Information about Computer Graphics
This article is about the scientific discipline of computer graphics. For a more general information on computer graphics and applications, see 2D computer graphics and 3D computer graphics
- For the journal by ACM SIGGRAPH, see Computer Graphics (Publication).
Computer graphics is a sub-field of computer science and is concerned with digitally synthesizing and manipulating visual content. Although the term often refers to three-dimensional computer graphics, it also encompasses two-dimensional graphics and image processing. Computer graphics is often differentiated from the field of visualization, although the two have many similarities.
A broad classification of major subfields in computer graphics might be:
- 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
)
The Utah teapot
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.Geometry
The subfield of geometry studies the representation of three-dimensional objects in a discrete digital setting. Because the appearance of an object depends largely on the exterior of the object, boundary representations are most common in computer graphics. Two dimensional surfaces are a good analogy for the objects most often used in graphics, though quite often these objects are non-manifold. Since surfaces are not finite, a discrete digital approximation is required: polygonal meshes (and to a lesser extent subdivision surfaces) are by far the most common representation, although point-based representations have been gaining some popularity in recent years (see the Symposium on Point-Based Graphics, for instance). These representations are Lagrangian, meaning the spatial locations of the samples are independent. In recent years, however, Eulerian surface descriptions (i.e., where spatial samples are fixed) such as level sets have been developed into a useful representation for deforming surfaces which undergo many topological changes (with fluids being the most notable example[1]).Subfields
- Constructive solid geometry - Process by which complicated objects are modelled with implicit geometric objects and boolean operations
- Discrete differential geometry - a nascent field which defines geometric quantities for the discrete surfaces used in computer graphics[2].
- Digital geometry processing - surface reconstruction, simplification, fairing, mesh repair, parameterization, remeshing, mesh generation, surface compression, and surface editing all fall under this heading [3][4][5].
- Point-based graphics - a recent field which focuses on points as the fundamental representation of surfaces.
- Simulation (e.g. cloth modeling, animation of fluid dynamics, etc.)
- Subdivision surfaces
Animation
The subfield of animation studies descriptions for surfaces (and other phenomena) that move or deform over time. Historically most interest in this area has been focused on parametric and data-driven models, but in recent years physical simulation has experienced a renaissance due to the growing computational capacity of modern machines.Rendering
Rendering converts a model into an image either by simulating light transport to get physically-based photorealistic images, or by applying some kind of style as in non-photorealistic rendering. The two basic operations in realistic rendering are transport (how much light gets from one place to another) and scattering (how surfaces interact with light). See Rendering (computer graphics) for more information.Transport
Transport describes how illumination in a scene gets from one place to another. Visibility is a major component of light transport.Scattering
Models of scattering and shading are used to describe the appearance of a surface. Although these issues may seem like a problems all on their own, they are studied almost exclusively within the context of rendering . Shading can be broken down into two orthogonal issues, which are often studied independently:- scattering - how light interacts with the surface at a given point
- shading - how material properties vary across the surface
The former problem refers to scattering, i.e., the relationship between incoming and outgoing illumination at a given point. Descriptions of scattering are usually given in terms of a bidirectional scattering distribution function or BSDF. The latter issue addresses how different types of scattering are distributed across the surface (i.e., which scattering function applies where). Descriptions of this kind are typically expressed with a program called a shader. (Note that there is some confusion since the word "shader" is sometimes used for programs that describe local geometric variation.)
Other subfields
- physically-based rendering - concerned with generating images according to the laws of geometric optics
- real time rendering - focuses on rendering for interactive applications, typically using specialized hardware like GPUs
- non-photorealistic rendering
- relighting - recent area concerned with quickly re-rendering scenes
History
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 at the University of Utah.There are several international conferences and journals where the most significant results in computer graphics are published. Among them are the SIGGRAPH and Eurographics conferences and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Transactions on Graphics journal. The joint Eurographics and ACM SIGGRAPH symposium series features the major venues for the more specialized sub-fields: Symposium on Geometry Processing,Symposium on Rendering, and Symposium on Computer Animation.
An extensive history of computer graphics can be found at this page.
