eScience Lectures Notes : Introduction to Computer Graphics

Slide 1 : A survey of computer graphics

Survey of Computer graphics

Intro

The uses

Movies

Games

Animation : Prix Pixel INA

CAD

Graphical User Interface

Presentation

Medical Imaging

Scientific Visualisation

Data Visualisation

The tools

Some Demos

Slide 2 : Intro

Computer Graphics

What computers do....

process, transform, communicate information

Aspects of Communication

• Origin (where does it come from?)

• Throughput (how long will it take to get here?)

• Latency (how long do I have to wait before something happens)?

• Presentation (what does it look like?)

Computer Graphics is...

the technology for presenting information

Today, Computer Graphics has become the predominant form of computer output. Even the text on most computer screens are "rendered" using computer graphics methods, as opposed to being mechanically transferred onto paper by an inked metal stamp.

Computer Graphics are everywhere. Here are 4 immediate examples :

• This very Human Computer Interface (MacOSX)
• This Screen Saver (Maya)
• This little Networked tool (EarthBrowser)
• Tranquility

Slide 3 : Movies

Movies

If you can imagine it, it can be done with computer graphics.
Obviously, Hollywood has caught on to this. Each summer, we are amazed by state-of-the-art special effects. More and more of these images exist only within the memory of a computer. There seems to be no end in sight for this trend.
But we're not just talking about big budget mega-productions. There are music videos, and spinning logos on the 6 o'clock news. Computer graphics is now as much a part of the entertainment industry as stunt men and makeup.

The entertainment industry plays many important roles

• Leaders in quality and artistry

There are some demanding film maker around the corner. This is an hidden explanation

• Not slaves to conceptual purity

This is not scientific visualisation.

• Big budgets and tight schedules (Titanic Budget)

• Constant reminder that there is more to CG than technology. (Good special effect is not visible)

• How did they do that ?

• They define our expectations.

• 2 sides : Special effects and Animation 3D

Let's have a look at different examples

"Geri's Game" from Pixar : Because it is from Pixar Luxo Jr : a desk light playing with a ball. Luxo Jr. (1986) is the first three-dimensional computer animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award, in addition to winning some 20 awards at international film festivals. It includes several technical achievements in computer animation, most notably self-shadowing, where an image accurately casts shadows onto itself. Final images were rendered with multiple light sources and motion blur. Since then : Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999), and soon... Monster A name : John Lasseter (Vice President, Creative)

"The Matrix" Because it is a great film. It contains great visual special effects and for instance, the Bullet-Time SFX. (Invented by a French guy, first seen in a Music Video Clip starring the "Rolling Stones") Bullet-Time is a new visual effect which you can find in the movie "The Matrix" and other TV commercials. Bullet-Time was first introduced to the general public by a swing dance commercial from Gap. It was the first generation of the Bullet-Time effect which they got it done poorly in the commercial. The Bullet-Time section in the commercial was that 2 dancers jumped up, they froze, the camera started moving around from their right to their front and defroze their motion back to normal.Bullet-Time's concept is to play with motion and time in video or movie. The reason of doing that is to slow down or even freeze the time and let the audience to see things around it more clearly at that particular moment in time. The very basic idea is to pan the camera around a freeze or extremely slow moving object. In The Matrix, John Gaeta (VFX Supervisor of The Matrix) did the camera panning with the object moving in extremely slow motion rather than totally freeze to show us what exactly happened around it.

"Forest Gump" In 1994 : a new edge : Special effects could be invisible. Remember the feather. The feather that we can follow in the opening scene of "Forest Gump" is quite a good example of invisible special effect

"The Mummy" Good "making of" on the DVD. Now you have some good excuse to go to video ezy tonight : it will be for your study

Last year exercise : Go and see Tombraider and Shrek And try to figure out what is real from what is not and imagine how they did it. For instance, what is the next to last special effect in Tomb raider... the butterfly

