CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY OF

COMPUTER GRAPHICS
 OVERVIEW OF
COMPUTER GRAPHICS (CG)
Definition and Importance of Computer Graphics

• The term computer graphics (CG) describes the use of

computers to create and manipulate images.
• Computer graphics deals with all aspects of creating images with
a computer using
 Hardware
 Software
 Applications
• Graphics can be two - or three-dimensional
• Computer Graphics is the creation and manipulation of images
or pictures with the help of computers.
• There are two types of computer graphics :
1) Passive Computer Graphics (Non-interactive Computer
Graphics)
2) Active Computer Graphics (Interactive Computer Graphics)
Contd..
• The major product of computer graphics is a picture. With
the help of CG, pictures can be represented in 2D and 3D
space.
• Many applications show various parts of the displayed
picture changing in size and orientation. Such type of
transformations i.e. the pictures can be made to grow,
shrink, rotate and etc. can be achieved through CG.
• The display on them is often too big to be shown in their
entirety. Thus, with the help of CG, a technique called
clipping can be used to select just those parts of the
picture that lie on the screen and to discard the rest.
Contd..
• CG is in daily use in the field of science, engineering,
medicine, entertainment, advertising, the graphic arts, the
fine arts, business, education etc.
• The electronic industry is more dependent on the
technologies provided by CG such as engineers can draw
their circuit in a much shorter time,
• architects can have alternative solution to design problems,
• the molecular biologist can display pictures of molecules
and can study on the structure,
• the town planners and transportation engineers use the
computer generated maps which display data useful to
them in their planning work etc.
Interactive Computer Graphics

• The Interactive computer graphics (ICG) provides two way

communications between the computer and the user.
• The various applications of ICG are as follows.
 Using ICG system the integrated electronic circuits which are very complex can
be drawn in a much shorter time.
 It is very useful in training of the pilots as they spend much of their training on
the ground at the controls of a flight simulator and not in a real aircraft.
 There are many tasks that can be made easier & less expensive by the use of
ICG. The effectiveness of the ICG is the speed with which the user can absorb
the displayed information.
Contd..
The Interactive Graphics display consists of three major
components as follows & shown in Figure 1:
(1) Frame Buffer (2) T.V. Monitor (3)Display
Controller
10001101 Scan line Data
01101010
00101001
11100111
00111000
01010100
00111001 Display Adapter/
01010101 Display Controller Video Monitor/
Frame Buffer T. V. Monitor
Contd..
1) Frame Buffer
• The images that are to be displayed are stored in a frame buffer in the form
of matrix of intensity values.
• The frame buffer contains the image stored in binary form as a matrix of 0’s
and 1’s which represent the pixel. 0 indicates the darkness and 1 indicates
the image.
• The Frame Buffer holds the set of intensity values for all the screen points.
• The intensity values stored in a Frame Buffer are retrieved and painted on a
screen one row at a time. This row is called as scan line.
2) Display Controller
• The Display Controller passes the contents of frame buffer to the T.V.
Monitor.
• Display Controller reads successive bytes of data from the frame buffer &
then converts 0’s and 1’s into the corresponding video signal.
• These signals are fed to the T.V. Monitor.
3) T.V. Monitor
• The T.V. Monitor then produces black and white pattern on the screen.
• The frame Buffer contents are to be modified, in order to represent the new
pattern of pixels or if some changes are to be made on the displayed picture.
 GRAPHICS AREAS

The following major areas of computer graphics are:

• Modeling deals with the mathematical specification of shape and
appearance properties in a way that can be stored on the
computer. For example, a coffee mug might be described as a set
of ordered 3D points along with some interpolation rule to
connect the points and a reflection model that describes how light
interacts with the mug.
• Rendering is a term inherited from art and deals with the creation
of shaded images from 3D computer models.
• Animation is a technique to create an illusion of motion through
sequences of images. Animation uses modeling and rendering but
adds the key issue of movement over time, which is not usually
dealt with in basic modeling and rendering.
Contd..

There are many other areas that involve computer graphics.

