Description
This is a reading and projects course, which is intended to offer an in depth study of an active research topic in computer graphics. Topics will change each semester. This semester's course covers advanced rendering techniques. Topics include ray casting, ray tracing, radiosity, Monte Carlo methods, multi-pass methods, importance algorithms, clustering, radiometric and geometric acceleration, dynamic models, reflectance models, texture mapping, physically-motivated surface models, sub-surface effects, sampling, participating media, solid textures, image-based rendering, inverse methods, and error estimates.

Format
A typical class meeting will consist of an instructor or student presentation of papers from the literature and a discussion of the material. Each lecture, one student will be expected (given several weeks' notice) to summarize the readings listed for that lecture and help lead a discussion of the readings. One week before the student is to present, s/he will be expected to submit a "pre-talk" (a draft version of the overheads to be used) and two to three "discussion questions" to the teaching staff.

The teaching staff will provide timely feedback about the pre-talk. The discussion questions will be evaluated, and then forwarded (possibly with modifications) to everyone in the class. These questions will also be posted to the course web page in a timely fashion.

All class members will be expected to have read the listed readings, and pondered the discussion questions by the start of the relevant class.

Course project
Each student will complete a substantial programming project related to rendering. Students are encouraged to work in groups of two. A list of suggested topics will be provided. Acceptable projects include but are not limited to an implementation (and improvement) of an algorithm from a paper, a synthesis of techniques from several papers, or a work that attempts to advance the state of the art. The projects are expected to have some research content and should be designed with that in mind.

Grades
Course grades will be based on the pre-talk and discussion questions (10%), papers presentation (15%), participation in class discussions (15%), the rendering exercise (10%) and the quality of the final project (50%).

Final Presentation Schedule

Online registration due Friday 2/7 @ 5:00pm

General Course Information

Course Calendar

Reading list

Renderman Assignment

Renderman Assignment Results

Student Homepages

Suggested Final Project Topics

Final Project Proposals

Tools

Last modified: 20 December 1997