D Graphics

KEY TOPICS

• Types of 3D Rendering
• Don't Forget Your Math
• 3D Basics
• 3D Math
• Polygons
• 3D Transforms
• A Simple 3D Pipeline
• Camera Movement
• Solid Objects and Back-Face Removal
• Scan-Converting Polygons
• 3D Clipping
• Final Rendering Pipeline
• Summary

Once I heard someone say there will never, ever be flying cars. Of course, I was disappointed, and I'm still getting over it. This person elaborated that the reason there will never be flying cars is not because it won't ever be technically feasible to create a flying car: Most people just can't handle the additional concept of moving a vehicle up and down instead of moving just left, right, forward, and backward. We can handle movement only in two dimensions (not counting hills and valleys because we are just following the ground), and a third dimension is just too complicated for many people. It's true that 3D concepts are complicated. So are 3D graphics. But hopefully, by the end of this chapter, you'll have enough knowledge of basic 3D graphics concepts that you'll be able to create your own flying cars—in a game, anyway.