Computer Graphics Viva Questions & Answers
Computer graphics is an exciting and dynamic field that has transformed the way we interact with digital information. Whether you are a student preparing for a computer graphics viva or an industry professional seeking to expand your knowledge, this article will provide you with the top 50 computer graphics viva questions and answers.
What is Computer Graphics?
Computer Graphics is the field of study and practice that deals with creating, manipulating, and displaying visual content using computers. It encompasses a wide range of techniques and applications, including 2D and 3D graphics, animation, virtual reality, and user interface design.
What are the types of Computer Graphics?
There are two main types:
- Raster Graphics
- Vector Graphics
What is Raster Graphics?
Raster Graphics are digital images made up of pixels. Each pixel is assigned a color value, which together creates the overall image. Because raster graphics are made up of fixed-sized pixels, they can become blurry or pixelated when enlarged or zoomed in.
What is Vector Graphics?
Vector Graphics are digital images created using mathematical formulas to define shapes and lines. Unlike raster graphics, vector graphics can be scaled up or down without losing image quality or becoming pixelated.
What is OpenGL?
OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-platform graphics API that provides a standardized set of functions for creating 2D and 3D graphics applications. It is widely used in the video game industry and other fields that require high-performance graphics rendering. OpenGL is supported on a variety of operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile platforms.
What is a GPU?
GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit, which is a specialized processor designed to perform complex mathematical calculations required for rendering high-quality graphics. A GPU is typically used to accelerate graphics rendering in video games, 3D modeling, and other visual applications.
How do GPUs and CPUs differ from each other?
The main difference between a GPU and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) is their design and purpose. A CPU is a general-purpose processor that performs a wide range of calculations, including running applications and managing the system. A GPU, on the other hand, is optimized for performing complex parallel calculations required for graphics rendering and other visual applications.
What is Ray Tracing?
Ray Tracing is a rendering technique used in computer graphics to create realistic Lighting and shadow effects. It works by tracing the path of light rays as they interact with objects in a scene, simulating the way light behaves in the real world. Ray Tracing is computationally intensive, but it produces highly realistic images with accurate Lighting and reflections.
What is Animation?
Animation is the process of creating the illusion of motion and change by displaying a series of images in rapid succession. It is commonly used in movies, television shows, and video games to create dynamic and engaging visual content. Animation can be created using traditional hand-drawn techniques or using digital tools and software.
What is Rendering?
Rendering is the process of generating a final image or animation from a 3D model using specialized software or hardware. This process involves calculating the Lighting, shadows, and other visual effects based on the position of the camera and the properties of the objects in the scene. The resulting image or animation can then be displayed on a screen or used in other applications. Rendering can be time-consuming, but it is necessary for creating high-quality graphics and visual effects.
What is a Shader?
A Shader is a program that runs on a GPU and is used to control how 3D objects are rendered in a scene. Shaders are responsible for tasks such as Lighting, shadows, reflections, and special effects. There are several types of shaders, including vertex shaders, pixel shaders, and geometry shaders.
What is Texturing?
Texturing is the process of adding surface detail, such as color, pattern, or texture, to a 3D model. This is done by mapping 2D images, called textures, onto the surface of the model. Texturing is an important part of creating realistic and visually appealing 3D graphics.
What is a 3D Model?
A 3D Model is a digital representation of a physical object or scene in three dimensions. 3D models can be created using specialized software, 3D scanners, or other techniques. They are commonly used in video games, movies, architecture, engineering, and other fields that require visual representations of 3D objects.
What is a Mesh?
A Mesh is a collection of vertices, edges, and faces that define the shape and structure of a 3D object. Meshes are used to create 3D models and can be manipulated and animated using specialized software.
What is Texture Mapping?
Texture Mapping is a technique used to apply 2D images, called textures, onto the surface of a 3D model. This is done by mapping each point on the surface of the model to a corresponding point on the texture map.
What is the difference between a Mesh and a 3D Model?
The main difference between a Mesh and a 3D Model is that a mesh is a collection of geometric elements that define the shape of an object, while a 3D model is a complete representation of an object or scene in three dimensions, which may include textures, materials, and other properties.
What is Bézier Curve?
Bézier Curve is a mathematical curve used in computer graphics and modeling. It is defined by a series of control points that determine the shape of the curve. Bézier curves are commonly used to create smooth and precise shapes, such as curves and surfaces.
What is Clipping?
Clipping is the process of determining which parts of a 3D scene are visible and which are not. This is done by defining a boundary, called a clipping plane, that separates the visible portion of the scene from the hidden portion.
What is a View Frustum?
A View Frustum is a 3D geometric shape that defines the portion of a 3D scene that is visible from a particular camera position and orientation. The view frustum is used in rendering to determine which parts of the scene should be displayed on the screen.
What is a Camera?
A Camera is a virtual device used to view and capture images of a 3D scene. The camera has a position and orientation in the scene, and it defines the view frustum that determines which parts of the scene are visible. The camera is used in rendering to create images and animations of the scene from different perspectives.
What is a Projection Matrix?
A Projection Matrix is a mathematical transformation used in computer graphics to map a 3D scene onto a 2D surface, such as a screen. It defines how the scene is projected onto the screen, including the field of view, aspect ratio, and perspective distortion.
What is a Model Matrix?
A Model Matrix is a mathematical transformation used to position, scale, and rotate a 3D object in a scene. It defines the object’s position and orientation in the scene, as well as its size and shape.
What is a View Matrix?
