3D modeling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about computer modeling within an artistic medium. For scientific usage,
see Computer simulation.
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material
may be challenged andremoved. (April 2010)

3D computer graphics

Basics

3D modeling / 3D scanning

3D rendering / 3D printing

3D computer graphics software

Primary Uses

3D models / Computer-aided design

Graphic design / Video games

Visual effects / Visualization

Virtual engineering / Virtual reality

Related concepts

CGI / Animation / 3D display
 Wireframe model / Texture mapping

Computer animation / Motion capture

Skeletal animation / Crowd simulation

Global illumination / Volume rendering

v • d • e

In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing

a mathematicalrepresentation of any three-dimensional surface of object (either
inanimate or living) viaspecialized software. The product is called a 3D model. It can be
displayed as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering or used in
a computersimulation of physical phenomena. The model can also be physically created
using 3D Printing devices.

Models may be created automatically or manually. The manual modeling process of

preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics is similar to plastic arts such
assculpting.
Contents
 [hide]

1 Models
o 1.1 Representati
on
2 Modeling processes
3 Scene setup
4 Compared to 2D
methods
5 3D model market
6 See also
7 References

[edit]Models

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. Being a
collection of data (points and other information), 3D models can be created by
hand,algorithmically (procedural modeling), or scanned.

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.

Today, 3D models are used in a wide variety of fields. The medical industry uses
detailed models of organs. The movie industry uses them as characters and objects for
animated and real-life motion pictures. The video game industry uses them as assets
for computer and video games. The science sector uses them as highly detailed models
of chemical compounds. The architecture industry uses them to demonstrate proposed
buildings and landscapes through Software Architectural Models. The engineering
community uses them as designs of new devices, vehicles and structures as well as a
host of other uses. In recent decades the earth sciencecommunity has started to
construct 3D geological models as a standard practice.

[edit]Representation

A modern render of the iconic Utah teapotmodel developed by Martin Newell (1975). The Utah teapot
is one of the most common models used in 3D graphics education.

Almost all 3D models can be divided into two categories.

 Solid - These models define the volume of the object they represent (like a rock).
These are more realistic, but more difficult to build. Solid models are mostly used for
nonvisual simulations such as medical and engineering simulations, for CAD and
specialized visual applications such as ray tracing and constructive solid geometry

 Shell/boundary - these models represent the surface, e.g. the boundary of the
object, not its volume (like an infinitesimally thin eggshell). These are easier to work
with than solid models. Almost all visual models used in games and film are shell
models.
Because the appearance of an object depends largely on the exterior of the
object,boundary representations are common in computer graphics. Two
dimensional surfacesare a good analogy for the objects used in graphics, though quite
often these objects are non-manifold. Since surfaces are not finite, a discrete digital
approximation is required:polygonal meshes (and to a lesser extent subdivision
surfaces) are by far the most common representation, although point-
basedrepresentations have been gaining some popularity in recent years. Level sets are
a useful representation for deforming surfaces which undergo many topological changes
such as fluids.

The process of transforming representations of objects, such as the middle point

coordinate of a sphere and a point on itscircumference into a polygon representation of a
sphere, is called tessellation. This step is used in polygon-based rendering, where
objects are broken down from abstract representations ("primitives") such as
spheres, cones etc., to so-called meshes, which are nets of interconnected triangles.
Meshes of triangles (instead of e.g. squares) are popular as they have proven to be easy
to render usingscanline rendering.[1] Polygon representations are not used in all
rendering techniques, and in these cases the tessellation step is not included in the
transition from abstract representation to rendered scene.

[edit]Modeling processes
There are five popular ways to represent a model:

 Polygonal modeling - Points in 3D space, called vertices, are connected by line

segments to form a polygonal mesh. Used, for example, by Blender. The vast
majority of 3D models today are built as textured polygonal models, because they
are flexible and because computers can render them so quickly. However, polygons
are planar and can only approximate curved surfaces using many polygons.
 NURBS modeling - NURBS Surfaces are defined by spline curves, which are
influenced by weighted control points. The curve follows (but does not necessarily
interpolate) the points. Increasing the weight for a point will pull the curve closer to
that point. NURBS are truly smooth surfaces, not approximations using small flat
surfaces, and so are particularly suitable for organic modeling. Maya, Rhino
3d and solidThinking are the most well-known commercial software that uses
NURBS natively.
 Splines & Patches modeling - Like NURBS, Splines and Patches depend on
curved lines to define the visible surface. Patches fall somewhere between NURBS
and polygons in terms of flexibility and ease of use.
 Primitives modeling - This procedure takes geometric primitives like balls,
cylinders, cones or cubes as building blocks for more complex models. Benefits are
quick and easy construction and that the forms are mathematically defined and thus
absolutely precise, also the definition language can be much simpler. Primitives
modeling is well suited for technical applications and less for organic shapes. Some
3D software can directly render from primitives (like POV-Ray), others use primitives
only for modeling and convert them to meshes for further operations and rendering.
 Sculpt modeling - Still fairly new method of modeling 3D sculpting has become
very popular in the few short years it has been around. There are 2 types of this
currently, Displacement which is the most widely used among applications at this
moment, and volumetric. Displacement uses a dense model (often generated
by Subdivision surfaces of a polygon control mesh) and stores new locations for the
vertex positions through use of a 32bit image map that stores the adjusted locations.
Volumetric which is based loosely on Voxels has similar capabilities as displacement
but does not suffer from polygon stretching when there are not enough polygons in a
region to achieve a deformation. Both of these methods allow for very artistic
exploration as the model will have a new topology created over it once the models
form and possibly details have been sculpted. The new mesh will usually have the
original high resolution mesh information transferred into displacement data or
normal map data if for a game engine.
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
Modeling can be performed by means of a dedicated program (e.g., form•Z, Maya, 3DS
Max, Blender, Lightwave, Modo, solidThinking) or an application component (Shaper,
Lofter in 3DS Max) or some scene description language (as in POV-Ray). In some
cases, there is no strict distinction between these phases; in such cases modeling is just
part of the scene creation process (this is the case, for example, with
Caligari trueSpace and Realsoft 3D).

