Normally 2 lectures and 1 practical session per week. In the practical session you will work through exercises to get hands-on experience of the principles taught in the lecture.
(1:n)2 (1:20)1

- Survey of computer graphics applications: animation, computer games, computer-aided design and visualisation, image processing, scientific and medical visualisation, virtual reality
- history and new developments in graphics and games, review of game genres game development lifecycle, different roles (artist, producer, programmer) in game development
- storyboarding for animation and game development
- basic image transformation techniques such as rotation, resizing, flipping, blurring, sharpening
- introduction to the 3D rendering pipeline, the need for appropriate data structures and matrix transformations
- overview of lighting and shading techniques, texture mapping
- elements of the game loop - input, movement using AI and physics, graphics and sound rendering
- introduction to techniques for animation and user interaction
- graphical hardware - input and output (eg monitor and printer) devices, graphics cards
- colour models
- graphical file formats, compression techniques
- introduction to software packages for graphics and game development, such as 3D Studio Max, Maya, Fireworks and Flash
- introduction to programming games and animated systems

30% test - 45 minutes duration assessing Learning Outcome 1. The test questions will be based on those given in a series of formative quizzes administered via Blackboard.
70% practical assignment assessing Learning Outcomes 2 and 3.

The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Effects, Isaac Victor Kerlow, John Wiley & Sons Inc 2003; ISBN 0471430366
Computer Graphics with OpenGL, Third Edition. Donald Hearn and M. Pauline Baker, Prentice Hall 2003 ; ISBN: 0131202383
Ultimate Game Design - Building Game Worlds, Tom Meigs, McGraw-Hill 2003 ISBN 0-07-222899-7 (background reading)

Be enrolled or have studied an introductory Java programming module such as CE00371-1 Introduction to Software Development or CE00552-1 Software Development using Java or equivalent.

Hardware and software suitable for supporting the Java Development environment
3D modelling software such as Maya or 3DS Max
Intel Pentium II or higher or AMD Athlon processor, 512 MB RAM, suitable graphics card
2D graphics software such as Macromedia Fireworks or Flash