Chicken Run Good scenario, perfect casting, Adequate Music,...only with modelling clay   Freely inspired from "The Great Escape" with Steve Mac Queen (1962, by John Struges) With or without computer graphics...   Final Fantaisy New additions this year :   Star Wars II Try to find out where is real shoting amongst all the special effects. If you want to buy anything from StarWars : http://www.starwars.com/ Spider-Man This movies shows that we have all the special effects we want... Perhaps only new stories are missing ? "Scooby-Doo" Which one is a toons ? Thank you Mr Roger R... Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)  MIIB Just have a look at the credits : half for a usual movie team, and another half only for special effects "Amelie Poulain" by Jean-Pierre Jeunet 1991 : "Délicatessen" - (co-réalisé avec Marc Caro) 1995 : "La cité des enfants perdus" - (co-réalisé avec Marc Caro ; co-scénario avec Gilles Adrien et Marc Caro) 1997 : "Alien Resurrection" (Alien, la résurrection) To come... "Lord of the Rings" Because the next one is soon (compare the quality between the two episodes, Cf StarWars) CLICK AND DRAG MOUSE TO MOVE PRESS SHIFT TO ZOOM IN PRESS CONTROL TO ZOOM OUT Matrix Reloaded Because "The Matrix" has been the best ScFi movie of the 90s Because "TheMatrix" was filmed on location in Sydney úp; on soundstages and, for two months, on Sydney's streets and rooftops and in warehouses.

CARREFUL : There is a subdirectory to explore/print : Data

Slide 5 : Games

Games

Games are an important driving force in computer graphics. This is the second exercise. If you have time to play computer games between now and the end of the semester ask yourselves, how do they do that? Study the screen. How does the screen look when things are moving? What about when things are still. Why do they always go into those low resolution display modes that everyone else considers worthless. Let yourself get blown up. If anyone asks, tell them you're doing science.

Slide 6 : Imagina : Prix Pixel-IINA

Imagina : Prix Pixel-INA

Imagina : the forum of images beyond imagination

Imagina, the forum of images beyond imagination, was an event organised by INA (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel) and the
Monte-Carlo Television Festival, between 1982 and 2000

Imagina was devoted to the following fields :

• computer-generated images and automatic animation
• digital production and special effects
• games and virtual communities
• intelligent agents and extended reality
• virtual worlds and cyberspace
• webcasting
• sound synthesis
• architectural spaces
• medical scanning.

Imagina reassemble professionals on four main activities :

A Set of Papers, Panels and Workshops

convening international specialists, and dealing with the most remarkable innovations in new image technologies and their applications in the following fields : television, cinema, games, web, medical and architecture ;

An International Animation Festival : the 'Prix Pixel-INA'

Competition, enabling the public and a professional jury to reward every year the best international productions using these new creative tools

An Innovation Village, a real 'laboratory of the future'

presenting innovative installations, applications and products which ambition is to discover new fields of experimentation and research incorporating virtual images

An Industrial Exhibition,

The European rendez-vous of professionals in computer-generated images, computer graphics artists, designers, artists, cinema professionals, software editors, hardware manufacturers, industrials, service providers, researchers, scientists, students...

Prix Pixel INA

In the space of 19 years, the "Prix Pixel-INA" awards have become a touchstone of the state of the art and of world-wide production in computer graphics and special effects.

