Syllabus for

Advanced Computer Graphics

COSC 556

(MW 11:00-12:15, PH303)

Instructor: Matt Evett ; Dept. Computer Science; Pray-Harold 512E
Tel: 734-487-1227;
e-mail: mevett@emich.edu;
www.emunix.emich.edu/~evett/GraphicsAdvanced; webcaucus.emich.edu (the cosc556 caucus). Office Hours: M 2:00-5:00, T10-1, W2-3
You may drop by at times other than office hours, but in that case I cannot guarantee that I'll be able to see you.Prerequisite: VCS1 or COSC 311, MATH 120, and MATH 122.

Textbooks:

Angel, Interactive Computer Graphics, a Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL., Addison Wesley, 2006.
RECOMMENDED:.
- Angel, OpenGL, a Primer, 2nd ed., Addison Wesley, 2005.
- OpenGL Programming Guide, 4th ed., Addison Wesley, 2003.

Course Summary: Students successfully completing the course will be familiar with the major theories of modern computer graphics, and should be able to create simple interactive graphics applications. Students will be familiar with the major graphics techniques currently in use in the computer gaming industry. The course contains several small to mid-size programming projects, a midterm and final exam.

Course Calendar:

Due dates for projects are underlined.

Date	Text	Topics	Projects due
9/6		Intro. to graphics
9/11, 13	Ch. 1	Graphics models, pipeline
9/18, 20	Ch. 2, 4	Primitives (2-d), Transformations
9/25, 27	Ch. 4, 5	Viewing (rotation, scaling, etc.)	manipulate polyhedra
10/2, 4	Ch. 5, 6
10/9, 11	Ch. 6	Shading (reflective, ambient light)
10/16, 18	Ch 7	Discrete techniques (texture mapping, bump mapping, antialiasing)
10/23, 25	coursepack	Modelling tools, MilkShape
10/30, 11/1	coursepack	skins, UV mapping	Simple scene
11/6, 8	coursepack	Shading languages, GLSL	Midterm
11/13, 15	coursepack	GLSL for advanced texturing
11/20, Thanksgiving	coursepack	Particles, fire, fog
11/27, 29	Ch 10	Particles, trajectories, curves	Scene involving fire, etc.
12/4, 6	coursepack	Skyboxes and terrain
12/11, 13	Ch 13	Ray-tracing, radiosity	Robotic vehicle across terrain
12/18, 11:00-12:30			Final Exam

Grading Policy:

The final course grade will be a weighted average of the grades received in each of the following categories, as specified: Assignments 50%, Midterm 20%, FinalExam 30%

Tardiness Policy: Programming and other homework assignments will be due at the beginning of class. After that, assignments will be accepted through the start of the next scheduled class, but will suffer a full grade penalty. E.g., if a late programming assignment is worthy of an 'A', I will mark it a 'B'. Assignments more than one class late will not be accepted, and will receive a grade of 'F'.

Attendance Policy: We're all grown-ups, when and whether you attend class is up to you. However, missed assignments shall only be excused by a doctor's written note, verifying that the student was medically indisposed to attend class that day.

Grading of Programs: Grading of programming assignments will reflect three factors, weighted as shown.

(70%) Correctness -- does the program run correctly.
(15%) Style -- does the code adhere to class documentation standards? Is the code indented properly? Are the variable names mneumonic? How well has the student followed the basic formatting characteristics for the language?
(15%) Design -- is the program adequately decomposed (i.e., are the functions and procedures small enough to be comprehensible)? Are the class and structure definitions well chosen? How well has the student taken advantage of the language's capabilities?

Announcements and the Web Page:

Students should view the course web page regularly for announcements regarding programming assignments, readings, etc. I update course web pages frequently!

Cheating policy:

Students are required to attend to the policy on academic irregularity outlined in the EMU student handbook. In addition, collaboration among students in solving programming and homework assignments is forbidden. If I receive programs or homework assignments that are substantially equivalent, or which are not the original work of the student submitting the material, I will not hesitate to punish all involved parties to the fullest extent, up to and including assignment of a failing grade for the course, and referral to the Office of Judicial Student Services for possible punitive action at the University level, which may include expulsion from the University. In addition, the University and the computer science department maintain policies regarding proper behavior on its computer systems. Failure to adhere to these policies can result in loss of computer privileges, and possible legal action.