CSC2522S: Advanced Image Synthesis


Lectures: 1-3pm, Mondays
Location: Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 5181
Instructor: Eugene Fiume .

This course is an in-depth study of the mechanisms in computer graphics that allow us to make beautiful, realistic images. The main topics we will be covering are realistic illumination models (whether physically-based or otherwise), global illumination and light transport, radiosity-based and ray-tracing algorithms, participating media, texture and environment mapping, sampling and filtering.

The grade will be based on a seminar and a project.

References

  1. Pat Hanrahan, Instructors: Image Synthesis Techniques. These are excellent course notes with material analogous to our coverage.
  2. A good introduction to the Monte Carlo techniques we are discussing is by Eric Veach and others.
  3. A more intensive but very readable coverage of physically based image synthesis with an emphasis on path tracing and Monte Carlo methods (including Metropolis Light Transport) is Eric Veach's thesis.
  4. The home page for pbrt .
  5. A very nice set of slides on global illumination by Alex Telea .
  6. The SIGGRAPH and Eurographics Symposium on Rendering Proceedings.

Student Talks

  1. Matthew O'Toole, Photon Mapping, 17 March 2008.
  2. Steve Chaplick, Precomputed Radiance Transport, 17 March 2008.
  3. Hanieh Bastani, Reflectance/Transmission models for Skin, 31 March 2008.
  4. Dave Nowak, Modelling the appearance of participating media, 31 March 2008.

Additional Course Materials

The following materials are restricted to .toronto.edu domain. If you are outside this domain and want access to them, please send one of the above instructors e-mail.
  1. Notes on physically-based illumination.
  2. Solving the radiosity equation (by Eric Languenou).
  3. Form-factor computation (by Eric Languenou).
  4. Sampling, filtering and reconstruction.
  5. Ouellette and Fiume paper on quadrature (don't use Acrobat 8.0).