1. Description

3D modeling is one of the most important pillars of game technology and computer graphics. It creates 3D objects and 3D scenes of virtual worlds, which is essential for visualization and simulation.

In 3D modeling, the processes of creation, acquisition, representation and manipulation of 3D data are crucial. Creation and acquisition of 3D data can be done either by creating a model using mathematical models, or by directly scanning a real-world 3D object. The acquired data is normally in a raw form, such as 3D point clouds, voxels (volumetric data), etc. To be able to manipulate and display the raw data efficiently, we need to transform it to other forms like meshes and do an operation like surface simplification or subdivision. Having more efficient representations, we can animate the 3D objects virtually and realistically.

All these processes will be studied in the 3D Modeling course. We expect by passing the course, the students have the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for manipulating and animating 3D spatial data. These knowledge and skills are vital when working in 3D aspects of games technology, computer graphics, computer vision, medical image analysis, robotics, etc.

To follow the course, students are required to have strong knowledge in: linear algebra (i.e., matrices and vectors operations), basic mathematics, and programming skills in C/C++. This implies, they have passed the computer graphics course. Prior knowledge of a modeling package (such as Blender) and OpenGL is useful, but not required. For those who do not know C/C++, there will be a brief introduction in the lectures as well as in the practical sessions.

All materials and lectures are in English. Should there be any questions, e-mail to tanrobby (at) gmail.com

Lecturer: Robby T. Tan (e-mail: tanrobby (at) gmail.com)
Practical Assistants: Anne Driemel | Benny van der Vijgh
Related website: 3D Modeling Course

2. Assessment and Grading

Assignments:
During the course, students are expected to finish a few assignments. Programming skills in C/C++ and OpenGL are required to finish the assignments.


Written Exam:
There is a written exam in the end of the course (final exam).


Academic Honesty:
Academic honesty is compulsory in accomplishing the assignment, projects, and the exams. Exchanging codes for different groups are not allowed. Using codes from the previous year or from the internet is prohibited, unless stated otherwise in the lectures. Copying texts of the reports from other groups is strictly prohibited. Generally, cheating, academic misconduct, plagiarism, and fabrication of any submitted material (including code and text) are not tolerated. We will use software to detect any code or text plagiarism. Any violation to the academic honesty will imply a fail to pass the course.

Grading:
The final grade is average of the following assessments:

• 40%: Assignments
• 60%: Exam (there is only one final exam)

To pass the course, the minimum exam grade is 4 and the final grade is 6.


Retake exam:
to participate in the retake, the original final grade must be no less than 4.

3. Lecture Schedule

• The schedule below should be used as a rough guideline. The lectures will emphasize more on clarity rather than strictness in following the schedule.
• Acknowledgements: major parts of the slides and materials used in the lecture are taken from various internet sources. The lecturer thanks those people who made the materials available.
• Time and Locations:
  • 09.00-10.45: Tuesday [AARD-KLEIN]
  • 13.15-15.00: Thursday [AARD-KLEIN]

No	Date	Topic	Slides
1	24-4-2012	Introduction (motivations, applications, overview, and logistics) Additional Materials: 3D animation: clip 3D games: Nintento DS 3D films: wikipedia 3D printing: clip | website | wikipedia Programmable matter: wikipedia | youtube 3D Software packages: Blender	slide 1
2	26-4-2012	C/C++ and OpenGL: Introduction Additional materials: C/C++: tutorial OpenGL: programming guide OpenGL: examples GLUT: introduction	slide 2.a (The contents of the slides are taken from this website). slide 2.b
3	1-5-2012	Spline Curves: Introduction Mandatory reading materials: Spline curves: pdf Additional materials: Spline: wikipedia Spline curves and surfaces: tutorial Parametric equations: wikipedia General topics in spline curves: website Various topics about splines: website	(see the mandatory reading material) lecture summary 3 exercise 3
4	3-5-2012	Spline Curves: Bezier Curves Mandatory reading materials: Bezier curves: pdf Additional Materials: Bezier Curves: planet math | wikipedia | mathworld Demo applets: applet 1 | applet 2 De Calteljau's algorithm: website	(see the mandatory reading material) de Casteljau's alg. exercise 4
5	8-5-2012	Spline Curves: B-spline Curves Mandatory reading materials: B-spline curves: part 1 | part 2 Additional Materials: B-spline: wikipedia B-spline demo: applet B-spline basis functions: website De Boor's algorithm: website	(see the mandatory reading material) lecture summary 5 exercise 5
6	10-5-2012	Rational Splines and Spline Surfaces Additional Materials: NURBS: applet | wikipedia Spline surfaces: website	lecture summary 6 exercise 6
7	15-5-2012	Spline Curves: Interpolation 1 Additional materials: Hermite and Cardinal Spline: wikipedia | Hermite applet | Cardinal applet 1 | Cardinal applet 2 | Catmull-Rom applet Lagrange Curve Interpolation: wikipedia | applet	lecture summary 7 exercise 7
	17-5-2012	no class
	22-5-2012	no mid-term exam and no class
8	24-5-2012	Spline Curves: Interpolation 2 Mandatory reading materials: pdf: Sect.1 to Sect.5 Additional materials: B-spline interpolation: applet 1 | applet 2 | mathworld	see the mandatory reading material; for the summary and exercises, look at summary 7 and exercise 7.
	29-5-2012	no class
	31-5-2012	no class
9	5-6-2012	Modeling with Patches Additional Materials: Surface fitting: example	lecture summary 8 slide 8
10	7-6-2012	Modeling Deformable Objects: Introduction + Mass-Spring Models Additional Materials: Spring Simulation: website Lecture on Hooke's Law: video
11	12-6-2012	Modeling Deformable Objects: Fluid Simulation + Particle Systems
12	14-6-2012	Model Acquisition, Representation and Data Structure Additional Materials: Polygon Meshes and their data structures: wikipedia Winged-edge Representation: website Ply file format: wikipedia | okino | info + source code 3D viewers: meshlab Surface reconstruction from unorganized points: pdf Marching cubes: pdf | applet
13	19-6-2012	Mesh Simplification Additional Materials: Surface Simplification Using Quadric Error Metrics: pdf Decimation of Triangle Meshes: pdf Progressive Meshes: pdf Mesh Decimation: code reference Mesh Simplification: website
14	21-6-2012	Mesh Subdivision Additional Materials: Recursively generated B-spline surfaces on arbitrary topological meshes: pdf | wikipedia A butterfly subdivision scheme for surface interpolation: pdf Subdivision Surfaces in Character Animation: pdf Subdivision for Modeling and Animation: pdf
15	26-6-2012	Procedural Modeling Additional Materials: Implicit Surfaces Blobbies or Metaballs: website Introduction to implicit surfaces: book | paper
	28-6-2012
	5-7-2012	Final Exam : EDUC-ALFA (16.00-19.00)

