There are three projects for this course (in addition to exercises from the labs). Together, the projects are worth 30% of the grade for the course. This handout has further information about the projects.
The first project is a short research project, which you can do any time between now and the middle of April (but better sooner rather than later).
You should consult with me to pick a topic related to OpenGL or to computer graphics in general. You should do some research on the topic and write a short paper about it -- including a bibliography. The paper can be in the form of a web page, if you want. After turning in your paper, you will also do a class presentation on the project.
This project is worth 5% of your grade for the course, and is not meant to be a major research paper. The purpose is to introduce the class to some topics that won't otherwise be covered in the course.
You should pick a topic in consultation with me. Here are some possibilities:
The second project to to create an animation using Blender. This project is worth 10% of your grade for the course. It is due in the last week of classes. I would like people to show their animations on the last day of class.
We should have three more labs on Blender. One will cover additional modeling techniques. One will cover animation. And one will cover the sequencer, which can be used to combine several animation, video, and sound clips into one video. The final animation should use interesting models that you have constructed. It should do some interesting animations, using several of the techniques that we will cover in the animation lab, possibly shown from several viewpoints or with a moving camera. And it should use the sequencer to combine the animations into a video that can be posted on your web site (and maybe on YouTube?). You can add sound if you want, or even some live action video that you take with a camera, but that is not required and the main point is the computer animation. Exactly what you show in the animation is entirely up to you.
At some point, I will show some Blender animations from previous graphics courses in class.
The final project for the course is to design and code a graphics application using OpenGL/Jogl. The programming project is worth 15% of the grade for the course. It is due at the scheduled final exam period, Sunday May 9 at 7:00 PM. There is no final exam, but we will meet at that time so that people can demonstrate their programs and try out other people's programs.
You will have to come up with your own idea for a project -- although you should consult with me about your plans. The sooner you start thinking about things, the better.
If you can't think of anything else, you could always try to code a "Blender lite" that would let a user create 3D scenes interactively. (It would be "Blender very lite", actually.) A more focussed design project, such as laying out furniture in a room or designing a small community with buildings and park space, is a possibility.
Maybe you can come up with an idea for a program that does some kind of mathematical or physical simulation and displays the result. Or a program for displaying 3D mathematical objects.
There are always 3D games. Don't forget that you will be able to import some models from Blender, so you can have non-trivial geometry in your game.