Computer Graphics

Computer graphics

The use of computers to create and manipulate images.

Modeling

Deals with the mathematical specification of shape and appearance properties in a way that can be stored on the computer.

Rendering

Deals with the creation of shaded images from 3D computer models.

Animation

A technique to create an illusion of motion through a sequence of images.

Raster

An array of pixels (picture elements) displayed on a screen

Pixels

Picture elements that specify colors using triples of floating-point numbers between 0 and 1

RGB values

Triples of floating-point numbers between 0 and 1 representing the intensity of red

Red

Color represented by the RGB value (0

Orange

Color represented by the RGB value (0.5

Yellow

Color represented by the RGB value (1

Green

Color represented by the RGB value (0

Blue

Color represented by the RGB value (0

Violet

Color represented by the RGB value (0.5

Black

Color represented by the RGB value (0

White

Color represented by the RGB value (1

Gray

Color represented by the RGB value (0.5

Brown

Color represented by the RGB value (0.5

Pink

Color represented by the RGB value (0.5

Cyan

Color represented by the RGB value (0

Resolution

The number of pixels in the raster.

Precision

The number of bits used for each pixel.

Buffer

A part of a computer's memory that serves as temporary storage for data while being moved from one location to another.

Framebuffer

A region of memory where pixel data is stored

Color buffer

A required buffer within the framebuffer that stores RGB values.

Depth buffer

A buffer in the framebuffer that stores distances from points on scene objects to the virtual camera

Stencil buffer

A buffer in the framebuffer that may be used to store values used in generating advanced effects

Frame

Each of the images that is displayed in a sequence to create an animation.

Frame rate

The speed or rate at which animation images appear

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

A hardware component featuring a highly parallel structure that makes it more efficient than CPUs for rendering graphics.

Shaders

Programs run by GPUs used to perform many different computations required in the rendering process.

Application Programming Interface (API)

Defines a set of commands

DirectX API & High-Level Shading Language (HLSL)

Graphics API and shader language used on Microsoft platforms

Metal API & Metal Shading Language

Graphics API and shader language that runs on modern Mac computers

OpenGL API & OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL)

A cross-platform library and widely adopted graphics API and its corresponding shader language.

Graphics pipeline

An abstract model used to describe a sequence of steps needed in rendering a three-dimensional scene by splitting computational tasks into subtasks to increase efficiency.

Application stage

The first stage of the graphics pipeline primarily involving processes that run on the CPU

Main application loop

A loop in interactive/animated applications that repeatedly re-renders the scene

Geometry Processing stage

The second stage of the graphics pipeline for determining the position of each vertex of the geometric shapes to be rendered

Rasterization stage

The third stage of the graphics pipeline for determining which pixels correspond to the geometric shapes to be rendered.

Pixel Processing stage

The fourth stage of the graphics pipeline for determining the color of each pixel in the rendered image

Vertex Buffer Objects (VBOs)

GPU memory buffers where vertex attribute data describing the appearance of geometric shapes is stored.

Texture buffers

GPU memory buffers where images to be used as textures are stored.

Vertex Array Objects (VAOs)

Objects used to manage and store sets of associations between attribute data stored in VBOs and attribute variables in the shader program

Mesh

A collection of points grouped into lines or triangles that defines the shape of a geometric object.

Vertex

A data structure that groups together properties or attributes specific to rendering an individual point

Texture coordinates (or UV coordinates)

Coordinates that indicate a point in an image that is mapped to a vertex.

Normal vector

A vector indicating the direction perpendicular to a surface

Vertex shader

A program applied to each vertex during geometry processing

Model transformation

A transformation where the collection of points defining the intrinsic shape of an object may be translated

World space

A frame of reference where coordinates represent an object's location