**CS371: Computational Graphics**
*Fall 2016* - [Williams College](http://www.williams.edu) - [Computer Science Department](http://cs.williams.edu) - [Film and Media Studies](http://catalog.williams.edu/catalog.php?&strm=1171&subj=&sbattr=FMST_FMSTCORE)
Prof. [Morgan McGuire](http://cs.williams.edu/~morgan),
" by Valentin Galea](image/world.jpg width="30%" border="2")
Computational graphics is the science of visual communication. This
interdisciplinary course combines the study of ray optics, numerical
integration techniques, computational geometry and topology,
aesthetics, human perception, and software engineering.
This semester, the theme of CS371 is *procedural synthesis*: autonomous and guided algorithms that
generate rich 3D content to relieve us of placing every detail by hand and enable infinite virtual worlds.
" by nimitz](image/sky.jpg width="30%" border="2")
The applications are diverse: think about [plants](https://vimeo.com/114446206),
[buildings](http://research.michael-schwarz.com/publ/files/cgapp-sig15.pdf),
[cities](https://graphics.ethz.ch/Downloads/Publications/Papers/2001/p_Par01.pdf),
[decay](http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/~dcor/articles/2016/TW.pdf),
[terrain](http://web.mit.edu/cesium/Public/terrain.pdf),
[planets](http://bruno-simon.com/lab/procedural-planet/),
[space ships](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnyerXljmrQ&t=0m30s),
[materials](http://luthuli.cs.uiuc.edu/~daf/courses/computergraphics/week8/shading.pdf),
[characters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvw2IDJ8cEY),
and [animation](http://www.utdallas.edu/atec/midori/Handouts/procedural_animation.htm).
_This syllabus is revised frequently. The latest version is always online
at http://graphics.cs.williams.edu/courses/cs371_
Requirements
======================================================================================
Prerequisites
: - [*CS136*: Data Structures and Advanced Programming](http://www.cs.williams.edu/csci-136-data-structures-and-advanced-programming-q/) and
- [*CS237*: Computer Organization](http://www.cs.williams.edu/csci-237-computer-organization-q/) _or permission of the instructor_
Textbooks
: - *_P&P_*: Hughes et al., [_Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice (3rd ed.)_](http://amzn.to/29RCAtm), Addison-Wesley, 2013 ($77)
- *_GC_*: McGuire, [_The Graphics Codex_](http://graphicscodex.com), Casual Effects, 2011 ($10)
On Reserve
: - _P&P_ and [_No Man's Sky_](http://www.no-mans-sky.com/) (PS4) are on reserve in Schow.
- [_Tiltbrush_](https://www.tiltbrush.com/), [_The Lab_](http://store.steampowered.com/app/450390/),
and several other VR experiences are on reserve in Sawyer.
- [_Minecraft_](https://minecraft.net/en/) and [_Spelunky_](http://www.spelunkyworld.com/)
are available by appointment.
Equipment
: " by Íñigo Quílez](image/fish.jpg width="30%" border="2")
You do not need to buy any computer equipment for the course. OIT
will provide you with a self-booting Windows 10 USB disk that
contains the CS371 development stack. You can plug this into any
computer in Jesup 203 to reboot it as a CS371 development station.
Pick up this disk from ELC in Sawyer before 1pm on Sep. 8.
You may also use the USB disk on your own computer as well. Although we don't provide
technical support for that. I recommend using a machine with at least 4GB of RAM and an
NVIDIA GeForce 950 or better GPU. The CS department usage policy prohibits you
from rebooting any lab machine, so you can't use your CS371 disk on CS machines.
Time
: " by Íñigo
Quílez](image/elephant.jpg width="30%" border="2") Attendance is required at all
class sessions. Plan to invest an average of *10 hours per week* on this course, including
scheduled class time. The balance will shift from more reading early in the semester to more
development later. We actively focus on workflow. You will monitor your time and I'll help
you learn to work efficiently.