• User interaction deals with the interface between input devices such as
mice and tablets, the application, feedback to the user in imagery, and
other sensory feedback.
• Virtual reality attempts to immerse the user into a 3D virtual world.
This typically requires at least stereo graphics and response to head
motion. For true virtual reality, sound and force feedback should be
provided as well.
• Visualization attempts to give users insight into complex information
via visual display.
• Image processing deals with the manipulation of 2D images and is used
in both the fields of graphics and vision.
• 3D scanning uses range-finding technology to create measured 3D
models. Such models are useful for creating rich visual imagery, and the
processing of such models often requires graphics algorithms.
• Computational photography is the use of computer graphics,
computer vision, and image processing methods to enable new ways of
photographically capturing objects, scenes, and environments.
COMPUTER GRAPHICS APPLICATION

Almost any field can make some use of computer graphics, but the
major consumers of computer graphics technology include the
following industries:
• Video games increasingly use sophisticated 3D models and
rendering algorithms. for example, Computer art - is any art in
which computers play a role in production or display of the
artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-
ROM, DVD-ROM, videogame, web site, algorithm, performance
or gallery installation
• Cartoons are often rendered directly from 3D models. Many
traditional 2D cartoons use backgrounds rendered from 3D
models, which allows a continuously moving viewpoint without
huge amounts of artist time.
• Entertainment – Computer graphics are now used in creating
motion pictures, music videos and television shows. Sometimes
the graphics scenes are displayed by themselves and sometimes
graphics objects are combined with actors and live scenes.
Contd..

• Image processing - in computer science, image processing is any form

of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a
photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be
either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the
image.
• Simulation can be thought of as accurate video gaming. For example, a
flight simulator uses sophisticated 3D graphics to simulate the
experience of flying an airplane. Such simulations can be extremely
useful for initial training in safety-critical domains such as driving, and
for scenario training for experienced users such as specific fire-fighting
situations that are too costly or dangerous to create physically.
• Medical imaging creates meaningful images of scanned patient data.
For example, a computed tomography (CT) dataset is composed of a
large 3D rectangular array of density values. Computer graphics is used
to create shaded images that help doctors extract the most salient
information from such data.
Contd..
• Presentation graphics program - is a computer software package used
to display information, normally in the form of a slide show. It typically
includes three major functions: an editor that allows text to be inserted
and formatted, a method for inserting and manipulating graphic images
and a slide-show system to display the content. Examples are Microsoft
PowerPoint, Corel Presentations and Google Docs
• Computational biology involves the development and application of
data -analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and
computational simulation techniques to the study of biological,
behavioral, and social systems.
• Virtual reality (VR) - is a term that applies to computer-simulated
environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real
world, as well as in imaginary worlds. Most current virtual reality
environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a
computer screen or through special stereoscopic displays, but some
simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound
through speakers or headphones.
Contd..
• Animated films use many of the same techniques that are used for visual
effects, but without necessarily aiming for images that look real. Computer
animation is the process used for generating animated images by using
computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery
encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer
animation only refers to moving images.
• CAD/CAM stands for computer-aided design and computer-aided
manufacturing. These fields use computer technology to design parts and
products on the computer and then, using these virtual designs, to guide the
manufacturing process. For example, many mechanical parts are designed
in a 3D computer modeling package and then automatically produced on a
computer-controlled milling device.
• Visual effects/visualization - use almost all types of computer graphics
technology. Almost every modern film uses digital compositing to
superimpose backgrounds with separately filmed foregrounds. Many films
also use 3D modeling and animation to create synthetic environments,
objects, and even characters that most viewers will never suspect are not
real.
Contd..
• Information visualization creates images of data that do not
necessarily have a “natural” visual depiction. For example, the
temporal trend of the price of ten different stocks does not have an
obvious visual depiction, but clever graphing techniques can help
humans see the patterns in such data.
• Presentation graphics: In applications like summarizing of data
of financial, statistical, mathematical, scientific and economic
research reports, presentation graphics are used. It increases the
understanding using visual tools like bar charts, line graphs, pie
charts and other displays.
GRAPHICS PIPELINE
• In computer graphics, the graphics pipeline refers to a series of
interconnected stages through which data and commands related
to a scene go through during rendering process.
• It takes us from the mathematical description of an object to its
representation on the device. The figure 2 shown below
illustrates a 3D graphic pipeline.
• The real world objects are represented in world coordinate
system. It is then projected onto a view plane. The projection is
done from the viewpoint of the position of a camera or eye.
• There is an associated camera coordinate system whose z axis
specifies the view direction when viewed from the viewpoint.
• The infinite volume swept by the rays emerging from the
viewpoint and passing through the window is called as view
volume or view pyramid.
• Clipping planes (near and far) are used to limit the output of the object.
Contd..

