Visual Thinking With Computer Graphics Sample Course Syllabus This is a project base class where you will work on techniques for problem solving and inspection with computer graphics. Students will learn how to approach problems, design alternatives, and multiple ways to represent data. There will be two assigned projects and one independent final project. The independent project will involve both the selection of the problem as well as the actual approach to visualizing the data. The projects will be done in OpenInventor (or alternative package with instructor approval). Students will gain a working knowledge of OpenInventor. Prerequisites Introduction to programming with C++ and STL Introduction to Algorithms and Data Structures Basic exposure to programming with bash (or tcsh), GNU makefiles, and basic Unix development Students may use either Linux or Mac OSX for class projects Required Texts Required The Inventor Mentor by Josie Wernecke Rapid Viz by Hanks & Belliston Recommended The Inventor Toolmaker by Josie Wernecke experiences in visual thinking by Rovert McKim Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice in C by Foley, van Dam, Feiner, and Hughes Grading 25% First Project 25% Second Project 50% Final Project Project grades will be based on: Project Notebook Visual Presentation Code - clean design and well documented Innovativeness Creativity Esthetics Engineering Effort Fluency - The sheer number of ideas explored, approaches tired, sketches generated. Flexibility - The number of different ideas, approaches, concepts, etc. Completeness - How thoroughly did you look at the problem Drawing - the range of techniques used in developing your ideas, including thumbnails, rapid indication, and more detailed construction drawings Design process - How well does the log book express the progression from start to finish Projects There are a wide range of possible visualization projects. Here are just a couple. The projects would change each year. Network traffic in a building given a tcpdump log from a couple routers Buoy, AUV, XBT, and Mooring data from Monterey Bay over a year at monthly intervals. Trying to see the change in water masses Final project idea proposed by each student Schedule Week 1 Course overview Intro to the design process Overview of different standards: OpenInventor 2.1, VMRL 1.0/97, X3D Other file formats - Maya, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, POVRAY, Blender Where else will can you send models - Maya, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, POVRAY, Blender OpenInventor libraries and applications (SIM/Coin, SGI OpenInventor, TGS, FreeWRL, etc) What is a scene graph Design project #1 assigned Week 2 How to keep a design log Quick tutorial on sketching OpenInventor tools: ivview, ivcat, gview, emacs iv mode The Inventor File Format Basic Geometry & Translation Week 3 Development process: RCS, CVS, Make, grep, bash shell scripts LineSets Scale,Transform, Rotations, Separators, Groups Week 4 More Design process More basic Inventor geometry Color spaces and materials Transparency Lights Design project #1 DUE Design project #2 assigned Week 5 More design log techniques Texture mapping Text - 2D and 3D Draggers Week 6 Rendering & the camera Engines & Switches Week 7 Basic C++ OpenInventor program with SoQt Anti-aliasing C++ OI - Reference Counting Design project #2 DUE Final project assigned Week 8 C++ OI - keyboard shortcuts C++ OI - Qt popups, Color editors, etc Week 9 C++ OI - SbVec, SoMFFloat, SoSFFloat, Fields C++ OI - Sensors C++ OI - Audio Week 10 C++ OI - Timers, animations, pseudo movies C++ OI - Engines Final project checkup Week 11 C++ OI - Searching the scene graph C++ OI - Picking Week 12 Off screen rendering and movie making Scripting the whole process Week 13 Volumetric Rendering - SIM Voleon Week 14 Comparing OpenInventor to other systems - game systems, world toolkit, vtk, Straight OpenGL, Performer, etc Final Project Presentations © 2004 Kurt Schwehr