Advanced Graphics Course lCredits: 3Convener: James Gain Semester: First lStructure:  1 introductory lecture  11 weekly double period reading group sessions (10 min introduction, 40 min presentation by 2-3 participants, 40 min group discussion) Course material:  Key algorithms and concepts as they originally appeared.  The rendering equation, marching cubes, subdivision surfaces, progressive meshes, free-form deformation, BSP trees, evolutionary animation, winged-edge polygon-mesh and more lPurpose:  Enhance critical reading, writing, presentation and discussion skills.  Survey advanced aspects of computer graphics.

Advanced Graphics Practical lFly: Use genetic algorithms and computer animation to evolve flying creatures. lReference: Karl Sims, “Evolving Virtual Creatures”, SIGGRAPH ’94 lPracticals will be evaluated by how far your creatures can fly towards a goal and their aesthetic appeal (enhanced by modelling and texturing). Walk Swim

Project #1: A Virtual Sculpting Interface lPremise: A traditional clay sculpting metaphor could work for computer-based shape design. lGoals: 1.Develop sculpting tools (on top of an existing pick and drag spatial deformation library) which mimic real world sculpting devices, such as throwing wheels, smoothing spatulas or a sculptor's hands. 2.Create an effective VR interface using stereoscopic glasses and position tracking. 3.Evaluate the usability of the resulting system. lComputer Science Content: Computer Graphics, Virtual Reality, HCI

Project #2: Geometric Compression lPremise: the size of models is growing faster than storage. Need to compress mesh connectivity information. lGoals: 1.Develop a new form of geometric compression which groups vertices into convex sets. Connectivity info for these sets can be reconstructed using a convex hull algorithm (provided). 2.Code the compression scheme. 3.Evaluate the scheme and compare its results against other methods. lComputer Science Content: Computer Graphics, Compression