Computer Graphics: Colour and Lighting Models

Colour is an integral element of the overall presentation of an image on a screen. This course introduces you to this essential process in computer graphics. We have divided this fascinating course into two modules that extensively discuss the method of lighting in computer graphics. You will first learn about the basic concepts involved in this process before we explain the complexities of the process in more detail. We will highlight the basics of colour computations and the critical factors you need to consider when computing colours, such as surface properties. Investigate the simple lighting model and how a single point light source can assume both the monochromatic and the coloured light sources. Examine the two factors of intensity attenuation and the concept of shading and its three types. Following the shading models, we will establish the idea of intensity mapping, which essentially refers to the translation of mapped intensities into binary form. The mapping scheme and algorithm will give a clearer picture of intensity mapping.

The second section unravels the psychological processes involved in the human eye’s perception of colour and how this perception leads to the formulation of the colour models. Relevant examples of the process of texture synthesis, along with its three broad synthesis techniques, projected texture, texture mapping and solid texturing, will help cement your learning. Next, discover the viewing transformation pipeline and its stages. The determination of a transformation matrix for the view transformation in a homogeneous coordinate system and an introduction to the second stage of the viewing pipeline - projection transformation - will also be covered. You will learn to compute a 3D region called the ‘view volume’, its types, anomalies and the derivation of the projection transformation matrices for the two types of projections.

Finally, we demonstrate the last stage of the viewing pipeline: windows to viewport transformation. We discuss the terms, transformation matrices and multiple examples of each in depth. Colour is an important asset in the design of an interface for any technology and is used to lead the viewer's eyes. It adds the perception of dimension through the depth of field, depending on how well you map the colour to an object on the screen. Imagine being exposed to two objects, one with colours and the other monochromatic. A human would naturally be inclined towards an entity that has colour. Take advantage of this immersive course and improve your knowledge and skill in this field. Start this course today.