CISC 400 - Computer Graphics

(3 semester hours)
Prerequisites: CISC 301 and MATH 250
Description: This course covers the fundamental techniques behind applications such as PhotoShop, medical MRIs, video games, and movie special effects. It begins by building a mathematical model of the interaction of light with surfaces, lenses, and an imager. The student then studies the data structures and processor architectures that allow for efficiently evaluating that physical model. The student completes a series of programming assignments for both photorealistic image creation and real-time 3D rendering using C++, OpenGL, and GLSL. These assignments cumulate in a multi-week final project. Topics covered in the course include projective geometry, ray tracing, bidirectional surface scattering functions, binary space partition trees, matting and compositing, shadow maps, cache management, and parallel processing of GPUs. This is a core CS course. Offered Fall Semester, annually.