Awards attributed by the audience

Art Works with a strong artistic content and outstanding aesthetic originality.		"SAKURATEI" Realisation : Koji MATSUOKA - LINKS CORPORATION Production : LINKS CORPORATION - IMAGICA CORPORATION Pays : Japan - 97
Schools & Universities works by students	Or another example :	"DUST CITY" Realisation : Sébastien DROUIN - Christophe MUTIN - Olivier DUMONT Production : UNIVERSITE DE PROVENCE Pays : France - 97       and below :       UN TEMPS POUR ELLE Contact : Bruno FOLLET HEURE EXQUISE !, France Tél : (33) 3 20 43 24 32 - Fax : (33) 3 20 43 24 33 e-mail : exquise@nordnet.fr Production : SUP INFO COM Realization/Infographie : Erwin CHARRIER Hard./Soft. : PC, Avid, 3DS Max, Photoshop, After Effects - 99
Cinema/television special effects cinematographic works or videograms incorporating visual or special effects made with computer graphics or advanced digital processing techniques	and the video The Matrix	THE BORROWER Realisation : Peter HEWITT Effets spéciaux numériques : DIGITAL FILM Production : DIGITAL FILM Coproduction : WORKING TITLE FILMS United Kingdom - 98
Fiction (short films and feature films) works with a clear narrative structure		"STICKY BUSINESS" Realisation : Ed. TAYLOR Production : KINGSTON UNIVERSITY Pays : U.K - 97 96 : Toy Story Production : Pixar, The Walt Disney Company Réalisation : John Lasseter Réalisation infographique : Pixar Pays : Etats-Unis
Credits and channel logos credit and logo sequences made using computer graphics		COUPE DU MONDE FIFA 98 Credits for the Soccer World Cup Contact : Antoine LANTIERI UN MONDE PARFAIT, France Tél : (33) 1 41 31 50 00 - Fax : (33) 1 41 31 50 10 Production : UN MONDE PARFAIT Réalisation : Marc TATOU, Antoine LANTIERI Infographie : Martial VALENCHON (MAC GUFF LIGNE) - 99 Hard./Soft. : Mac, SGI, Explore, Flame, Photoshop
Games (intros and kinematics) only game intros and kinematics will be judged	Some Outsiders L'AMERZONE ODDWORLD : L'EXODE D'ABE MEREMANOID   Plus, big classics Tomb Rider...	L'AMERZONE Contact : Olivier FONTENAY MICROFOLIE'S, France Tél. : (33) 1 53 62 50 00 - Fax : (33) 1 53 62 50 01 e-mail : ofontenay@microfolies.com Production : MICROFOLIE'S, CASTERMAN Conception : Benoît SOKAL Infographie : GRID (Belgique) - 99 Soft. : Lightwave ODDWORLD : L'EXODE D'ABE Contact : Cécile BORZAKIAN GT INTERACTIVE, France Tél. : (33) 1 43 12 31 04 - Fax : (33) 1 43 12 31 19 e-mail : cborzakian@gtinteractive.com Production : ODDWORLD INHABITANTS (Etats-Unis) Conception : Lorne LANNING - 99 Infographie : ODDWORLD INHABITANTS MEREMANOID Contact : Nicolas TROUT MAC GUFF LIGNE, France Tél. : (33) 1 53 58 46 46 - Fax : (33) 1 53 58 46 47 e-mail : niko@macguff.fr Production : XING (Japon) Conception : Pascal ROULIN - 99 Computer graphics : MAC GUFF LIGNE Hard./Soft. : SGI, Explore, Custom, Symbor, Trukor
Theme parks works specially made for theme parks	Really difficult to render through low quality web video...
Advertising commercials made using computer graphics techniques		ALARIS "MARTIENS" Publicité pour un train Contact : Sophie LHERAUD GROUPE DAIQUIRI/SPAINBOX, ESPAGNE Tel : (34) 91 413 42 40 - Fax : (34) 91 413 40 06 e-mail : spainbox@redestb.es Production : DAIQUIRI DIGITAL PICTURES Coproduction : LEE FILMS Réalisation : Victor GARCIA Computer graphics : Juan TOMICIC (DAIQUIRI/SPAINBOX) - 2000 Hard/Soft : SGI / Softimage, Maya, In-House, Henry, Flame
Animation series a pilot or episode of a series. The quality of the screenplay will be taken into account	Depending upon the year, a bit like the "Fiction" award
Science (simulation, visualisation, research) works concerned with simulation, data base exploration and the visualisation or scientific or architectural phenomena	We will look deeper in that subject later on, here, let's see that scientific visualisation may be really beautiful, let's look at a bat.	CHIROPTERES VIRTUELS Bat's behaviour Contact : Michel GAURIAT BETA PRODUCTION, France Tél : (33) 2 48 24 42 30 - Fax : (33) 2 48 24 82 37 e-mail : beta.prod@wanadoo.fr Production : BETA PRODUCTION CoProduction : GREENSPACE PRODUCTIONS INC. Réalisation/Infographie : Denis PONTONNIER (Association Imagénérie) Hard./Soft. : PC, Lightwave 96 : The Visible Human Project Production : NCAR's Scientific Computing Division Réalisation : National Center Atmospheric Research Réalisation infographique : National Center Atmospheric Research Pays : Etats-Unis
Music Video music-based clips incorporating computer graphics or special effects sequences	and what about a bit of Pink...	ALEX GOPHER "THE CHILD" Réalisateur: Antoine BARDOU-JACQUET Infographie: DURAN Production: LE VILLAGE Pays: France 96 : Titre : Rolling Stones " Like a Rolling Stone " Production : Midi Minuit Partizan Réalisation : Michel Gondri Réalisation infographique : Buf Compagnie Pays : France : 96

