About VAMS

A 2D OpenGL 1.5 teaching tool that began as an undergraduate thesis.

Why VAMS exists

From a thesis to a tool students use.

Computer graphics courses ask students to work with vectors, matrices and coordinate systems, and then to picture what those numbers do on screen. Most students can rotate a triangle by 45 degrees on paper. Far fewer can see that rotation before they run the program, and in an OpenGL course running it first means a compiler, a GLUT install and a build script.

VAMS began as our undergraduate thesis at FEU Institute of Technology. The idea was simple: instead of asking students to connect an equation to a picture in their heads, show both at once. You build a scene by hand, and VAMS writes the OpenGL that draws it and shows the math underneath, live.

It is meant as a first step, not a replacement for professional tools. Students learn the pipeline here, then carry the same code and the same math into a real OpenGL project.

After the thesis, we kept building: a guided course of 46 lessons, a redesigned editor, and a site that works offline. VAMS is free and open source under the MIT License.

For students

What it teaches, where it runs, and where your work is kept.

What it teaches: OpenGL 1.5 in 2D, in five sections that follow the pipeline: Pipeline, Primitives, Buffers, Transforms, Textures. 46 lessons in all.
Two modes: Author, where you build freely. Lesson, where guided steps play out and exercises check your scene.
Where it runs: A desktop browser: Chrome, Edge or Firefox. Nothing to install.
Offline: After your first visit VAMS works without internet, and in Chrome or Edge you can install it as an app.
Your work: Your scene and your lesson progress stay in this browser between visits. My scenes keeps named scenes and your last five backups. To move work to another computer, save a project file.
Found a problem?: Open an issue on GitHub

The thesis

The record, and how to cite it.

V.A.M.S: A Geometric Modeling and Animation Studio for Introductory Computer Graphics Courses

Authors: Mikhael Edman P. Gomez, Johann Patrick S. Taguiam, Justine Jhigz D. Vizco
Adviser: Elisa V. Malasaga
Degree: BS Computer Science, specialization in Software Engineering
Institution: FEU Institute of Technology
Year: 2026

Gomez, M. E. P., Taguiam, J. P. S., & Vizco, J. J. D. (2026). V.A.M.S: A geometric modeling and animation studio for introductory computer graphics courses [Undergraduate thesis, FEU Institute of Technology].

@mastersthesis{gomez2026vams,
  author = {Gomez, Mikhael Edman P. and Taguiam, Johann Patrick S. and Vizco, Justine Jhigz D.},
  title  = {{V.A.M.S}: A Geometric Modeling and Animation Studio for Introductory Computer Graphics Courses},
  school = {FEU Institute of Technology},
  type   = {Undergraduate thesis},
  year   = {2026}
}