CPSC 409/509 Real-Time 3D Computer Graphics Programming
'Let us make some pretty pictures--from the ground up' -- Your Instructor
Schedule/Road Map
The following is our tentative syllabus for the course, changes should be expected throughout the semester. I will announce in class, piazza, or through e-mail any major changes.
| Week | Date | Lecture and Readings | Problem Sets | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-Jan-14 | Module 1 - Introduction to Computer Graphics
| Welcome back to class! Note: 1st assignment has extra time to accomodate students who add late. | |
| 1 | 2025-Jan-16 | Module 2 - Graphics Application, SDL Setup, and PPM Images
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| 2 | 2025-Jan-21 | Module 3 - SDL3 Based Graphics Applications with OpenGL | ||
| 2 | 2025-Jan-23 | Module 4 - Graphics Pipeline: Buffers, Shaders, and a first triangle | Add/Drop Period closes Jan. 22 at 5:00pm ET | |
| 3 | 2025-Jan-28 | Module 5 - Shader Fundamentals: GLSL, Color Attributes, and Uniforms | ||
| 3 | 2025-Jan-30 | Module 6 - Transformations: Linear Algebra (Vectors) | ||
| 4 | 2025-Feb-04 | Module 7 - Transformations: Matrices, Rotation, and Camera | ||
| 4 | 2025-Feb-06 | Module 8 - Meshes: Instancing, Indexed Mesh Representation | ||
| 5 | 2025-Feb-11 | Module 9 - Meshes: Subdivision and OBJ | ||
| 5 | 2025-Feb-13 | Module 10 - Basic Lighting and Point Lights | ||
| 6 | 2025-Feb-18 | Module 11 - Light types, Multiple Lights | ||
| 6 | 2025-Feb-20 | Module 12 - Textures, Mipmapping, and Specular Maps | ||
| 7 | 2025-Feb-25 | Module 13 - Advanced Lighting (Normal and Parallax) | Online exam released on canvas Feb. 25 at 6:00pm EST | Brief Study Guide. Exam otherwise includes any other materials from lecture, slides, and homeworks. You must finish the exam in one sitting (i.e. when you open the exam, your time starts) |
| 7 | 2025-Feb-27 | Module 14 - Terrain Rendering | Online exam due on canvas (Exam due Mar. 7 Anywhere on Earth which is precisely Mar. 8 at 8AM EST) | |
| 8 | 2025-Mar-04 | Module 15 - Cube and Environment Mapping | ||
| 8 | 2025-Mar-06 | Module 16 - Scenegraphs | Mid-semester date (October 25) | |
| 9 | 2025-Mar-11 | Module 17 - No Class | Spring Recess | |
| 9 | 2025-Mar-13 | Module 18 - No Class | Spring Recess | |
| 10 | 2025-Mar-18 | Module 19 - No Class | Spring Recess - Mike at GDC, may be slow to respond to e-mail | |
| 10 | 2025-Mar-20 | Module 20 - No Class | Spring Recess | |
| 11 | 2025-Mar-25 | Module 21 - Screen buffers: Stencil and Depth | Mike Tentatively traveling to ACCU Conference; class will be pre-recorded or asynchronous remote | |
| 11 | 2025-Mar-27 | Module 22 - Framebuffer Objects (FBO), post-processing, and shadows | ||
| 12 | 2025-Apr-01 | Module 23 - Tentatively reserved for industry speaker (this may move, or a new topic added) | PSET 10 | |
| 12 | 2025-Apr-03 | Module 24 - Advanced Graphics - PBR and Deferred Rendering | Mike Tentatively traveling to ACCU Conference; class will be pre-recorded or asynchronous remote | |
| 13 | 2025-Apr-08 | Module 25 - Graphics Engine Study | PSET 11 | Note: You should start committing to a final project around this time. |
| 13 | 2025-Apr-10 | Module 26 - Advanced Graphics - More Shaders (Geometry, Tesselation, and Compute) | ||
| 14 | 2025-Apr-15 | Module 27 - Graphics Code Architecture and Optimization | ||
| 14 | 2025-Apr-17 | Module 28 - Vulkan and future graphics APIs | ||
| 15 | 2025-Apr-22 | Module 29 - Instructors Choice -- TBD (e.g. Multi-texture, Cartoon, animation, particles) | ||
| 15 | 2025-Apr-24 | Module 30 - Course wrap up | 'Final project due May. 1 at noon ET. (Note: No extensions for final project; 10% late penalty every day project is late) | Last official day of class :( Final Project presentations will tentatively be Thr. May. 1 from 4-6pm in ??? |