Advanced Topics in Computer Graphics

Instructor: Dr. Dani Lischinski
Time & Place: Tuesday 12:00-13:45, Ross 63
Credits: 3

This course will cover several advanced topics in computer graphics, listed below. Within each topic, after covering the relevant background, we will study some of the recent state-of-the-art research results (typically presented at the SIGGRAPH conferences during the past few years). The course is open for students in the 3rd year and up, MSc, and PhD. It is particularly intended for those who consider chosing a research topic in computer graphics.

Requirements: Those who take the course for credit will be required to complete three programming assignments and submit a short written paper at the end of the course. In these assignments students will implement some of the algorithms covered in the course. Programming will be done is small teams (2-3 students). Some of the code will be provided to students in the form of C++ libraries, so that students will be able to concentrate on the algorithmic aspects of the assignments. Hands-on experience (via programming and experimenting) is the best way of gaining true understanding of the material in this course. However, students who wish only to attend the lectures (without credit) are also welcome.

Prerequisites: the course is open to anyone who has taken the introductory course in computer graphics (67609), or have had equivalent exposure to computer graphics. In particular, we will assume familiarity with the basics of rendering and color science. Background in image processing is helpful, but not required.

Topics:

• Computational Photography: (5 weeks)
  High Dynamic Range Imaging: HDR construction, tone mapping, flash/no-flash enhancements.
  Image Editing: intelligent selection and cut-and-paste, digital photomontage, colorization.
  
• Fluid Dynamics for CG: (5 weeks)
  Simulation and rendering of smoke, fire, and liquids.
  
• Digital Geometry Processing: (4 weeks)
  Basic concepts and tools.
  Mesh parameterization.
  Constructing, editing, and repairing polygonal meshes.
  

Slides and Reading Material:

1. 22/02: Introduction (slides). Construction of HDR radiance maps (slides, Paul Debevec's project page).
2. 01/03: Gradient domain high dynamic range compression: Fattal et al.
3. 08/03: Fast bilateral filtering ( Durand and Dorsey ); Flash/no-flash photography ( Petschnigg et al, Eisemann and Durand ).
4. 15/03: Poisson image editing ( Perez et al. ); Smart selection: lazy snapping.
5. 22/03: Smart selection: GrabCut, colorization, and Poisson matting.
6. 29/03,05/04: Fluid dynamics simulations: stable fluids (slides).
7. 12/04: Target-driven smoke animation (project page).
8. 03/05: Physically based modeling and animation of fire (slides, project page).
9. 10/05: Animation of complex water surfaces (slides, project page).
10. 17/05: Basic concepts in topology and differential geometry (slides).
11. 31/05: Parameterization methods (slides1, slides2).
12. 07/06: More parameterization (slides); Geometry Images (link).
13. 14/06: Mesh compression, Laplacian mesh editing.

Programming Assignments:

1. HDR tone mapping using fast bilateral filtering (submit by 3/5/05).
2. Smoke simulation (submit by 14/6/05).
3. Parameterization (submit by 31/8/05).