Object Space, World Space, Camera Space Perspective and Orthographic Begin Module! Lab Rotating Triangle	-- --	-- --
5	Accelerating Graphics with the GPU	Thursday, June 6, 2019	Module 5 - Modern OpenGL Index Buffer Lecture outline Moving on from our Software Render Some GPU History Drawing our First Shape Vertex Buffer in OpenGL Vertex and Fragment Shaders Index Buffers Begin Module! Lab First Shape and Index Buffer	A3 released (Due anywhere on Earth June 28)	-- --
6		Thursday, June 13, 2019	Module 6 - glError, Color, and Transform Lecture outline glError() Color GLM MVP Tranformation Begin Module! Lab Color and Perspective Camera	-- --	-- --
7		Thursday, June 20, 2019	Module 7 - Abstraction and Textures Lecture outline C++ review of object lifetime and memory Abstraction in C++ for our Framework Texture Sampling Mipmapping Normal Mapping Begin Module! Lab Abstraction	A4 releaseed (Due anywhere on Earth July 14)	Mike out of country June 15-24 (Very limited internet during this time)
8		Thursday, June 27, 2019	Module 8 - Camera and Illumination Lecture outline Camera! Lighting! Begin Module! Lab Camera and Illumination	Final Project Ideas Slideshow Previous Year Projects Form Teams Spreadsheet	Final Project Repository Released (Click Here!)
--		Thursday, July 4, 2019	--University Holiday, no class--	A5 releaseed (Due anywhere on Earth July 26)	-- --
9		Thursday, July 11, 2019	Module 9 - Multiple Lights and Normal Mapping Lecture outline Multiple Lights in Shaders Normal Mapping Begin Module! Lab Multiple Lights	-- --	-- --
10		Thursday, July 18, 2019	Module 10 - SceneGraphs and Terrain Lecture outline Trees Scene Graph data structure Triangle Strips Heightmaps Begin Module! Lab Terrain	-- --	-- --
11		Thursday, July 25, 2019	Module 11 - Framebuffer Objects and post-processing Lecture outline Screen Buffers Framebuffer objects Kernels Rendering engine study Begin Module! Lab Framebuffer Post-Processing	A6 released (Due anywhere on Earth Aug. 2)	-- --
12		Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019	Module 12 - Ray Tracing Lecture outline Ray Tracing Begin Module! Lab Ray Tracer	Graphics Study Guide	There is no exam in this course, but this study guide may be useful for summarizing some of the knowledge you should have obtained from the course.
13		Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019	Module 13 - Vulkan (Instructors choice) Lecture outline Vulkan Alternative Modern APIs Course Wrap-up! Begin Module! Lab (Optional--for fun) Graphics APIs	-- --	-- --
14		Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019	Module 14 - Farewell and wrapup! (do your TRACE evaluation please :) Lecture outline Course Wrap-up! Begin Module! Lab (Optional--for fun) See student projects	-- --	Final Project due August 17

Course Description

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This course teachings the fundamentals of Computer Graphics. We will be using C++ and OpenGL to explore computer graphics programming. C++ may be new to many students and often poses to be one of the challenges to entering the field of computer graphics so there will be additional guidance on learning this language. This course also provides a refresher of linear algebra throughout the course.

Registrar Description: Charts a path through every major aspect of computer graphics with varying degrees of emphasis. Discusses hardware issues: size and speed; lines, polygons, and regions; modeling, or objects and their relations; viewing, or what can be seen (visibility and perspective); rendering, or how it looks (properties of surfaces, light, and color); transformations, or moving, placing, distorting, and animating and interaction, or drawing, selecting, and transforming.

Course Objectives

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By the end of this course, you will be ready to:

• Build graphics applications using OpenGL and C++.
• Be able to take more advanced graphics courses (Advanced graphics, Computer Vision, GPGPU, etc).
• Understand how to utilize the GPU for general purpose programming (e.g. OpenCL).
• Position yourself for jobs in gaming, entertainment, or hardware involving graphics.

Prerequisites

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• (Undergrad) Prereq. CS 3540 or permission of instructor
• (Grad)Knowledge of computer graphics, differential calculus, operating systems concepts, and algorithms; restricted to students in the Khoury College of Computer and Information Sciences.

Additional Course Prerequisites

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• This course will be taught using C++. It is possible you have not taken a specific course on C++ --that is okay.
  • This means, you will learn more in this class. That is a good thing.
  • This means, you will have to work hard. I will support you in learning some C++, and early lectures will be devoted to some C++.
  • I feel strongly about using C++, as the game and entertainment industry largely uses modern C++. The C dialect is additionally used for programming GPUs, so it can be easier think in one language.
• You should have basic knowledge in github, using any text-based editor, and how to compile, run, and debug programs.

Resources

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There will be no required textbook to purchase for this course. However, these resources have been vetted, and I recommend for mastery (while taking this course, and reviewing later on in your career).

• (Free) learnopengl.com
• (Recommended) Fundamentals of Computer Graphics
• (Free) C++ Tutorial
• (Free interactive online book) Immersive Math

Assessment/Course Polices

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Please find below the grading distribution that will be used for this course to compute a weighted average for your final grade. You will find grades you earn through the semester on blackboard and your final grade in banner.

• In-Class Activity: 5%
• In-Class Labs:     15%
• Final Project:     20%
• Assignments:       60%
  • (Each Assignment worth the same % of points)

• The grade system follows the University Grading System.
• A  = 95 – 100
• A- = 91 – 94
• B+ = 87 – 90
• B  = 83 – 86
• B- = 80 – 82
• C+ = 77 – 79
• C  = 73 – 76
• D+ = 67 – 69
• D  = 63 – 66
• F  =  0 – 62

• In the event of a snow day (i.e. we miss a lab or in-class activity) the weight of each assignment increases (There may also be shuffling of course material if we are interrupted).
• The expectation is that the assignments are fair but difficult, so you should start early!
• Late Submissions of Assignments receive 10% off per day submitted late (up to 3 days max, then 0% received).
  • Unfortunately, with larger classes I cannot make individual exceptions fairly to your classmates who are likely making other personal sacrifices.
• Assignments that do not compile/open receive no credit Simply put, programs that do not compile do not do anything.
• There are no "re-grades" or points awarded one week after your grade is posted. "re-grades" may result in a higher, equal, or lower score.
• There are no "re-grades" after the semester is over.
• Do not ask multiple members of the course staff for "re-grades"
• If you are currently wait listed, you must submit your homework on time. That is the gamble! If you do not have blackboard access, you will submit by e-mail or other course mechanism.
• There are no extra credit assignments. I reserve the right to add points to assignments that do go above and beyond however.
• I reserve the right to modify the grading scale in your favor if you show exemplary proficiency in any of the categories. I will never modify the scale to lower a students grade.
• In class work cannot be made up at a later date unless otherwise arranged with the instructor well in advance.
  • Course work completed after the date cannot be graded, as solutions will have been discussed (this includes if taking this course for an Incomplete).
  • Once again, "in-class" work must be completed in-class unless there is a documented emergency or you have prearranged with the instructor a make-up well in advance.
• No Facebook, no cell phones. Not only does it distract you, it distracts others! (Divide your tuition by lecture hours and perhaps you will be more motivated as well!)
• Everyone needs to come see me in office hours (or by appointment) at least one time during the semester to introduce yourself. The purpose is so that you:
• Know where my office is.
• Get used to coming to office hours.
• Let me know how I can help you achieve your goals.