Applications
Connected studies
Computer graphics research groups
Academia
The number of computer science departments with computer graphics groups has grown rapidly over the past two decades. Click show for a partial list of academic departments notably involved in graphics research
Industry
Industrial labs doing "blue sky" graphics research include:- Adobe Research
- MERL
- Microsoft Research - Graphics
- NVIDIA Research
Notable people in computer graphics
Click show to see the list
See also
- 3D computer graphics
- 3D Projections on 2D planes
- ASCII art
- Cloth modeling
- Computer facial animation
- Digital geometry
- Digital image editing
- Geometry pipelines
- Geometry processing
- Graphical output devices
- Graphics processing unit (GPU)
- Painter's algorithm
- SIGGRAPH
- Stanford Bunny
- Tile engine
- Timeline of CGI in films
- Utah Teapot
- Video Display Controller
References
1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]
6. ^ [6]
7. ^ [7]
8. ^ [8]
9. ^ [9]
10. ^ [10]
11. ^ [11]
12. ^ [12]
13. ^ [13]
14. ^ [14]
15. ^ [15]
16. ^ [16]
17. ^ [17]
18. ^ [18]
19. ^ [19]
20. ^ [20]
21. ^ [21]
22. ^ [22]
23. ^ [23]
24. ^ [24]
25. ^ [25]
26. ^ [26]
27. ^ [27]
28. ^ [28]
29. ^ [29]
30. ^ [30]
31. ^ [31]
32. ^ [32]
33. ^ [33]
34. ^ [34]
35. ^ [35]
36. ^ [36]
37. ^ [37]
38. ^ [38]
39. ^ [39]
40. ^ [40]
41. ^ [41]
42. ^ [42]
43. ^ [43]
44. ^ [44]
45. ^ [45]
46. ^ [46]
47. ^ [47]
48. ^ [48]
49. ^ [49]
50. ^ [50]
51. ^ [51]
52. ^ [52]
53. ^ [53]
54. ^ [54]
55. ^ [55]
56. ^ [56]
57. ^ [57]
58. ^ [58]
59. ^ [59]
60. ^ [60]
61. ^ [61]
62. ^ [62]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]
6. ^ [6]
7. ^ [7]
8. ^ [8]
9. ^ [9]
10. ^ [10]
11. ^ [11]
12. ^ [12]
13. ^ [13]
14. ^ [14]
15. ^ [15]
16. ^ [16]
17. ^ [17]
18. ^ [18]
19. ^ [19]
20. ^ [20]
21. ^ [21]
22. ^ [22]
23. ^ [23]
24. ^ [24]
25. ^ [25]
26. ^ [26]
27. ^ [27]
28. ^ [28]
29. ^ [29]
30. ^ [30]
31. ^ [31]
32. ^ [32]
33. ^ [33]
34. ^ [34]
35. ^ [35]
36. ^ [36]
37. ^ [37]
38. ^ [38]
39. ^ [39]
40. ^ [40]
41. ^ [41]
42. ^ [42]
43. ^ [43]
44. ^ [44]
45. ^ [45]
46. ^ [46]
47. ^ [47]
48. ^ [48]
49. ^ [49]
50. ^ [50]
51. ^ [51]
52. ^ [52]
53. ^ [53]
54. ^ [54]
55. ^ [55]
56. ^ [56]
57. ^ [57]
58. ^ [58]
59. ^ [59]
60. ^ [60]
61. ^ [61]
62. ^ [62]
External links
- A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation
- Basic Computer Graphics Programs
- History of Computer Graphics series of articles
- The ARTS: Episode 5 An in depth interview with Legalize on the subject of the History of Computer Graphics. (Available in MP3 audio format)
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
3D computer graphics (in contrast to 2D computer graphics) are graphics that utilize a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
ACM SIGGRAPH is the New York-based Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. It was founded in 1969.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
- For the field of study, see Computer graphics.
Computer Graphics is a publication of ACM SIGGRAPH. It has published the yearly proceedings of the annual SIGGRAPH conferences, as well as a variety of papers on a quarterly basis.
..... Click the link for more information.
Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Visualization is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract and concrete ideas since the dawn of man.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
In computer-aided design, boundary representation—often abbreviated as B-rep or BREP—is a method for representing shapes using the limits. A solid is represented as a collection of connected surface elements, the boundary between solid and non-solid.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
surface is a two-dimensional manifold. The most familiar examples are those that arise as the boundaries of solid objects in ordinary three-dimensional Euclidean space, E³.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
manifold is an abstract mathematical space in which every point has a neighborhood which resembles Euclidean space, but in which the global structure may be more complicated. In discussing manifolds, the idea of dimension is important.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
polygon mesh or unstructured grid is a collection of vertices and polygons that defines the shape of an polyhedral object in 3D computer graphics.
Meshes usually consists of triangles, quadrilaterals or other simple convex polygons, since this simplifies rendering,
..... Click the link for more information.
Meshes usually consists of triangles, quadrilaterals or other simple convex polygons, since this simplifies rendering,
..... Click the link for more information.
A subdivision surface, in the field of 3D computer graphics, is a method of representing a smooth surface via the specification of a coarser piecewise linear polygon mesh. The smooth surface can be calculated from the coarse mesh as the limit of an iterative process of subdividing
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
In mathematics, a level set of a real-valued function f of n variables is a set of the form
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
FLUID (Fast Light User Interface Designer) is a graphical editor that is used to produce FLTK source code. FLUID edits and saves its state in text .fl files, which can be edited in a text editor for finer control over display and behavior.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Constructive solid geometry (CSG) is a technique used in solid modeling. CSG is often, but not always, a procedural modeling technique used in 3D computer graphics and CAD.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
A 3D scanner is a device that analyzes a real-world object or environment to collect data on its shape and possibly its appearance (i.e. color). The collected data can then be used to construct digital, three dimensional models useful for a wide variety of applications.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Cloth modeling is the term used for simulating cloth within a computer program usually in the realm of Computer graphics . The main approaches used for this may be classified into three basic types: geometric, physical, and particle/energy.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Fluid dynamics is the sub-discipline of fluid mechanics dealing with fluids (liquids and gases) in motion. It has several subdisciplines itself, including aerodynamics (the study of gases in motion) and hydrodynamics (the study of liquids in motion).
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
A subdivision surface, in the field of 3D computer graphics, is a method of representing a smooth surface via the specification of a coarser piecewise linear polygon mesh. The smooth surface can be calculated from the coarse mesh as the limit of an iterative process of subdividing
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Dynamical simulation, in computational physics, is the simulation of systems of objects that are free to move, usually in three dimensions according to Newton's laws of dynamics, or approximations thereto.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Light transport theory deals with the mathematics behind calculating the energy transfers between mediums that affect visibility. This article is currently specific to light transport in rendering processes such as global illumination and HDRI.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) is an area of computer graphics that focuses on enabling a wide variety of expressive styles for digital art. In contrast to traditional computer graphics, which has focused on photorealism, NPR is inspired by artistic styles such as painting,
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model, by means of computer programs. The model is a description of three dimensional objects in a strictly defined language or data structure. It would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Light transport theory deals with the mathematics behind calculating the energy transfers between mediums that affect visibility. This article is currently specific to light transport in rendering processes such as global illumination and HDRI.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Visibility is a mathematical abstraction of the real-life notion of visibility.
Given a set of obstacles in the Euclidean space, two points in the space are said to be visible to each other, if the line segment that joins them does not intersect any obstacles.
..... Click the link for more information.
Given a set of obstacles in the Euclidean space, two points in the space are said to be visible to each other, if the line segment that joins them does not intersect any obstacles.
..... Click the link for more information.
Scattering is a general physical process whereby some forms of radiation, such as light, sound or moving particles, for example, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by one or more localized non-uniformities in the medium through which it passes.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The definition of the BSDF (Bidirectional scattering distribution function) is not well standardized. The term was probably introduced in 1991 by Paul Heckbert [1].
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers.
Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since July 2007.
..... Click the link for more information.
Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since July 2007.
..... Click the link for more information.
Optics (ὀπτική appearance or look in Ancient Greek) is a branch of physics that describes the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with matter.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Real-time rendering is the one of the interactive areas of computer graphics, it means creating synthetic images fast enough on the computer so that the viewer can interact with a virtual environment.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
graphics processing unit or GPU (also occasionally called visual processing unit or VPU) is a dedicated graphics rendering device for a personal computer, workstation, or game console.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus
