Lecture #1: Computer graphics as a computer science

Welcome to Computer graphics in Game development course

Who I am

Ivan Belyavtsev

Computer Graphics Developer technology engineer at Nvidia

Researcher and educator in Computer science

djbelyak.ru

Disclaimer

This course was prepared or accomplished by Ivan Belyavtsev in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this course are the author’s own and do not represent official policy or position of Nvidia corporation.

Schedule

1. 01/24-01/25 - 8 classes
2. 02/21-02/22 - 7 classes
3. 03/20-03/21 - 8 classes
4. 04/17-04/18 - 6 classes + Final assessment

Syllabus

1. 01/24-01/25. Basics of rendering
2. 02/21-02/22. Basics of ray tracing
3. 03/20-03/21. Basics of DirectX 12
4. 04/17-04/18. Advanced technics and algorithms

What we won’t cover

• 3D modeling as art
• Animation
• Game engines
• Music and sounds
• Game design
• Network

Hardware requirements

• PC with Windows 10
• Discrete GPU (For #3 and #4)

Software requirements

• Git
• Visual Studio Community
• Premake5
• github.com/djbelyak/cg-template

Caution

The course requires a lot of discipline and energy!

How we will work

• During lectures
  • Research computer graphics with meta-science framework
• At home
  • Repeat lectures materials
  • Implement experiments by yourself

Materials

• On my webpage: djbelyak.ru
• There is no spoilers of code
• Reference images are in the repo: github.com/djbelyak/cg-template

Communication channels

• Course channel ???: t.me/innopolis_cs_in_gd_2020
• Course chat ???: t.me/innopolis_cs_in_gd_2020_chat

Questions

How we will research computer graphics

Viktor Kanke

Types of sciences

• Social
• Natural
• Axiological [1]

What the value of a science?

• Economics
• Physics
• Computer science

Theories row

Knowledge means the theories understood and accepted by people and nothing else [2]

\[T_1 -> T_2 -> ... -> T_n\]

Concepts

• Variables:

  \(\vec{F}\), \(\vec{a}\), \(m\)

• Laws:

  \(\vec{a} = \frac{\vec{F}}{m}\)

• Principals:

  Conservation of energy [2]

Methods for manage concepts

• Deduction
• Experiment
• Induction (data processing)
• Correction of original concepts [2]

Methods to manage theories

• Problematisation - revealing certain obstructions in the old concept
• Innovation - invention of new theory
• Interpretation - old theory through new concept [2]

Interoperation of sciences

Donor-acceptor relationships [1]

An acceptor science could you use theories and methods from a donor science

Aim and principles of applied sciences

• Aim to make something the most effective way
• Efficiency maximization principle [3]

Aim and principles of computer science

• Is computer science an applied science? [1]
• Aim to process, store and transfer information by the most effective way [4]

Aim and principles of computer graphics

• Is computer graphics a computer science?
• Aim to create, process, store and transfer visual information by the most effective way

Aim and principles computer graphics in game development

• Aim to create and process an image by the most effective way
• What’s mean “the most effective way” here?

Let’s define what is an image

Physics and anatomy are donor sciences

What is the light

[5]

Human eye

• Rods - light quantity
• Cones - light quality
  • S-cones - blue
  • M-cones - green
  • L-cones - red [6]

Color perception

[5]

Pixels in depth

[5]

Pixels in depth (iPad 2 and iPad 3)

[7]

sRGB gamut

[8]

“Black image” experiment

Deduction phase

• Image is a matrix of pixels
• Pixel is 3 colored light sources
• Does black color consist of 0 intensity pixels?
• How long does an operation take?

“Black image” experiment

Experiment

Let’s implement it together

“Black image” experiment

Reference

“Black image” experiment

What is the new knowledge?

• Black color consists of 0 intensity pixels