Class, The following is the introductory course missive for Introduction to Computer Graphics (CIS 636) in the Department of Computing and Information Sciences (CIS) at Kansas State University. The address where you are getting this message is subscribed to the mailing list: CIS636-L@listserv.ksu.edu The course roster as of the first day of class (Wed 19 Jan 2011) was used to generate the subscriber list. If you have received this message in error, please contact the instructional staff at CIS736TA-L@listserv.ksu.edu to unsubscribe. ALL STUDENTS SHOULD READ THIS POSTING CAREFULLY AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR FOLLOWING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS STATED WITHIN. 1. Please read this COURSE MISSIVE and CLASS SYLLABUS, which attached to this message, the first one posted in the class web archive and on the course wiki. The missive is mailed out to the class mailing list on the first day of lecture and describes what students CIS 636 is intended for, and what background students are expected to have. Permanent link: http://bit.ly/hyMjaM 2. Starting in 2011, K-State On-Line (KSOL) will function as the official distribution mechanism and content management system for ALL course materials in CIS 636, including syllabi, lecture slides and recordings, and official announcements. This mailing list and the CIS web page for this course are being maintained indefinitely as an archival mechanism and for a transition period of 18 months as an alternate virtual home and discussion forum. 3. This is an introductory course in computer graphics for undergraduate and graduate students who have had a course in data structures (e.g., CIS 300) and at least two programming courses. Familiarity with the C programming language (or C++, C#, etc.) is recommended. Background in precalculus (plane geometry, intermediate algebra, analytic geometry, and trigonometry) is presumed. A math course covering matrix arithmetic (matrix theory, linear algebra, etc.) and vector algebra (usually Calculus I with analytic gemoetry, or Calculus III) is recommended. If you have not had CIS 300, an equivalent course, or instructor permission, you should NOT be enrolled in CIS 636. Please review the missive carefully if you have not also had Math 551, or a similar course in matrix arithmetic, and look through the course syllabus and first set of lecture slides to make sure you have the prerequisite mathematical background and are comfortable with the topics covered. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the instructor. 4. Here are the five (5) most important points of contact for CIS 636. a) The KSOL home page for the course is: http://bit.ly/hGvXlH ALL homework, labs, term project files, test renders, paper reviews, and peer reviews should be submitted by uploading them to your K-State On-Line (KSOL) file dropbox. You may scan and upload PDF files of handwritten material, but solutions prepared using a word processor and a graphics editor are preferred. If you have questions about code or sample output, try to send URLs to password-protected .zip or .tgz files. Please see the section "On Preparing Homework" below for further instructions. POSTING MESSAGES IN THE KSOL DISCUSSION GROUP IS ALWAYS PREFERRED AND THESE POSTINGS SHALL RECEIVE PRIORITY. You may attach SMALL, COMPRESSED (gzip/WinZip) FILES ONLY (< 0.5 Mb) to CIS736TA-L. Larger attachments or by e-mailing a URL and they MAY BE BOUNCED if the size is too high. b) ALWAYS SEND E-MAIL RELATED TO THIS COURSE TO CIS736TA-L@listerv.ksu.edu. You need not cc: bhsu@ksu.edu or the graduate teaching assistant (Ming Yang), as we are both subscribed to this alias. c) To browse and search the web archives, or to add an alternate mailing address to this group, go to: http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/cis636-l.html You may need to create a free KSU LISTSERV account if you have not used the system before. Please note that LISTSERV logins and passwords are separate from your K-State eID and CIS department login. d) The class web site is at http://www.kddresearch.org/Courses/CIS636 e) Send systems-related inquiries to support@cis.ksu.edu. Check with the instructor or TA first by e-mail or instant messaging if you are not sure whether an inquiry is systems-related. 5. The course textbook is _3D Game Engine Design: A Practical Approach to Real-Time Computer Graphics_, 2nd edition, by David Eberly. The textbook web site for the author is: http://www.geometrictools.com/Books/Books.html The book's table of contents is at: http://bit.ly/ieUq45 The recommended reference is _OpenGL: A Primer_, 3rd edition, by Ed Angel (http://bit.ly/ii1k8u). Other references such as the OpenGL SuperBible by Richard S. Wright, Jr., the Red Book, etc., will be placed on 24-hour reserve in the K-State CIS department main office (234 Nichols Hall). Excerpts from the recommended texts shall be distributed on KSOL course wiki and mirrored on this mailing list and the course wiki, but you may check out the CIS library reserve copies overnight. All of the excerpts covered on exams are listed as handouts in the course syllabus. 6. You may use a high-level programming language such as Java, C++, or C# for your term projects. You will need to know or learn basic CG programming in C/C++ using the OpenGL and DirectX libraries. Machine problems (i.e., programming assignments) shall generally be assigned in C/C++. Some open-source and commercial CG tools will also be used for machine problems. 7. The scoring and grading standards and no-cheating policies are posted in the course syllabus, course missive, and the Announcements section of the wiki. ALL STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING THIS POLICY. Anonymized postings of scores (and grades) shall also be made in the K-State Online (KSOL) page; check every week or so for an update. 