Computer graphics, online course

At MIT, computer graphics are 3D algorithms, in some textbooks it is a collection of descriptions of popular graphic editors, in the cinema there are special effects, on television it is a screen design. All this is fascinating and curious, but what is computer graphics?

At various times I have been able to work with animation, and with three-dimensional graphics, and with printing, and with the web, and with video, and in very different forms. For twenty years, I somehow did something like this and do not regret it. And all these twenty years, I didn’t get out of my head one phrase of the scientific director of the lyceum, where in the mid-90s I studied this computer graphics:

Of course, you can master the tools, you will own the programs. Then you will be among those few who can do it now, but soon real professionals will master computer technologies, and you will have a hard time with them. So do not forget to get a real profession, and all these photoshop and 3DS are just your tools, your competitive advantage today.

But there was one more circumstance, which was clearly not mentioned: at some point I realized that computer graphics “by specialty” is also biology, physics, and even chemistry. And, of course, mathematics. In this post I will talk about a three-week open online course on the basics of computer graphics , which started just recently - March 9 - and try to explain for whom it is made, why, why, and how knowledge of computer graphics helps in life.

Teaching experience

The problem of beginning IT specialists is that they have a very great profession. It spoils and corrupts. You do not need patience, because the result is quick. In the field of computer graphics, the situation is similar, so there are “enikeyschiki” - people who are well able to poke buttons in the programs, but do not understand what happens, and whether they have chosen the best way. To a certain level, this is permissible, but the professional ceiling for such specialists is very low.

My teaching of computer graphics began with a semester university course for 50 students, with unhurried and thoughtful coursework, and here ... they used “destructive compression” - the course became 8 weeks, a written exam without any coursework and under 200 people on stream. It's time to completely rethink the courses that I lead at the institute. And here, the movement towards MOOCs (mass open online courses, MOOC) was very useful: I really wanted to change the format of training, especially at lectures, and automate the check of works, preferably not to the detriment of their depth.
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Indeed, regular lectures look somewhat strange in a streaming audience. Remember how you tried to see the formula on the board from the back rows? But it has already been erased. Video lectures brought comfort and clarity. With practical tasks, everything is not so simple, but not bad either. Mass online courses are another small revolution in our age that significantly changes part of our lives - the way we gain knowledge. Not only at school or high school, but throughout life.

Course content

The main task of the introductory online course is not so much to learn something new, as to collect a holistic picture of the knowledge that everyone already has , and to see in this picture those details that previously could go unnoticed. Therefore, those who already use the tools of computer graphics, can refresh the memory of the very basics, sometimes even from the school curriculum. Those who have not come across this area at all will be able to obtain good fundamental knowledge in order to continue studying individual tools and programs applied in practice.

The first week is not at all computer and not at all graphics. But physics and biology, and a little about how it is transferred to computer color models.

The second week already talks about the basics of graphics, as applied to computers. This will be most useful to those who have not done anything like this before and have not been interested. Then there will be work with raster, vector graphics and video "manually". That is, completely by hand - we will process photos and videos from the command line, draw something vector in a text editor. And believe me, it is necessary in life. You have the freedom to choose tools, because not everything is convenient to do, for example, in Photoshop. And it is not always appropriate.

The third week will be devoted to image compression. Here, those who have studied coding and digital signal processing will see familiar topics, but without complicated mathematics. The main task is to understand how it works.

The course does not imply immersion in mathematics and programming. Well, if you are familiar with the school course of mathematics and computer science, and also understand that there is a binary and hexadecimal system of calculation.

Advanced online course

The 8-week course of computer graphics mentioned above, I conduct in the undergraduate degree at the MIEM HSE every September and October. Therefore, in September, the introductory online course will be launched again, and MIEM students and all those who wish will be trained at the same time.

Immediately after him, in October 2015, an in-depth 4-week online course, which is still under development, will follow - on specific applications of computer graphics. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to consider all possible applications in it, but we will have time to delve into some of them. For example, there will be a section on video, possibly three-dimensional graphics and polygraphy will be included. “Scientific” computer graphics will not enter - this is a completely separate world, worthy of an independent course.

The second course will begin with a review of iron, and from rarities to the present day. What for? Here is a simple question: why does the TV show pixels, the image is transmitted by macroblocks, and video encoding for transmission is measured by strings and half frames (fields)? It is difficult to understand for someone who knows only flat LCD displays with a digital picture. It turns out that television, having had a lot of time, had more in common with a typewriter than with modern formats and hardware. And understanding how something works helps choose the right video encoding options.

TL; DR

• Three weeks, starting from March 9, 2015, an online course on computer graphics will take place, where you can first recall school physics and biology, then overcome color spaces, study different types of graphics and basic concepts in it, learn how to work with console and video editors and graphics, practice with vector graphics and animation in SVG. In conclusion, get acquainted with the compression of images. Closer acquaintances - in the second part of the course.
• The fourth week will be in order to pass tests and finish tasks from previous weeks.
• This course is unlikely to be of interest to those who are awaiting immersion in mathematics and programming. It is for those who wanted to understand computer graphics, but were afraid of teachers who are starting to pour mathematical formulas and force them to program something right away.
• The course will not be told about Photoshop, Corel Draw and other popular editors. There are other application courses for this, and they are easy to find on the Internet. There will be some practice in the console editors, this skill is useful. For example, if you need to automatically process images or videos on your site.
• On September 1, this online course will be launched once again, students of MIEM HSE will be trained there, immediately after it an in-depth online course will be launched to continue this one.

Questions in conclusion

1. Why is the sky blue? However, it can be seen from the picture at the top of the post.
2. Is the fence transparent?
3. How do we see? And how do we perceive what we saw?
4. Where is the beginning of the color wheel, and how to divide it?
5. What distinguishes the palette of photographers, printers and artists?
6. What is the most common color space?
7. What is the difference in “dots per inch” among printers, scanners and monitors?
8. What is the redundancy in the images?

The text was prepared by Denis Korolev , a teacher of the online course “Computer Graphics: Basics” .