Computer Graphics Imaging Ying Zhu Administrative Issues & Course Overview

Office Hours & Contact Information Office Hours Tuesdays 3pm – 5pm Or by appointment Office: 34 Peachtree Street (One Park Tower building) room1441 Phone: (404) 413-5713 Email: yzhu@cs.gsu.edu

Email Correspondence By default, I will send announcements/notice to your GSU email account. If you prefer a different email account, please let me know. When sending me email, please make sure to include “4840” or “6840” in the subject line.

Textbook No paper based textbook Blender User’s Manual http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual I will add additional links to various Blender tutorials on my course web site.

Optional books Blender books http://www.blender.org/education-help/manuals-books/ Introducing Character Animation with Blender, by Tony Mullen, Sybex, 2007 http://www.sybex.com/WileyCDA/SybexTitle/productCd-0470102608,navId-290541,descCd-description.html

Software Blender http://www.blender.org/ A free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems. No programming is required

Grading For all students: Assignments: 20% Projects: 70% Presentations: 10%

Grading The grading scale is as follows: A: 90+ B: 80 - 89 C: 70 - 79

Projects & Homework Assignments Two projects Project 1: create and render a picture Project 2: produce a short 3D animation You may do it individually if you like. But I strongly encourage teamwork 3 to 4 homework assignments will be individual efforts

Lecture Notes Lecture notes will be posted on course web site before each class. http://www.cs.gsu.edu/yzhu/4840- 6840/home.htm

Graduate Teaching Assistant Mr. James Reid james1018@gmail.com

Classroom Etiquette Please refrain from talking to each other during the lecture But do ask questions Please silence your cell phone while in class Please do not take or make phone calls in class

Expected Outcome Basic understanding of 3D computer graphics concepts and theories Basic 3D modeling and animation techniques Learn to use a 3D modeling and animation tool Learn state of the art in 3D computer graphics

About this course Generally considered a difficult course by students in my previous classes Why? 3D computer graphics has a steep learning curve It’s time consuming to create 3D content Blender is a complicated tool Students need to spend a lot of time outside of class to learn Blender and create their

What I expect you to do Read the syllabus Get to know your classmates Ask questions

Any questions?

What is Computer Graphics? The word “Computer Graphics” means different things to different people. We will focus on 3D computer graphics: How to create and store geometry objects (Modeling) How to manipulate geometry objects (Animation) How to generate and display images of geometry objects (Rendering) Images courtesy Discreet Lord of the Rings

Major Fields Modeling Animation Rendering How to create and store geometry objects Animation How to manipulate geometry objects Rendering How to generate and display images of geometry objects

General Goals of CG Modeling & rendering: create photo-realistic images Is it real or is it CG? Animation: create visually realistic simulation Towards true real-time performance 60 frames per second Flexible user interaction Use CG techniques to advance other research fields Scientific visualization and engineering simulation

Major Applications Entertainment Training and education 3D games Feature films, TV series & commercials Training and education E.g. flight simulator, military training Scientific and information visualization E.g. bioinformatic visualization, data visualization

Blender We will be using Blender as a teaching and learning tool throughout the semester Blender is a free open-source software for modeling, animation, and rendering The rendering part is normally done through a third party package Download this tool and start learning it as soon as you can http://www.blender.org

Next Lecture Overview of 3D graphics