Direct access to the list of winners

Palmarès Prix Pixel-INA 1996

Palmarès Prix Pixel-INA 1997

Palmarès Prix Pixel-INA 1998

Palmarès Prix Pixel-INA 1999

Palmarès Prix Pixel-INA 2000

Slide 7 : Computer Aided Design

Computer Aided Design

Computer graphics has had a dramatic impact on the design process. Today, most mechanical and electronic designs are executed entirely on computer. Increasingly, architectural and product designs are also migrating to the computer. Automated tools are also available that verify tolerances and design constraints directly from CAD designs. CAD designs also play a key role in a wide range of processes from the design of tooling fixtures to manufacturing.

Slide 8 : Graphical User Interface : GUI

Graphical User Interface : GUI

Computer graphics is an integral part of every day computing. Nowhere is this fact more evident than the modern computer interface design. Graphical elements such as windows, cursors, menus, and icons are so common place it is difficult to imagine computing without them. Once graphics programming was considered a speciality. Today, nearly all professional programmers must have an understanding of graphics in order to accept input and present output to users.

GUI Time Line

A Summary of Principles for User-Interface Design.

A bit of controversy : Microsoft, Apple and Xerox

From... the first operational Alto computer completed at Xerox PARC in 1973.

To ... January 5, 2000 :  Apple announces Aqua, the new look for their upcoming MacOS X client

And then Java and Swing

Slide 9 : presentation graphics

Presentation Graphics

All the "camembert" things (or more well known in English as "pie chart", bar chart ....)

Extract from http://erc.msh.org/quality/foutools/foubrgrf.cfm

Name	Example	What is it?	Why use it?	When to use it?
Pie Chart		A pie chart is a tool that helps you visualise the relative importance of several categories of a variable.	To provide a rapid, graphical overview of data you have collected, such as information about different types of users, types of treatments, types of methods, etc.	When you have collected some data (for example, a counting of events or a distribution of values) and you want to graphically depict the data
Bar Graph		A bar graph is used to graphically present data that you have gathered. The type of data represented in a bar graph is the number of occurrences measured in different categories of data. A bar graph is often used to graphically represent the information you have gathered in a table. For example, in the bar graph below, you can see a comparison of the number of users of different services -- outpatient, inpatient, and other -- by type of service.	It helps you visualise relationships among different categories of factors affecting services to the users.	It is used when the information corresponds to a nominal scale (a counting of occurrences), and when you want to compare two or more groups (no more than six).
Histogram		A histogram is a diagram that graphically depicts the variability in a process or procedure within your agency. When you want to see how a procedure is working in your organisation, you can gather data about that procedure (such as the amount of time the procedure takes) and create a histogram. The histogram allows you to see the variation in the amount of time it takes to do that process.	Discovering and displaying this variation will greatly increase the team's knowledge about a process.	When you want to see the pattern of variation of a particular process, such as when you are describing a problem, or during data collection and analysis.
Line Graph		A line graph is a type of graph that represents data or sets of data that have been collected over a period of time. The data are plotted on a graph corresponding to standard intervals of time, and a line is drawn connecting the data points. If updated regularly, line graphs help managers to follow a trend over a period of time and take actions to manage the trend.	A line graph allows managers or team members to see trends in data (increase, decrease, or no change) over a period of time. This can be useful to help you visualise changes in the process over time or to let you compare the performance before and after the implementation of a solution.	To visualise a process during a specific period of time to help you describe a problem, or when you want to evaluate a solution to a problem.

Slide 10 : Mediacal Imaging

Medical Imaging

There are few endeavours more noble than the preservation of life. Today, it can honestly be said that computer graphics plays an significant role in saving lives. The range of application spans from tools for teaching and diagnosis, all the way to treatment. Computer graphics is tool in medical applications rather than an a mere artifact. No cheating or tricks allowed.

The Visible Human Project® is an outgrowth of the NLM's 1986 Long-Range Plan (US National Library of Medicine). It is the creation of complete, anatomically detailed, three-dimensional representations of the normal male and female human bodies. Acquisition of transverse CT, MR and cryosection images of representative male and female cadavers has been completed. The male was sectioned at one millimetre intervals, the female at one-third of a millimetre intervals. The long-term goal of the Visible Human Project® is to produce a system of knowledge structures that will transparently link visual knowledge forms to symbolic knowledge formats such as the names of body parts.

