GRAFICA Obscura

Curated by Paul Haeberli

Horiz Bar

Welcome to Alpha 0.52 of GRAFICA Obscura, my evolving computer graphics notebook. This is a compilation of technical notes, pictures and essays that I've accumulated over the years. For maximum enjoyment, check the viewing notes provided.

Contents

Paper and Plotter: A 3D Surface
One of my first computer graphics projects is shown here.
Laser Cutting for Rapid Manufacturing
An overview of laser cutting along with short descriptions of three projects that explore laser scoring, laser cutting and prototype production.
Geometric Paper Folding: Dr. David Huffman
A look at some of the nice folded paper structures created by Dr. Huffman at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Paper and Light
An inexpensive lamp made from a string of Christmas tree lights and small pieces of folded paper.
A Paper Folding Project
Here are step by step instructions on how to make a folded paper sculpture.
Japanese English Advertising Slogans
Beautiful and poetic word combinations from Japan.
The Impressionist
If you have a JAVA enabled browser, try The Impressionist. This is a paint program that lets you create a painted representation of a photograph.
Portfolio
A collection of digital pictures. This includes photographic and synthetic images.
Synthetic Lighting for Photography
Modifying photographic lighting as a post process.
The SGI C Source Compliance Drawing
Isn't style as important as (f)utility? Should you indent 4 or 8? Here's the SGI way to write fashionable C code.
A Note on Shadows
A quote from Carlos Castaneda about shadows.
Dynadraw
A paint program that uses dynamics to filter mouse positions.
The SGI Typeface Collection
Here's a booklet showing various typefaces designed at SGI over the last few years.
Futurist Programming Overview
Background on the Futurist Programming movement. For open minds only.
A Multifocus Method for Controlling Depth of Field
This technical note describes a technique for combining several images to increase or control depth of field in photography.
Properties of Light
A note on the properties of various kinds of light. This describes lighting in terms of fall off, diffusion and wrap.
Image Merging
Creating an accurate panorama from a series of independent images is hard, but not impossible using a projective warp.
Image Interpolation and Extrapolation
Linear interpolation can be used to implement many image processing operations efficiently. Here we show how to control contrast, color saturation, and image sharpness.
Matrix Operations for Image Processing
The same four by four matrices that are commonly used to transform 3D points may also be used to transform RGB colors.
Texture Mapping Applications
Many unusual uses for texture mapping are surveyed in this technical paper.
Image Production for the Web
Tools and hints for creating images for HTML documents.
GRAFICA Obscura in Print
Information on the portable version of GRAFICA Obscura.

The GRAFICA Outpost

Come see experiments in progress in the GRAFICA Outpost. Rants, CGI hacks, the FIAT LUX conference proceedings and many harmless distractions.

Future Additions

This material will be presented here in the future. In the mean time, please explore.