VIZA 616-600 Rendering & Shading
Spring 2006

MW 12:40-2:40pm, Architecture C414, 3 credit hours
Last Update - 1/17/06

Instructor: Frederic I. Parke

A134, phone: 5-6596, email: parke@viz.tamu.edu
Office hours: 11:00am - 12:00noon  MTW, 12:00noon-1:00p.m Thurs or by appointment

Graduate Assistant: Chris Root

Visualization Lab, phone 5-6716, email: cwr@viz.tamu.edu
Office hours: Tues 12-2pm, Wed 10am-12pm, Thurs 2-4pm

Email Everyone in Class

Course Description
Course Readings
Class Schedule
Homework Assignments
Homework Images
Sample Files
Example RIB Files
Course Notes
Renderman & other Shading Links
Gallery
Student Pages
Student Presentations
Tutorials

Course Description

VIZA 616 - Rendering and Shading  Exploration of advanced rendering and shading techniques for the attainment of a desired visual effect; topics may include shading languages, attainment of visual realism, integration of rendering and modeling tools, and non-photorealistic rendering.

The course will be conducted with a high degree of student participation. Class meetings will nominally be for two hours twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:40pm to 2:40pm. These meetings will be devoted to lectures on selected rendering and shading topics, guest lectures, individual student presentations on selected related topics, group discussions, and group review of works in progress.

Course Readings

Required:
Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures
    by Anthony A. Apodaca and Larry Gritz, Morgan-Kaufmann, 2000
References:

Prerequisites

Grading

Grading will be based on quizzes (40%), homework assignments (50%), and class participation (10%).

Weekly in-class quizzes, reviews, critiques and discussion will be used to gauge student comprehension of the material presented. A series of homework assignments, intended to develop the ability to use Maya and RenderMan as vehicles for creating very high quality rendered images and animations, are an integral part of the course. The overall class participation grade will be the instructor's qualitative judgment of the student's participation, and will include such factors as attendance, preparation, and informed participation in discussion.

Copyright

The handouts used in this course are copyrighted. "Handouts" include all materials generated for this class, which include but are not limited to the on-line course notes, syllabi, exams, quizzes, problems, in-class materials, review sheets, additional problem sets, and the contents of the class Web site. Because these materials are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy them, unless you are expressly granted permission. You have permission to make printouts of the on-line class notes and the class web site strictly for your use in this class.

Plagiarism

In this course, we want to encourage collaboration and the free interchange of ideas among students and in particular the discussion of reading assignments and review questions, 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. those 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 have the permission of that person. Plagiarism is one form of scholastic dishonesty.  If you have questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the latest issue of the Texas A&M University Student Rules, under the section on Scholastic Dishonesty.

Aggie Honor Code

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

Procedures to promote academic integrity and deal with academic dishonesty are now in place.
For additional information see  http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/

Americans with Disabilities Act

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 Office of Support Services for Students with Disabilities in Room 126 of the Student Services Building. The phone number is 845-1637.