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This course provides an introduction to the techniques of producing and manipulating pictures interactively on computers equipped with appropriate hardware. The evolution and characteristics of the hardware of graphics displays and input devices is covered. Software techniques for rendering geometric primitives such as points, lines, and curves on such hardware, as well as algorithms for organizing the display of pictures composed of these primitives is taught. Basic algorithms for transformation and clipping in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional environments are covered, along with orthographic and perspective projection techniques. The architecture of device independent graphics software packages for both two and three dimensional applications is covered, and techniques for the organization of graphical databases are emphasized. Graphical input processing is covered as an integral part of these software issues. Brief discussions of advanced topics including hidden line and surface removal, advanced modeling and rendering techniques, and high performance architectures are also included.
The course involves a significant amount of programming, with the basic techniques covered in the course being incorporated into a series of programming assignments. The programming assignments for the course will be done on the CS department's public UNIX workstations unless other arrangements are made. These machines all support the the XWindows environment, the Mesa OpenGL-like 3-D graphics library, the TCL/TK command language and widget libraries for building user interfaces, and the TIGER OpenGl extension to TCL/TK. Introductory documentation on these software tools will be made available. Complete documentation for Xwindows, OpenGL, and TCL/TK can be purchased from local bookstores. Arrangements for the use of alternate computing environments can be discussed with the instructor.