Study guide for the Computer Graphics Comprehensive Examination

This serves as a guide for students preparing for the Computer Graphics Graduate Comprehensive Exam. You may wish to consult one or more of the books listed below to help you prepare for the comprehensive exam.

Bibliography

Jim Blinn.
Jim Blinn's Corner: a trip down the graphics pipeline.
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., 1996.
1-55860-387-5.

James D. Foley, Andries van Dam, Steven K. Feiner, and John F. Hughes.
Computer Graphics Principles and Practice.
Addison-Wesley, second in c edition, 1995.
0-201-84840-6.

F. S. Hill Jr.
Computer Graphics.
MacMillan Publishing Company, 1990.

Topics

The topics below cover fundamental concepts of computer graphics.

  1. Data Structures and Mathematics for Computer Graphics
  2. Transformations
    • Homogeneous Coordinates
    • 2 Dimensional Transforms -- Translate, Scale, Rotate, Shear, Reflect
    • 3 Dimensional Transforms -- Translate, Scale, Rotate, Shear, Reflect
  3. 3 Dimensional Viewing
    • The View Transform
    • Parallel Projections
    • Perspective Projections
  4. Clipping
    • Cohen-Sutherland and Cyrus-Beck Line Clipping
    • Sutherland-Hodgman and Weiler-Atherton Polygon Clipping
  5. Scan Conversion Algorithms
    • DDA and Bresenham Line and Circle Algorithms
    • Polygon Filling -- Flood/Boundary Fill, Scan Line Fill
  6. Local Illumination Models
    • Ambient Light
    • Diffuse Reflection
    • Specular Reflection
    • Phong's Illumination Equation
  7. Shading Models
    • Flat (Constant) Shading
    • Gouraud Shading
    • Phong Shading
  8. Hidden Surface Elimination
    • The Z-Buffer Algorithm
    • The Scanline Algorithm
    • The Painter's Algorithm
    • Warnock's Area Subdivision Algorithm
  9. Color Models
    • The CIE Standard
    • The RGB, CMY and HSV Models
    • Color Quantization