Advanced Computer Graphics with C# and.NET Course

Lesson 1 • Setting Up the Development Environment

Install Visual Studio, .NET SDK, and graphics libraries needed for the course. Proper setup prevents toolchain errors in all subsequent chapters.

Lesson 2 • Color Models and Pixel Manipulation

Explain RGB, ARGB, HSL, and linear color spaces with C# structs. Direct pixel access via BitmapData prepares students for image-processing chapters.

Lesson 3 • Rendering Primitive Shapes

Draw lines, rectangles, ellipses, and polygons using System.Drawing and SkiaSharp. Exercises reinforce coordinate systems and basic paint objects.

Lesson 4 • C# Syntax Essentials for Graphics

Cover variables, control flow, classes, and generics as applied to graphics code. These constructs underpin every rendering algorithm in the course.

Lesson 1 • Affine Transformations in C#

Apply System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix and SkiaSharp SKMatrix to scene objects. Students manipulate the graphics state stack for nested transforms.

Lesson 2 • Clipping, Culling, and Dirty Regions

Use clipping rectangles and region-based invalidation to optimize 2D redraws. These techniques reduce CPU load in complex interactive scenes.

Lesson 3 • Vectors and Coordinate Systems

Define 2D vectors, dot products, and perpendiculars with C# structs. Vector math is the foundation for all transform and collision calculations ahead.

Lesson 4 • Matrix Math for 2D Transforms

Introduce 3x3 homogeneous matrices for translation, rotation, and scale. Students compose transform chains and understand matrix multiplication order.

Lesson 1 • Morphological Operations

Perform erosion, dilation, opening, and closing on binary and grayscale images. These operations support shape analysis and noise removal tasks.

Lesson 2 • Bitmap Access Patterns and Performance

Compare GetPixel, LockBits, and unsafe pointer access for throughput. Choosing the right access pattern is critical before implementing any filter.

Lesson 3 • Point Operations and Color Adjustments

Apply brightness, contrast, gamma, and channel-mixing transforms pixel by pixel. Lookup tables accelerate repeated point operations significantly.

Lesson 4 • Frequency Domain Processing

Apply the Fast Fourier Transform to images for frequency-based filtering. Students implement low-pass and high-pass filters in the frequency domain.

Lesson 1 • 3D Vectors and the Cross Product

Define Vector3 operations including cross product, normalization, and projection. These primitives underlie lighting, physics, and camera calculations.

Lesson 2 • 4x4 Matrices and 3D Transforms

Construct model, view, and projection matrices using homogeneous 4x4 math. Students understand the MVP pipeline that every 3D renderer uses.

Lesson 3 • Scene Graph Design and Implementation

Build a node-based scene graph with parent-child transform inheritance. The graph structure organizes all 3D objects in chapters that follow.

Lesson 4 • Quaternions for Rotation

Represent 3D rotations with quaternions to avoid gimbal lock. Students implement SLERP interpolation for smooth camera and object animation.

Lesson 1 • Texturing and Sampler States

Load images into shader resource views and configure sampler filtering modes. Proper texture setup enables realistic surface detail on 3D meshes.

Lesson 2 • DirectX 11 Device and Swap Chain Setup

Create a D3D11 device, device context, and swap chain targeting a WinForms or WPF window. This initialization pattern is reused in every DirectX project.

Lesson 3 • Lighting Models in HLSL

Implement ambient, diffuse, and specular lighting using Phong and Blinn-Phong models. Students extend the pixel shader to support multiple light sources.

Lesson 4 • HLSL Shader Programming

Write vertex and pixel shaders in HLSL, compile them at runtime, and bind constant buffers. Shaders control every visual effect in the DirectX pipeline.

Lesson 1 • Shadow Mapping Techniques

Render a depth map from the light's perspective and compare depths in the pixel shader. PCF and PCSS filtering reduce aliasing on shadow edges.

Lesson 2 • Screen-Space Post-Processing Effects

Apply SSAO, bloom, tone mapping, and FXAA as full-screen quad passes. Post-processing transforms raw renders into polished, cinematic images.

Lesson 3 • Deferred Shading Pipeline

Store geometry attributes in a G-buffer and evaluate lighting in a screen-space pass. Deferred shading scales efficiently with large numbers of dynamic lights.

Lesson 4 • Compute Shaders for GPU Parallelism

Dispatch compute shaders for particle simulation, image processing, and data reduction. Compute shaders unlock GPU parallelism beyond the rasterization pipeline.

Lesson 1 • Memory and Bandwidth Optimization

Compress textures, pack vertex attributes, and manage resource heaps to cut bandwidth. Bandwidth limits are the dominant bottleneck on modern GPUs.

Lesson 2 • Occlusion and Frustum Culling

Eliminate invisible geometry before submission using CPU and GPU culling passes. Culling is the highest-leverage optimization in dense scenes.

Lesson 3 • Draw Call Reduction Strategies

Apply instancing, geometry batching, and indirect drawing to cut draw call overhead. Fewer draw calls directly reduce CPU driver overhead per frame.

Lesson 4 • Level of Detail Systems

Switch mesh and shader complexity based on screen-space size or distance. LOD systems maintain visual quality while reducing GPU vertex load.

Lesson 1 • PBR Theory and Material Model

Explain microfacet theory, energy conservation, and the Cook-Torrance BRDF. Understanding the physics ensures correct material parameter choices.

Lesson 2 • Area Lights and Light Probes

Approximate rectangular and spherical area lights using LTC and light probe grids. Area lights add soft, realistic illumination to interior scenes.

Lesson 3 • PBR Shader Implementation

Translate Cook-Torrance equations into HLSL with metallic, roughness, and AO maps. The shader integrates with the deferred pipeline built in Chapter 6.

Lesson 4 • Tone Mapping and Color Grading

Convert HDR linear light values to display-referred output using ACES and Reinhard operators. Color grading LUTs apply artistic intent after tone mapping.