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One Man, One Dog

The Imaginary Institute is a small company, made up of one man and one dog. I'm the human part. The name on my diplomas is Dr. Andrew Glassner, but you can call me Andrew.

I got hooked on computer graphics in my teens, and as soon as I got my PhD in 1988, I started a career as a professional research scientist. I've worked in several great laboratories, including NYIT, the IBM TJ Watson Lab, Xerox PARC, and Microsoft Research.

I love to write and I love to teach, because they let me share the things that excite me in a way that helps other people get excited by them too.

My professional passions led me to a career of inventing new techniques to enhance creative expression using computer graphics. Whether it's about making shapes, making them move over time, or developing techniques interaction, my goal has been to help people use their visual imaginations to create expressive, meaningful visual imagery.

Much of my work has been in 3D, like the animated films and special effects we see in films and television. But I've always been inspired by 2D as well, and thanks to the internet and the web, 2D imagery is enjoying a massive resurgence in power and popularity.

I've written or edited over a dozen books, including the very popular Graphics Gems series, and three books that collected articles from my regular column, Andrew Glassner's Notebook. Some of my books, like the two-volume Principles of Digital Image Synthesis, are used as core textbooks in university classes. My book Processing for Visual Artists is used as a text in many art programs, and served as the original inspiration for this course.

I've served my community in many ways, from Technical Papers Chair for the SIGGRAPH 1994 conference, and Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on Graphics, to Founder of the Journal of Graphics Tools.

One of the great things about working in graphics is that it takes us to a wide variety of fascinating fields. For example, I've published work on solar haloes, Celtic knotwork, four-dimensional animation, soap bubbles, weaving, pop-up cards, camera shutters, shape morphing, fluorescence and phosphorescence, and even how to use cubism for computer graphics.

There's nothing quite like creating experiences that let you communicate your ideas to someone else. It's one thing to simply say what you have in mind, but it's often far more effective to let someone explore and understand it for themselves.

I've been lucky enough to do plenty of production work. I created an online, multiplayer game for The Microsoft Network, where I also wrote the scripts and directed the live-action shoots. I directed the 3D animated short film Chicken Crossing, which has been shown in festivals around the world. My drawings have been turned into inlaid-wood decorations on a beautiful cello, and tattooed on (other people's) bodies.

The original Mayan glyphs I drew for my iPhone calendar app have been used in museums around the world, including the Tallinn City Museum in Estonia, and an online site for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

I created this course because I love computer graphics, and I want to help you fall in love with it, too.

I also love my dog, but he doesn't need his own course.

If you'd like to know more about my personal and professional work, you can hop over to my personal website, www.glassner.com.

If you have any questions, I'd love to hear from you! Just drop me a line.