CS 348B Rendering Competition
CS 348B - Computer Graphics: Image Synthesis Techniques
Course Description
CS 348B teaches the principles of generating images from geometric and optical
descriptions of scenes. The course covers topics in sampling theory as applied
to computer graphics, local and global illumination, and grayscale and color
display theory and technology.
Project and Competition
Since 1992, the central project of the course has consisted of writing a ray
tracer which encompasses sampling techniques, texture-mapping, global
illumination (following the rays through multiple bounces), and distribution
ray tracing to demonstrate angular variations in surface reflectance. In
addition, the students participate in a "render-off" competition to generate
the best image or set of images (including animations). The winner is selected
by a panel of computer graphics experts drawn from industry and academia, and
receives an all-expenses-paid trip to SIGGRAPH the following summer.
Images from Past Competitions:
Resources
The principal computer resource used in the competition (and throughout the
course) is the Stanford Graphics Instructional Lab (SGILAB). The computational
and graphics resources of this lab have been upgraded several times during
these years. In 1992, the lab consisted of 10 Silicon Graphics Personal Irises
(32 MB, 33 MHz R3000 processor). In 1994, the lab was upgraded to 15 Silicon
Graphics Indigos (64 MB, 100 MHz R4000 processor, GR2-XZ graphics board). In
1996, 18 Indigo Extremes (128 MB, 250 MHz R4400, GU1-Extreme graphics board)
were added. The lab also has an optical scanner for inputting images and
textures.
The software available for the course has included a simple interactive modeler
and a scene composing package which reads in objects designed in the modeler
and allows interactive manipulation of viewing and lighting parameters, object
position and scale in 3-space, and surface parameters such as color and
shininess. The scene composer was built atop SGI's Inventor software, a 3-D
graphics toolkit written in C++.
Last update: July 9, 1996
venkat@graphics.stanford.edu