Brittany Murray's List: Intro to 3D modeling

• 3D Photorealistic effects are often achieved  without wireframe modeling and are sometimes indistinguishable in the final form

  • what does this do? what kind of effects does it create? is it a program?
• In 3D computer  graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical, wireframe representation of any three-dimensional object (either  inanimate or living) via specialized software. The product  is called a 3D model
• 3D modeling
• It can be displayed as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering or used in a  computer simulation of physical phenomena. The model can also  be physically created using 3D Printing devices.
• created automatically or manually

  • Automatiically? like how?
• mapping.
• mapping.
• mapping.
• 3D models represent a 3D object using a collection of points in 3D space,  connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved  surfaces, etc

• 3D models are widely used anywhere in 3D graphics. Actually, their use predates  the widespread use of 3D graphics on personal computers. Many computer games used  pre-rendered images of 3D models as sprites before computers could  render them in real-time.
• Solid - These models define the volume of the object they represent (like  a rock).
• Shell/boundary - these models represent the surface, e.g. the boundary of  the object, not its volume (like an infinitesimally thin eggshell).
• Most 3D modeling  software allows the user to color the model's vertices, and that color is then interpolated  across the model's surface during rendering.
• Two dimensional surfaces are a good  analogy for the objects used in graphics
• polygonal meshes

  • what is meshes???
• Polygonal  modeling - Points in 3D space, called vertices, are connected by line  segments to form a polygonal mesh
• Polygonal  modeling  -
• are by far the most common representation

  • why... are they the easiest to make?
• fluids

  • what does fluids have to do with animaion?
• to so-called meshes, which are nets of interconnected triangles

  • that makes so much more sence!
• "keyframing

  • whats this?
• NURBS Surfaces are defined by spline curves
• which are influenced by weighted control points
• Like NURBS, Splines and Patches depend on curved lines to define the visible  surface
• This procedure takes geometric primitives like balls, cylinders,  cones or cubes as building blocks for more complex models.

• The modeling stage consists of shaping individual objects that are later used  in the scene. There are a number of modeling techniques, including:

   
   
  • constructive solid geometry  
  • implicit surfaces  
  • subdivision  surfaces

  • how do all these work?

• Scene setup involves arranging virtual objects, lights, cameras and other  entities on a scene which will later be used to produce a still image or an  animation.
• Lighting is an important aspect of scene setup
• it can be a difficult art to master

  • how difficult?
• often how models are colored by the modeling software while the model is being  created. The most common method of adding color information to a 3D model is by  applying a 2D texture image to the model's surface through a  process called texture  

  • what is texture mapping? does this do the coloring of the 3D image?

• Other effects, beyond texturing and lighting, can be done to 3D models to add  to their realism. For example, the surface normals can be tweaked to affect how they are  lit, certain surfaces can have bump mapping applied and any other number of 3D rendering  tricks can be applied.

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