M1 - Foundations of Rendering

Question 1

What is rendering?

Answer 1

The process of creating a 2-Dimensional image from data.

Question 2

Can rendering be applied to 3D data or only 2D data?

Answer 2

It can be applied to both

Question 3

What sort of data is rendered?

Answer 3

Position of elements (points, lines, shapes, etc)
Color
Modifiers (size, opacity, blending modes)

Question 4

Early computers rendered using ___________ displays

Answer 4

VECTOR

Question 5

What were vector graphics in the past?

Answer 5

Series of points, and lines connecting them.
2-D points ( x , y )

Question 6

What are Vector Displays?

Answer 6

A type of CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), contained electron guns that be targeted at some location creating a point. Quick movement of “laser” point drew a line. Adding additional points created shapes.

Question 7

Could Vector displays project detailed shapes?

Answer 7

Only outlines were possible. Imagine filling a large shape with only the tip of a pencil. Possible but not fast

Question 8

Vector displays were MONOCHROMATIC, what does that mean?

Answer 8

Monochromatic means containing or using only one color.

Question 9

Could Vector displays represent 2D and 3D?

Answer 9

Yes, Vector displays could represent 2D and 3D

Question 10

What is Vector Art/Vector Graphic?

Answer 10

Artwork created from a series of connected points (called paths) to create shapes

Question 11

Paths are calculated from ____________ _____________ to create smooth curves (Vector Artwork)

Answer 11

source points

Question 12

When VECTOR ART is displayed, the source is converted to a ____________ ______________

Answer 12

raster image and displayed as pixels

Question 13

What is rasterization?

Answer 13

The process of converting a vector art image to a raster image to be displayed as pixels.

Question 14

What are the benefits of Vector images?

Answer 14

Scaleability, vector images can scale up and down without loss of quality.

Question 15

Do raster or vector images use pixels?

Answer 15

Raster Images

Question 16

Can images be converted from vector to raster bath and forth?

Answer 16

Vector -> Raster , no problem
Raster -> Vector, most likely won’t work. (errors in conversion)

Question 17

Modern displays use ______ as a way of representing data

Answer 17

pixels

Question 18

What is a pixel?

Answer 18

smallest unit of data in a display. Consists of red, green, blue. EVERYTHING is pixels in the end.

Question 19

EVERYTHING is ___________ in the end. 2D, 3D, vector art, video, etc.

Answer 19

PIXELS

Question 20

What is another term for a printed pixels?

Answer 20

DOTS

Question 21

What is DPI?

Answer 21

Dots Per Inch

Question 22

What data does a pixel hold?

Answer 22

Typically RGB (0-255) 8 bit unsigned char

Question 23

What does BPP measure?

Answer 23

Bits Per Pixel (range of color values a pixel can have)

Question 24

Modern systems typically use 24 or 16 bit color?

Answer 24

Either

Question 25

What does screen resolution measure?

Answer 25

Pixels

Question 26

Did early vector displays have resolutions?

Answer 26

No, it wasn't a concept yet.

Question 27

How do you measure PIXEL DENSITY?

Answer 27

Pixels per Inch (PPI) Higher PPI leads to clearer/cleaner image

Question 28

Does screen resolution change with physical dimensions?

Answer 28

No. You can have large low resolution, or small high resolution devices.

Question 29

What are problems with raster images?

Answer 29

Does not scale/resize well. A raster image does not have a algorithm to handle transformations like a vector image

Question 30

What is ALIASING?

Answer 30

Result of SAMPLING some data and reconstructing it, with inaccuracies. In graphics, it manifests as jagged edges.

Question 31

What manifests as jagged edges?

Answer 31

Aliasing

Question 32

What is ANTI ALIASING?

Answer 32

filtering technique to smooth the edge of objects.

Question 33

What are GPUS?

Answer 33

Graphics Processing Unit, makes it possible to process large of quantities of the same type of data (floating-point numbers) simultaneously.

Question 34

How is GPU performance measured?

Answer 34

FLOPs , number of floating point operations per second. Can get into billions (gigaFLOP) or even trillions per second. Benchmarking