CSc 4820/6820 Computer Graphics Algorithms Lecture 2 Overview of 3D Computer Graphics

Outline A brief history of 3D computer graphics Computer graphics applications Major topics in 3D computer graphics

What is Computer Graphics? The word “Computer Graphics” means different things to different people. We will focus on 3D interactive 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) User interaction Images courtesy Discreet Lord of the Rings

Major Topics in Computer Graphics Modeling 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

Computer Graphics: A Brief History William Fetter of Boeing coins the term “Computer Graphics” (1960) Basic computer graphics algorithms/concepts are introduced: hidden line detection, homogeneous coordinates, line drawing, back-face culling, parametric curves & surfaces, etc. Spacewars, first video game, is developed at MIT (1961) SketchPad: first interactive computer graphics software (1962) Bell Labs builds first frame buffer (3 bits) First use of CGI for commercials – MAGI for IBM (1969) Spacewars Image courtesy MIT Media Lab

Computer Graphics: A Brief History Many fundamental computer graphics algorithms/technologies are introduced: visible surface detection, Gouraud shading, Phone shading, Z-buffer, curved surface rendering, texture mapping, reflectance and environment mapping, anti-aliasing, curved shadow, bump mapping, ray tracing, keyframe based animation, etc. First SIGGRAPH conference (1973) Microsoft is founded (1974); Special effects powerhouse, Industrial Light & Magic, is founded (1975) The first flight simulator for Apple II is released (1978) (later purchased by Microsoft) First flight simulator Image courtesy simflight.com

Computer Graphics: A Brief History Many major companies in the graphics field are founded: Silicon Graphics Inc., ATI, SUN, Pixar, Adobe, AutoDesk, Alias, Softimage, Side Effects, etc. More graphics algorithms are introduced: radiosity, motion capture, motion blur, morphing, etc. The birth of RenderMan (1988) Wavefront – the first commercially available 3D software package (1984) AutoCAD 1.0 (1982) Tron (1982): 1st film to make extensive use of computer graphics Tron

Computer Graphics: A Brief History The release of major 3D graphics libraries: OpenGL, DirectX, Java3D The release of major 3D modeling & animation packages: 3D Studio, 3D Studio Max, Maya, etc. The rise and fall of SGI NVIDIA releases first Graphics Processing Unit (1999) Increasing use of 3D special effects in feature films: Terminator 2, Titanic, etc. First 3D computer animated feature film: Toy Story by Pixar The release of Doom and Quake Titanic

Computer Graphics: A Brief History 2000 – present Powerful Graphics Processing Units on PC graphics card: NVIDIA Geforce, ATI Radeon High level shading languages: Cg, HLSL, GLSL, etc. New generation game console: Xbox/360, Playstation 2/3, Nintendo Wii, etc. Widespread use of CGI special effects in feature films: War of the Worlds, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, Matrix, Finding Nemo, Shrek, The Cars, Wall-E, etc.

Major applications Entertainment Training and simulation Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Medical applications Scientific visualization CG art

Medical Visualization Human body modeling 3D medical image visualization Volume rendering Virtual surgery simulation Computer Assisted surgery Virtual Reality for patient care E.g. Immersive Virtual Reality for pain control Modeling human head Images courtesy Stanford University Volume Rendering Images courtesy GE

Scientific Visualization Visualizing and analyzing engineering & scientific data Bioinformatic visualization Molecular Modeling Fluid Dynamics simulation and analysis 3D structure electromagnetic field simulator E.g. visualization for Data Mining Collaborative visualization CAVE: immersive virtual environment 2003 Hurricane Season Forecast Images courtesy NASA Collaborative Visualization Images courtesy SGI

Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) Computer assisted engineering analysis Finite Element Analysis Images courtesy SGI

Computer Aided Design (CAD) & Manufacture (CAM) Widespread use of CAD and CAM in manufacture industry E.g. Automobile design and manufacture Geometric Modeling Product design and analysis Computer Aided Manufacturing Images courtesy SGI Computer Aided Design Images courtesy SGI

Visual Simulation Simulate real world experience using graphics software and hardware Used for civil or military training, mission planning, etc. E.g. flight, ground, space, maritime simulation Flight Simulation Images courtesy Link Simulation & Training Marine Simulation Images courtesy SGI

Architectural Visualization & Simulation Urban simulation for city planning Real estate preview Urban Simulation Images courtesy MultiGen-Paradigm Real Estate Preview Images courtesy SGI

Art Computer Graphics Art Art preservation Digital Michelangelo Project Computer Graphics Art Images courtesy Dan Raabe, Toolbox Films Michelangelo’s David Images courtesy Stanford University

3D computer graphics industry 3D Graphics related industry is huge and growing By 2010, U.S. sales of video games are expected to grow to $15 billion. Video gaming is expected to generate more than 250,000 jobs by 2009 The average age of gamers was 33 years, and 25% of players were older than 50. In general, the video game industry is one of the few bright spots in the current economic recession.

Hardware and software Graphics hardware is advancing rapidly Creating CG content no longer requires expensive hardware Most of the development is done on PC now CG software packages (Maya, 3DS Max, DirectX, OpenGL) has matured Open source tools like Blender have also matured

Hardware Advances SGI InfiniteReality Server (1998) NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra (2004) Triangles/sec 13 Million 600 Million Cost $100,000 $500

Web sites for CG information Major companies’ web sites (nVidia, AMD, Autodesk, Discreet, etc.) www.siggraph.org News: www.extremetech.com www.cgw.com www.gdmag.com www.gamasutra.com

How to search and find papers? http://www.siggraph.org/publications/bibliography/ The most comprehensive database of CG publications Most of the recent journal papers are online Find them through GSU library web page: E-journal Locator www.library.gsu.edu/ejournals/ SIGGRAPH papers since 1974 are also online Go to http://www.library.gsu.edu/ejournals/ and search for “computer graphics” and then click on “computer graphics proceedings …” Search by paper title on Google. Find one of the authors’ homepage. They often have links to their papers.

Notable companies Software Hardware NVIDIA (GeForce card, Cg) ATI (Radeon card), acquired by AMD Intel (integrated graphics chipset) Software Microsoft (DirectX, games) AutoDesk (3D Studio Max, AutoCAD, Maya) SoftImage (SoftImage)

Notable companies Animation film studio Visual special effects Pixar, DreamWorks, etc. Visual special effects Industrial Light & Magic, Rhythm and Hues, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_effects#Notabl e_visual_effects_companies

Notable companies Game Other Electronic Arts Sony Microsoft Other Adobe Apple For a more comprehensive list, visit SIGGRAPH 2008 exhibitor directory at http://www.siggraph.org/s2008/attendees/exh ibition/

How to develop 3D graphics applications Write programs Use modeling and animation tools Combine both programming and modeling/animation tools

3D Graphics Programming APIs OpenGL Microsoft DirectX

Shading languages and tools OpenGL Shading Language High Level Shading Language in DirectX Cg Shading language development tools RenderMonkey CgFX viewer

Modeling and animation tools Maya, 3DS Max, and Softimage All three are now owned by Autodesk Blender The leading open source tool For a list of major packages, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_computer_gra phics_software

Blender Blender (www.blender.org) A free 3D modeling, animation, and rendering tool

Next lecture Introduction to 3D graphics programming