4. Tutorial Schedule

• Any questions regarding the assignments must be asked in the practical sessions.
• Time and Locations:
  • 11.00-12.45: Tuesday [BBL-109, BBL-112]
  • 15.15-17.00: Thursday [BBL-109, BBL-112]
• The below schedule should be used as a rough guideline. For example, students who have already known C/C++ are encouraged to start with OpenGL or with the assignments.

No	Date	Topic	Information
1	24-4-2012	Blender A tutorial note: pdf	3D Software package: Blender Character modeling: tutorial Tutorial: youtube
2	26-4-2012	Blender
3	1-5-2012	C/C++ CMakeLists.txt: example	C/C++ tutorial: website | pdf A tutorial on youtube. For windows users: in this course, you must use console applications. In all assignments, the code must be compilable in either windows (Visual Studio) or linux (cmake). CMake: tutorial
4	3-5-2012	C/C++	STL (Standard Template Library): tutorial Useful STL class: vector
5	8-5-2012	OpenGL Tutorial note: website	OpenGL: programming guide OpenGL: examples OpenGL youtube tutorial. In this course, you must use GLUT for the I/O interface. GLUT: introduction
6	10-5-2012	OpenGL
7	15-5-2012	Bezier Curves Lecture note: pdf	Example of the possible visualization: applet
	17-5-2012	no tutorial
	22-5-2012	no tutorial
8	24-5-2012	Bspline Curves Lecture notes: part 1 | part 2
	29-5-2012	no tutorial
	31-5-2012	no tutorial
9	5-6-2012	Rope Simulation
10	7-6-2012	Rope Simulation
11	12-6-2012	Cloth Simulation
12	14-6-2012	Cloth Simulation
	19-6-2012	no tutorial
	21-6-2012	no tutorial
	26-6-2012	no tutorial
	28-6-2012	no tutorial

5. Old News

1. [08/5/2012]: I have fixed some typos in 05_bspline1.pdf. Thanks for those who informed me. If you find some mistakes in the notes, please do not hesitate to let me know.
2. [08/5/2012]: The maximum file size for submitting your assignments through submit is 40MB.
3. [02/5/2012]: The instructions of assignment 2 are now fixed (including the deadline). You are encouraged to start as soon as possible, since it can take time to finish, particularly part 2.
4. [01/5/2012]: The summary of the lecture today is available here. It is based on this article.
5. [30/4/2012]: Exercise 3 is available in the lecture schedule. During or after the lecture, try to answer the exercise questions. The final exam's questions will mostly taken from the exercises.
6. [27/4/2012]: A simple example of CMake file (CMakeLists.txt) can be downloaded here. It can be used on either linux or windows.
7. [26/4/2012]: A few GLUT/OpenGL examples from the lecture are available here.
8. [24/4/2012]: Those who do not have a partner for the practical assignments should email me, so that I can pair you up.
9. [24/4/2012]: For the practical sessions, we encourage you to be in either BBL-112 or BBL-109. Since the assistants will be stationed in those two rooms. Only when there is no enough space, you can go to another room (which on Tuesday is BBL-103, and on Thursday is BBL-115).
10. [24/4/2012]: The purpose of the practical sessions is to help the students with the practical assignments. Therefore, there is no tutorial for the theoretical/mathematical problems. If you have questions regarding the theoretical/mathematical problems, you should ask directly to the lecturer.
11. [15/4/2012]: For the practical sessions on 24/4 and 26/4, students are required to bring headphones/earphones, since the tutorial is partially given through youtube clips.