CS 381 Fall 2012
Information on Presentations

General

Each student will be required to do an in-class presentation on some topic in computer graphics. These will be given during the last three regular class meetings: November 29 and December 4 and 6.

• Presentation times and topics will be assigned in advance.
• Presentations may be done individually, or by a group of two students (encouraged!).
• Presentations should be around 20 minutes long. (15 is too short. If you go above 25, then I will probably need to cut you off.)
• Students should learn about some computer graphics technique (method, algorithm, etc.) and implement it. The presentation should explain the technique and demonstrate the implementation.

Grading

The presentation will be worth 40 points (same as two normal assignments). For full credit, the following criteria must be met.

• Information about the technique (what it is, how it works, or how it is used, as appropriate) must be communicated clearly and effectively within the allotted time.
• A working implementation, largely the work of the presenters, must be demonstrated.
• If there are two presenters, then they both must be active in the presentation. If this criterion is met, then both will receive the same grade.

Logistics & Suggestions

Unless other arrangements are made, I will assume that each presenter or group will bring to class a laptop that can be connected to the classroom projector. Please test your laptop with the classroom projector beforehand!

Groups may split up the work of the presentation however they like, as long as both students are involved. For example, you can split up the time, with one student handling the first half of the presentation, and the other the second half. Or one student can do all the talking, while the other operates the computer.

Slides (e.g., PowerPoint) may be used, or not, as you see fit. If you do use slides, be sure not to have too many; I would recommend using no more than four.

Generally, my primary concern is how well you communicate. Things like dress, use of slides, handouts, etc., are side issues; handle them so that you communicate as well as possible.

Possible Topics

Below are some possible presentation topics. If you have an idea that is not on the list below, then by all means suggest it. Again, your topic must be approved in advance.

Crossed-out items are topics that have already been chosen.

• Rendering shadows.
• Collision detection.
• Particle systems.
• Spring networks.
• Physics simulation methods (e.g., bouncing objects using 4th-order RK solution method).
• A non-pipeline rendering method (ray tracing, sorted AEL, etc.).
• A geometry-based HSR method.
• A data structure that is useful in CG (octree, kd-tree, scene graph, etc.), along with some use for it.
• Line & polygon rendering algorithms (say, one of each).
• Clipping algorithms.
• Fractals.
• Anti-aliasing methods (should discuss multiple methods).
• Some LOD-based rendering technique.
• Geometry shaders.
• Some nontrivial CG-related file format (JPEG, etc.).
• Some interesting image-processing algorithm.
• Rendering a technically difficult material (fur, water, fire, a grassy field, electricity, clouds, slightly translucent materials like marble or skin, etc.).
• Using OpenGL buffer objects.
• Jittering and the accumulation buffer.
• Some other 3-D graphics API (WebGL, Direct3D, Java 3D, etc.).
• Something else ....