Fundamentals of Computer Graphics

[L'Ancien Regime]

I did a few searches on CG just to clarify my knowledge on certain specific topics and now I'm getting all these You Tube videos suggested to me that are actually pretty good, so I thought I'd start this thread so we can share fundamental CG knowledge among ourselves here. It'll be good for beginners but also to clarify things for those of us that are more or less experienced.

 

 

https://www.chaosgroup.com/blog/the-truth-about-unbiased-rendering

[L'Ancien Regime]

Now some of us are artists and some of us are programmers. But then some are artists and programmers. That is the ideal. 

I've tried to learn to program many times. I've tried to learn C#, C (omg it makes me vomit), I've tried to learn Python at least 5 times, and I've tried to learn C++ I don't know how many times.  Each time I felt that I was being taught commands but not the structure of programming itself. One video tutorial series, by a Stanford prof teaching C++ said mid way through a long tutorial that she assumed you already had a firm grasp of Java. Hmmm. I kept this in mind and forgot about it. 

Then I was over at  Engagma, and those maniacs are working in VEX and VOPs, that is the native language of Houdini, Vector Expressions and VEX Operators. Once again I was following tutorials without grasping the fundamental structure of what was going on. Frankly I was lost and wasting my time.

But then they mentioned that you should get your introduction to programming with Java again, in particular this course taught by this zany CS prof at the Tisch school of entertainment arts at Columbia University in NY.  He uses a Java compiler with it's own special libraries constructed for 2D and 3D graphics. It's called Processing.

 

There's two books.

Book One;

         

Of course there are other books for Processing

        

 

It's perfect for 2d and 3d graphic artists like us; all the examples and all the problems are very cool ones involving fundamental graphic ideas, like generating noise in 2d using elements as simple as a bunch of rectangles filled with a random black and white level between 0 and 255.  In a word, you won't be learning how to program your computer to say HELLO WORLD.

 

It's hard work, but I've just finished Ch 8 and I'm having fun, and what is more important, it's making sense where none of the others did before.

https://processing.org/tutorials/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvjgXvBlbQiydffZU7m1_aw

Of course you might ask "why bother learning to program at all when there's all these programs written for us?"

Well  for one thing there's  a lot of tasks that come into play with managing data on complex tasks like creating and using hair, for examples, managing databases for it all the data that these intensive tasks require. And there's a lot of procedural stuff that you might want to do on a custom level, writing your own fractals from the vast and ever growing number of fractal algorithms found in books of pure mathematics, and this can be very fruitful leading to some genuinely original looking work. And I suspect if you can program as well as create art, you're more likely to get hired. And so on..

Edited October 25, 2018 by L'Ancien Regime

[L'Ancien Regime]

 

[Falconius]

8 hours ago, L'Ancien Regime said:

...  Each time I felt that I was being taught commands but not the structure of programming itself...

Yeah I had the same problem whenever I tried to learn it.  I'll have to keep your post in mind if I ever try to tackle it again.

[L'Ancien Regime]

http://www.cgchannel.com/2018/11/master-gpu-rendering-for-production-with-redshift/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cgchannel%2FnHpU+(CG+Channel+-+Entertainment+Production+Art)

 

Since its release in 2014, GPU-based production renderer Redshift has become one of the visual effects industry’s staple tools. Next week, visitors to Gnomon’s Hollywood campus will be able to discover why.

In GPU Rendering: An Introduction to Redshift for Production, a free two-hour masterclass, former CoSA VFX CG supervsior David Stipinis will explore how Redshift can be used on personal and professional projects.

The session, which can be viewed free on Twitch via the player embedded above, will introduce the renderer’s key features and explore specific workflows for increasing productivity and creativity.

The event will close with an audience Q&A, enabling viewers to ask follow-up questions.

Free to attend, but register online in advance
GPU Rendering: An Introduction to Redshift for Production takes place at Gnomon’s Hollywood campus from 7.30-9:30pm on Thursday 15 November 2018. Entry is free, but you’ll need to register online first.

If you can’t make it to LA in person, the session will also be broadcast live on Gnomon’s Twitch channel. You don’t need to register to watch the stream, and can ask questions via Twitter using the hashtag #gnomon.

 

[L'Ancien Regime]

Checkout Topaz AI Gigapixel at the 14 min mark; he's advocating doing lower quality renders then upresing them with this AI system and saving time on renders.

 

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by L'Ancien Regime