GEOMETRIC MODELING

Elements of 3D Graphics
When we turn to 3D graphics, we find that the most common approaches have more
in common with vector graphics than with raster graphics. That is, the content of an
image is specified as a list of geometric objects. The technique is referred to as
geometric modeling.The starting point is to construct an “artificial 3D world” as a
collection of simple geometric shapes, arranged in three-dimensional space. The
objects can have attributes that, combined with global properties of the world,
determine the appearance of the objects. Often, the range of basic shapes is very
limited, perhaps including only points, line segments, and triangles. A more complex
shape such as a polygon or sphere can be built or approximated as a collection of
more basic shapes, if it is not itself considered to be basic. To make a two-
dimensional image of the scene, the scene is projected from three dimensions down to
two dimensions. Projection is the equivalent of taking a photograph of the scene.
Let’s look at how it all works in a little more detail.

1. First, the geometry

We start with an empty 3D space or “world.” Of course, this space exists only
conceptually, but it’s useful to think of it as real and to be able to visualize it in your
mind. The space needs a coordinate system that associates each point in the space
with three numbers, usually referred to as the x, y, and z coordinates of the point. This
coordinate system is referred to as “world coordinates.”We want to build a scene
inside the world, made up of geometric objects. For example, we can specify a line
segment in the scene by giving the coordinates of its two endpoints, and we can
specify a triangle by giving the coordinates of its three vertices. The smallest building
blocks that we have to work with, such as line segments and triangles, are called
geometric primitives. Different graphics systems make different sets of primitive
available, but in many cases only very basic shapes such as lines and triangles are
considered primitive. A complex scene can contain a large number of primitives, and
it would be very difficult to create the scene by giving explicit coordinates for each
individual primitive. The solution, as any programmer should immediately guess, is to
chunk together primitives into reusable components. For example, for a scene that
contains several automobiles, we might create a geometric model of a wheel. An
automobile can be modeled as four wheels together with models of other components.
And we could then use several copies of the automobile model in the scene. Note that
once a geometric model has been designed, it can be used as a component in more
complex models. This is referred to as hierarchical modeling.
Suppose that we have constructed a model of a wheel out of geometric primitives.
When that wheel is moved into position in the model of an automobile, the
coordinates of all of its primitives will have to be adjusted. So what exactly have we
gained by building the wheel? The point is that all of the coordinates in the wheel are
adjusted in the same way. That is, to place the wheel in the automobile, we just have
to specify a single adjustment that is applied to the wheel as a whole. The type of
“adjustment” that is used is called a geometric transform (or geometric
transformation). A geometric transform is used to adjust the size, orientation, and
position of a geometric object. When making a model of an automobile, we build one
wheel. We then apply four different transforms to the wheel model to add four copies
of the wheel to the automobile. Similarly, we can add several automobiles to a scene
by applying different transforms to the same automobile model. The three most basic
kinds of geometric transform are called scaling, rotation, and translation.

A scaling transform is used to set the size of an object, that is, to make it bigger or
smaller by some specified factor.
A rotation transform is used to set an object’s orientation, by rotating it by some
angle about some specific axis.
A translation transform is used to set the position of an object, by displacing it by a
given amount from its original position. In this book, we will meet these
transformations first in two dimensions, where they are easier to understand. But it is
in 3D graphics that they become truly essential.

2. Next, appearance
Geometric shapes by themselves are not very interesting. You have to be able to set
their appearance. This is done by assigning attributes to the geometric objects. An
obvious attribute is color, but getting a realistic appearance turns out to be a lot more
complicated than simply specifying a color for each primitive. In 3D graphics, instead
of color, we usually talk about material. The term material here refers to the properties
that determine the intrinsic visual appearance of a surface. Essentially, this means
how the surface interacts with light that hits the surface. Material properties can
include a basic color as well as other properties such as shininess, roughness, and
transparency. One of the most useful kinds of material property is a texture. In most
general terms, a texture is a way of varying material properties from point-to-point on
a surface. The most common use of texture is to allow different colors for different
points. This is often done by using a 2D image as a texture. The image can be applied
to a surface so that the image looks like it is “painted” onto the surface. However,
texture can also refer to changing values for things like transparency or “bumpiness.”
Textures allow us to add detail to a scene without using a huge number of geometric
primitives; instead, you can use a smaller number of textured primitives. A material is
an intrinsic property of an object, but the actual appearance of the object also depends
on the environment in which the object is viewed. In the real world, you don’t see
anything unless there is some light in the environment. The same is true in 3D
graphics: you have to add simulated lighting to a scene. There can be several sources
of light in a scene. Each light source can have its own color, intensity, and direction or
position. The light from those sources will then interact with the material properties of
the objects in the scene. Support for lighting in a graphics system can range from
fairly simple to very complex and computationally intensive.
3. Finally, the image
In general, the ultimate goal of 3D graphics is to produce 2D images of the 3D world.
The transformation from 3D to 2D involves viewing and projection. The world looks
different when seen from different points of view. To set up a point of view, we need
to specify the position of the viewer and the direction that the viewer is looking. It is
also necessary to specify an “up” direction, a direction that will be pointing upwards
in the final image. This can be thought of as placing a “virtual camera” into the scene.
Once the view is set up, the world as seen from that point of view can be projected
into 2D. Projection is analogous to taking a picture with the camera. The final step in
3D graphics is to assign colors to individual pixels in the 2D image. This process is
called rasterization, and the whole process of producing an image is referred to as
rendering the scene. In many cases the ultimate goal is not to create a single image,
but to create an animation, consisting a sequence of images that show the world at
different times. In an animation, there are small changes from one image in the
sequence to the next. Almost any aspect of a scene can change during an animation,
including coordinates of primitives, transformations, material properties, and the
view. For example, an object can be made to grow over the course of an animation by
gradually increasing the scale factor in a scaling transformation that is applied to
the object. And changing the view during an animation can give the effect of moving
or flying through the scene. Of course, it can be difficult to compute the necessary
changes. There are many techniques to help with the computation. One of the most
important is to use a “physics engine,” which computes the motion and interaction of
objects based on the laws of physics.