(graduate)
Computer Graphics
UW CSE 557, Fall 2024
In this course, we will cover basic principles of Computer Graphics through a series of lectures and by building out our own 3d modeling, rendering and animation package. Topics covered include: spatial transformations and coordinates, rasterization, sampling and signal processing, projective geometry, texture mapping, meshes, curves, geometry processing, spatial (acceleration) data structures, color and vision science, radiometry, physically-based rendering, raytracing via Monte Carlo, animation, rotation, kinematics, and simulation.
After taking this course, you should feel confident that you have the basic skills and knowledge necessary to build software packages like Maya, Blender, or Adobe Photoshop.
Course Information
Staff Email: cse557-staff@cs.washington.edu
Instructor: Gilbert Bernstein (gilbo@cs.washington.edu)
Office Hours: Th 10-11am at CSE2(Gates) 235TA: Matthew Shang (mshang@cs.washington.edu)
Office Hours: M,Th 2:30-3:30pm at CSE2(Gates) 151 (1:30-2:30pm on Th Oct 3)Lecture: MW 11:30-12:50pm in CSE2(Gates) G04
Expectations
Students are expected to attend lecture and ask questions. The coursework will consist entirely of weekly homework assignments (completed individually) as well as 4 programming projects (completed in pairs). Each of these projects is quite substantial, so we will provide (non-deadline) halfway checkpoints. We strongly suggest attempting to spend an hour each day making slow and steady progress. Procrastinating until the deadline will make the projects very unpleasant.
In general, you should assume that it may take up to 24 hours for course staff to respond to questions, and that course staff will not be available on weekends or holidays. This is another important reason to start on the projects early. Questions submitted on a due date may go unanswered until after the deadline.
Prerequisites
Linear Algebra
C++ Programming
Resources and Textbooks
"Foundations of Computer Graphics" by Shirley and Marschner — This is a good general graphics textbook. If you are looking for a traditional textbook to supplement the lectures, then get a copy of this book. However, there is no particular alignment between lectures and this book.
Physically-Based Rendering: From Theory to Implementation (website link) — This is one of the greatest textbooks in Computer Science. It even won an Academy Award! The book is a "literate program" meaning that the source code for a complete photo-realistic ray-tracer can be extracted from the text. Both the text and the software are available for free from the website. It is an ideal text for the photorealistic rendering part of the course.