Interactive Learning Path

Computer Graphics:
Principles & Practice

14 guided lessons from vectors to a physics simulation you build, record, and share. No prior graphics experience required. Anchored in Hughes, van Dam, McGuire, Sklar, Foley, Feiner & Akeley.

4–6 hours total14 lessons across 4 partsPrerequisite: high-school algebra

Part 1: The Math

0 / 4 lessons complete

Displacement, not position

Dot & Cross Product

Measuring alignment and perpendicularity

2D Transformations

Matrices move things

3D & the Camera

One more dimension, one more headache

Part 2: From Math to Pictures

0 / 3 lessons complete

Vertices and triangles

Procedural Geometry

Shapes from code

Your First Shader

A tiny program per pixel

Part 3: Motion

0 / 4 lessons complete

Animation as discrete steps

Particles & Euler Integration

F = ma, one tiny step at a time

Gravity, drag, and springs

Bounce and restitution

Part 4: Capstone

0 / 3 lessons complete

The Cannon Scene

Composing a rigid-body scene

Scripting the Cannon

Fire at t = 1s, count the bricks

Your animation, your link

ThinkInsideTheBox -- Browser-Based 3D Physics SimulatorThinkInsideTheBox is a professional-grade 3D physics simulation studio that runs entirely in your browser. Build real-time physics scenes with rigid body dynamics, cloth simulation, GLSL shader editing, procedural mesh generation, and JavaScript physics scripting. No downloads or installs required.Features include adjustable mass, friction, and restitution for rigid bodies; Verlet-integrated cloth with configurable wind and pin points; a full GLSL shader editor; procedural geometry from code; per-frame JavaScript scripting; GIF recording; and cloud storage with one-link sharing.The simulation studio is completely free to use. Cloud storage plans are available for saving and sharing scenes online.