Chapter One

Introduction to
Interactive Computer
Graphics
 Introduction
 The term computer graphics includes almost everything
on computers that is not text or sound.
 Today almost every computer can do some graphics, and
people have even come to expect to control their
computer through icons and pictures rather than just by
typing.
 Here in our lab at the Program of Computer Graphics, we
think of computer graphics as drawing pictures on
computers, also called rendering.
 The pictures can be photographs, drawings, movies, or
simulations- pictures of things, which do not yet exist and
maybe could never exist.
 Introduction
 There may be pictures from places we cannot see directly,
such as medical images from inside your body.
 We spend much of our time improving the way computer
pictures can simulate real world scenes.
 Computer graphics may be defined as a pictorial
representation or graphical representation of objects in a
computer.
 Computer graphics involves display, manipulation and
storage of pictures and experimental data for proper
visualization using a computer.
 Computer graphics means drawing pictures on a computer
screen.
 Introduction
 Computer graphics are pictures and movies created using
computers - usually referring to image data created by a computer
specifically with help from specialized graphical hardware and
software
 Typical graphics system comprises of a host computer with support
of fast processor, large memory, frame buffer and
 Display devices (Color monitors),
 Input devices (mouse, keyboard, joystick, touch screen, trackball),
 Output devices (LCD panels, laser printers, color printers, plotters
etc)
 Interfacing devices such as video I/O, TV interface etc.
 Computer graphics is now-a-days, a significant component of
almost all systems and applications of computers in every field of
life.
 Brief history of computer graphics
• The “hobby” of computer graphics was born the
day computers first started printing.
• Because each character in the alphabet had a fixed
size and shape, creative programmers in the 1970s
took delight in creating artistic patterns and
images made up of nothing more than asterisks
(*).
 Brief history of computer graphics
Going Electric
 Paper as an output medium for computers is useful
and persists today.
 Laser printers and color inkjet printers have
replaced crude ASCII art with crisp presentation
quality and photographic reproductions of artwork.
 Paper and ink, however, can be expensive to
replace on a regular basis, and using them
consistently is wasteful of our natural resources
 Brief history of computer graphics
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
 The cathode ray tube (CRT) was a tremendously
useful addition to the computer.
 The original computer monitors, CRTs were initially
just video terminals that displayed ASCII text just like
the first paper terminals
 But CRTs were perfectly capable of drawing points
and lines as well as alphabetic characters.
 The first computer graphics displayed on these
terminals were two-dimensional, or 2D.
 These flat lines, circles, and polygons were used to
create graphics for a variety of purposes.
 Graphs and plots could display scientific or statistical
data in a way that tables and figures could not
 Brief history of computer graphics
Real-time
 The term real-time was first applied to computer
graphics that were animated.
 A broader use of the word in computer science simply
means that the computer can process input as fast as
or faster than the input is being supplied.
 Applying the term real-time to computer graphics
means that the computer is producing an animation or
a sequence of images directly in response to some
input, such as joystick movement or keyboard strokes.
 Real-time computer graphics can display a wave form
being measured by electronic equipment, numerical
readouts, or interactive games and visual simulations.
 Brief history of computer graphics
Three-dimensional(3D)
 The term three-dimensional, or 3D, means that an object
being described or displayed has three dimensions of
measurement: width, height, and depth.
 An example of a two-dimensional object is a piece of paper
on your desk with a drawing or writing on it, having no
perceptible depth.
 A three-dimensional object is the can of soda next to it. The
soft drink can is round (width and depth) and tall (height).
 3D computer graphics are actually two-dimensional images
on a flat computer screen that provide an illusion of depth,
or a third dimension.
 What makes the cube look three-dimensional is perspective,
or the angles between the lines that lend the illusion of
depth.
 3D Graphics Terminologies
Rendering: The process by which mathematical and
image data is transformed into a 3D dimensional image
is called rendering.
Transformation: is the process of introducing changes
in the shape size and orientation of the object using
scaling rotation reflection shearing & translation etc.
Projection: The process of converting the description of
objects from world coordinates to viewing coordinates
is known as projection.
• The production of the 2D display of the 3D scene is
called projection.
Rasterization: The actual drawing, or filling in of the
pixels between each vertex to make the lines is called
rasterization.
 3D Graphics Terminologies
Texture Mapping
• A texture is simply a picture that we map to the
surface of a triangle or polygon. Textures are fast and
efficient on modern hardware, and a single texture can
reproduce a surface that might take thousands or even
millions of triangles to represent otherwise.
Blending
• Blending allows us to mix different colors together.
This reflection effect is done simply by drawing the
cube upside down first.
• Then we draw the floor blended over the top of it,
followed by the right side up
 3D Graphics Terminologies
Connecting the Dots
 That is pretty much computer graphics in a nut shell.
Solid 3D geometry is nothing more than connecting
the dots between vertices and then rasterizing the
triangles to make objects solid.
 Transformations, shading, texture, and blending: Any
computer rendered scene you see in a movie, video
game, or scientific simulation is made up of nothing
more than various applications of these four things.
Scan Conversion
The process of converting basic, low level objects into
their corresponding pixel map representation.
 Individual Assignment(10%)
 List and explain briefly 3D Graphics
Techniques with Examples for each type of
technique.
Submission Date: October 15/2024
Tuesday 4:30(LT)
 Common uses of computer graphics
• Three-dimensional graphics have many uses in
modern computer applications.
• Applications for real-time3D graphics range from
interactive games and simulations to data
visualization for scientific, medical, or business
uses.
• Higher-end 3D graphics find their way into movies
and technical and educational publications as well.
 Common uses of computer graphics
• Real-Time 3D
• Education and Training
• Cartography
• User interfaces
• Interactive plotting in business, science and technology
• Office automation and electronic publishing
• Computer-aided drafting and design
• Simulation and animation for scientific visualization and
entertainment
• Art and commerce
• Process control
• Non-Real-Time 3D (passive graphics)
 Examples of Application areas
1. GUI- Graphical user Interface:- typical components
used are:
 Menus
 Icons
 Cursers
 Dialog boxes
 Scroll bars
There are also few other components which could also
be used such as:
 Buttons, Valuators, Grids, Sketching, and 3D
interface.
2. Plotting in business
3. Office automation
 Examples of Application areas
4. Desktop publishing
5. Plotting in science and technology
6. Web/business/commercial publishing and
advertisements
7. CAD/CAM design (VLSI, Construction, Circuits)
8. Scientific visualization
9. Entertainment (movie, TV advt., Games etc)
10. Simulations
11. Cartography
12. Multimedia
 Examples of Application areas
13. Virtual reality
14. process monitoring
15. Education and training
16. Digital image processing
The four major areas of computer graphics are:
1. Display of information
2. Design/Modeling
3. Simulation and
4. User Interface.