BETA
Chapter 1
Flattening the third dimension
Chapter 2
Painting with virtual light
Chapter 3
Tricking the brain with depth
Chapter 4
The brain's clever shortcuts
YOUR GOAL
Master of Seeing 3D in video games
Ch 1 · Flattening the third dimension
diegoplays 3D Graphics Projection
Multiply the matrix to project this world on your screen!
diegoplays Texture mapping wraps flat 2D images around 3D models like digital wrapping paper.
diegoplays Virtual objects are constructed from thousands of flat triangles called polygons.
Fun Fact
Polygons in games: Virtua Fighter in 1993 used 1,200 polygons per character, while modern characters use over 100,000 for realistic detail.
Quiz
What is the name of the mathematical process that projects 3D coordinates onto a flat 2D screen?
Quiz
What is the name of the process that converts mathematical 3D vector graphics into a grid of colored pixels?
Quiz
Which groundbreaking arcade game released in 1993 used around 1,200 flat polygons per character?
Quiz
In texture mapping, which coordinate letters represent the 2D surface of the image being wrapped?
Quiz
Which mathematical shape is universally used as the basic building block for 3D video game models?
Quiz
Who invented the technique of texture mapping to wrap 2D images around 3D digital models in 1974?
Quiz
Which 1996 hardware release popularized dedicated 3D graphics acceleration for home computers?