Many students are excited by reative opportunities and choose to spend more time than
required on projects. Be clear with yourself and your teammates about when you are working to
satisfy the assignment vs. pursuing your own initiatives. Communicate with your partners
about your goals and schedule, and respect that theirs may differ. If one partner wants to
spend six hours on a project and another one wants to spend twelve, that's fine as long as
you're contributing equally to the part that satisfies the assignment specification.
 by Hello
Games](image/no-mans-sky.jpg width="30%" border="2") Assume that *only 20% of your
time will be spent on "implementation"*. The rest of your time will be spent planning,
designing, documenting, debugging, testing, creating data files, using your program for
experiments, and writing your lab report. This is representative of the research and industry
experience and is what you should be prepared for in a 300-level CS course. So, schedule
accordingly: if you burn eight hours on implementation each week, then you won't have enough
time for the other elements of the assignments and the course.
Readings
=================================================================================
Short chapters in the _Graphics Codex_ are based on my lecture notes from previous years. They
provide most of the essential information for the projects.
Long chapters in _Principles and Practice_ explain the theory and details of techniques that we
study. In many cases, these readings go beyond what is needed for the weekly projects. However,
you will need this depth for the midterm and final projects and for the exams, so don't fall
behind.
The _Graphics Codex_ also contains encyclopedia-like entries for reference, with links to the
programming documentation used in class.
Lecture does not comprehsively cover the information required for projects and exams. The
reading is better suited to that task. Instead, we use lecture to address the most interesting
and challenging concepts in each unit. Arrive prepared for discussion, having completed the
assigned reading and with notes of your questions.
Evaluation
=====================================================================
You'll receive both quantitative and qualitative evaluation of your
work, with emphasis on your scientific and engineering *process*
for projects and *mathematics* and *algorithms* for exams.
Component | Percentage
-------------------------------|-------------------
*Individual* Projects 0, 1, 5 | 18%
*Pair* Projects 2, 3, 6 | 18%
*Team* Projects 4, 7 | 18%
Exam 1 | 18%
Exam 2 | 18%
Engagement | 10%
Projects
------------------------------------------------------------
*Project* grades are frequently high (>70% credit). You can receive almost full credit for a
well-designed and written program that addresses the specification and is clearly presented in
your report, even if does not produce a very satisfying result due to implementation
errors. Prioritize process, design, and clear communication over fixing every last bug when
running low on time. Within each project, credit is assigned _approximately_ as follows:
Element | Percentage
--------------------------------------------|-------------------
Adherance to the specification | 35%
`report.md.html` quality and correctness | 35%
Code readability and Doxygen documentation | 15%
Process as documented in `journal.md.html` | 15%
Process and readability grades for a project will be pro-rated when the specification is
incompletely satisfied.
Project have hard deadlines that are enforced to the second (according to the server's time).
Most are due on *Monday nights at 10pm*. You don't hand anything in explicitly. Instead, I
check out whatever is in SVN as of the deadline. Although there is nothing to stop you from
commiting changes after the deadline, beware that I won't see them.
 by Mojang](image/minecraft.jpg width="30%" border="2")
Some questions I consider when evaluating source code are: Is it possible for someone
unfamiliar with it to find specific routines quickly? Is the code easy to understand? Does it
make good tradeoffs between efficiency, clarity, and flexibility? Are data structures used
effectively? Are the algorithms correct? Are the geometry and physics correct?
When evaluating the report (and journal), I consider: Do the experiments adequately explore the
correctness, performance, robustness, and parameter space of the algorithm? Are known bugs
made clear, along with how you tried to solve them? Are appropriate sources cited for
algorithms and code? Does the overview documentation guide a reader to the relevant source
code documentation? Is the architecture of the program clear?
I require you to report the number of hours that you spent on the project. That number will not
affect your grade. If you're spending a lot more time than others, then I will suggest some
ways to improve your workflow. If you're spending much less time than I expected then I'll
suggest some other directions you might optionally explore if you want to learn more about
graphics.
In addition to the explicit instructions in the project specifications, always:
- Remove unused code and data from your program. This includes code from the previous project
that is no longer used, old report images, and the starter project's default event handlers
when you don't need them. (`GApp::onInit` is the only one that you need to override for the
first half of the course!) An exception is debugging and unit testing code that you may need
again in the future, which is acceptable to retain.
- Document individual entry points and variables.
- Put your report in `doc-files/report.md.html` and put your name, email address, and the name
of the project ("Meshes") on the top of your report. Assume that it will be read after
the documentation build copies it to `build/doc` for the purpose of relative links.