Slide 11 : Scientific Visualization

Scientific Visualisation

Computer graphics makes vast quantities of data accessible. Numerical simulations frequently produce millions of data values. Similarly, satellite-based sensors amass data at rates beyond our abilities to interpret them by any other means than visually. Mathematicians use computer graphics to explore abstract and high-dimensional functions and spaces.
Physicists can use computer graphics to transcend the limits of scale. With it they can explore both microscopic and macroscopic worlds.

From scientific visualisation to information visualisation

Image processing

From satellite camera

Analysing large amount of information (from real input or from simulation)

From geological data, data with intrinsic spatial signification

Visualising model

From mathematics, chemistry

Sorting out information from data

abstract data and hierarchical data

From understanding to explanation

Triply connected graph embeddings Minimal Surface graph embeddings resulting in interlocking disconnected lattices G-Surface Stephen Hyde. Department of Applied Mathematics,ANU
	"The mummy is back" The Virtual Mummy Unwrapping a Mummy by Mouse Click Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science in Medicine (IMDM) University Hospital Eppendorf University of Hamburg Germany
As seen in "Jurassic Park"! 3D File System Navigator for IRIX 4.0.1+

CyberScience

Some good examples of Computer Graphics that can help science presentation and understanding

At ANU :

The WEDGE Virtual Reality Theatre

Vizlab : Virtual Environment Production

Visualization showcase from the ANU Supercomputer Facility

Available tools at ANU SUPERCOMPUTER FACILITY

Slide 12 : n Dimension

Slide 13 : Tools

The tools... that we will not be learning

Paint and Imaging packages

Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks, Flame (Video painting)...

CAD packages

AutoCAD

Rendering packages

Lightscape, Lightwave, Maya, PovRay, Carrara - MetaCreations ...

Lightscape : Radiosity (Vs Ray Tracing)

Modeling packages

3D Studio MAX, Maya, Softimage

Animation packages

Digimation, Marionette, Maya,

Graphics Modeling and Languages

RenderMan

Scientifics visualisation

IDL, Mapple

Graphics APIs

OpenGL, OpenInventor, VRML, Java3D

TDI Explore / Alias Wavefront / SGI ... Maya

Palmarès Prix Pixel-INA 2000

Slide 14 : Some Demos

Some Demos

MacOSX Interface

EarthBrowser

EarthBrowser is an easy and intuitive program to let you get a “hands on” experience of our earth. Current weather conditions and forecasts, real-time earthquake notifications, current cloud cover and webcam images from around the globe make EarthBrowser more than just a 3-D model. The constantly changing information in EarthBrowser makes it a unique tool showing that the earth is truly alive.

Tranquility

Explore vast geometric worlds inhabited with beautiful shapes in constant motion. Your tranquility experience is customized by our TQworld net-servers creating thousands of visual and audio elements. No two games are the same, and all games are designed to fit your playing style. As it is in real life, achieving tranquility is a challenge. You’ll need to use your mind, your heart and soul to navigate the game, but you’ll be rewarded with a calming sensation that lasts long after you play.

3DOSX

File system browser that utilizes three dimensions to view directory hierarchies. It supports a full range of file system actions, such as copying, labeling, creating new folders, and ejecting disks.3DOSX was developed using Cocoa and Carbon routines to gain access to the file system, and OpenGL for display. The “cool” part of 3DOSX is the new paradigm of computing interfaces that it represents. While there is admittedly a ways to go before 3DOSX becomes as quick and clean as the current Finder in terms of workflow efficiency, we feel that the user experience will in time lead to a better way of interacting with files. A lot of what 3DOSX is based upon could be called “eye-candy”, but one must explore the program’s features to truly appreciate what it can do for the average user. 3DOSX is the first, the only 3D filesystem browser that doesn’t suck.

Atom in a Box

Atom in a Box is an application that aids in visualizing the Hydrogenic atomic orbitals, a prime and otherwise unwieldy example of quantum mechanics. Unlike other tools in this category, this program raytraces through a three-dimensional cloud density that represents the wavefunction’s probability density and presents its results in real-time (over 48 frames per second on the latest hardware).