Understand theory and applications of 3D
Zac Argo
Applications of 3D:
3D is everywhere films, TV, cartoons etc.. Almost every single film released on the big screen nowadays is also released in 3D. However the first ever 3D film was released on the 27th September 1922 believe it or not. Many childrens cartoons are rendered in 3D now. Most games are 3D as it adds depth and realism to the game.
Displaying 3D polygon animations:
Many things use Direct3D to display 3D polygon animations. Direct3D is an API for Microsoft Windows, it’s used to render 3D graphics where performance matters, such as games.
A graphics pipeline is used in games and it is a sequence of steps used to create a 2D raster representation of a 3D scene. This includes modelling, lighting, viewing, projection, clipping, scan conversion, texturing and shading, and display
The two most popular methods for calculating realistic images are radiosity and ray tracing. The difference between the two is the starting point. Ray tracing is a very good method at simulating specular reflections and transparency. Radiosity stores illumination values on the surfaces of the objects,as the light is propagated starting at the light sources. These are rendering techniques.
This is rendering, the process of changing a 2D image into a 3D one.
Geometric theory
Vertices: In geometry, a vertex a special kind of point that describes the corners or intersections of geometric shapes
Lines: A line is a collection of points along a straight path that goes on and on in opposite directions. A line has no endpoints. A line segment is a part of a line having two endpoints.
Edge: In geometry, an edge is a particular type of line segment joining two vertices in a polygon.
Polygons: Polygons are many-sided figures, with sides that are line segments. Polygons are named according to the number of sides and angles they have. The most familiar polygons are the triangle, the rectangle, and the square. A regular polygon is one that has equal sides.
Element:
Face: In solid geometry, a face is a flat (planar) surface that forms part of the boundary of a solid object; a three-dimensional solid bounded exclusively by flat faces is a polyhedron.
Primitives: The term geometric primitive in computer graphics and CAD systems is used in various senses, with the common meaning of the simplest geometric objects that the system can handle
Meshes, for example wireframe:
Coordinate geometry (two-dimensional, three-dimensional):
Surfaces:
Mesh construction
Box modelling
Extrusion modelling
Using common primitives, for example cubes, pyramids, cylinders, and spheres.
3D development software
Software, for example 3D Studio Max, Maya, Lightwave, AutoCAD, Cinema 4D,
File formats, for example 3ds, .mb, .lwo, .C4d, and plug-ins.
Constraints
Polygon count, file size, rendering time.