Figure 2: A 3D graphic pipeline

Contd..
The mapping of an object to a graphic device requires the
transformation of view plane coordinates to physical
device coordinates. There are two steps involved in this
process.
1) The window to a viewport transformation. The
viewport is basically a sub – rectangle of a fixed
rectangle known as logical screen.
2) The transformation of logical screen coordinates to
physical device coordinates.
Contd..

Figure 3 (a): Sequence of transformation in viewing

pipeline

Figure 3 (b): 2D coordinate system to physical device coordinates

transformation
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

The most common graphics output device is the video monitor

which is based on the standard cathode ray tube (CRT) design.
Figure 4 illustrates the basic operation of a CRT.

Figure 4: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

Contd..
As shown in above figure, it consists of electron gun, focusing
system, deflection plates and a phosphor-coated screen.
• Electron gun is the primary component of a CRT. When the
heat is supplied to the electron gun by directing a current, a
beam of electrons emitted by an electron gun, passes through
focusing and deflection systems that direct the beam toward
specified positions on the phosphor-coated screen.
• The focusing system in a CRT is needed to force the electron
beam to converge into a small spot as it strikes the phosphor.
• There are two pairs of deflection plates - Horizontal
deflection plates and vertical deflection plates.
• One pair of plates is mounted horizontally to control the
vertical deflection, and the other pair is mounted vertically to
control horizontal deflection.
Contd..
• The beam passes between the two pairs of deflection plates and
positioned on the screen.
• The phosphor then emits a small spot of light at each position
contacted by the electron beam.
• Because the light emitted by the phosphor fades very rapidly,
some method is needed for maintaining the screen picture.
• One Way to keep the phosphor glowing is to redraw the picture
repeatedly by quickly directing the electron beam back over the
same points. This type of display is called a refresh CRT.
• In CRT monitors there are two techniques of displaying
images:
1) Raster scan displays
2) Random scan displays
Raster Scan Displays

Figure 5: Raster Scan Display Figure 6: Horizontal and Vertical

Retrace
Raster Scan Systems

Figure 7: Architecture of a simple raster system

Contd..

Figure 8: Architecture of a raster system

Raster Scan Display Processor
Figure 9 shows one way to set up the organization of a raster system containing
a separate display processor, sometimes referred to as a graphics controller or
a display coprocessor.

Figure 9: Architecture of a raster-graphics system with a

display processor
Random Scan Display/ Vector-Scan Display/
Calligraphic Displays

Figure 10: Random Scan Display

Random-Scan Systems/ Random-Scan Display
Processor

Figure 11: Architecture of a simple random scan system

HARD COPY DEVICES
Printers
Plotters

INPUT DEVICES FOR OPERATOR INTERACTION

• Keyboards
• Mouse
• Trackball and Spaceball
• Joysticks
• Data Glove
• Digitizers
• Touch Screens
• Light pen
• Voice Systems
• Image Scanners
HISTORY OF COMPUTER
GRAPHICS
History of Computer
Graphics

