Computer Graphics 1 (WS 2020/21)

Instructor:     Prof. Dr. S. Gumhold
Mode:             online with online exam – link:
                         https://exam3.zih.tu-dresden.de/opal/auth/RepositoryEntry/43646978
Time&Place: lectures: assynchronous
                         Q&A sessions: Tuesday, 11:10am (3^rd DS) via BBB starting on 27.10.20
                         for exercises, see below
language:      English
SWS:                2/2/0
Modules:       D-WW-INF-3411, D-WW-INF-3412, D-WW-INF-3413,
                         INF-04-FG-SWT, INF-B-510, INF-B-520, INF-B-530, INF-B-540,
                         INF-BAS7, INF-LE-MA, INF-LE-WW,
                         CMS-VC-ELG, CMS-VC-ELV1, CMS-VC-ELV2,
                         IST-05-FG-SWT, MATH-MA-INFGDV, MINF-04-FG-MTGW,
                         WI-MA-08-02, WI-MA-09-02
Topics:            realtime rendering, geometry processing, acceleration data
                         structures, optimization for CG

Schedule, Videos & Slides

27.10.20 Introduction and Math Basics (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
book recommendation: Fundamentals of Computer Graphics

Part 1 - Meshes

03.11.20 Polygonal Meshes (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
10.11.20 Halfedge Data Structure (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
17.11.20 Surface Analysis (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
24.11.20 Mesh Processing (Q&A via BBB at 12:10pm+pad, slides)
                 videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
book recommendation: Polygonal Mesh Processing

Part 2 - GPU-Based Real-Time Rendering

01.12.20 OpenGL (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides, sample code)
                 videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
08.12.20 Geometry Rendering (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                 videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
15.12.20 Lighting (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides )
                 videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
05.01.21 Texturing (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                 videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
book recommendation: Learn OpenGL

Part 3 - Acceleration Data Structures

12.01.21 Acceleration DS (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                 videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)
19.01.21 Spatial Queries (no Q&A session, slides)
                 videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)

Part 4 - Advanced Topics

26.01.21 Optimization (Q&A via BBB at 11:10am+pad, slides)
                videos (use for lecture only - please don't distribute!)

02.02.20 Test run for online exam at 11:40am and final Q&A at 12:10pm via BBB

Exam

Link to the online exam:
https://exam3.zih.tu-dresden.de/opal/auth/RepositoryEntry/43646978

The written exam will be 60 minutes and held online on March 15^th 8:50am (start of the 30min login period) using the ONYX system that is closely related to OPAL. A 15 minutes dry run of the online exam using mock questions, meant to familiarize yourself with the system and the communication channels, will be held on February 2^nd 11:10am (start of the 30min login period) during the normal lecture slot. More information will follow shortly.

A list of sample questions for oral exams can be found here: questionaire^{last update 26.01.}

For CMS master students and exchange students, the exam is written and online. CMS students enroll for the exam in Selma; while exchange students should register by email to Benjamin Russig.

For Bachelor students, the exam is written and online.
For Master and Diploma students please stick to the COVID regulations.

Joint consultation with Prof. Gumhold: 11:10am on 09.03.2021 via BBB

Some specifics about the written exam:

• The exam will cover material from the 4 overall areas: polygonal meshes (subsuming the categories "Polygonal Meshes", "Half-Edge DS" and "Mesh Processing" from the questionaire), surface analysis, rendering (subsuming the categories "OpenGL", "Geometry Rendering", "Lighting" and "Texturing" from the questionaire) and acceleration datastructures.
• Each of the 4 areas will be scored about equally.
• The questions, based on the oral questionaire, will query generic, algorithmic and programming knowledge, as well as some analytic calculations. Required formulas will be provided in the task descriptions. Note that the exam questions will NOT be sampled from this questionaire! It is supposed to give you an idea what knowledge might be subject to questions, it is not meant for you to commit all answers to these questions to memory before the exam! The questions will be comparable, but not the same.

Sample Code

• cg1-samples@bitbucket (updated^02.01.2021, sample models: zip)
• EarthDemo (zipWS16 including data)
• Realtime rendering C++-OpenGL-Code samples of Nico Schertler GitHub (3D models: zip)
• Nehe Tutorials

Excercises

There are four exercises comprising theoretical and practical assignments. Enroll in the  Opal-Course to participate in the exercises. Passing Criteria: At least 50 % of the achievable score AND at least 1 point per theory assignment AND at least 2 points per practical assignment. The assignments have to be completed in teams of two students.

On the release date, a combined briefing/debriefing video will be released alongside the actual exercise. In this video, the supervisor will walk through the theoretical assignment of the last exercise and briefly present the next practical assignement.

Students have to make sure that their solution is handed in at the submission date. Theoretical submissions can be submitted in three ways:
(a) in physical form on A4 paper by 16:00 to chair staff - you can knock on any of our office doors or, if no one happens to be present, put them into the post box next to our secretary's office.
(b) In digital form as a PDF document via Email to your tutor by 23:59.
(c) In digital form as a PDF document included in your practical submission.
For mode (a), a correction of the theoretical assignment before the individual evaluation will be attempted, meaning that there is a chance you can get feedback on your solution on the evaluation day. One theoretical submission per team is sufficient. Please make sure that the names of all team members appear on your submission.

Practical submissions must be uploaded via Opal by 23:59 (we recommend each team member upload their own copy for redundancy). To get points for the practical submission, each team has to present their work to a tutor on the evaluation date. For this evaluation, each team gets an individual appointment with their tutor (Friday, 3^rd - 5^th DS). The evaluation will take place via the BigBlueButton video conferencing system hosted by TUD. The link for joining the conference room will be announced on the submission day at the latest via OPAL.

Schedule

Release: Assignments will be available via Opal
Briefing: Supervisors present the assignments
Submission: Hand your solutions in by this date (theory: either in physical form on A4 paper to chair staff until 16:00, or digitally until 23:59; practical part: via Opal upload until 23:59)
Debriefing: Supervisors walk through the theoretical assignments. Coincides with the briefing of the next excercise always.
Evaluation: Students present their practical solutions to the tutors and receive a score based on this presentation (individual appointments; online via BBB).