Provides an introduction to computer graphics focused on the computer as a medium for artistic expression and graphic communication. This book combines technical and theoretical aspects of the emerging field of computer art and design. It is useful for the artists, designers, illustrators, and photographers.

(All chapters begin with an Introduction.)1. Computers and Computer Art: A Brief History. Three Periods of Computer Art.Landmarks in Computer Technology-1890 to the Early 1960s.A Digression: The Printing Press.From Textiles to Tabulation.Women in Computing and Computer Art.World War II and Its Aftermath.Computer Art Through the Early 1970s.The First Computer Images.Photocopier Art.Two Early Computer Artists.The Search for the Laws of Aesthetics.Representational Imagery.Computer Film.Computer Sculpture.Landmarks of Computer Technology-After 1960.Better, Faster, Cheaper.Interactive Graphics.Raster Graphics.Computer Art in the Late 1970s and 1980s.Synergy Between Literary Theory and Computer Graphics Technology.Computer Art in the 1990s and Beyond.2. Digital Painting and Photoediting-2D Raster Graphics. Entering a Postphotographic Era.Concepts.Continuous and Analog Versus Discrete and Digital.The Pixel.Anatomy of a Painting or Photoediting Program.Local Touch.The Concept of Touch.Transparency, Tool Shape, and Mixing Behavior.Global Touch.Tonal Mapping.Filtering.Origins of Filtering Vocabulary in Signal Processing.Simple Transformations.Algorithmic Touch and Special Effects.Selection and Masking.The Local-Global Continuum.Composition.Moving the Edges.Placement of Elements.Image Size: File Size, Resolution, and Color Depth.Calculating File Size.Scale.The Alpha, or Transparency, Channel.3. Keyboards, Mice, Tablets, Scanners, and Displays. Sampling Hand Motion.Keyboards.The Mouse and Its Variations.Tablets and Styli.Relative Versus Absolute Motion.Reconceiving Computer Input.Sampling Colors.Scanning.Copyright Protection.Digital Still Cameras.Digital Video Cameras.The Art of Input.Found Data.Dangers of Input.Introduction to Output.Computer Displays.Screen Types.Projection.4. Digital Design and Layout-2D Geometric Graphics. A New Level of Flexibility.Concepts.Geometric Shapes.Geometry and the Nature of Selection.Drawing Geometric Shapes by Sampling.Adobe PostScript.Anatomy of a Digital Design and Layout Program.Touch.Local-Touch Tools.Working with Local-Touch Tools.Global-Touch Tools.Boolean Operations (Adding and Subtracting Shapes).Typography.Importing Raster Images.Composition.The Page.Placement.Composing with Objects: Groups and Layers.Size and Scale.Accuracy as a Compositional Tool.Color.Combining Raster and Geometry-Based Graphics.5. Electronic Color. Visible Light.Subtractive Versus Additive Color Mixing.Primary Colors.Primary Colors for Subtractive and Additive Mixing.Mixing Colors.Gamma Correction.Color Consistency.Color-Matching Systems.Color Spaces.The RGB Cube.The HSV and HSL Spaces.The HWB Space.Perceptually Based Spaces and the Munsell System.Using Color Spaces.Your Own Color Space.The CIE Space.Color Gamuts.Color Channels.Palettes.Eye-Dropper Tool (Image as Palette).Eight-bit Palettes.6. Printing. Originality and the Original.Concepts.Rasterization.Halftoning.Dithering.The Psychology of the Print Button.Printer Types.Laser Printers.Beyond the Print Button-I.Beyond the Print Button-II.Dot-Matrix Impact Printers.Beyond the Print Button-III.Ink-Jet Printers.Beyond the Print Button-IV.Thermal Wax Printers.Dye Sublimation Printers.Large-Scale Printing.Plotters.Large Raster-Based Printers.Tiling.Traditional Printmaking and Photography.Film-Based Images.Photoprintmaking.Combining Digital and Traditional Techniques.Service Bureaus.7. Building 3D Worlds-3D Geometric Graphics I. Concepts.Modeling and Rendering.What is a Model?What's 3D About 3D Modelers?Making a 3D Geometric Model.Volume Visualization and 3D Sample-Based Programs.Anatomy of a 3D Program.3D Touch-Creating Building Blocks.Sweeps.Object Representations.Boolean Operations.Digital Clay and 3D Sculpting.Similar Forms Created in Different Ways.Assembling the Building Blocks.Decomposition.Composition.Sketch.Hierarchy.Tree Diagrams.Joints.Master-Instance Relationships.Algorithmic Form Generation.Modeling Nature.Genetic and Evolutionary Art or Artificial Life.Particle Systems.Composition.Placing Objects in the World or Scene.Size and Scale.8. Rendering 3D Worlds-3D Geometric Graphics II. Surface Properties.Complexity of Color in 3D Programs.Surface Reflection Properties.Surface Transmission Properties.Texture.3D Painting.Working with Lights.Virtual Cameras and Points of View.Rendering.Wireframe.Modeling Light Interaction with Surfaces.Lighting Models.Shading Models.Global Rendering Methods.Environment Mapping.Depth Cueing and Other Special Effects.Effect of Photorealistic 3D Graphics on "Visual Truth".Nonrealistic Rendering.Inverse and Image-Based Rendering.9. 3D Input and Output. Access to Equipment.3D Input.3D Mice and Trackballs.Joysticks.Gloves.Dials.Force-Feedback Devices.Head and Body Tracking.3D Digitization.3D Output.Virtual Reality.Stepping Into the Screen-3D Viewing and Virtual Worlds.3D Printing.10. 2D and 3D Animation and Video. Concepts.The Illusion of Motion.Keyframes.Inbetweening.The Wild Wild World of Linear Interpolation.Motion Blur.Real-Time Recording.Morphing.Anatomy of an Animation Program.Composition.Motion and Space.Digital Video.Compositing Over Time.Points of View.Design Space Versus Display Space.Transitions.Object Interaction.Concepts in 3D Animation.2D Versus 3D Animated Work.Using Hierarchy.Automated Motion.Motion Capture.11. Multimedia and Interactivity. Interactivity.Hypertext.The Relationship Between Artist and Audience.Multimedia Concepts.Combining Data Types.Coordination.Anatomy of an Interactive Multimedia Program.Timelines.Flowchart Hierarchies.Stacks/Books and Cards/Pages.Procedural and Object-Oriented Programming Paradigms.Object-Oriented Approaches.Interfaces for Working with and Arranging Media.Creating Multimedia.Planning.Creating, Gathering, and Organizing Materials.Teams.Composition.A Framework for Forms of Interactive Multimedia.Interactive Space.User Interface Design.12. The World Wide Web. A Brief History of the Internet and The Web.Concepts.The Internet Protocol.No Central Control.Device Independence.Web Browsers.Bandwidth.Forms of Internet-Based Interactivity.Helpers and Plug-ins.Java.JavaScript.Composition.Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).Web Page Design and Layout.Links.The Web as Database.Extensible Markup Language (XML).3D on the Web.Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML).Java 3D.Collaboration.Display and Distribution.Artist Portfolios.Traditional Museums and Galleries on the Web.Web-Based Galleries.Conclusion.Speed and the Lost Dimension.The Role of Economics.The Nature of the Medium.Limits of Technique and Theory.Appendix A: Modern Art Periods. Modernism.The Avant-Garde and Postmodernism.Pluralism.Appendix B: Computing Theory. Symbolic Logic.The Universal Machine.Index. 0201386003T04062001