CONTENTS : Applications of Computer Graphics. Graphics Systems. Images: Physical and Synthetic. The Human Visual System. The Pinhole Camera. The Synthetic Camera Model. The Programmers Interface. Graphics Architectures. Summary. Suggested Readings. Exercises. 2. Getting Started. The Sierpinski Gasket. he Opengl Api. Primitives and Attributes. Color. Viewing. Control. The Gasket Program. The Three-Dimensional Gasket. Summary. Suggested Readings. Exercises. 3. Input and Interaction. Interaction. Input Devices. Clients and Servers. Display Lists. Programming Event-Driven Input. Menus. Picking. A Simple Paint Program. Design of Interactive Programs. Summary. Suggested Readings. Exercises. 4. Geometric Objects and Transformations. Scalars, Points, and Vectors. Three-Dimensional Primitives. Coordinate Systems and Frames. Drawing a Rotating Cube. Affine Transformations. Problem Solving With Loops. Transformations in Homogenous Coordinates. Cocatenation of Transformations. Implementing Transformations. Summary. Suggested Readings. Exercises. 5. Viewing. Classical and Computer Viewing. Positioning the Camera. Simple Projections. Projections in Opengl. Hidden-Surface Removal. Walking Through a Scene. Parallel-Projection Matrices. Perspective-Projection Matrices. Summary. Suggested Readings. Exercises. 6. Shading. Light and Matter. Light Sources. The Phong Reflection Model. Computation of Vectors. Polygonal Shading. Approximation of a Sphere By Recursive Subdivision. Light Sources in Opengl. Specification of Materials in Opengl. Shading of the Sphere Model. Global Rendering. Summary. Suggested Readings. Exercises. 7. Implementation. Four Major Tasks. Implementing Transformations. Line-Segment Clipping. Polygon Clipping. Clipping of Other Primitives. Clipping in Three Dimensions. Hidden-Surface Removal. Scan Conversion. Bresenhams Algorithm. Scan-Converting Polygons. Antialiasing. Display Considerations. Summary. References. Exercises. 8. Modeling. Symbols and Instances. Hierarchical Models. A Simple Robot Arm. Trees and Traversal. Scene Trees. Language-Based Models. Recursive Methods and Fractals. Physically Based Models and Particle Systems. Summary. References. Exercises. 9. Curves and Surfaces. Representing Curves and Surfaces. Design Criteria. Cubic Polynomial Curves. Interpolation. Hermite Curves and Surfaces. 10. Discrete Technques. Buffers. Digital Images. Bit and Pixel Operations in Opengl. Surface Mapping. Texture Mapping. Environmental Maps. Bump Maps. Compositing Techniques. Use of the Accumulation Buffer. Summary. @AHEADS - Suggested Readings. Exercises. Appendix A. Sample Programs. Appendix B. Spaces. EADS = Appendix C: Matrices.

An introduction to graphics that emphasizes applications programming. The top-down approach means that students learn from the beginning of their course how to write graphics programs and how to produce even 3D images. Technical implementation issues are discussed later on in the book