CGVIS Computer Graphics and Visualization

Teaching

Courses, theses, and module information.

Current teaching activities, archived semester pages, thesis topics, and the chair's course database.

Study Program

Computer Science at UDE.

The Informatik program is built for students who want to understand, design, and advance digital technologies from the ground up.

Program strategy

Specialization

Computer Graphics and Visualization.

Within the Computer Science program, students can build a focused profile through our lectures, practical projects, seminars, and theses.

Specialization pathway
Theses Open topics for bachelor's and master's theses VDB Course and module database

Study Program: Informatik

Shaping Computer Science, Not Just Using It

The Informatik program in the Department of General Computer Science is aimed at students who want to understand digital technologies at a fundamental level. While many degree programs focus primarily on teaching students how to use existing tools, this program develops computer scientists who can:

  • Analyze and formalize complex problems, then translate them into algorithmic solutions
  • Design and implement software and hardware systems from the ground up
  • Critically evaluate, improve, and advance existing technologies

In an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, this depth of understanding is becoming a defining skill. The computer scientists who will be most valuable in the future are not those who simply use sophisticated technologies, but those who understand how they work, can assess their strengths and limitations, and are capable of driving meaningful innovation.

Official information about the Informatik study program is available on the program website.

Specialization within Informatik

A focused route through computer graphics and visualization.

Students in the Informatik program can use computer graphics and visualization as a coherent specialization area. Our lectures, practical projects, seminars, and thesis topics form a pathway from core computer science foundations to advanced visual computing. The goal is a profile that is both broad and focused: students understand the underlying computer science well enough to evaluate and guide automated systems, while also developing expert knowledge in a field that remains central to entertainment, scientific discovery, simulation, and visual data analysis. The pathway can start in the bachelor's program, but it also supports students who join the topic area during the master's program.

Bachelor's foundation

Build the basics

Start with no required prior knowledge in computer graphics, learn the core concepts, and apply them in a practical project, a seminar, and a bachelor's thesis.

Master's specialization

Deepen and extend

Move into modern rendering, image synthesis, and scientific visualization, then complete a master's project, seminar, and thesis at the chair.

Master entry

Joining later is possible

Students who enter the pathway in the master's program need to catch up on selected fundamentals. Important concepts are revisited in the master's lectures to support this transition.

Bachelor

Example start in the winter semester

  1. Semesters 1-3 Programming and theoretical foundations

    Core computer science, mathematics, and programming skills.

  2. Semester 4 Einführung in die Computergrafik (Introduction to Computer Graphics)

    First graphics lecture for students without prior graphics or visualization knowledge.

  3. Semester 5 Practical project in computer graphics and visualization

    Hands-on work that turns lecture concepts into implementation experience.

  4. Semester 6 Seminar and bachelor's thesis

    Presentation training and a thesis topic at the Computer Graphics and Visualization chair.

Master

Advanced graphics and visualization

  1. Semester 1 Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization

    Rendering foundations, radiance transport, and visualization of simulation and measurement data.

  2. Semester 2 Advanced Image Synthesis and master's project

    Modern rasterization, neural rendering, differentiable rendering, and applied project work.

  3. Semester 3 Seminar and master's thesis

    Research-oriented specialization leading to a master's thesis at the chair.

Lecture Topics

What students learn along the way.

Einführung in die Computergrafik (Introduction to Computer Graphics)

  • Geometric models: polygons, meshes, parametric and implicit surfaces, normals, intersections
  • Splines: Hermite, Catmull-Rom, Bezier, B-Splines
  • Color: color models, perception, RGB, CMYK, HSL, HSV, YUV, Lab
  • Lighting, reflection models, ray tracing, ray tracing acceleration, transformations

Computer Graphics

  • Radiance transfer, ray tracing review, path tracing, subsurface scattering
  • Volume graphics, photon mapping, radiosity, irradiance volumes
  • Precomputed radiance transfer, ambient occlusion, sampling
  • Virtual reality, image compression, high dynamic range imaging

Advanced Image Synthesis

  • Rasterization review, reflections, transparency, shadows, terrain rendering, fur, REYES
  • Neural functions and optimization, differentiable rendering, NeRF
  • Acceleration, 3D Gaussian splatting, neural appearance, inverse rendering

Scientific Visualization

  • History, simulation, measurements, data representation, filtering, mapping
  • Volumes, GPU volume rendering, advanced volume rendering and sampling
  • Indirect volume rendering, geometric and dense flow visualization, feature based flow visualization