The first test will be given in class on Monday, October 4. It covers Chapters 1, 2, and 3 from the textbook.
Some things not on the test: Java and JOGL; programming in C; SVG; writing HTML; questions about JavaScript programming itself; working with things like checkboxes and popup menus in JavaScript; GLUT and GLU; the linear algebra from Section 3.5.
The format of the test will be the usual: some essay questions and definitions; reading some code and explaining its purpose; writing some code. There will be some geometrical questions that ask you to work with transformations and primitives. I might give you some code and ask you what it draws. I might give you a picture and ask how it could be drawn. Specific questions about graphics APIs will be limited to Canvas2D and OpenGL 1.1 graphics.
Here are some terms and ideas that you should be familiar with:
computer graphics
pixels
painting programs vs. drawing programs (such as Gimp vs. Inkscape)
Basic concepts about the elements of 3D Graphics:
geometric modeling lighting and material
geometric transformations textures
viewing and projection animation
pixels
vector graphics
alpha color component and translucency
aspect ratio
coordinate system
stroking and filling as basic operations in 2D graphics
paths in 2D graphics
bezier curves; control points for cubic bezier curves
2D transformations: scale, rotate, translate, shear
combining transformations
(transforms are applied to objects in the opposite of their order in the code)
hierarchical modeling
using subroutines to implement hierarchical modeling
scene graphs
traversing a scene graph
how a stack of transformations is used while traversing a scene graph
3D graphics, and how it differs from 2D
rendering a scene
3D coordinate systems and the z-axis
the standard OpenGL coordinate system
right-handed and left-handed coordinate system
transformations in 3D: scale, rotate, translate
using glPushMatrix/glPopMatrix to implement hierarchical graphics in OpenGL
hidden surface problem
painter's algorithm
the depth test algorithm
the depth buffer, also called the z-buffer
rotation in 3D; the axis of rotation
the right-hand rule for direction of rotation in 3D in a right-handed coordinate system
3D coordinate systems in OpenGL
object coordinates
world coordinates (no objective existence in OpenGL)
eye coordinates
clip coordinates (OpenGL default coordinate system,
from -1 to 1 in all directions, also called normalized device coordinates)
device coordinates
modeling transform
viewing transform
the modelview transformation
why modeling and viewing transforms are combined (equivalence of modeling and viewing)
projection transform
orthographic projection
perspective projection
the view volume, and how it relates to the projection transformation
the near and far clipping planes in the projection transformation
the idea of a "camera"
IFS (Indexed Face Set)
front and back faces of a polygon
basic idea of using glDrawArrays and glDrawElements, and why they are used
OpenGL primitives:
GL_POINTS GL_TRIANGLES
GL_LINES GL_TRIANGLE_FAN
GL_LINE_LOOP GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP
GL_LINE_STRIP
OpenGL 1.1 functions that you should understand and be able to use:
glEnable(GL_DEPTH_TEST)
glDisable(GL_DEPTH_TEST)
glBegin(primitive) and glEnd()
glVertex3f(x,y,z), glVertex2f(x,y) // Also, the "d" versions of functions
glColor3f(x,y,z)
glScalef(a,b,c)
glRotatef(angle, axisX, axisY, axisZ) // angle in degrees
glTranslatef(dx,dy,dz)
glPushMatrix()
glPopMatrix()
HTML Canvas2D graphics:
the properties graphics.lineWidth, graphics.fillStyle, and graphics.strokeStyle
graphics.scale(a,b); graphics.beginPath();
graphics.rotate(angle); graphics.moveTo(x,y);
graphics.translate(dx,dy); graphics.lineTo(x,y);
graphics.save(); graphics.bezierCurveTo(cx1,cy1,cx2,cy2,x,y);
graphics.restore(); graphics.fill();
graphics.fillRect(x,y,w,h); graphics.stroke();
graphics.strokeRect(x,y,w,h);