HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE, AMHERST MASSACHUSETTS – School of Cognitive Science

A Ray-Tracing Computer Graphics CoursePaul Dickson (pedcs@hampshire.edu)

Computer Graphics Taught by Building a Rendering Engine

http://helios.hampshire.edu/~pedcs/classes/cs209Spring09/index.html

Concept: Build a ray tracing renderer to teach Object Oriented design, memory management, pair programming, and computer graphics concepts.

Method:1) Build a 2D renderer2) Convert it to a 3D ray tracer3) Add lighting

Week 11: 3D students choice (colored light, reflection)

Week 10: 3D specular reflection

Week 9: 3D ambient light, point sources

Week 8: 3D triangles

Week 7: 3D planes, spheres

Week 6: 3D lines

Week 5: 2D->3D finish converting code(rays)

Week 4: 2D->3D begin converting code(planes/vectors)

Week 3: 2D spheres

Week 2: 2D points and lines

Week 1: Learn the image librariesintroduction to computer graphics