2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

COMP5892M Advanced Rendering

30 creditsClass Size: 50

Module manager: Rafael Kuffner dos Anjos
Email: r.kuffnerdosanjos@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

Co-requisites

COMP5891M	Foundations of Computer Graphics
COMP5893M	Modelling and Animation

Module replaces

COMP5812M Foundations of Modelling and Rendering COMP5821M Geometric Processing COMP5822M High-Performance Graphics COMP5823M Animation and Simulation

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module solidifies foundations of understanding for the physics, mathematics and algorithms underlying all computer graphics. It then explains the concepts, algorithms and methods with which rich scenes are rendered for both offline media such as movies and interactive applications such as games. It provides insight on the features of modern graphics hardware and software systems used in this process. The module is organised around key technologies and principles exploited in these resource-constrained applications, exploring how advanced rendering tasks achieve high visual veracity within a fixed budget of computational resources.

Objectives

The module builds on a foundation of computer graphics towards an understanding of theory and demonstrated practice of modern, advanced rendering techniques. The module covers both cinematic offline rendering as well as real-time rendering, with a focus on the latter specifically in the context of stand-alone systems (common desktops or laptops).

The module will:

- Detail modern computer systems, their architecture in the context of computer graphics, and the challenges that such systems bring.

- Introduce and detail modern graphics APIs (e.g. OpenGL, Vulkan API).

- Introduce, detail and discuss modern graphics/rendering techniques in the context of real-time and offline rendering, including light transfer, computation of illumination (direct and indirect), texturing, render-to-texture, shadowing, as well as common techniques for accelerated rendering (e.g., deferred shading).

- Discuss what approximations and simplifications these methods make to enable high-performance rendering, and how these trade between physical realism, perceived realism and computational cost.

- Discuss how rendering techniques can appropriately debugged, analysed and evaluated.

Students will explore presented theory, methods and techniques through exercises and courseworks, in which they will work with a modern API such as Vulkan.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module a student will have demonstrated the ability to:

1. understand optical physics relevant to computer graphics, such as reflections, refractions, diffraction and scattering.

2. understand and implement techniques in projective and ray-traced image rasterisation

3. understand material acquisition, modelling and representation, including textures, PBR, BRDFs and BSDF’s

4. understand the architecture of modern graphics systems (hardware and software), and the implications thereof when writing high performance renderers.

5. be able to utilise a modern high-performance graphics API to implement, debug and evaluate modern rendering techniques.

6. understand, describe, utilise and evaluate rendering techniques, and chose appropriate solutions based on requirements in terms of realism and available computational resources.

Skills outcomes
Technical, Problem solving, Active learning

Syllabus

Raytracing, Scattering, and Pathtracing

Rasterisation and OpenGL

Texturing, Sampling, storage.

Signal and Image Processing

The Vulkan API

Anti-aliasing, blending

Shadows, global illumination

Render-to-texture, post-processing, image-based techniques

Ray tracing, hardware extensions and acceleration structures.

Modern GPU hardware features and approaches

Alternative rendering solutions (e.g. NPR, DVR, Voxels)

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	8	1.00	8.00
Lecture	13	2.00	26.00
Practical	16	3.00	48.00
Seminar	3	2.00	6.00
Independent online learning hours			48.00
Private study hours			164.00
Total Contact hours			88.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			300.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will have two regular lab slots of three hours every week, where staff will be available for support in completing their assessment tasks.
The nature of the first coursework (Pass/fail, with in-person Q&A) allows for multiple sessions of demonstration and formative feedback on their existing solution. Students are given chances to fix their mistakes to achieve a correct solution of the coursework.
Three “online learning support” sessions are also planned to support students in completing tutorials and key tasks for their coursework, which will focus on catching up any student falling behind.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	Up to 2 pieces of Coursework	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 25/09/2024 09:18:38

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