I think I’ve said it enough, but we’re not going to talk about implementation much, and I am not going to force people to do any programming. However, some of you might want to do it, and some of you might want to learn more about it.
(by the way, if you are interested in D3, read my discussion about learning it).
There are a bunch of basic computer graphics concepts that are probably useful in this class. Some of you learned these by taking a graphics class, some of you might find you actually know them. Part of the problem is they are so ingrained in the way that I think that I forget that
Here are some possibly useful tutorials from 559 (the Graphics class I taught last semester): (complete list):
- Points, Vectors and Coordinate Systems (why are points and vectors different?) – an attempt to get some linear algebra concepts across, even if you are not used to thinking in linear algebra. In class, it’s useful to think in terms of spaces (in the mathematical sense) – and these linear algebra intuitions are useful. This tutorial is useful if you know the math and want to get the intuitions. You can see if it helps with the intuitions without the math.
- Image-based graphics vs. Object-based graphics – useful to understand what kinds of ways we make pictures with computers (like why is an SVG image different than an PNG or JPG)
- What is a Pixel? (and what is a point sample) – this will get a little deeper on the “SVG vs PNG,JPG,GIF” question – but maybe deeper than you want to know.
- Some initial practical answers to harder questions – this is a dose of practical info about color to hold you over until we really learn about it.
If you want to learn about SVG (useful for making pictures that work in a web browser), I made these for 559 students to get them started – once you are on the right path, there are a lot of resources on the web.
- SVG:1 – Getting started with SVG
- SVG:2 Coordinate Systems
- SVG3: Manipulating Primitives
- SVG4: Groups, Transforms, Re-Use, and Hierarchies
- SVG5: More Transforms and Composition
- SVG6: Paths and Beziers