A View Matrix is a mathematical transformation used to position and orient a virtual camera in a 3D scene. It defines the camera’s position, orientation, and field of view and is used to create different views of the scene.
What is a Texture Coordinate?
A Texture Coordinate is a set of 2D coordinates used to map a texture onto a 3D object. Each point on the surface of the object is assigned a texture coordinate, which is used to determine which part of the texture should be mapped onto that point.
What is Ambient Occlusion?
Ambient Occlusion is a lighting technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking shadows and shading on objects in the scene.
What is Anti-Aliasing?
Anti-Aliasing is a technique used in computer graphics to smooth out jagged edges and reduce visual artifacts in images and animations. It works by blending the colors of adjacent pixels to create smoother edges.
What is a Normal Map?
A Normal Map is a type of texture map used in computer graphics to add detail to a 3D object’s surface. It encodes information about the orientation of surface normals at each point on the object, which can be used to create the appearance of bumps, ridges, and other surface details.
What is a Depth Map?
A Depth Map is a type of texture map used in computer graphics to encode information about the distance between objects in a scene and the camera. It is used in various rendering techniques, such as depth-of-field and shadow mapping.
What is Global Illumination?
Global Illumination is a technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light bounces and interacts with objects in a scene. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking lighting effects in 3D scenes.
What is a Lightmap?
A Lightmap is a texture map used in computer graphics to store lighting information for a 3D scene. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking lighting effects on objects in the scene.
What is a Shadow Map?
A Shadow Map is a type of texture map used in computer graphics to simulate the way light casts shadows in a 3D scene. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking shadows on objects in the scene.
What is a Billboard?
A Billboard is a 2D object used in computer graphics to create the illusion of a 3D object moving in the scene. It is often used for things like trees and bushes, where it is not practical to create detailed 3D models for each individual object.
What is a Particle System?
A Particle System is a technique used in computer graphics to simulate the behavior of particles, such as smoke, fire, and water, in a 3D scene. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking effects in animations and video games.
What is Motion Capture?
Motion Capture is a technique used in computer graphics to capture the movements of a real-life object or person and use them to animate a 3D model. It is often used in movies and video games to create more realistic and natural-looking animations.
What is Rigging?
Rigging is the process of creating a skeletal structure for a 3D model and attaching it to the model’s vertices. This allows the model to be animated using techniques like inverse Kinematics and Forward Kinematics.
What is Inverse Kinematics?
Inverse Kinematics is a technique used in computer graphics to calculate the movements of a 3D object’s joints based on the desired end position of the object. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking animations in which the object moves in a fluid and natural way.
What is Forward Kinematics?
Forward Kinematics is a technique used in computer graphics to calculate the movements of a 3D object’s joints based on the desired position and orientation of the object’s endpoints. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking animations in which the object moves in a fluid and natural way.
What is a Keyframe?
A Keyframe is a specific point in time in an animation where the position, rotation, and scale of a 3D object are recorded. These keyframes are used to interpolate the movement of the object between the recorded positions, creating a smooth and natural-looking animation.
What is Motion Blur?
Motion Blur is a technique used in computer graphics to create the illusion of motion in an animation or video game. It works by simulating the way objects appear blurry when they are in motion and can be used to create more realistic and natural-looking animations.
What is Image-based Lighting?
Image-based Lighting is a technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene using a high dynamic range image. It is used to create more realistic and natural-looking lighting effects in 3D scenes.
What is a Render Pass?
A Render Pass is a specific step in the rendering process where a certain type of information is calculated and stored. This can include things like shadows, reflections, and ambient Occlusion.
What is a Texture Atlas?
A Texture Atlas is a collection of textures that are combined into a single large texture, which is then mapped onto a 3D object. This can reduce the number of texture lookups required during rendering, improving performance and reducing memory usage.
What is a Normalized Device Coordinates?
Normalized Device Coordinates are the coordinates that a 3D object’s vertices are transformed into after the vertex shader stage in the rendering pipeline. These coordinates are normalized to a range between -1 and 1 and are used to determine the position of the object on the screen.
What is a Vertex Shader?
A Vertex Shader is a type of shader used in the rendering pipeline to transform the position of a 3D object’s vertices from their local space to world space or view space.
What is a Pixel Shader?
A Pixel Shader is a type of shader used in the rendering pipeline to calculate the color and other properties of individual pixels on the screen.
What is the Pipeline?
The Pipeline is the sequence of stages that a 3D object goes through during the rendering process, including stages like vertex processing, rasterization, and shading.
What is Multi-Sampling?
Multi-Sampling is a technique used in computer graphics to reduce the appearance of jagged edges or “jaggies” on the edges of 3D objects in a scene. It works by taking multiple samples of each pixel and averaging them to create a smoother appearance.
What is a Frame Buffer?
A Frame Buffer is a portion of memory used to store the color and depth information for the pixels in a rendered image.
What is a Shading Language?
A Shading Language is a programming language used to write shaders for use in the rendering pipeline. Popular shading languages include GLSL and HLSL.
What is Ray Tracing?
Ray Tracing is a technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene by tracing the path of light rays as they bounce around and interact with different surfaces. It is often used to create photorealistic images and is computationally expensive, but it produces high-quality results.
Conclusion
In conclusion, computer graphics is a fascinating field that encompasses a wide range of techniques and technologies. These 50 viva questions and answers cover some of the key concepts and techniques used in computer graphics, from rendering and shading to animation and motion capture. Whether you are a student studying computer graphics or a professional working in the field, these questions and answers can help deepen your understanding of this exciting and ever-evolving discipline.