CMPT 464/764: Geometric Modelling in Computer Graphics (Fall 2021)

This course covers recent and advanced modeling techniques in computer graphics. Our focus will be on the acquisition, representation, processing, and synthesis of 3D shapes, with applications to real-time 3D graphics such as computer games, design and manufacturing, AR/VR, as well as 3D machine vision and robotics. The main modeling primitive studied will be polygonal meshes, which have been the dominant surface representation for highly detailed free-form 3D data. In recent years, mesh modeling and processing has been the most intensely studied subject in geometric modeling. This field is still fast evolving with many interesting problems and much aspiration for application development and future research, e.g., in geometric deep learning, computational design, and fabrication. Basic mathematical concepts and tools necessary to understand the course will be presented depending on students background. But the ability to program in C/C++ with OpenGL is required. This course is cross-listed between CMPT 464 and 764.

Course Topics: (not necessarily covered in that order):

• The new computer graphics in the age of AI and Big Data
• Geometric modelling and 3D content creation
• Introduction to various 3D shape representations: tensor-product surfaces, implicit surfaces, polygonal meshes, point-sampled geometry, multi-view images, procedural modelling, etc.
• Subdivision surfaces and modelling
• 3D shape acquisition and surface reconstruction
• Level of details and multi-resolution modelling
• Digital shape processing and analysis: smoothing, feature extraction, segmentation, and correspondence
• Machine learning in shape analysis and geometric modelling
• 3D printing

Grading:

Two midterms (35%), two homework assignments (30%), and a final project (35%)

Students must attain an overall passing grade on the weighted average of midterms in the course in order to obtain a clear pass (C or better).

Recommended book:

[LOD Book] Level of Detail for 3D Graphics, D. Luebke, et al, Morgan Kaufmann, 2003.

References:

• [Botsch 10] Mario Botsch, Leif Kobbelt, Mark Pauly, Pierre Alliez, and Bruno Levy, Polygonal Mesh Processing, AK Peters, 2010.
• [Hill 07] F. S. Hill Jr. and S. M. Kelley, Computer Graphics using Open GL, third edition, Prentice Hall, 2007.
• [Zorin 00] D. Zorin and P. Schroeder, Subdivision for Modeling and Animation, SIGGRAPH 2000 Course Notes, 2000.
• [Seul 00] M. Seul, L. O'Gorman, M. J. Sammon, Practical Algorithms for Image Analysis: Description, Examples & Code, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Survey papers on selected topics.

Prerequisites/Corequisites:

Interests in the topic; no obvious symptoms of math phobia; CMPT 361 or equivalent computer graphics knowledge. You are welcome to discuss with me your background and suitability for taking the course.