Teaching:TUW - UE InfoVis WS 2007/08 - Gruppe 09 - Aufgabe 1 - Computer Graphics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:34, 9 November 2007

Perhaps the best way to define computer graphics is to find out what it is not. It is not a machine. It is not a computer, nor a group of computer programs. It is not the know-how of a graphic designer, a programmer, a writer, a motion picture specialist, or a reproduction specialist. Computer graphics is all these – a consciously managed and documented technology directed toward communicating information accurately and descriptively.

[Fetter, 1965]

Definition

Computer graphics broadly studies the manipulation of visual and geometric information using computational techniques. Computer graphics as an academic discipline focuses on the mathematical and computational foundations of image generation and processing rather than purely aesthetic issues.

[Wikipedia, 2007]

Subfields

Computer Graphics may be divided into four major categories:

Geometry

Studies ways to represent and process surfaces

Animation

Studies with ways to represent and manipulate motion

Rendering

Studies algorithms to reproduce light transport

Imaging

Studies image acquisition or image editing

History

Whirlwind displays aircraft positions and auxiliary information.

In the 60's, Jack Bresenham published how to draw lines on a raster device. He later extended this to circles. Larry Roberts pointed out the usefulness of homogeneous coordinates, 4x4 matrices and hidden line detection algorithms. Steve Coons introduced parametric surfaces and developed early computer aided geometric design concepts. The earlier work of Pierre Bézier on parametric curves and surfaces also became public.

In the 70's, rendering (shading) was discovered by Gouraud and Phong at the University of Utah. Turned Whitted developed recursive ray tracing which became the standard for photorealism. One of the first displays of computer animation was Futureworld (1976), which included an animation of a human face and hand — produced by Ed Catmull and Fred Parke also at the University of Utah.

In the 80's, Jim Blinn introduced blobby models and texture mapping concepts. Binary space partitioning (BSP) trees were introduced as a data structure. Loren Carpenter started exploring fractals in computer graphics. Postscript was developed by John Warnock.Steve Cook introduced stochastic sampling to ray tracing. Video arcade games took off.

In the 90's, Mosaic, the first graphical Internet browser was written. OpenGL became the standard for graphics APIs.Dynamical systems (physically based modeling) that allowed animation with collisions, gravity, friction, and cause and effects were introduced. Surface subdivision algorithms were rediscovered. Wavelets begin to be used in computer graphics. Image based rendering became the area for research in photo-realistic graphics.

Application

graphs and charts
computer-aided design
virtual-reality environment
data visualisation
education and training
computer art
entertainment
image processing
graphical user interfaces

External links

Futureworld at the Internet Movie Database

References

[Fetter, 1966] W. A. Fetter, Computer Graphics in Communication, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1965.
[Wikipedia, 2007] Wikipedia, Computer Graphics. Retrieved at: November 8, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_graphics.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Subfields==
+<br>
 Computer Graphics may be divided into four major categories:
+===Geometry===
+Studies ways to represent and process surfaces
+===Animation===
+Studies with ways to represent and manipulate motion
+===Rendering===
+Studies algorithms to reproduce light transport
+===Imaging===
+Studies image acquisition or image editing
-*<b>Geometry</b>: studies ways to represent and process surfaces
+==History==
-*<b>Animation</b>: studies with ways to represent and manipulate motion
+<br>
-*<b>Rendering</b>: studies algorithms to reproduce light transport
-*<b>Imaging</b>: studies image acquisition or image editing
 [[Image:whirlwind.jpg |thumb|200px|Whirlwind displays aircraft positions and auxiliary information.]]
-==History==
+In the <b>60's</b>, Jack Bresenham published how to draw lines on a raster device. He later extended this to circles. Larry Roberts pointed out the usefulness of homogeneous coordinates, 4x4 matrices and hidden line detection algorithms. Steve Coons introduced parametric surfaces and developed early computer aided geometric design concepts. The earlier work of Pierre Bézier on parametric curves and surfaces also became public.
-:In the 60's, Jack Bresenham published how to draw lines on a raster device. He later extended this to circles. Larry Roberts pointed out the usefulness of homogeneous coordinates, 4x4 matrices and hidden line detection algorithms. Steve Coons introduced parametric surfaces and developed early computer aided geometric design concepts. The earlier work of Pierre Bézier on parametric curves and surfaces also became public.
-:In the 70's, rendering (shading) was discovered by Gouraud and Phong at the University of Utah. Turned Whitted developed recursive ray tracing which became the standard for photorealism. One of the first displays of computer animation was Futureworld (1976), which included an animation of a human face and hand — produced by Ed Catmull and Fred Parke also at the University of Utah.
+In the <b>70's</b>, rendering (shading) was discovered by Gouraud and Phong at the University of Utah. Turned Whitted developed recursive ray tracing which became the standard for photorealism. One of the first displays of computer animation was Futureworld (1976), which included an animation of a human face and hand — produced by Ed Catmull and Fred Parke also at the University of Utah.
-:In the 80's, Jim Blinn introduced blobby models and texture mapping concepts. Binary space partitioning (BSP) trees were introduced as a data structure. Loren Carpenter started exploring fractals in computer graphics. Postscript was developed by John Warnock.Steve Cook introduced stochastic sampling to ray tracing. Video arcade games took off.
+In the <b>80's</b>, Jim Blinn introduced blobby models and texture mapping concepts. Binary space partitioning (BSP) trees were introduced as a data structure. Loren Carpenter started exploring fractals in computer graphics. Postscript was developed by John Warnock.Steve Cook introduced stochastic sampling to ray tracing. Video arcade games took off.
-: In the 90's, Mosaic, the first graphical Internet browser was written. OpenGL became the standard for graphics APIs.Dynamical systems (physically based modeling) that allowed animation with collisions, gravity, friction, and cause and effects were introduced. Surface subdivision algorithms were rediscovered. Wavelets begin to be used in computer graphics. Image based rendering became the area for research in photo-realistic graphics.
+In the <b>90's</b>, Mosaic, the first graphical Internet browser was written. OpenGL became the standard for graphics APIs.Dynamical systems (physically based modeling) that allowed animation with collisions, gravity, friction, and cause and effects were introduced. Surface subdivision algorithms were rediscovered. Wavelets begin to be used in computer graphics. Image based rendering became the area for research in photo-realistic graphics.
 ==Application==
+[[Image:Pov_ray.png|thumb|300px|Glasses (created by using POV-Ray 3.6).]]
+<br>
 * graphs and charts
 * computer-aided design