VIZA 665 : Digital Compositing
Spring 2015
Syllabus

Viza 665, Digital Compositing (Spring 2011)
Syllabus: Viza 665, Digital Compositing

Catalog Data: Viza 665, Digital Compositing. (3-2). Credit 4.

Instructor: Ergun Akleman, Ph.D.

Hours: MW 8:00am - 9:40am

Office: Langford C, Room 418

Lab: ETB, Room 2006

Classroom: Architecture C 414

Phone Number: (979) 845-6599

E-mail: ergun dot akleman at gmail dot com

Office Hours: Open Door Policy

Description: In this course, you will learn digital compositing, image based lighting, modeling and rendering, which is basically the art and science of combining CG elements with real-world imagery either in the form of still images or video. This is an essential and critical part of contemporary moviemaking.

Prerequisites: MS/PhD Status or Consent of the instructor.

Goals: To teach mathematical, artistic and computational principles of digital compositing.

Attendance: Attendance is required.

Class Website: http://people.tamu.edu/~ergun/courses/viza665/15spring/

Course Outline: The course will cover mathematical and artistic foundations of compositing, image based lighting, rendering and modeling. The topics include but not limited to

  1. Reconstruction of camera parameters from a set of images.
  2. Reconstruction of light orientation and energy of environment from a set of images.
  3. Reconstruction of shapes of the objects from a set of pictures.
  4. Reconstruction of transparency and specularity of an object from a set of pictures.
  5. Recovery of BRDF from images
  6. Recovery of texture for material samples from images.
For the list of the subjects, please see the course outline

Course Materials and Testing:
There will be no textbook. Course materials and quizzes will be available in Webassign: https://www.webassign.net/. Students are responsible for enrollment to Webassign. For enrollment instructions, go to https://www.webassign.net/user_support/faculty/ and download Self-Enrollment Class Handout. The class key for enrollment is tamu 2260 3118. To access to WebAssign, each student pays a basic content subscription fee: $22.95/student per course. (See https://www.webassign.net/pricing/ for fee information).

Additional Resources:

  • Siggraph Proceedings and Coursenotes.
  • Other Computer Graphics Journals and Proceedings.
  • Bridges and ISAMA Proceedings; and Hyperseeing.
  • Computer Graphics and Modeling Books.
  • See References for more detailed information.

Grading Policy
Quizzes: 30 points
Projects: 50 points
Class Participation: 20 points
The highest possible grade is 100.

  • A Grade >90 points
  • B 90 points > Grade >80 points
  • C 80 points > Grade >70 points
  • D 70 points >Grade >60 points
  • F 60 points > Grade

Quizzes:
We will have weekly quizzes, which are not necessarily be equally weighted. Quizzes will be given and graded using Webassign. Make sure to pay attention to due dates and times.

Projects:
Students will be responsible to complete four composited animations: The project descriptions are available in class project website. Each project will be graded for 10 points. The grading will be based on both quality and process. Quality mesaures are provided in associated project pages.

Presentations:
Each student will be responsible to present one current research paper related to digital compositing.

Class Participation:
Class participation will be computed mainly based on attendance. Students will miss 1 point for each class-hour they miss from their "class participation grade". A student can miss at most 20 points from class participation. Students who regularly provide insightful critics by participating class discussions will get some bonus points in class participation.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement
The following ADA Policy Statement (part of the Policy on Individual Disabling Conditions) was submitted to the University Curriculum Committee by the Department of Student Life. The policy statement was forwarded to the Faculty Senate for information.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities, in Cain Hall or call 845-1637.

Academic Integrity Statements

Aggie Honor Code

An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.

Upon accepting admission to Texas A&M University, a student immediately assumes a commitment to uphold the Honor Code, to accept responsibility for learning, and to follow the philosophy and rules of the Honor System. Students will be required to state their commitment on examinations, research papers, and other academic work. Ignorance of the rules does not exclude any member of the TAMU community from the requirements or the processes of the Honor System.

For additional information please visit: http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/


Plagiarism
In this course, we want to encourage collaboration and the free interchange of ideas among students and in particular the discussion of homework assignments, approaches to solving them, etc. However, we do not allow plagiarism, which, as commonly defined, consists of passing off as one's own the ideas, words, writings, etc., which belong to another. In accordance with this definition, you are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the permission of that person. Plagiarism is one of the worst academic sins, for the plagiarist destroys the trust among colleagues without which research cannot be safely communicated.
If you have any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the latest issue of the Texas A&M University Student Rules, under the section on Scholastic Dishonesty.

College of Architecture's "Don't deface the property" statement
"It is unlawful for any person to damage or deface any of the buildings, statues, monuments, trees, shrubs, grasses, or flowers on the grounds of any state institutions of higher education (Texas Education Code Section 51.204)"
The words damage or deface refer specifically to any and all actions, whether direct or indirect, that either diminish the value or mar the appearance of the physical environment.