Once upon a time,

the human race was
doomed to survive without
having video games,
and our souls were without
form, and void,
and darkness was upon the face
of the deep, until the day when…
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1950: The first graphic images are created by Ben Laposky using an
oscilloscope to generate waveform artwork produced by manipulating the
analog electronic beams.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1951: Designed to support military preparedness, Jay Forrester and Robert
Everett of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) produce the
Whirlwind, a mainframe computer with a CRT to plot blips representing
incoming aircrafts based on radar-gathered data.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1955: Direct descendant of the Whirlwind, the SAGE (Semi- Automatic Ground
Equipment) air defense system is designed by Bert Sutherland at MIT. It uses
simple vector graphics to display on analog CRTs radar images with a
wireframe outline of the region being scanned, as well as the first light pen as
an input device that operators would use to pinpoint planes flying over regions
of the United States. It becomes a key part of the US missile defense system.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1959: General Motors and IBM develop “DAC-1” (Design Augmented by
Computers), the first industrial CAD system (Computer-Aided Design) used
to help engineers design cars. It allows a user to rotate and view a simple
drawings.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1960: The term “computer graphics” is coined by William
A. Fetter at Boeing to describe the new design methods for his human factors
cockpit simulations. Two years later, he will create the “First Man” digital human
for cockpit studies.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1961: Spacewar, the first video game, is developed by MIT
student Steve Russell for the DEC PDP-1 minicomputer.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1963: For his doctoral thesis at MIT, Ivan Sutherland develops Sketchpad, the
first Computer-Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) package allowing shapes
to be interactively drawn on a vector-based display monitor using a light pen
input device wired into the computer. The light pen uses a small photoelectric
cell in its tip to emit an electronic pulse when the pen “sees” the electron beam.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1963: Larry Roberts develops the first effective hidden-line removal
algorithm, the precursor to various subsequent hidden-line and hidden-surface
algorithms.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1963: The mouse is invented by Doug Englebart at the
Stanford Research Institute (SRI).
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1965: The digital line drawing algorithm for raster devices developed in 1962
by Jack Bresenham at IBM is published.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1966: Ivan Sutherland creates the first head-mounted display, the Sword
of Damocles, which displays separate wireframe images, allowing depth
perception.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1967: MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies is founded by
Gyorgy Kepes.

• 1967: Don Greenberg starts a program at Cornell.

• 1968: Dave Evans joins the computer science department at the University
of Utah and forms a CG group. Sutherland also joins the University of Utah.

• 1968: Frustrated by the lack of graphics hardware available,

Evans & Sutherland then found their own company.

• 1968: Intel is founded.

History of Computer
Graphics
• 1968: Arthur Appel at IBM introduces ray-casting, a pre- cursor to ray-
tracing which combines a hidden-surface and shadow algorithm.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1969: Initiated by Sam Matsa and Andy vanDam, ACM creates a special
interest group on graphics, SIGGRAPH. The first SIGGRAPH conference
held in Boulder in 1973 counts 1,200 attendees versus about 20,000
nowadays.

• 1969: At the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) of Xerox, Utah alumni Alan
Kay develops the concept of Graphical User Interface (GUI).

• 1969: The first framebuffer (with 3 bits per pixel) is built at Bell Labs, initiating
the transition from vector graphics, i.e. drawing lines between coordinates, to
raster video displays containing a value for each pixel on the screen,
transforming vector representations into raster format images.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1971: Gouraud shading is developed by Utah student Henri Gouraud.
By interpolating intensity, visual improvements over flat shading
may be achieved at a marginal cost.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1973: The entertainment feature film Westworld makes the first use of 2D
animation, while 3D wireframe CGI will first be used 3 years later in its sequel
Futureworld.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1974: Wolfgang Strasser in his dissertation describes the Z- Buffer, together with
Jose Encarnacao he can be seen as the fathers of CG in Germany
• 1974: Utah student Edwin (Ed) Catmull (now president of Walt Disney
Animation Studios) develops both the Z-buffer hidden-surface algorithm as
well as texture mapping.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1974: Alexander (Alex) Schure, founder of the New York Institute of
Technology (NYIT), creates a new Computer Graphics Lab, naming Ed
Catmull director. Joined by Alvy Ray Smith and others, the team develops
interest in producing what could have been the first feature-length CGI film, The
Works, but it was never completed.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1975: Utah student Bui Tuong Phong develops a specular illumination
model. He also introduces the interpolation of normals for shading, now known
as Phong shading.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1975: At IBM, mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot introduces geometry of
fractional dimension. Fractals are used in computer graphics to create realistic
simulations of natural phenomena such as mountains, coastlines, wood grain…
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1975: Using Bezier patches, Utah student Martin Newell creates a 3D
computer model of a physical teapot, now at the Computer Museum in
Boston. Serving as a benchmark throughout history, the Utah teapot has
become an icon of 3D computer graphics.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1975: At the age of 19, William (Bill) Gates III dropped out of Harvard and
founds Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen.

