CMSC 23700: Introduction to Computer Graphics

This course aims to provide an introduction to the basic concepts and techniques used in 3D computer graphics. The focus is on real-time rendering techniques, such as those found in computer games. These include: coordinate systems and transformations; geometric modeling; the programmable graphics pipeline; level-of detail optimizations; and rendering techniques.

The course covers both the theory and practice of computer graphics. The lectures, homework assignments and exams focus on algorithms, data structures, and the mathematical foundations of computer graphics, while the lab sessions and programming projects deal with translating theory into practice.

We have scheduled in-person office hours Mondays and Fridays.

You may also schedule a meeting (either in-person or via Zoom) with the instructor by sending email to jhr@cs.uchicago.edu.

The following is a tentative plan for what topics will be covered and when.

The course will have four kinds of assignments:

In addition, there will be a two-hour exam on the evening of Wednesday, November 15.

The class has one required and one recommended text books. These are the first two volumes in the Foundations of Game Engine Development series by Eric Lengyel. Unfortunately, the only way to acquire these books is to order them from Amazon (there are links on the above website).

The first volume is required:

We suggest that you also purchase the second volume in the series:

For those who are interested in further reading, a good overview of computer graphics is

The CMSC 23700 Software Environment webpage describes the software libraries and tools that we are using. It also has links to documentation of these systems, as well as links to online sources of information about graphics and C++ programming.

The University of Chicago is a scholarly academic community. You need to both understand and internalize the ethics of our community. A good place to start is with the Cadet’s Honor Code of the US Military Academy: "A Cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do." It is important to understand that the notion of property that matters most to academics is ideas, and that to pass someone else’s ideas off as your own is to lie, cheat, and steal.

The University has a formal policy on Academic Honesty, which is somewhat more verbose than West Point’s. Even so, you should read and understand it.

We believe that student interactions are an important and useful means to mastery of the material. We recommend that you discuss the material in this class with other students, and that includes the homework assignments. So what is the boundary between acceptable collaboration and academic misconduct? First, while it is acceptable to discuss homework, it is not acceptable to turn in someone else’s work as your own. When the time comes to write down your answer, you should write it down yourself from your own memory. Moreover, you should cite any material discussions, or written sources, e.g.,

The University’s policy, for its relative length, says less than it should regarding the culpability of those who know of misconduct by others, but do not report it. An all too common case has been where one student has decided to "help" another student by giving them a copy of their assignment, only to have that other student copy it and turn it in. In such cases, we view both students as culpable and pursue disciplinary sanctions against both.

For the student collaborations, it can be a slippery slope that leads from sanctioned collaboration to outright misconduct. But for all the slipperyness, there is a clear line: present only your ideas as yours and attribute all others.

If you have any questions about what is or is not proper academic conduct, please ask your instructors.