- Briefly document your contributions to each source file at the top in a comment when working
from starter code or code from a previous project. For example, "2016-09-01: Reformatted by
Delia" or "2016-09-02: Cylinder generation code by Khan" This is not a common software
engineering practice, but it is useful if you're completing these projects for a course and
will be graded.
Extensions
------------------------------------------------------------
" by Octavio Good](image/city.jpg width="30%" border="2")
Because of the cumulative nature of projects and group-programming aspect of the course, it is
essential that everyone begin and end assignments at the same time. So, *late work is not
accepted and I do not grant extensions in CS371*.
Please read the entire schedule for the course to avoid missing deadlines for your planned
absences, and start work early each week to minimize the impact of unplanned absences.
Engagement
------------------------------------------------------------
*Engagement* is my subjective evaluation of how you interact with the material and students. I
use the full range from 0 (e.g., submits required work, attends some classes) to 10% (e.g.,
attends all sessions, asks questions, refers to the readings, goes a bit beyond the
specification on assignments, raises new topics in class) for this. You can engage through
math, coding, team work, and discussion. Beware that repeated unexcused absences and lateness
will quickly lower your engagement score to zero.
" by Pablo Roman Andrioli (Kali)](image/temple.jpg width="30%" border="2")
All computing devices must be turned off during lecture. This includes phones and
laptops. Recording of lectures is prohibited.
Computing devices related to the course are obviously welcome during lab. Unrelated social
media, web, and communication application use are prohibited during lab---that is a time set
aside for you to focus solely on projects for this course.
Absences
------------------------------------------------------------
" by Dave
Hoskins](image/fractal.jpg width="30%" border="2")
I will (of course) excuse absences for medical reasons, cultural and religious holidays, jury
duty, and serious personal problems. These must be documented by a dean emailing me to remove
any ambiguity or subjectivity.
I encourage students who may need disability-related accommodations for this course to contact
the deans at 413-597-4171, as are those experiencing mental or physical health challenges that
are significantly affecting their academic work.
Even in exceptional cases such as these, I generally can't give extensions because the projects
run cumulatively, continuously, and often in groups. Instead, I can excuse you from work and
adjust your final grade accordingly.
Project SVN
=====================================================================
Projects specifications are available on the
[Graphics Codex Projects](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/projects/#toc2) site by Wednesday
at noon each week. (Drafts are sometimes available well beforehand, but I adjust them until
Wednesday.) Note that not every project on that site is assigned for this course.
The project SVN repositories for you to commit your code are named:
`svn://graphics-svn.cs.williams.edu/cs371/students/`_lab_`/`_team_
where the lab names are `0-cubes`, `1-meshes`, `2-rays`, `3-paths`, `4-midterm`,
`5-raymarch`, `6-isosurface`, and `7-final`. Your SVN username is your short-form email address from
OIT, for example, "`brk3`" if your email address is "`brk3@williams.edu`". You will receive
your SVN password on the first day of class.
For a solo project, the team name is your username. For a group project, the team name is
everyone's username sorted alphabetically and joined with plus signs, for example,
"`brk3+msm1`".
SVN doesn't care what your directory is called, so I recommend that you name your directory
after the lab instead of the default of the team name. For example, for the first lab, user
`brk3` would check out `svn://graphics-svn.cs.williams.edu/cs371/students/0-cubes/brk3` to
local directory `0-cubes`.
" by
Frankenburgh](image/ocean.jpg width="30%" border="2")
Set up your *project framework in SVN and read the assignment thoroughly
before you arrive in lab* on Thursday afternoons, so that we can immediately begin
workshopping your design and implementation plan. Assignments are designed so that if you
arrive prepared, you will then hit the crux while we're together in lab.
Check in code early and often, and keep your build well-documented from the beginning.
If you need help with something on your project, just email me your project's team name and
tell me what the problem is. I can remotely check out your code, and even check in fixes. The
SVN logs are your proof of which lines of code you wrote and when you wrote them. I will check
them to verify claims of good workflow and scheduling, and fairness on group projects.
I will occasionally tell you to "update your G3D" so that you can access the latest
API features and data for the project. This means that you should SVN update the
`c:\g3d` directory on your computer and then run `buildg3d lib` at the command line in the
`c:\g3d\G3D10` directory.
