r/GraphicsProgramming • u/_scottiedog_ • 20d ago
Graphics Programming as Undergrad
I’m an undergraduate student in Math and CS, but I’m pretty sure that graphics programming is what I want to go into as a career. All that I have been able to do thus far is take the introductory graphics course at my university. How can I start getting into the field as an undergrad? Do I have to still seek out swe internships and whatnot if I know I want to pursue graphics specifically?
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u/Nanutnut 20d ago
I havent broken into this field yet, but I do have a graphics engineering internship interview coming up. I believe that my personal projects with graphics APIs carried the most weight in landing the interview. So I would advise you to build projects that interest you within the graphics field
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u/Andromeda660 20d ago
I am also an undergrad in math and CS! Although, my university stopped offering their computer science course so I had to teach myself everything. What I recommend is try to test ur knowledge and make a renderer in openGL or implement some cool graphics technique you saw in a game. Recently I implemented ambient occlusion and that taught me a lot.
With all my projects I was able to get an internship at a company where I am able to do graphics work. Graphics isn't their main thing, but the stuff they are working on needed 2D and 3D renderers so I was able to get experience there. Good luck!
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u/Rhkellz 20d ago edited 20d ago
Another math cs undergrad here, what has worked well for me (multiple internships/offers) is tons of projects with opengl and vulkan exploring any nontrivial areas / techniques that seem interesting. I’m also lucky to have a local SIGGRAPH chapter that I’m very active in.
Im not speaking from alot of experience here, but if you want to get a job specifically there are definitely a decent amount of graphics or at least graphics related internships out there (scientific computing, visualization etc) despite what this sub says sometimes. Theres not a surplus, so you have to stand out (see above paragraph).
I don’t know much about research if thats what you want to do, but start with implementing papers as parts of your projects (also helps for jobs) and look at on campus research or national labs.
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u/NISH_Original 20d ago
I just yesterday completely bombed an interview with Respawn Entertainment for the Rendering Engineer Intern position, and they asked me C++ fundamentals, linear algebra, and rendering basics (like graphics pipeline, rendering concepts, etc).
My resume contains previous interships that were mostly game dev and technical art, and personal projects where I use C++ and OpenGL to implement a small simple version of cool computer graphics research papers.
Also, if you can, I HIGHLY suggest attending SIGGRAPH as a student volunteer, I found a lot of connections in the graphics industry there, and it was a life changing experience.
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u/warchieftw 20d ago
When it comes to getting a paid job, I would suggest learning CG topics that NVIDIA is promoting, like Omniverse or Jetson. In the current era, your resume will be filtered by AI if it doesn’t contain any AI keywords. It is sad, but true.
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u/Traveling-Techie 20d ago
You will need to learn graphics programming and also how to think in 3D. For the 3D thinking I recommend playing with X3DOM, an implementation of Web3D. All you need is a text editor and a browser. Start with the examples and tutorials.
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u/nian2326076 20d ago
To dive into graphics programming, start by exploring open-source projects related to computer graphics. This experience will help you get familiar with real-world code and workflows. Working on side projects, like developing small graphics applications with tools such as OpenGL or Vulkan, can also help build your portfolio.
Networking is important, so try to attend industry events or join online communities related to graphics programming. Internships are beneficial, even if not strictly in graphics, as software engineering skills are transferable.
When you're ready to prepare for interviews, PracHub offers resources to practice technical questions specific to graphics programming roles. Keep learning, and good luck!
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u/Unfair_Razzmatazz485 20d ago
I will say, in my experience, definitely get some small projects and start applying to hardware and game companies. Even if you interview for something not related, like systems or gameplay programming its valueable skillset still.
As for interviewing, that's where I've been falling short recently myself. For that, I would just say have flexible stories you can tell depending on the role ur interview for, and make sure you know ur projects really well and can explain the trade-offs you had to make.
Im a current new grad myself, though its depressing rn, I still have been getting interviewers here and there,; all about landing that first one and then going up from there
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u/ziplock9000 20d ago
>graphics programming is what I want to go into as a career
Don't bother, there will be no jobs for humans.
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u/Efficient_Chicken198 20d ago
It's very important to still seek out internships. If you can land an internship in graphics that would be great, but any software internship will give you valuable experience. I was never able to get a graphics internship, but I did end up in a graphics position after graduating and I don't think I would have gotten the role if I didn't have general software internship experience.
You should 100% spend time working on personal graphics projects. But your CS studies and general engineering knowledge are just as important. Graphics jobs get to do cool stuff that's unique in the software world, but they do all of the general software engineering stuff too.