CS 488/688: Introduction to Computer Graphics
Spring 2021
Welcome to the home page for CS488/688, the introductory computer graphics course in the School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. This course focuses on 3D graphics, although it does discuss some aspects of user interface design.
Course logistics for Spring 2021
- Instructor
- Gladimir V. G. Baranoski
gvgbaran@uwaterloo.ca
Office hours: Virtual office hours to be held on Fridays, with the specific times to be announced via Piazza. - Teaching Assistants
- Jumyung Chang
jumyung.chang@uwaterloo.ca
Office hours: Virtual office hours to be held on Tuesdays, with the specific times to be announced via Piazza. - Spencer Van Leeuwen
srvanlee@uwaterloo.ca
Office hours: Virtual office hours to be held on Wednesdays, with the specific times to be announced via Piazza. - Virtual Office Hours
- For the Spring 2021 term, office hours will be provided virtually by the course staff. Further details will be provided on Piazza.
- Lab
- The Undergraduate Graphics Lab is unavailable during the Spring 2021 term.
- Course Outline
- The course outline contains general information about the course, including the marking scheme.
- CS 488/688 Course Notes
- Available as a downloadable PDF.
- Required Reading Materials
- Every week, the instructor will release required reading materials equivalent to the contents covered in two traditional lectures in previous terms. The contents equivalent to one lecture will be released on Mondays, and the contents equivalent to another lecture will be released on Wednesdays. These materials will be released in the password protected course Lessons website whose access credentials will be provided via Piazza.
- Getting help
- We are using Piazza for questions and discussions of class-related material. You should have been signed up at the start of the term. If you have enrolled late in the course, you will need to contact the course staff for access to our Piazza forum.
Spring 2021 Assignments
- Please read our additional notes regarding assignment completion and submission. These notes may help you avoid losing marks unnecessarily.
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Assignment 0: Warmup
Due Thursday, May 20 at 10:00 AM ET -
Assignment 1: OpenGL
Due Thursday, June 3 at 10:00 AM ET -
Assignment 2: Pipeline
Due Thursday, June 17 at 10:00 AM ET -
Assignment 3: Puppet
Due Thursday, July 8 at 10:00 AM ET -
Assignment 4: Trace
Due Thursday, July 22 at 10:00 AM ET -
Assignment 5: Animation
Due Thursday, August 5 at 10:00 AM ET
For Spring 2021, alternative specifications will be provided for A5. Further details will be provided on Piazza later in the term.
Spring 2021 Quizzes
- Quizzes may be accessed via Learn during the availability periods specified below. Guidelines for taking the quizzes will be released in the password protected course Lessons website whose access credentials will be provided via Piazza.
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Quiz 0
Thursday, May 27 (9 AM - 6 PM ET) -
Quiz 1
Thursday, June 10 (9 AM - 6 PM ET) -
Quiz 2
Thursday, June 24 (9 AM - 6 PM ET) -
Quiz 3
Thursday, July 15 (9 AM - 6 PM ET) -
Quiz 4
Thursday, July 29 (9 AM - 6 PM ET)
Spring 2021 Examination Integrity Statements
- During the Spring 2021 term, students will be required to submit two integrity statements for the examination component of the course: one for the quizzes and one for the final assessment. Guidelines for the submission of these integrity statements will be released in the password protected course Lessons website whose access credentials will be provided via Piazza.
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Quizzes Integrity Statment
Due Thursday, June 10 at 10:00 AM ET
Note: As stated in the course outline, students that do not submit a valid integrity statement by the specified deadline will lose 50% of the total marks obtained in all their quizzes. Moreover, without the submission of the aforementioned quizzes integrity statement, students will not be allowed to access the quizzes. -
Final Assessment Integrity Statement
Due Saturday, August 7 at 10:00 AM ET
Additional Resources
- The website open.gl is a great starting point for programming in modern OpenGL, featuring a sequence of well written tutorials.
- See also the longer sequence of tutorials at learnopengl.com, which go into more detail about specific topics.
- Song Ho Ahn also has a number of useful tutorials that explain concepts in 3D computer graphics, especially as related to the OpenGL graphics pipeline.
- Visit docs.gl for the best OpenGL API reference.
- You might also want to look at Terence's OpenGL tutorial slides.