Schedule
=====================================================================
Monday | Tuesday | Thursday | Friday
------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-------------------------------
|Lecture TCL206
*9:55-11:10am* |Lecture TCL206
*9:55-11:10am* |
Office Hrs TCL308
1-2:30pm| |Lab Jesup 203
*1-4pm* | Office Hrs TCL308
1-2:30pm
Jamie Lesser's TA office hours 7-10pm on Sundays in Jesup 203.
Additional faculty office hours are available by appointment. I'm usually free 9am-5pm except
for my other courses (see my [web page](http://cs.williams.edu/~morgan)), but tend to get booked with
ad-hoc meetings about two days ahead. So, if you can't come to office hours, please propose
three times in the coming week by email and I'll choose the first for which I'm available.
The full semester schedule follows. Read the assigned *texts before lectures* that they are
associated with. In general, the course shifts emphasis from a lot of reading at the beginning
to a lot of software development by the end.
Thu 8 Sep 2016: Welcome
- *Read*:
- "*Preface*" in _GC_
- "*C++*" in _GC_
- The [*Developer Tools*](http://g3d.cs.williams.edu/g3d/G3D10/build/manual/devtools.html)
chapter in the G3D documentation
- ["*Configure the Editor*"](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/tools/#toc4) section of Recommended Toolset
- Skim the [G3D Build System Instructions](http://g3d.cs.williams.edu/g3d/G3D10/readme.md.html), which describe how I configured your USB disk
- !["Burning Safari"](image/burning_safari.jpg border=1 width="100px") Class policies (this syllabus!)
- 3D coordinates
- Euler angles
- Hadamard vector operations
- Working with specifications
- Modeling 3D Graphics
- Watch "Burning Safari" (France 2006, 2 minutes, English) by Aupetit, Maleo, Predal, La Taille,
Trebutien, and Irzenski at Goeblins L'Ecole de L'Image
+ Lab this afternoon in Jesup 203. Get a USB disk before lab.
Thu 8 Sep 2016: Lab 0: Cubes
- *Read* the [*Cubes project*](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/cubes/) document before class
- Complete the project before the following Monday night, at 11pm
+ First time setup
+ Shut down the computer
+ Plug into the USB3 ("SS" icon) port
+ Boot the computer
+ Log in as cs371/cs371
+ SVN update G3D
+ Start G3D build
+ Windows Check for Updates
+ Install NVIDIA GeForce Experience
+ Update driver
+ Shut down (DO NOT UNPLUG the USB disk until shutdown)
+ Unplug your disk
+ Boot the computer again
+ Normal login
+ Shut down the computer
+ Plug in your disk
+ Boot
+ ...
+ Walkthrough
- Subversion
- Visual Studio
- G3D Starter project
- Basic C++
- Writing to files
- Scene file format
- Markdeep and Doxygen
- Writing a report
Tue 13 Sep 2016: Modeling with Triangles
- *Read*:
- This *syllabus*
- "*Introduction*" in _GC_
- "*Version Control Basics*" in _GC_
- "*Surface Geometry*" in _GC_
- *Ch. 14*, "Standard Approximations and Representations" in _P&P_
- Indexed triangle meshes
Thu 15 Sep 2016: Transformations
- *Read*:
- *Ch. 14.1-14.3* on number representations in _P&P_
- "*Floating Point Formats*" in _GC_
- *Ch. 10*, "Transformations in Two Dimensions" in _P&P_
- *Ch. 11.1-11.2*, "Transformations in Three Dimensions" in _P&P_
- !["Raymond"](image/raymond.jpg border=1 width="100px") Linear algebra primer
- Translation
- Scale
- Rotation
- Composition
- Dot product
- Homogeneous coordinates
- Object, World, and Camera space
- Inversion (general + special cases)
- Raymond (France 2006, 5 min, French) by bif, produced by The Mill
Thu 15 Sep 2016: Lab 1: Meshes
- *Read* and begin the [*Meshes project*](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/meshes/) document before class
+ Indexed triangle meshes
+ Generate cube, cylinder, torus, and heightfield files
+ Cite erosion etc. papers
Tue 20 Sep 2016: Ray Tracing
- *Read*:
- "*A Model of Light*" in _GC_
- "*The Rendering Equation*" in _GC_
- *Ch. 7.6* on coordinates in _P&P_
