DMS 424/524: Programming Graphics 2
Spring 2006

Course Info

When: Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 am - 12:50 pm
Where: CFA 242

Instructor: Dave Pape
e-mail: depape@buffalo.edu
Office: CFA 250
Office hours: Mon/Tues 1-2 pm

Website: http://resumbrae.com/ub/dms424/

Course Description

This production course extends students knowledge of OpenGL and interactive graphics programming, building on the fundamentals learned in Programming Graphics 1. The course will cover advanced techniques for rendering, animation, and interaction. Students will work individually or in small teams to produce a significant semester project, of their own choosing.

Topics

The major areas that we will examine are:

Possible Topics

This details of the schedule will be determined as we go along, based on the interests of the class.

Textbook

OpenGL Programming Guide, Fourth Edition, Dave Shreiner.

Other books/websites that may be of interest:

Course Grading

The term project will be the focus of the class. We will hold weekly reviews of the status of everyone's projects during the entire semester. Your project is expected to make use of some new, advanced technique or OpenGL feature; by "new" I mean something which was not covered in DMS 423; it must also be something that you implement yourself - not simply using an existing library. Beyond that, the nature of the project is up to you.

There will be some form of public show of all the projects at the end of the semester, most likely in early May.

The tech presentation will be an in-class talk, by you, about an advanced graphics topic (such as one of the topics listed above, or anything else that interests you, subject to my approval). Most likely this will be related to your project, but it doesn't have to be. The presentation should last about 1 hour. You will be evaluated both on how well you understand the topic yourself, and also on how well you communicate it to the other students in the class.

The art presentation will similarly be an in-class talk, with the subject being either a specific piece, or a survey of an artist's work. Although interactive, computer graphics works are preferred, just about any interesting digital art/artist is acceptable, as long as I approve it in advance. I will provide a non-exhaustive list of suggested artists and works. The talk should last between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

Other details

E-mail

I will send any e-mail relating to this course to your official buffalo.edu address. Be sure that you check this address. Do not ask me to send e-mail to another address instead - if you don't want to use the buffalo.edu mail system, forward your mail from there to whatever system you do use.

Also, be warned that mail from free services like Hotmail or Yahoo has a strong chance of being caught by spam filters. Hence, I recommend not sending me e-mail from such an address, if you want to be certain that I'll receive it.

Lab Fee

As of the Fall 2003 semester, all DMS production courses now carry a lab fee of $100 per course.

Incompletes

(Borrowed from CS Department)

Generally, incomplete ("I") grades are not given. However, very rarely, circumstances truly beyond the student's control prevent him or her from completing work in the course. In such cases the instructor may give a grade of "I". The student will be given instructions and a deadline for completing the work, usually no more than 30 days past the end of the semester. "I" grades can be given only if the following conditions are met:

Incompletes cannot be given as a shelter from poor grades. It is the student's responsibility to make a timely resignation from the course if he or she is doing poorly for any reason.

Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability (physical, learning or psychological) which may make it difficult for you to carry out the course work as outlined, and/or requires accomodations such as recruiting note takers, readers, or extended time on exams and assignments, please contact the Office of Disability Services, 25 Capen Hall, 645-2608, and also your instructor during the first two weeks of class. ODS will provide you with information and will review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accomodations.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is literary theft and a betrayal of trust. The term is derived from the Latin word for kidnapper and refers to the act of signing one's own name to words, phrases, or ideas which are the literary property of another. Plagiarism comes in many forms, all to be avoided: outright copying, or paraphrase, or a mosaic or disguised use of words and phrases from an unacknowledged source. To avoid plagiarism, make it your habit to put quotation marks around words and phrases, or to isolate and indent longer passages, that you are using from someone else's writing. And be sure to cite the source, in a footnote or endnote, or within parentheses in your text. The penalties for plagiarism can be severe: from an F for the particular assignment, to an F for the course, to referral of the case to the Dean of Undergraduate Education for administrative judgment. If you are unsure about how to use and document sources, please consult with your instructor.

Warning

If you are planning a student production which involves using any prop which could be interpreted to be a weapon [toy gun, BB gun, knife, etc.] and you are planning to shoot on the UB campus or any other public place, you must obtain written permission from Campus Security or the equivalent authority before you shoot. If you do not, you will face serious problems including possible expulsion from the university.