Applications of computer graphics
🎯 Overview
Computers have become a powerful tool for pictures' rapid and economical production. Advances in computer technology have made interactive computer graphics a practical tool. Today, computer graphics are used in areas such as science, engineering, medicine, business, industry, government, art, entertainment, advertising, education, and training.
🎯 Applications
Computer-Aided Design
Computer graphics are used in design processes, particularly for engineering and architectural systems. For some design applications, objects are first displayed in a wireframe outline form that shows objects' overall sham and internal features.
Software packages for CAD applications typically provide the designer with a multi-window environment. Each window can show enlarged sections or different views of objects. The design package often supplies standard shapes for electrical, electronic, and logic circuits. The connections between the components have been made automatically.
Animations are often used in CAD applications.
Real-time animations using wireframe displays are helpful for testing a vehicle's performance.
Wireframe models allow the designer to see the vehicle's interior parts during motion.
When object designs are complete, realistic lighting models and surface rendering are applied.
Manufacturing process of object can also be controlled through CAD.
Interactive graphics methods are used to layout the buildings.
Three-dimensional interior layouts and lighting also provided.
With virtual-reality systems, the designers can go for a simulated walk inside the building.
Presentation Graphics
It is used to produce illustrations for reports or to generate slide for with projections.
Examples of presentation graphics are bar charts, line graphs, surface graphs, pie charts and displays showing relationships between parameters.
3-D graphics can provide more attraction to the presentation.
Computer Art
Computer graphics methods are widely used in both fine are and commercial art applications.
The artist uses a combination of 3D modeling packages, texture mapping, drawing programs and CAD software.
Pen plotter with specially designed software can create "automatic art".
"Mathematical Art" can be produced using mathematical functions, fractal procedures.
These methods are also applied in commercial art.
Photorealistic techniques are used to render images of a product.
Animations are also used frequently in advertising, and television commercials are produced frame by frame. Film animations require 24 frames for each second in the animation sequence.
A common graphics method employed in many commercials is morphing, where one object is transformed into another.
Entertainment
CG methods are now commonly used in making motion pictures, music videos and television shows.
Many TV series regularly employ computer graphics method.
Graphics objects can be combined with a live action.
Education And Training
Computer-generated models of physical, financial and economic systems are often used as educational aids.
For some training applications, special systems are designed.
Eg. Training of ship captains, aircraft pilots etc.,
Some simulators have no video screens, but most simulators provide graphics screen for visual operation. Some of them provide only the control panel.
Visualization
The numerical and scientific data are converted to a visual form for analysis and to study the behavior called visualization.
Producing graphical representation for scientific data sets are calls scientific visualization.
And business visualization is used to represent the data sets related to commerce and industry.
The visualization can be either 2D or 3D.
Image Processing
Computer graphics is used to create a picture.
Image processing applies techniques to modify or interpret existing pictures.
To apply image processing methods, the image must be digitized first.
Medical applications also make extensive use of image processing techniques for picture enhancements, simulations of operations, etc.
Graphical User Interface
Nowadays software packages provide graphics user interface (GUI) for the user to work easily.
A major component in GUI is a window.
Multiple windows can be opened at a time.
To activate any one of the window, the user needs just to check on that window.
Menus and icons are used for fast selection of processing operations.
Icons are used as shortcut to perform functions. The advantages of icons are which takes less screen space.
And some other interfaces like text box, buttons, and list are also used.