8. Suggested term projects shall be posted here and in the Projects section early in the course, before the due date of the project proposals. If you have a particular preference, please notify CIS736TA-L immediately. About the course ================ Instructional staff ------------------- The course instructor for spring, 2011 is William H. Hsu and the TA is Ming Yang. Course web resources -------------------- The purpose of the LISTSERV archive and wiki are to supplement the local mailing list with a permanent, searchable message archive and a repository of documents (a file archive), URLs (a links archive), and other tables and contact lists (the databases). K-State Online (KSOL) also has a chat tool and a form for creating and participating in polls (which can be open or anonymous). I'll set the groups up for unmoderated posting but moderator-approved subscriptions, and you are all welcome to suggest additions to the online resources (files, bookmarks, and of course, databases). Please contact me by e-mail if you need permissions to add links or upload files. On preparing homework --------------------- Vector graphics editors, especially drawing programs (e.g., Microsoft Visio) and presentation editors (Microsoft PowerPoint, OpenOffice Draw) are preferred to raster graphics editors such as paint programs (Microsoft Paint, The GIMP, etc.). You are encouraged to use software tools such as: Free, demo, student, and shareware editions of commercial rendering systems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Microsoft DirectX SDK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX) See http://bit.ly/gtrGLw for downloads. - Autodesk Maya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_Maya) Autodesk 3ds Max (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_3ds_Max) See http://bit.ly/dHhzXx for a free 30-day trial download and http://students.autodesk.com/ for a 3-year student login. - NewTek Lightwave 3D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LightWave_3D) See http://bit.ly/1SKFV2 for a free 30-day trial download. - Smith Micro Poser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poser) See http://poser.smithmicro.com/buy.html for a free 30-day trial download. - chUmbaLum sOft Milkshape 3D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkshape) See http://bit.ly/dQah6O for a free 30-day trial download. Open-source renderers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Blender (http://www.blender.org/) - Pixar Renderman-compliant (see http://bit.ly/gIHWKn) * Aqsis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqsis) * RenderPixie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixie_(renderer)) - OpenGL Shading Language aka GLSL (see: http://bit.ly/fX8V0Y) * Typhoon Labs Shader Designer (http://bit.ly/fJFVLy) - Microsoft High-Level Shading Language aka HLSL (see: http://bit.ly/hOrjLZ) * HLSL2GLSL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HLSL2GLSL) # SourceForge (obsolete): http://bit.ly/gGmbtw # Google Code (current): http://bit.ly/fI49jK - OGRE (see: http://bit.ly/hOmhAJ, plus http://bit.ly/g3Jgid for docs) * v1.7.2 (3rd November 2010), "Cthugha": http://www.ogre3d.org/download - Java3D (see: http://bit.ly/hn0jyH) * Home page: https://java3d.dev.java.net/ * Legacy release (2008) download: http://bit.ly/fO7cMt - JavaFX (see: http://bit.ly/f6XwS9) * Home page: http://javafx.com * NetBeans IDE with JavaFX: http://javafx.com/downloads/all.jsp Other media ----------- Course announcements will be mirrored on channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and IRC. These are just here for your convenience; following them is optional. The Twitter channel is: kstate_graphics The IRC channel is: #graphics on the KDD Lab UnrealIRCd server (system and port to be announced; use irc.theonering.net in the meantime) The above are maintained by the instructional staff for CIS 636, and by the Laboratory for Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD Lab) in the Computing and Information Sciences (CIS) Department at Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS). The group home page is at: http://www.kddresearch.org Visitors are always welcome, both here and at the KDD Lab web site. Contacting the instructor ------------------------- The instructor can be reached via instant messaging (IM) at the following screen names: - Roaming (smart phone, notebook & home desktop computers): * Google Talk: banazir (preferrred) * ICQ: 28651394, AIM/YIM/MSN: hsuwh * Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hsuwh (deprecated for IM) - Office (24/7, remote desktop session on notebook & desktop PC in N324C) * Google Talk: rizanab (preferred) * ICQ 191317559, AIM/YIM/MSN: rizanabsith, Skype: banazir KDD-related courses ------------------- CIS 636 is an elective course for upper-division undergraduates and graduate students at Kansas State University. For your reference, here are other electives offered by the instructor: CIS 530 / 730 - (Introduction to) Artificial Intelligence (fall) CIS 690 - Data Mining in Mobile and Cloud Computing Environments (summer, when available) CIS 732 / 830 - Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition / Topics in Artificial Intelligence (spring) CIS 736 - Computer Graphics (second graphics course, spring) CIS 798 - Topics in Information Extraction (fall, when available) Welcome, William Hsu -- ============================================================ William H. Hsu, Ph.D. bhsu-AT-ksu.edu Associate Professor of CIS, Kansas State University Director, Lab for Knowledge Discovery in Databases Facebook: hsuwh http://www.kddresearch.org Skype/Twitter: banazir Google Talk: banazir / rizanab ICQ: 28651394 AIM/YIM/MSN: hsuwh / rizanabsith ============================================================