- !["Exodus"](image/exodus1.jpg border=1 width="100px") Transmission
- Rudimentary scattering functions
- Geometric intersection
- Shadowing
+ Build pseudocode for the whole ray-tracing algorithm
Thu 22 Sep 2016: Ray Intersection
- *Read*:
- "*A Camera Model*" in _GC_
- "*Ray Casting*" in _GC_
- "*Direct Illumination*" in _GC_
- !["Minamita District"](image/minamatama_district.jpg border=1 width="100px") Ray generation
- Ray-sphere intersection
- Ray-plane intersection
- Ray-triangle intersection
- "Minamitama District", (Japan, 2008, English, 2 min)
- "Exodus", (Sweden, 2013, English, 3 min)
Thu 22 Sep 2016: Lab 2: Rays
- *Read* and begin the [*Rays project*](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/rays/) document before class
Tue 27 Sep 2016: Microfacet Models
- *Read*:
- "*Materials*" in _GC_
- *Ch. 27*, "Materials and Scattering" in _P&P_
- *Ch. 37*, "Spatial Data Structures" in _P&P_
- Spatial data structures
- Full BSDF sampling
- Scattering functions
Thu 29 Sep 2016: Monte Carlo Methods
- *Read*:
- "*Rendering Algorithms*" in _GC_
- *Ch. 30*, "Probability and Monte Carlo Integration" in _P&P_
- *Ch. 31.16-31.18.3*, of "Computing Solutions to the Rendering Equation: Theoretical Approaches." in _P&P_
- *Ch. 32.1-32.5* of "Rendering in Practice" in _P&P_
- Optional: [Lecture notes](path-tracing-lecture-notes.pdf)
- Monte Carlo integration
- The path tracing algorithm
- Importance sampling
- Pixel integration
- Direct light integration
- Indirect light integration
- Parallel SIMD batch processing
Thu 29 Sep 2016: Lab 3: Path Tracing
- *Read* and begin the [*Paths project*](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/paths/) before class
- Meet at [WCMA](http://wcma.williams.edu/) at 1pm for the [_Both Sides Now_](http://wcma.williams.edu/exhibit/both-sides-now-lexa-and-dan-walsh/) show
- Work in lab from 1:30pm-4:00pm
+ Incremental rendering
+ Switching to fully threaded model
Tue 4 Oct 2016: Exam 1
Thu 6 Oct 2016: Project Launch
-  *Meet in Jesup 203*
- ["5 faces"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8hSZGTXTx8) demoscene production (2013, 5min)
- ["Home Sweet Home"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKRZn0uS6eA) Supinfocom Arles (France, 2013, 9:55)
- Brief noise overview
- Start Design Project #1
- Choose either the [Geometry](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/geo-design/index.html) or [Renderer](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/render-design/index.html) design project
- Team of three students
- Feature/spec size should be less than 1/2 of a regular project
- Note intermediate deadline on October 13, 9:55am
-  Schedule:
1. Visualize final presentation images
2. Race to code completion by Tuesday (plan to implement and reject many prototype designs)
3. Evolve specification as code and design solidify
4. Write MVP report
5. Polish for eight days
Thu 6 Oct 2016: Lab 4: Design Project #1
-  ["Loom"](https://vimeo.com/24069938) Filmakademie BW (Germany, 2010, 5:20)
Fri 7 Oct 2016: Mountain Day
(Mon 10 Oct 2016): Reading Period
(Tue 11 Oct 2016): Reading Period
Thu 13 Oct 2016: Design Project #1
-  ["Turtles All The Way Down"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z48t2R2hEJM) Subdream (Germany, 2013, 4:55)
- ["Rupture"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWYU5Xvphwg) ASD (Greece, 2009, 6:42)
- Morning session meets in Jesup 203
- Specification due
- MVP report due
- MVP code due
Thu 13 Oct 2016: Design Project #1
Tue 18 Oct 2016: Design Project #1
-  Morning session meets in Jesup 203
(Thu 20 Oct 2016): No Morning Class
Thu 20 Oct 2016: Design Project #1 Presentations
- Format:
- Eight minutes, focused on results
- Title slide with your names and project name
- Full-screen images and diagrams from your report
- Optionally, equations from your report
- Optionally, video from your report
- Citations/bibliography as needed
- No other text or diagrams!
