Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1.1: A nonphotorealistic camera can create an artistic rendering of a scene by
applying computer vision techniques to multiple flash-photo images and then rerender-
ing the scene using computer graphics techniques. At left is the original scene; at right is
the new rendering of the scene. (Courtesy of Ramesh Raskar; ©2004 ACM, Inc. Included
here by permission.)
nonphotorealistic camera: The camera takes multiple photos of a single scene,
illuminated by differently placed flash units. From these various images, one can
use computer vision techniques to determine contours and estimate some basic
shape properties for objects in the scene. These, in turn, can be used to create a
nonphotorealistic rendering of the scene, as shown in Figure 1.1.
In this topic, we emphasize realistic image capture and rendering because this
is where the field of computer graphics has had the greatest successes, represent-
ing a beautiful application of relatively new computer science to the simulation
of relatively old physics models. But there's more to graphics than realistic image
capture and rendering. Animation and interaction, for instance, are equally impor-
tant, and we discuss these disciplines throughout many chapters in this topic as
well as address them explicitly in their own chapters. Why has success in the
nonsimulation areas been so comparatively hard to achieve? Perhaps because
these areas are more qualitative in nature and lack existing mathematical mod-
els like those provided by physics.
This topic is not filled with recipes for implementing lots of ideas in computer
graphics; instead, it provides a higher-level view of the subject, with the goal of
teaching you ideas that will remain relevant long after particular implementations
are no longer important. We believe that by synthesizing decades of research, we
can elucidate principles that will help you in your study and use of computer
graphics. You'll generally need to write your own implementations or find them
elsewhere.
This is not, by any means, because we disparage such information or the topics
that provide it. We admire such work and learn from it. And we admire those who
can synthesize it into a coherent and well-presented whole. With this in mind,
we strongly recommend that as you read this topic, you keep a copy of Haines,
Möller, and Hoffman's book on real-time rendering [AMHH08] next to you. An
alternative, but less good, approach is to take any particular topic that interests you
and search the Internet for information about it. The mathematician Abel claimed
that he managed to succeed in mathematics because he made a practice of reading
the works of the masters rather than their students, and we advise that you follow
his lead. The aforementioned real-time rendering topic is written by masters of
the subject, while a random web page may be written by anyone. We believe that
