Stanford CS248B, Fall 2026

Fundamentals of Computer Graphics:
Animation and Simulation

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to computer graphics, focusing on fundamental concepts and techniques in Computer Animation and Physics Simulation. Topics include numerical integration, 3D character modeling, keyframe animation, skinning/rigging, inverse kinematics, rigid body dynamics, deformable body simulation, and fluid simulation.

Basic Info

Fall 2026 Schedule

This schedule is tentative and likely to change. Lecture topics and dates may be reordered as the quarter goes on. Slides for each class will be made available shortly before class.

Fall 2026 lecture schedule

Date	Lecture	Out / due
Week 1
9/22	Introduction	P0 out
9/24	Particle Systems and ODEs
Week 2
9/29	Resolving Particle Collisions	P0 due; P1 out
10/1	Collision Detection I
Week 3
10/6	Collision Detection II	P1α due
10/8	Deformable Models I
Week 4
10/13	Deformable Models II	P1 due; P2 out
10/15	Deformable Models III
Week 5
10/20	Deformable Collision Processing
10/22	Fluids	P2α due
Week 6
10/27	Character Modeling
10/29	Forward and Inverse Kinematics
Week 7
11/3	No class (Democracy Day)
11/5	Interpolation	P2 due; P3 out
Week 8
11/10	Orientation
11/12	Rigid Body Simulation
Week 9
11/17	Constrained Rigid Body Systems
11/19	Differentiable Simulation and Animation Control	P3 due; P4 out
11/24, 11/26	No class (Thanksgiving recess)
Week 10
12/1	Physics-based Character Animation
12/3	Guest Lecture (TBD)
After classes end
12/12		P4 due

Programming Assignments

Assignment links will be posted here as each one is released. P1 and P2 each have a mid-point check-in, an alpha version due partway through, marked α in the schedule above. P0 is an ungraded warm-up.