ICS8 - Exercise1 Computer Graphics Application
ICS8 - Exercise1 Computer Graphics Application
Movies have fixed viewpoint as they are shown on TV or in cinemas, that is, the choice of the viewpoint is not possible anymore once the movie has been produced. In order to view a scene from a viewpoint different from the cameras, the 3D scene is reconstructed using image processing methods exploiting the information coming from the different perspectives of the cameras. Virtual reality is where the user should be able to move and act more or less freely in a virtual 3D world. Augmented reality is where the real world is enriched by additional information in the form of text or virtual objects. From a real scene to an image The various application examples of computer graphics demonstrate that a large variety of different problems and tasks must be solved within computer graphics. Figure 1.1 illustrates crucial steps that are needed in order to generate an image from a real or virtual scene.
Figure 1.1 From a scene to an image As a first step, the objects in the scene in Figure 1.1(a) have to be modelled with the techniques and methods provided by a computer graphics tool. In general, these models will not be exact copies of the real or virtual objects of the scene, but only approximations of them. Figure 1.1(b) illustrates this problem of approximation by assuming that the computer graphics tool is very restricted and the bowl in the real scene can only be approximated by a semisphere. The modelled objects usually cover a much larger region than the part that is visible for the virtual viewer from his viewpoint. Taking the viewers position and the direction of his view into account, a 3D region must be defined that determines which objects might be visible for the viewer (see Figure 1.1(c)). The computation of which objects belong completely or at least partly to this region is called clipping or, more specifically, 3D-clipping. The visible objects in the clipping region need to be projected onto a 2D plane in order to obtain a flat pixel image as shown in Figure 1.1(d) that can be printed out or shown on a computer screen.
The whole process of generating a pixel image from a 3D virtual scene is called rendering. The successive composition of the single techniques that are roughly outlined in Figure 1.1 is also referred to as the rendering pipeline.
Activity 1-1: Based on the given application fields above, identify existing software that is now being used. Give at least one for each field. Describe shortly the identified software. Activity 1-2: Assume you want to develop application software in monitoring stock market. Give a particular scenario wherein the computer graphics will show the trend of the monitored stock market. Activity 1-3: Assume you want to develop a drawing tutorial for kinder students. Give a particular scenario wherein the computer graphics will show how to draw circle and rectangle.