CMPUT 414: Introduction to Multimedia Technology (Autumn 2010)

General Information

Instructor: Pierre Boulanger
Tel: 780-492-3031
Email: pierreb@cs.ualberta.ca

URL: www.cs.ualberta.ca/~pierreb
Office: 411 Athabasca Hall
Office hours: By appointment only.

Teaching Assistants:  Amirhossein Firouzmanesh

Idanis Diaz

Lectures: MWF 14:00 to 14:50 (will start on September 15) CEB 436

Prerequisites: CMPUT 204, CMPUT 301, MATH 120

Course Description

CMPUT 414 is an introductory course to basic principles and algorithms used in current technologies of multimedia systems. One of the goals of this course is to give the student hands-on experience in issues relating to multimedia data representation, compression, processing, and retrieval. In addition, the course will address issues relating to sound transmission, music streaming, 2-D and 3-D graphics, image and video. We will also explore human perceptual issues associated to multimedia technologies.

Lectures

The course material includes notes posted on the web and additional assigned reading. A detailed list of topics covered in assignments and examinations will be published as the course progresses.

Assignments and Project

There will be four assignments distributed during the term. The purpose of the assignments is to provide you with some hands-on experience of what you learn in the lectures. It is mandatory that you complete all assignments. The assignments are worth 30% towards of your final grade.

In addition to the assignments, there will be a final project on topics associated to multimedia technology. Each project must include an implementation of a particular algorithm, a perceptual evaluation on how well the algorithm work, and a document describing the algorithm and the results of your experiments. The project will count for 50% of the final grade.

The project and the assignments will be turned in electronically. They will be marked based on correct functionalities and documentation.

In the course of developing the assignments and the project you are encouraged to discuss with other students, but the assignments and the project you hand in (write up and code) must be your own work. Copying programs from another person or letting others to copy your programs will be penalized in accordance with university policy.

http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/governance/studentappeals.cfm

If there is an appeal on assignment, contact the TA who is responsible for that assignment first. However, you must wait at least one day between receiving the marked assignment and contacting the TA. If your appeal to the TA does not satisfy you, you can then contact me. Appeals on assignments will be heard for 10 days from the time that the assignment is handed back to the students. After this time, no appeals will be heard. 

Examinations

There will be only a final examination worth 30% of the term. The date of the final exam will be announced in class. It will be held in class. The exam covers materials presented in the lectures as well as additional reading materials, if any. The final exam will be open book.

It will be held on: December 16, at 14h00 CSC 436

Evaluation

The proportions of the final mark associated with the different components of the course are as following:

Item	Weight
Assignments	30
Project	50
Final Exam	30

If a student misses the final examination, then the student must apply to the Faculty of Science for permission to write the deferred examination at the time and date as indicated above. 

A graduate student who fails to submit the final assignment on the last day of this class will receive a failing grade.

Assignment of Final Grades

No particular distribution will be assumed. A passing grade of C- (for undergraduates) will likely require at least 50% overall, although this number is provided as a guideline only. 

Text Books

For this course there will be one textbook that we will follow closely. The book is available at the bookstore or can be acquired on the web.

· Ze-Nian Li and Mark S. Drew, "Fundamentals of Multimedia", Prentice Hall, 2004.

Note: In the lectures, we will highlight the reference to the textbook.