Computer graphics (computer science)


Computer graphics is a sub-field of computer science which studies methods for digitally synthesizing and manipulating visual content. Although the term often refers to the study of three-dimensional computer graphics, it also encompasses two-dimensional computer graphics and image processing.

Overview

Computer graphics studies manipulation of visual and geometric information using computational techniques. It focuses on the mathematical and computational foundations of image generation and processing rather than purely aesthetic issues. Computer graphics is often differentiated from the field of visualization, although the two fields have many similarities.
Connected studies include:
Applications of computer graphics include:

History

There are several international conferences and journals where the most significant results in computer graphics are published. Among them are the SIGGRAPH and Eurographics conferences and the Association for Computing Machinery Transactions on Graphics journal. The joint Eurographics and ACM SIGGRAPH symposium series features the major venues for the more specialized sub-fields: Symposium on Geometry Processing, Symposium on Rendering, Symposium on Computer Animation, and High Performance Graphics.
As in the rest of computer science, conference publications in computer graphics are generally more significant than journal publications.

Subfields

A broad classification of major subfields in computer graphics might be:
  1. Geometry: ways to represent and process surfaces
  2. Animation: ways to represent and manipulate motion
  3. Rendering: algorithms to reproduce light transport
  4. Imaging: image acquisition or image editing

Geometry

The subfield of geometry studies the representation of three-dimensional objects in a discrete digital setting. Because the appearance of an object depends largely on its exterior, boundary representations are most commonly used. Two dimensional surfaces are a good representation for most objects, though they may be non-manifold. Since surfaces are not finite, discrete digital approximations are used. Polygonal meshes are by far the most common representation, although point-based representations have become more popular recently. These representations are Lagrangian, meaning the spatial locations of the samples are independent. Recently, Eulerian surface descriptions such as level sets have been developed into a useful representation for deforming surfaces which undergo many topological changes.
Geometry subfields include:

Animation

The subfield of animation studies descriptions for surfaces that move or deform over time. Historically, most work in this field has focused on parametric and data-driven models, but recently physical simulation has become more popular as computers have become more powerful computationally.
Animation subfields include:

Rendering

Rendering generates images from a model. Rendering may simulate light transport to create realistic images or it may create images that have a particular artistic style in non-photorealistic rendering. The two basic operations in realistic rendering are transport and scattering.
Rendering subfields include:

Notable researchers

Applications for their use

Bitmap Design / Image Editing
Vector drawing
Architecture
Video editing
Sculpting, Animation, and 3D Modeling
Digital composition
Rendering
Other applications examples

Industry

Industrial labs doing "blue sky" graphics research include:
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Major film studios notable for graphics research include:
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