Interactive 3D Graphics – Online Course at Udacity

Eric Haines (co-author of Real-Time Rendering) is lecturing an online course at Udacity – Interactive 3D Graphics. The course covers the basic principles of 3D computer graphics, including meshes, geometric transformation, camera definition, lighting and materials, and also animation.

Syllabus:

• Lesson 1: Introduction – Motivation and a trip down the graphics pipeline, laying out the fundamental processes
• Lesson 2: Points, Vectors, and Meshes – The basics of 3D geometry definition
• Lesson 3: Colors and Materials – Color representation, material computations, transparency
• Lesson 4: Transforms – Translation, scale, rotate and how to properly combine all these
• Lesson 5: Matrices – Transform representation and how to fully control these
• Lesson 6: Lights and Cameras – Directional and point light sources, and how the camera is defined
• Lesson 7: Textures and Reflections – Color and opacity textures, along with reflection and normal mapping
• Lesson 8: Shader Programming – An introduction to programming vertex and pixel shaders
• Lesson 9: Interaction and Animation – How to select and make objects move