• 1976 : The CRAY-I Super Computer is introduced and

becomes the standard for large-scale scientific computing.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple. After a visit of Xerox’s
PARC in 1979, introducing the Macintosh in 1984 which will spark the
graphical user interface revolution.

• 1977: Utah alumni Frank Crow develops solutions to the

aliasing problem, i.e. anti-aliasing.

• 1977: The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences introduces the
category titled Visual Effects for the Oscars. The Best Animated Feature
Film Award will then be approved in 2001.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1977: Utah student James (Jim) Blinn (now at Microsoft Research) presents a
new illumination model that considers surface facets, and a year later,
introduces bump- mapping.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1979: George Lucas hires Ed Catmull and many others from the NYIT, to form
Lucasfilm’s CG team in San Rafael, CA.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1980: Turner Whitted at Bell Labs (now at Microsoft Research) introduces
a general ray tracing paradigm which incorporates reflection, refraction,
antialiasing, and shadows.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1980: The European Association for Computer Graphics
the first EUROGRAPHICS conference held in Geneva.
is formed and

• 1980: The MIT Media Lab is founded by Nicholas Negroponte.

• 1980: The computer animation production studios Pacific Data Images

(PDI) is founded by Carl Rosendahl.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1981: After some work on fractals while at Boeing in 1980, Loren Carpenter is
hired by Lucasfilm and, in collaboration with Cook and Catmull, writes their
first renderer, called REYES (Renders Everything You Ever Saw). It included
the RenderMan Shading Language (Pat Hanrahan, now Stanford) and
would eventually turn into the Renderman rendering engine.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1981: IEEE Computer Society starts publishing a new journal,
Computer Graphics and Applications.
• 1982: ACM starts publishing Transactions on Graphics TOG.

• 1982: Utah alumni James (Jim) Clark founds Silicon Graphics Inc.
(SGI), a leader in producing
low-end to high-end graphics workstations and
supercomputers.
• 1982: After inventing the Postscript language, Utah alumni
John Warnock founds Adobe Systems.

• 1982: Autodesk is founded and AutoCAD

released.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1982: Lucasfilm computer graphics division develops a one- minute shot for Star
Trek II: The Wrath of Khan making the first use of fractal-generated landscape
in a film. William (Bill) Reeves leads the Genesis Effect programming team and
creates the so-called Particle Systems.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1982: Disney releases Tron, the first film with 15 minutes of fully computer
generated 3D shots including the famous Light Cycle sequence inside a
videogame. The movie is now recognized as a landmark despite its box office
failure.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1984: The first movie to use “integrated CGI” where the effects are
supposed to represent real world objects is released. The Last Starfighter
includes CG spaceships, planets, and high-tech hardware integrated into live-
action scenes, but will also be a box office failure.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1984: Michael Cohen introduces the Cornell Box which will symbolize the
approach to physically-based rendering.

• 1984: Based on heat transfer, Cindy Goral, Kenneth Torrance, Don

Greenberg and Bennett Battaile at Cornell University introduce Radiosity,
allowing realistic renderings.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1984: Part of Lucasfilm’s team, Cornell alumni Robert (Rob) Cook proposes an
extended version of ray-tracing. Distribution ray-tracing allows the realistic
simulation of motion blur, depth of field, soft shadows, etc…
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1984: Lucasfilm’s computer animation division creates The Adventures of
André and Wally B., the first all-CGI animated short film, followed by Pixar’s
Luxo Jr. in 1985.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1985: Ken Perlin introduces noise functions as a means of creating natural
patterns such as marble, wood, …
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1986: Utah alumni James (Jim) Kajiya (now at Microsoft Research)
introduces the Rendering Equation allowing realistic light inter-reflections
to be path-traced.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1986: The computer graphics division of Lucasfilm splits off as a separate
company focused on animated films, Pixar, headed by Ed Catmull and
purchased by Steve Jobs.

