Computer Graphics 1
Undergraduate course, Hochschule Coburg, 2026
| Credit Points | 5 ECTS |
| Lectures | 90 minutes weekly |
| Labs | 90 minutes weekly |
| Duration | 15 weeks |
| Grading | 90 minutes written exam |
| Bonus Grades | Voluntary presentations of a lab or theory assignment gives 10% extra credit on final exam |
Contents
- Frame Buffer and Color Representation
- Recap. of Linear Algebra and Analytic Geometry
- Line Rasterization
- Triangle Rasterization
- Barycentric Interpolation
- Transformations (Rotation, Translation, Linear, Affine)
- Viewing (Projective Transformations)
- Visible Surface Determination
- Lighting
- Shading
Teaching Goals
- Learn the fundamentals of rasterization and computer graphics
- Understand, handle, solve, and explain typical computer graphics theory problems
- Write a basic software triangle rasterization
Lab Assignments
We create a simple 3D software rasterizer in C. Students learn
- C Programming
- Project management with CMake
- Unit Tests (with Unity)
- Use an IDE, such as Visual Studio, for programming, debugging, and testing.
Every week, there is a new lab assignment.
| Week i | Start assignment i in class, ask questions |
| Week i + 1 | Present solution of i+1 in class |
A00Vec3Maths
Implement basic vector and matrix mathematics in C.
A01BasicRaster
Play a bit with a simple image and draw a circle and a box.
A02Triangle
Draw a triangle.
A03Mesh2D
Draw 2D mesh with rigid transformations. Here is an example output from the test-cases:
A04Mesh3DNoZBuffer
Draw a 3D mesh with perspective transformation but no z buffer. You should expect to see some rendering artifacts.
A05TriangleGouraud
Draw a triangle with barycentric interpolation.
A06Mesh3DZBuffer
Add a Z Buffer for correct depth.
A07FlatShading
We shade the faces with flat shading.
A08GouraudShading
Next, we compute the lighting at the vertices and interpolate the result across the triangle.
A09PhoneShading
For better lighting, we compute the lighting at each pixel.
A10Optimize
Optimize the speed with OpenMP, SIMD, replace small triangles with points, cull, etc. 
Theory Assignments
Slides
Literature
AI Usage
While most AIs can solve the lab and theory assignments, I recommend not using them. You will lose a great teaching experience, plus
- I will ask multiple lab assignment questions in the final exam and there your only AI is a calculator.
- It is fun to do the labs on your own or even better with a friend.
- The best fun is to ask me in class :-)
- You get extra credit if you present an assignment.