CMPS 160 -- Final Project Guidelines

Important Dates:

Nov 6, 2009, 9am -- Preliminary project proposal due.
Nov 13, 2009, 9am -- Final project proposal due.
Dec 9, 2009, 4-7pm -- Project demo and writeup.

NOTE: There will be a 2% LATE PENALTY for EACH item that is late. The 2% is based on your course grade, not just the project grade! Dec 9 is the final deadline. Nothing will be accepted beyond that date. Don't expect to get immediate response to your proposals if you submit at the last minute!

Final Project:

This is pair project meant to be completed in about 3-4 weeks. You get to decide what project you want to do -- after we review it. The main considerations are:

project should have sufficient graphics content,
it's a reasonable size project that can be completed within the given time,
there's enough variation from other projects.

Projects are first come, first serve. It's to your advantage to get your project approved early. You'll also get a head start and have more time to do a better project.

Preliminary Project Proposal:

Submit 3 project ideas that you would like to work on. Rank them in the order of your preference. Provide enough detail to explain each of your idea. You can submit the list to me by email (preferable) or hardcopy (only if you have drawings). I will respond to you by email, so be sure to include your email address in the hardcopy. Include both names and email in the proposal.

Since students should preferably work on different project topics, those getting the proposals in early and finalized get 1st pick on the topic.

Don't wait till the last minute to submit your proposals since it may take more than 1 iteration to get your proposal approved.

Final Project Proposal:

This is a 1-2 page writeup describing your final project in more detail. It also serves as your 1st draft of the Project Report. Include your project goals (list of different project components/features) and a time line on when you plan to complete different pieces of the project. Also include responsibilities -- who's doing what, as well as list of references that you have read about your project (if applicable). You should set up your report as an html file -- name it "index.html".

Proposal Submission.

Create and submit a subdirectory called "proposal". Include your "index.html" file and any "assets" e.g. images, that are used by this file. Use submit from unix.ic.

submit cmps160-ap.f09 proposal proposal
If system does not let you submit a folder, zip the folder before submitting:
submit cmps160-ap.f09 proposal proposal.zip

Project Requirements:

Project Demonstration. Each pair will have 5-10 minutes to present their final project to the class. Be sure to allow your window to be resized to the entire screen so folks can see your output.
Project Report -- this is in the form of a web page and should contain the following information.
- brief description of your project,
- a mini user's guide,
- sample output i.e. images and short animation clips
We will be moving your submitted material from the UCSC web server over to the SOE web server. All the links should be RELATIVE to the root of your submit folder. Otherwise, links may break during the move, or over time if you include a link to anything outside of your submit folder.
Project Submission. Create and submit a subdirectory called "proj". Use submit from unix.ic.
- To submit use: submit cmps160-ap.f09 proj proj
  If system does not let you submit a folder, zip the folder before submitting:
  submit cmps160-ap.f09 proj proj.zip
Include the following:
- README file for information on platform, compilation, etc.,
- at least two favorite screen grabs , "xv" or "snapshot" can be used on the suns; on the macs, < shift >< apple ><3> keys held down together will produce a .pict image file of the whole screen, crop this with your favorite image tool; on windows, try < shift >< printscreen >. These will be used as thumbnails for your project in the class project page.
- a "report" folder with the project report i.e. index.html page and all accompanying image and animation files. Everything must be self-contained. Do not include links to anything other than what you include in your submit folder. Include a a short movie clip of your program in action , say about 5-10 seconds, and not to exceed 2 mb. Save movie as quicktime or mpeg.
- a "code" folder containing source code, makefile, etc. to compile your code,
- a "data" folder containin any *new* data sets, if any.
Project Grading.
- There will be no early bonus points, nor will late programs be accepted.
- During the project proposal phase, your project will be rated as either: Easy, Medium, Difficult. Successfully completed Easy projects get a maximum score of 90, Medium is 100, and Difficult is 110.
- Breakdown of points (in percentage of maximum points):
  - Project Report requirements -- 10%
  - Project Demonstration requirements -- 10%
  - Project Functionality (meets the proposal goals) -- 80%
  Project reports with non-functional links will get docked at least 5%

CONTEST!

As an added incentive, we'll be running a competition among your projects. Winners get a chance to select from some goodies. Here's a sample voting/entry form .