• 1986: Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), the special effects

division of Lucasfilm, starts a CGI group.

• 1986: Mental Images is founded in Berlin, bought by Nvidia

in 2007.

• 1989: REYES-based Pixar’s RenderMan system is released and a

year later its shading language by Jim Lawson and Pat Hanrahan.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1991: Although 3D computer graphics debuted in earlier in Disney
productions, Beauty and the Beast is the first where hand-drawn characters
appear with 3D animated objects.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1992: Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) releases the Open Graphics Library
(OpenGL) specification defining a standard cross-language cross-platform
API for computer graphics (now managed by Khronos, being replaced by
Vulkan).

• 1993: Nvidia is founded, later attracts many engineers from SGI and other
companies to become the main graphics HW company (besides ATI and Intel
today).
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1995: Pixar Animation Studios produce Toy Story, the first computer-
animated full-length feature film, demonstrating the possibilities of CGI
graphics in movie- making.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 1996: The 3D gaming industry sees a breakthrough with the release of Quake,
lead by John Carmack at ID Software, which used actual 3-D models in a truly
3-D space.
History of Computer
Graphics
• 2001: Although it fails commercially, Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within is the
first feature-length digital film that includes a cast of photorealistic digital
actors, stirring the imagination of the press and CG community. Raises
awareness of the “uncanny valley”.
History of Computer
Graphics
• More details in:

– Wayne E. Carlson's timeline:

http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/timeline.html

– Oscar Chavarro’s adaptation of Wayne E. Carlson's timeline:

http://sophia.javeriana.edu.co/~ochavarr/computer_graphics_history/
historia/

– Excerpt from Becoming a Computer Animator by Michael

Morrison: http://www.danielsevo.com/hocg/hocg_intro.htm

– Arden Jacob DeCuir’s video on the history of 3D CGI:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCj2QNJT4XA
Applications
• Entertainment Industry: Special effects for motion pictures
[© Weta Digital]

[© Rhythm & Hues]

[© Industrial Light & Magic] [© Sony Pictures Imageworks]
Applications
• Entertainment Industry: Animated films
[© Disney / Pixar]

[© PDI DreamWorks]
[© Blue Sky Studios]

[© Sony Pictures Imageworks]

Applications
• Entertainment Industry: Video games

[© Valve]

[© Bungie]

[© Crytek] [© Blizzard Entertainment]

 Applications
• Simulation & Augmented Reality
[© NASA]

[© Renault]

[© ENIB]

[© University of North Carolina]

 Applications
• Industrial Design & Engineering: Automotive / Aerospatial
[© Daimler] [© Volkswagen]

[© Boeing]

[© EADS]
 [© Saarland University]

Applications
• Architectural / Interior Design
• Landscape / Urban Planning
• Archeological Reconstruction
[© PBRT]

[© Radiance] [© University of Bristol]

 [© University of Utah]

Applications
• Scientific/Information Visualization

[© SCI Institute]

[© Texas A&M University]

Applications
• Non-photorealistic rendering: art/stylized/pen&ink illustration
• Painterly/Toon Shading, Computational Aesthetics
[© New York University]

[© Adobe]
[© University of Utah]

[© University of Washington] [© Brown University] [© University of Victoria]

History of Computer
Graphics
• Nowadays:
– Few but big graphics-hardware vendors: Nvidia, AMD/ATI, Intel…
– Mobile devices and casual gaming taking over
– Few key HW-oriented APIs: OpenGL, DirectX, Vulkan, …
– Many rendering packages:
• Arnold, Vray, Iray, Corona, Maxwell, RenderMan, ...
– Many animation studios:
• ILM, Pixar, PDI/Dreamworks, Digital Domain, …
– Many game companies:
• Crytec, Epic/Unreal, Unity, Valve, ID Software, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft,
LucasArts, …
– Interactive 3D graphics on the Web:
• WebGL, XML3D, X3DOM, WebVR
– Trend toward VR (Oculus, …) and AR (HoloLens)
– Possible new market beyond games & film/video: predictive rendering

– Graphics is now ubiquitous – but there still remains much to be done