| Time | Tuesdays and Thursdays (TTh) at 12:00pm - 1:20pm |
| Place | EEB 045 |
| Final | Thursday, December 14th at 10:30am (in EEB 045) |
| Staff | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Instructor | Brian Curless | curless@cs |
| TA | Josh Bean | jbean96@cs |
| TA | Jackson Cannon | jackscan@cs |
| TA | Ben Jones | benjones@cs |
CSE majors
Non-CSE majors
There is no required textbook for this course. If you would like to have a textbook to refer to, you may buy one of these:
The Angel text is more applied, closer to OpenGL. The
Marschner text is more mathematical, stronger on theoretical
foundations. Both are good, neither is "perfect" for this
class.
I will point to readings in these books, but
these readings will be optional.
Most of the material
in the course can be learned from the lecture notes I
provide, with some Googling for additional material whenever
you want to go deeper or need to figure out implementation
details for a project. When I do have required reading, I
will provide it as an online handout.
The breakdown is subject to change as a whole and adjustments on a per-student basis in exceptional cases. This is the general breakdown we'll be using:
| Projects | 60% |
| Homeworks | 20% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
Projects will be done in teams of two with room for extra credit as described in the next section. Homeworks are to be completed individually. Though you may discuss the problems with others, your answers must be your own. There is no midterm. The final is closed book.
There will be four projects. You'll work alone or in teams of two for the projects. Each project will require you to extend some skeleton project with new features to create a working graphics application.
An interactive impressionistic paint syst that makes photos look like paintings, similar in spirit to Paul Haeberli's The Impressionist.
A viewer in which to construct a hierarchical articulated model using OpenGL.
A program to create photorealistic raytraced images, complete computation of shadows, reflections, and transparent effects.
An extension of project #2 which includes 2D curves to control joint angles and other parameters of your model and particle systems for physical simulation. Create a 3D animation of your articulated model!
You will have approximately two weeks for each project. Beyond the required extensions to the base project, you are encouraged to attempt bells and whistles, which translate into extra credit points.
For each project, you'll work alone or in a team of two. You may choose your own partner, or be assigned a random one after the grouping deadline is passed.
You are encouraged to change partners for each project -- each time you work with someone you have not worked with before in the class, you will receive a bell's worth of extra credit (1 point). If we randomly assign you a partner, it will be a new partner (and you will get the extra credit).
We are using minigrouper to set up pairs: http://norfolk.cs.washington.edu/htbin-php/gtng/gtng.php
To Set Up a Group:
If you don't see the group you want in the join group list, it may be full (max 2 people per group). You may change your group up until the grouper deadline by selecting leave group or delete group which will dissolve the entire group. If you have any questions or want to work solo, talk to the TAs or e-mail cse457-staff@cs.
Note: For Project #4, you will be working with the same partner as you did in Project #2. If there are any issues with this, please contact the staff.
Projects are graded during 15-20 minute in-person grading sessions. A web-based sign up sheet will be posted prior to each grading day.
Grading sessions will consist of:
Each team member giving a demonstration of different portions of the program, showing that it satisfies the required part of the assignment and implements an appropriate number of bells and whistles. This is also the time to show off any great extensions or enhancements.
Question and answers: The TA will ask a variety of questions. The questions you are asked will typically cover the parts of the project you did not work on. Each team member is expected to have a thorough understanding of all required extensions of the project, and any bells and whistles they may have done. This understanding should include the core concepts behind the project, e.g., as taught in lecture.
Completed project requirements will be graded on a 60-point scale. In general, every team member will receive the same project implementation grade (although not necessarily the same project knowledge grade). However, we reserve the right to give different project implementation grades to different students on the team, for extreme circumstances in which it is clear that one or more members of the team contributed little or nothing to the project.
Project knowledge will be graded on a 30-point scale, separately for each team member. Here's a rough breakdown to give you a feeling for how points will be assigned:
| 10pt | Almost clueless: Answers to questions showed a severe lack of understanding. (I don't expect anybody to get this grade!) |
| 20pt | Answers to questions showed an understanding at only a superficial level. |
| 30pt | Answers to questions demonstrated a thorough understanding of the project. This is is the grade we expect to give almost all of the time. |
Unlimited extra credit is possible on each project. Each extra credit item is rated with a nominal value of "bells" and "whistles". One bell carries the same credit as two whistles. An actual implementation of an extra credit item may be worth somewhat more or less than its nominal value, depending on how well it was implemented. In the end, the instructor and TA's will translate your bell and whistle count into an actual number of extra credit points at a rate of 1 point per bell (and, 1/2 point per whistle).
For each project, each team member will be required to create an artifact, a final polished example (e.g., an image or model) demonstrating your application, hopefully of some artistic merit. Extra credit will be given for the nicest artifacts, as determined by class vote.
Written homework assignments are due at the beginning of lecture on the due date. Projects are due by midnight on the due date specified on each project page. Late assignments are marked down at a rate of 25% per day (not per lecture), meaning that if you fail to turn in an assignment on time it is worth 75% for the first 24 hours after the deadline, 50% for the next 24 hours, 25% for the next 24 hours, and then it is worth nothing after that. Exceptions will be given only in extreme circumstances with prior instructor approval.
The main instructional lab for our course is Sieg 327, on the 3rd floor of the Sieg Hall. As a registered student in the class, you should have access to this lab. Contact cardkey@cs if you are not able to enter the lab with your cardkey.
The graphics lab is a dedicated workspace for graphics students that has Windows machines with everything installed. If you need technical support, contact support@cs.
You may talk to other students in the course about concepts for homeworks and projects, but you may not take any code or notes away from those conversations. A good rule of thumb is the Gilligan's Island Rule.
The Gilligan's Island Rule: This rule says that you are free to meet with fellow student(s) and discuss assignments with them. Writing on a board or shared piece of paper is acceptable during the meeting; however, you should not take any written (electronic or otherwise) record away from the meeting. This applies when the assignment is supposed to be an individual effort or whenever two teams discuss common problems they are each encountering (inter-group collaboration). After the meeting, engage in a half hour of mind-numbing activity (like watching an episode of Gilligan's Island), before starting to work on the assignment. This will assure that you are able to reconstruct what you learned from the meeting, by yourself, using your own brain.