Class 12: How 3D Computer Graphics Work for Review

For this assignment I watched a video on how 3D graphics work. Previous to this video I did not know the terminology and the concepts behind the creation of three dimensional space. However now I have a grasp on these concepts and I will give an overview of what I learned. The video summarized 3D graphics into three parts vertex points/vertices, polygons, and lighting.

The first thing the video reviewed was 3D geometry. 3D geometry is made up of two basic building blocks, which are vertices and polygons. Vertices are unconnected points in the 3D world that exist on the (x,y,z) axis. Once the vertex points are linked together they create polygons. Everything we see in the 3d world is made up of these building blocks.



Polygons are shapes that are created when the vertex points are connected. The most basic polygon is the triangle. The face of a 3D object is made up of a bunch of triangles, creating a triangle mesh. when the faces are connected on their respective planes, it creates a polygonal mesh. You can see in the picture that the 3D character is actually made up of triangles. Another example of this is the dolphin that I found on Google. Texture maps are then applied to the object to create a more textured, realistic image as you can see on the character on the right.

The final touches to the 3D object include lighting and normals. Lighting is very important in order to show depth and dynamic lighting that is shined on 3D objects. Lighting requires normals, normals are vector lines that are perpendicular to the polygon. These lines allow the 3D programs to determine if the polygon is being hit by the light source and how intense the light is on the object, this creates a shaded effect on the object.