Abstract:

This article discusses the academic experiences gained as a result of proposing an innovative lab project in the course named Computer Graphics, within the area of Computer Science, and how such a project was proposed, developed and evaluated. This project consisted in designing and implementing a 3D content creation tool. At a commercial tool, this kind of tools allow, for instance, to model complex projects, such as indoor and outdoor environments, and animate virtual characters to be used in films or video games. However, the goal of this project was that the students gained the desired competences by proposing and innovative and challenging work.

One of the main goals of Computer Graphics is to study the graphics rendering pipeline, paying special attention to the stages that compose it. Within this context, the rendering process is defined as the process that take the geometric description of a 3D scene, among other elements such as the virtual cameras, as input in order to generate a 2D image as output. Video games represent a typical example of real-time graphics application.

Initially, the lab project was conceived to reach a dual goal. On the one hand, the students had to gain the practical experience according to the basics of Computer Graphics. Some related concepts are, for instance, the implementation of basic data structures or the correct use of transform operations, which allow to animate virtual characters. On the other hand, the students had to be able to notice, from a practical point of view, the differences between interactive and non-interactive rendering, that is, how the application of different techniques can improve the results of the rendering process.

Within this context, the initial specification of the project considered the need of exporting the 3D models to a standard data format, independently of the model representation. In this way, it is possible to adopt such a format to import and use the 3D models into applications that do not work in real-time, making use of more computing resources to get a more realistic result. Particularly, one of the project requirements was its integration in a related course on Image Synthesis to use the developed prototype together with more complex techniques.

The prototype of the interactive tool developed by the students was implemented during three months. The work was divided into three main working groups: i) implementation of the graphical user interface, ii) implementation of the kernel, and iii) implementation of a module to export/import data. This approach encouraged the students to work as a team to make the integration easy.

When conducting the evaluation, the students not only assimilated the fundamental concepts but also gained the required competences to deal with real projects where multiple aspects are involved, such as the interaction with other tools/techniques related to the subject of Computer Graphics.

Keywords:

Computer Graphics, Learning Methodology, Lab Project.