- AirTame from your seat
- Ungraded
Tue 25 Oct 2016: GPU
- *Read* "*Ray Marching*" in _GC_
- Parallel Architectures
- CPU SIMD
+ (explaining why we threaded strangely)
- GPU programming model
- Driver + OpenGL as OS
- Rasterizer
- GLSL
- Invoking a full-screen shader
- `G3D::Args`
- `LAUNCH_SHADER`
- Camera and textures
- F5 to reload shaders
- Camera:
- Generating eye rays yourself
- Materials:
- A simple Blinn-Phong BSDF
- Lights:
- Implementing biradiance yourself
- Environment lighting
- [GPU Architecture Lecture Notes](gpu-architecture-notes.pdf)
Thu 27 Oct 2016: ~~Sphere tracing~~
- *Read*
- ["Making maps with noise functions"](http://www.redblobgames.com/maps/terrain-from-noise/) by Amit Patel
- ["Menger Fractal"](http://www.iquilezles.org/www/articles/menger/menger.htm) by Inigo Quilez
- ["SDF Modeling"](http://www.iquilezles.org/www/articles/sdfmodeling/sdfmodeling.htm) video by Inigo Quilez
- *Cancelled due to illness*
- Signed distance functions
- Ray marching
- Sphere tracing
- Procedural texture
Thu 27 Oct 2016: ~~Lab 5: GPU~~
- *Read* and begin the [*GPU project*](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/gpu/) before class
- *Cancelled due to illness*
- GLSL
- Ray marching
- CSG
- Procedural texture
Tue 1 Nov 2016: Sphere Tracing
Thu 3 Nov 2016: Advanced Sphere Tracing
- *Read* *Ch. 24*, "Implicit Representations of Shape" in _P&P_
- Intersection operations
+ Cube as intersections
- Being conservative
- Bounding spheres
- Working with triangle meshes
+ A triangle
+ Union of triangles: problematic for inside/outside
+ Ray casting solution
+ Grid of triangles
+ Grid of triangles for inside/outside
Thu 3 Nov 2016: Lab 5: GPU
- Complete the [*GPU project*](http://graphicscodex.com/projects/gpu/) begun independently last week
- (was Lab 6: Isosurfaces; that lab is cancelled due to rescheduling)
Tue 8 Nov 2016: Marching Cubes
+ Marching cubes and variants
+ Using spatial queries
+ More isosurface work
Thu 10 Nov 2016: Parameteric Curves
-  *Read*:
- *Ch. 22*, "Splines and Subdivision Curves" in _P&P_
- *Ch. 23*, "Splines and Subdivision Surfaces" in _P&P_
- "The Race", Autour de Minuit, 15 min, France 2015
- Polylines
- Splines
- Spline patches
- Subdivision surfaces
Thu 10 Nov 2016: Lab 7: Final Project
- *Read* [Final Project Notes](final-project-notes.pdf)
- Due Wed Dec. 7 10 pm
- Recommended project topics:
- *dragon's hoard*: pile up random coins, gems, goblets, swords, helmets, etc.
- surface-level *alien planet* view generator, ala _No Man's Sky_, _Fermi Paradox_, and Musgrave via implicit surfaces and noise functions
- *grow ivy* on architectural surfaces
- modeling tool ==> implicit surface GLSL code or CPU + marching cubes or point clouds, ala _Dreams PS4_
- procedural city, castle, space ships, foliage, forests, buildings, mazes, terrain, etc.
- procedural texture generation
- mesh melder: marching cubes ==> polygons + texture
- data-driven GPU CSG renderer
- real-time GPU ocean, clouds, fire, etc.
