RQ Workshop

This is a workshop we had to do in last week's lecture. I thought it would be a good idea to put my answers up on the blog so I have a good record of them.

Are you Focused?

• What is the name of this module, how many credits?

          AG1081A Honours Project Planning and Reporting, 30 credits.

• Your technical supervisor, how many times have you met?

         I have talked with Matt Bett twice about my project and hopefully will do so again soon, as there are still aspects of my project that I need to figure out.

• What other module is associated with the honours project, how many credits?

         Honours Project Execution, 30 credits

• How frequently do you update your blog?

         I try to update the blog at least once a week.

• Have you included both your worksheets in your blog, with/out annotations/feedback?

        I have done all the worksheets so far (1-3) and posted them on the blog, but so far I have only had one comment on the first worksheet and not the others though I did send my links out.

• Have you included in your blog the resources you have found and read/reading through your literature resources?

         Yes, I have put up links to all the online resources I have found so far and references for the books I have found also. I haven't read through a lot of them yet but I'm working on it.

Common Sense?

• Have you subscribed to any game related forum and posted your RQ, research ideas and got feedback?

        No, I haven't. I've never been much of a forum goer and I do feel a little nervous about asking for help in one.

• What back up procedures have you implemented?

         I keep copies of all the research papers, demos and links that I find on both my USB stick and on my laptop. Anything I have to write down, I use my notebook for and then transfer to the blog. Though, the notes on my blog are more complete than those in my notebook since I think better at a keyboard.
I would keep backups on my university account, but I've been having problems saving stuff to it as it claims that ther's no room. Once I get that sorted I will keep backups on there too.

• How long do you spend for your Honours Project activities?

         It's hard to say exactly, but possibly about 2-3 hours a week. I probably should spend more time on it I know.

Do you know what you are doing?

• "What" is your RQ?

           What are the solutions to rendering dynamic ambient occlusion in realtime 3D applications (i.e. games) and how can they be improved/expanded upon to better approximate global illumination?

• "Why" is it important?

         Realism is a big issue in computer games today and within the realm of graphics, global illumination is a pretty current topic. Global illumination simulates the ambient light that bounces around a scene, reflecting off diffuse surfaces and adds more realism than just having lights and shadows would. However, global illumination techniques such as ray tracing, radiosity and photon mapping are computationaly expensive and while they produce good results graphically, they are not cost effective enough to really be viable in real time apps, i.e. games. Ambient occlusion on the other hand can be implemented in real time apps in a cost effective manner. AO simulates the soft shadows produced where light cannot reach. i.e. in creases and corners, or when two objects are very close together. It provides more depth to a scene, particluarly those with dim lighting. Ambient occlusion can be expanded to simulate indirect lighting as well and could be a viable alternative to global illumination.

• "How" will you answer it?

         I will create an application that simulates a game environment, i.e. it will have lights, shadows, moving and static objects, and a movable camera. I will then implement a few of the methods for dynamic ambient occlusion and look at how they could be improved upon/expanded. I'm not sure if I should implement a globa illumination method as well so I could compare them, or how many methods I should actually end up implementing. I will have to think a bit more about this aspect of the project.

• "So What" will be: 1. Your measure for success, 2. What will be the significance of what you have done?

        1.  I think the success will be measured in both, how cost effective the methods are and how well they simulate a global illumination effect.