(Fall 2015 - Efros & Ng): These were the graphics prelim topics this year: Paper (Kopf et al, First Person Hyperlapse) Graphics rasterization pipeline Light transport, global illumination Geometry -- curves and surfaces (Fall 2010 - Agrawala & Ramamoorthi): “Exam Topics: 1. Paper presentation 2. High Dynamic Range 3. Textures 4. Reflection”
(Fall 2008 - Barsky & Sequin): “Exam Topics: 1. What are the key graphics topics/concepts that a student would have to know in order to understand this paper? 2. Discussion of the paper, how the method works, and what its limitations are. 3. Various ways to construct an interpolating spline through a sequence of points (in the plane). Smoothness, degrees of continuity, degrees of freedom, heuristics to set tangents and curvatures. 4. Physical interaction of light with surfaces; what makes an object colored? Abstractions used in CG to describe behavior of reflected light, shading models. ”
(Fall 2004 - O'Brien & Sequin): “Exam Topics: 1. Paper: Energy-Minimizing Splines; gradient descent, differential geometry, splines. 2. Physical interaction of light with surfaces; abstractions used in CG to describe behavior of reflected light. 3. Characterization of radiance in a room; global illumination. 4. Rendering pipeline and raster display; scan-line conversion of polygons. 5. Different approaches to animation, their pros and cons for different applications.”
(Fall 2003 - O'Brien & Sequin): “Q#1: the paper by I. Friedel et al. Q#2: object representations and conversions between them Q#3: Color; physical mechanisms and CG representations Q#4: Light transport; fall-off laws, and hierarchical radiosity Q#5: Simulations with increasing stiffness, stability issues.”
(Fall 2002 - O'Brien & Forsyth): "Q1: cameras and lenses Q2: point, line and area sources Q3: why use radiosity Q4: Visibility Q5: Colour matching functions Q6: Wall paint Q7: Invariance Q8: Intersection of surfaces Q9: Movie abstraction Q10: Bad geometry for photon maps Q11: Motion capture papers"
(Spring 2002 - Sequin & Barsky): "Q1: Lighting models Q2: Two Papers - "Efficient Simulation of Light Transport in Scenes with Participating Media Using Photon Maps," SIGGRAPH'98, and "A Practical Model for Subsurface Light Transport," SIGGRAPH'01. Q3: Methods to make smooth surfaces"
(Fall 2001 - Forsyth & O'Brien): "Topics: differential equations (DE), linear algebra (MAT), color (C), rendering (Re), radiometry (Ra), and flow representation by subdivision (S)."
(Spring 2000 - Barsky & Sequin): "Topics of examination: Subdivision surfaces, Splines, Surface properties."
(Fall 1999 - Forsyth & Barsky): "Topics of examination: Colour, Illumination, Geometry, and Papers."
(Spring 1999 - Canny & Forsyth): "Topics of examination: Colour, Light, Splines, Ray Tracing, and Papers."
September 2001