- *Due at 2pm*: McGuire approval of placeholder report "quality" images
- Show at least ten images, potentially from different projects
- Photoshop mockups and 3rd party images strongly encouraged
- I'll greenlight the subset that are compelling and possible
Tue 15 Nov 2016: Final Project
- Morning session meet in Jesup 203
- *Due at 10am*: Full draft of Report
Thu 17 Nov 2016: CGI Art History I
- Pixar art-history lectures/screenings
Thu 17 Nov 2016: Large Models
- *MVP Code Due*
- Journal must have enough information to present to our guest
- Guest lecture by [Patrick Cozzi](http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pcozzi/) of U. Penn and Analytical Graphics
Tue 22 Nov 2016: CGI Art History II
- Pixar art-history lectures/screenings
(Tue 23 Nov 2016): Thanksgiving Break
(Tue 24 Nov 2016): Thanksgiving Break
(Tue 25 Nov 2016): Thanksgiving Break
Tue 29 Nov 2016: Final Project
- Morning session meet in Jesup 203
Thu 1 Dec 2016: Rasterization
- *MVP Report Due in SVN*
- *Read* *Ch. 15*, "Ray Casting and Rasterization" in _P&P_
- Rasterization algorithm
- Projection matrices
- Shadow maps
Thu 1 Dec 2016: Final Project
Tue 6 Dec 2016: Final Project
- Morning session meet in Jesup 203
(Thu 8 Dec 2016): No Morning Class
Thu 8 Dec 2016: Final Presentations
- Guests welcome
- Same rules as for midterm
- Course Evaluations
Wed 14 Dec 2016: Exam 2
- 1:30pm TCL 206
Ethics
=====================================================================
*Plagiarism* is an academic offense of misrepresenting authorship
that can result in penalties up to expulsion for an undergraduate. It
is dishonorable but not illegal. Note that it is possible to
plagiarise _your own work_, for example, by resubmitting work from
another course without attribution.
*Copyright* violation is an independent concept based on the legal right to use material,
which is enforced by civil courts.
Honor Code
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Students in this course are expected to obey all provisions of the
[Williams College Honor Code](http://sites.williams.edu/honor-system/academic-honesty/) and the
[Computer Science Honor Code and Computer Usage Policy](http://www.cs.williams.edu/the-cs-honor-code-and-computer-usage-policy/).
To avoid plagiarism, all contributors, including third party material (e.g., music, video
footage, 3D models, source code), must be acknowledged in submitted work. Because we share
code between projects but change partners, by the end of the course, you'll likely have some
long attribution lists, for example: _based on Jon Cohen's and Jose Bolivar's shadow code from
Project 5, which is based on Eliza Washington's recursive ray code from Project 4, ..._.
I encourage you to discuss the projects and reading on the course mailing list
. Doing so will reflect positively in your engagement score.
The only restriction is that you may not post code or solutions to report questions. Likewise,
I encourage you to ask questions in discussion, lecture, lab, and office hours about the
projects. If you e-mail me directly about a project, I'll probably edit your message and then
copy the entire class on the response to spread information more widely.
Furthermore, to remain within the other provisions of Honor Code, you must not take any action
(including misrepresentation) intended to gain an unfair advantage over another student.
Anyone confused about how those provisions apply in this course should discuss them in advance
with me.
Copyright Law
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The materials for this course are protected by the Copyright Law of
the United States of America and are presented to you with the
permission of the copyright holder or in accordance with the
[Fair Use](http://copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html)
provisions.
You may not redistribute copyrighted materials without permission from
the copyright holder, which may not be me or the College. This
includes making materials available on websites, public version
control servers, and file-sharing programs; using 3D models, music,
and artwork that you have found online for your class projects; and
restributing the course materials themselves. "I'm a student", "It was
already available online" and "I didn't use it for commercial
purposes" are not exceptions under USA Copyright law.
Beware that if you infringe on someone else's copyright then you may
be liable for penalties including [imprisonment and substantial
fines](https://www.lib.purdue.edu/uco/CopyrightBasics/penalties.html),
and that this is entirely outside of the College's and my ability to
protect or excuse you.
Under the College's intellectual property policy, students retain the
copyright on coursework that they produce, except for portions that
are derivative works.
_This section of the syllabus does not constitute legal advice--I am
notifying you of my own understanding of the relevant law, but it
is your responsibility to be aware of and follow all applicable laws._
Gallery
===========================================================
Here are images produced by students for the projects this semester:
- [Cubes](gallery/0-cubes/index.html)
- [Meshes](gallery/1-meshes/index.html)
- [Rays](gallery/2-rays/index.html)
- [Paths](gallery/3-paths/index.html)
- [Midterm](gallery/4-midterm/index.html)
- [Ray March](gallery/5-raymarch/index.html)