Instructor: Dr. Shaun D. Ramsey 
Email: sramsey2@washcoll.edu
Phone: (410)810-7485 
Office: DUNN N102
Office Hours: 2:30pm W,  1pm TR


CSI 494 - SpTp: Computer Graphics
Fall 2014
Website: http://shaunramsey.com/494
Classroom/Meetings: DUNN N103 TR 11:30-12:45pm
Text: None - OpenGL Red Book (OpenGL Programming Guide)
Tentative Exam Dates: 10/7
Grade Breakdown: Exams (25% each), 
                 Homework, Classwork, Quizzes (35% combined), 
                 Final Project (40%)
Attendance: Fail on 6 == absences+lates/2



Overview and Advising: The field of computer graphics is prevelant in
much of pop culture, science and medicine, and throughout almost any
emerging technology. The fundamentals of most graphics system include
transformations, viewing and modeling, and many other similar design
considerations. As efficiency drives the limit of computer graphics,
intense focus on data structures, memory coherence, machine-level
programming and other techniques are prevelent in advanced computer
graphics. As such, graphics is a great way to encourage students to
learn more about many of these topics in an exiting field.

This course will cover the fundamentals of graphics pipelines and
programming. Students will learn basic graphics concepts such as line
drawing, z-buffers, double buffers, transformations, viewing, color,
lighting and texturing. In this course, students will learn the
complexiites of coding a rasterizer by hand and then enjoy the
benefits of modeling and development in OpenGL. Students will gain a
simple working understanding of vectors and matrices, especially as
they pertain to graphics and graphics hardware.  Graphics is
challenging material and 494 is a challenging course, with many
assignments and a large amount of mathematics.

Exams: An absence on the day of the exam will result in a grade of
0. Except in cases of very extreme emergency, exams must be taken on
the day the exam is given. Before a make-up test is scheduled,
documentation of the extreme emergency must be given. Make-up exams
for tests missed due to an extreme emergency will be arranged for a
time that is mutually convenient for the student and Dr. Ramsey.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory in this course. On your sixth
absence, you automatically fail the course. As a matter of courtesy,
you are expected to notify Dr.  Ramsey before class describing the
reason of your absence. You must be present on the day of an exam or
you will receive a 0. There is no distinction between excused and
unexcused absences. It is quite likely that I will email you to
discuss the reasons you have missed the class, but it is ultimately
your duty to keep track of your absences and to contact me. Missing a
class may result in missed classwork and/or quizzes. There are no
make-up quizzes or classwork. It is your responsibility to obtain
assigned homework, announcements and class notes from a
classmate. Coming late to class will also count against you. In this
case, every two late arrivals (lates) count as an absence. Thus you
fail the course with 12 lates or 6 absences or any mix of the two that
add up to 6. Examples are: 2 lates and 5 absences, 4 lates and 4
absences, 6 lates and 3 absences, and so on.

Grading: Programming assignments must be handed in on time and
compile. Late homework (and programming that does not compile) will
receive a grade of 0, however, I will grade late homework and consider
it when tallying final grades. It is most important to do the homework
to gain programming skill, rather than to achieve high marks. Each
homework is fully accessible in this course and there are two lab
sessions each week to help you. Homework is due by the beginning of
class on the day it is due. Do not ’touch’ or modify your files on the
server after handing in the assignment, as this will change the time
stamp. If you miss an assignment, you should always make up the work
for consideration, review and mark up.

Academic Honesty: You are always subject to the Honor Code of
Washington College.  Always sign the honor code on materials that you
hand in (including homework and exams). All work must be your own.

Accommodations: If you have an accommodation that has been reported to
the college, please let me know as soon as possible so I can work to
meet your accommodation. You must notify me of any necessary
accommodation at least two weeks prior to the requirement.

Suggestions: Get into a group. You may point out programming errors
and discuss design with others, but all code must be of your own
creation. Copying the code of another might help you pass an
assignment (if you are not caught), but your ability with programming
will definitely reveal itself during the examinations if this is how
you get by homework.


General Schedule:
Week 1 Event Based Programming - Graphics
Week 2 Line Drawing - What's the Point? 
Week 3 Clipping and Filling
Week 4 Vectors and Meshes
Week 5 Transformations
Week 6 Catch-up, Exam
Week 7 Viewing, Perspectives, Z-buffers
Week 8 Lighting and Calculations
Week 9 Final Proposal Presentations
Week 10 Collisions and Collision Detection
Week 11 Texture Mapping
Week 12 Final Works
Week 13 Final Presentations
Week 14 Final Presentations and Individual Meetings