Complex materials such as blowing sand, clouds, and liquid sprays are modeled
with particle systems, and are a mass of 3Dcoordinates which have
either points, polygons, texture splats, or sprites assign to them.

[edit]Scene setup
The geometry in 3D modeling is completely described in 3-D space; objects can be viewed from any
angle, revealing the lighting from different angles. Modeled and  ray traced  in Cobalt

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. As is the case in real-world scene

arrangement, lighting is a significant contributing factor to the resulting aesthetic and
visual quality of the finished work. As such, it can be a difficult art to master. Lighting
effects can contribute greatly to the mood and emotional response effected by a scene,
a fact which is well-known to photographers and theatrical lighting technicians.

It is usually desirable to add color to a model's surface in a user controlled way prior to
rendering. Most 3D modeling software allows the user to color the model's vertices, and
that color is theninterpolated across the model's surface during rendering. This is 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 mapping.
Texture images are no different than any other digital image, but during the texture
mapping process, special pieces of information (called texture coordinates or UV
coordinates) are added to the model that indicate which parts of the texture image map
to which parts of the 3D model's surface. Textures allow 3D models to look significantly
more detailed and realistic than they would otherwise.

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 havebump mapping applied and any other number of 3D
rendering tricks can be applied.
3D models are often animated for some uses. They can sometimes be animated from
within the 3D modeler that created them or elseexported to another program. If used
for animation, this phase usually makes use of a technique called "keyframing", which
facilitates creation of complicated movement in the scene. With the aid of keyframing,
one needs only to choose where an object stops or changes its direction of movement,
rotation, or scale, between which states in every frame are interpolated. These moments
of change are known as keyframes. Often extra data is added to the model to make it
easier to animate. For example, some 3D models of humans and animals have entire
bone systems so they will look realistic when they move and can be manipulated via
joints and bones, in a process known as skeletal animation.

[edit]Compared to 2D methods

A fully textured and lit rendering of a 3d model.

3D Photorealistic effects are often achieved without wireframe modeling and are

sometimes indistinguishable in the final form. Some graphic art software includes filters
that can be applied to 2D vector graphics or 2D raster graphics on transparent layers.

Advantages of wireframe 3D modeling over exclusively 2D methods include:

 Flexibility, ability to change angles or animate images with quicker rendering of

the changes;
 Ease of rendering, automatic calculation and rendering photorealistic effects
rather than mentally visualizing or estimating;
 Accurate photorealism, less chance of human error in misplacing, overdoing, or
forgetting to include a visual effect.
Disadvantages compare to 2D photorealistic rendering may include a software learning
curve and difficulty achieving certain photorealistic effects. Some photorealistic effects
may be achieved with special rendering filters included in the 3D modeling software. For
the best of both worlds, some artists use a combination of 3D modeling followed by
editing the 2D computer-rendered images from the 3D model.

[edit]3D model market

3CT (3D Catalog Technology) has revolutionized the 3D model market by offering
quality 3D model libraries free of charge for professionals using various CAD programs.
Some believe that this uprising technology is gradually eroding the traditional "buy and
sell" or "object for object exchange" markets although the quality of the products do not
match those sold on specialized 3d marketplaces.

A large market for 3D models (as well as 3D-related content, such as textures, scripts,
etc.) still exists - either for individual models or large collections. Online marketplaces for
3D content allow individual artists to sell content that they have created. Often, the
artists' goal is to get additional value out of assets they have previously created for
projects. By doing so, artists can earn more money out of their old content, and
companies can save money by buying pre-made models instead of paying an employee
to create one from scratch. These marketplaces typically split the sale between
themselves and the artist that created the asset, often in a roughly 50-50 split. In most
cases, the artist retains ownership of the 3d model; the customer only buys the right to
use and present the model