2023/24 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

COMP3811 Computer Graphics

10 creditsClass Size: 240

Module manager: Dr Markus Billeter
Email: m.billeter@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

Pre-requisite qualifications

COMP2421 Numerical Computation or ELEC1702 Engineering Mathematics;
COMP2811 User Interfaces

Pre-requisites

COMP2421	Numerical Computation
COMP2811	User Interfaces
ELEC1702	Engineering Mathematics

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

3D computer graphics are at the heart of computer games and special effects in film, but are also widely used in sciences, medicine and engineering. This module covers the core concepts behind computer graphics, including rasterization, hardware-accelerated projective rendering, geometric modelling surfaces, shading, surface texturing and hierarchical animation. Coursework culminates in students building a small real-time 3D application to showcase their ability.

Objectives

The module is a first introduction to the field of computer graphics, with a primary focus on projective graphics and real-time rendering. The module will
- Describe and analyse common algorithms and methods used in the field of computer graphics, including methods for rasterization, 3D rendering, shading/lighting and texturing.
- Introduce the projective 3D graphics pipeline, starting with fundamental manipulation of 2D images and culminating in hardware-accelerated rendering of 3D models
- Introduce industry standard hardware-accelerated graphical libraries (for example, modern OpenGL), and detail their use to create graphical applications
- Discuss challenges and physical limitations on the computational representation and display of visual scenes in 3D, including advances in hardware-accelerated graphics.
Students will experiment with the presented methods and algorithms in practical exercises and coursework. Specifically, students will
- Implement a 2D rendering application with rasterization
- Implement a 3D application using a standard API such as OpenGL
- Explore navigation and interaction with 2D and 3D content
- Explore the limits of current hardware

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of module, students will be able to:
- Understand, describe and utilize standard methods to programmatically create and manipulate 2D images
- Understand, describe and utilize the projective 3D graphics pipeline and its modern implementation to create 2D images from 3D models
- Understand, describe, apply and evaluate fundamental algorithms and methods from the field of computer graphics, commonly used for projective graphics applications such as 3D games.

Syllabus

- Physics & biology of vision, colour, display technology;
- Representation and manipulation of 2D image data;
- Geometric primitives in 2D and 3D, and related algorithms;
- Projective rendering, and the projective rendering pipeline;
- Standard libraries for real-time rendering (e.g., modern OpenGL);
- 3D geometric modelling and transformations;
- Triangulated surfaces;
- Homogeneous coordinates, orthographic and perspective transformations;
- Scene construction and representation, and hierarchical scene representations;
- Surface shading and lighting, and the Rendering Equation
- Surface parametrization and textured surfaces;
- Intersection tests, acceleration structures, overview of ray tracing

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Laboratory	10	2.00	20.00
Lecture	22	1.00	22.00
Private study hours			58.00
Total Contact hours			42.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			100.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Feedback is given during the supervised lab sessions. When possible, feedback is given on coursework.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
In-course Assessment	Coursework 1	50.00
In-course Assessment	Coursework 2	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Resits will be assessed by coursework only.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 09/06/2023

Disclaimer

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