Unit 41 – Assignment 1Applications of 3DThere are many uses of 3D within the games industry such as 3D modelling. 3D is a technique used within a variety of mediums such as; TV, film, web, games architecture, etc. The process of creating it is that the creator uses special software such as Houdini to manipulate vertices (points in the software space) to form a mesh (a collection of vertices that form an object). The mesh can then be manipulated to create an object. An example of this is with geologists using it alongside other software and hardware to show when earthquakes are happening live on a 3d globe as seen below. (Petty, 2019)

The second use of the 3D application is with product design. The use of 3D application within it is that it can be used in advertising, due to the software being able to show objects in a hyper-realistic way. An example of it being used within product design in real-time is with car companies. They use it to reduce tooling costs and lead times in manufacturing. (3d-ace., 2015).

Unit 41 – Assignment 1The third use of the 3D application is within entertainment areas such as TV, film, web, animations and games. In TV, 3Dmodels is used alongside green screens to produce hyper-realistic models that can be added to scenes in shows. This is very beneficial due to 3D models saving prop materials and money. Within the film, it is used to add CGI to scenes. This can be seen with King Kong the original and the 2017 version below.

Within the web, 3d is mainly applied in web apps for things such as animations. An example of this is with google earth and how interactive the globe within it is. Within games, 3d is used in these areas to create the game world and scenes to provide an interface for the user and to also increase realism. In animation, they are used for the character models in cartoons or CGI such as Ultron in avengers. With both games and animations, their examples are below and how they show the differences between 2d and 3d and why 3d is more beneficial than 2d for their uses as explained above.

Unit 41 – Assignment 1The fourth application of 3D is in education. An example of this is with pilot training and how they use 3d to simulate how it would be like flying an actual plane.

The fifth use in architectural walk-throughs. Within it, it is mainly used to visualise models that architects are planning to design from the various views, angles and shapes and will usually show it to their employer to see if it is feasible. They can also use it to view the interior of buildings and for it to eliminate any worries that the employer/s may have about the design. (Graitec, n.d.)

Displaying 3D polygon animationsAPI’s (Application programming interface) is a set of procedures, methods and tools used for building software. It specifies how software components should interact. The main benefit for API’s is that they make it easier to develop software by providing all the components which can then be put together by the developer as compared to developing without it, the developer would need to build the component from scratch. (Beal, n.d.). There are two main types of API used when creating 3d polygons and their animations for games.

The first of these is direct3d. This is an API used for rendering 3d objects without sacrificing the PC’s performance and it can also (if the hardware are up to scratch) use hardware acceleration which will make development process easier since it will take some of the load of the CPU and put onto the GPU or other specialised hardware, this, in turn, makes it easier for polygons to both

Unit 41 – Assignment 1render faster and more efficiently. The second API is OpenGL. This is an API that interacts with the GPU to create visible polygons. Its main purposes are first to streamline the capabilities of different platforms by requiring the support of the full OpenGL feature set for all implementations via software emulation if needed. (Computer Hope, 2017). Secondly, it helps developers with hiding the complexities of different 3d accelerations by displaying a single uniformed interface.

Graphics pipeline is a concept that shapes the steps a graphics systems needs to do to render a 3D scene to a 2D scene. The first process of this concept is with it being designed via areas such as its colour palette, character details and drawings and paintings to how the model will look like. The second process is with modelling. This is the process of manipulating what 3D polygons/models will look like in terms of size and shape. After that, it is with the lighting and it is added to simulate what the 3d model may look like in different conditions. This is the second most technical phase of the production pipeline after rendering. The third process within the pipeline is with viewing. It refers to using a PC to look at the model/polygon that a developer has created and projection refers to the angle you’re looking at the model from. The next and final part of the pipeline is with clipping, which is the ability to selectively enable and disable rendering options within a defined region of interest. (Slick, 2019)

Scan conversion is a processing technique that represents a continuous object, in the sense that a line is defined by two endpoints and the equation of the line and in a circle it would be defined by its radius, centre position and circle equation. Texturing is a technique that makes polygons look like they have a unique feel to it, such as rough and/or smooth and shading gives it a colour fill to make it look more realistic. It also helps with contrasts as it helps with depicting ranges of darkness which links to a prior point I made about how lighting affects how an object/polygon is viewed.

Displaying rendering techniques means to show what techniques are used to render the 3d polygons. There are two main techniques used when doing this, these are Radiosity, this is a global illumination algorithm/ rendering technique used in 3D rendering for simulating the various light reflections around a scene. This generally results in the shadows and reflections being softer and looking more natural. (Graphics Fandom, 2019). Compared to the second technique ray tracing, which is a direct illumination algorithm.

Unit 41 – Assignment 1What it does is it makes the light in polygons behave as it does in real life. It does this by simulating actual light rays, using the direct illumination algorithm to trace the path that a beam of light would take in the physical world. Using this technique, game developers can make virtual rays of light appear to bounce off objects, display realistic shadows, and create realistic reflections. (Ashworth, 2019)

A rendering engine is a tool that converts 2D images into 3D models. Distributed rendering techniques refers to the way software renders a model in many small chunks at a time instead of one big task. This, in turn, means different computers can each do a certain section of it and get the work done much more efficiently and quicker with less margin for error. Lighting on the model refers to constructed lights much like the physical world, in order to see the model under different conditions then different lighting conditions would be put into place. Textures on polygons can be smooth or rough and be added to simulate a look and feel of the material in a model. Fogging when displaying polygon animations is used to a perception of distance via shading distant objects differently. Shadowing is then used for showing which angle the lighting is coming from. Vertex shaders are components oriented to a scene’s geometry and do things such as making the model cartoony or adding silhouettes to object edges. A pixel shader is a component that allows editing on a per-pixel basis to take care of elements such as lighting and bump mapping. It also dictates the colour, brightness, contrast, and other characteristics of a single-pixel (fragment). (Computer Hope, 2017) This links with the term level of detail, which refers to how accurate a model is. Screenshots:

Unit 41 – Assignment 1Geometric theoryVertices are the points where 2 lines meet. These can be moved to change the face of a shape and the more vertices one has, the smoother a model will look.

A line is a straight and narrowband used to create simple shapes. A curve is a line that deviates from its gradient for some or all of its length, it allows for smooth looking shapes like circles. Edges are lines that connect vertices. When 3 or more edges are joined you have your simplest shape (such as a triangle) adding more lines makes a more complicated shape. The face of an object is the large surface area after 3 or more edges are joined, they can be textured and shaded/coloured to create the image. Primitives are basic starting shapes such as a cube or a torus. Meshes refer to the enclosing area of a model. It’s a collection of faces, vertices and edges. Wireframes are a skeletal 3D model where the vertices and lines are represented. Coordinate geometry is the use of geometry using coordinate planes, normally with X and Y values on a graph when in 2d, and additional z co-ordinate when working with 3d geometry. As within mathematics, X and Y represent width and depth while Z represents height. They can have positive and negative values depending on the intent. Surfaces are shapes that are defined by curves which in turn are influenced by control points that are weighted. Screenshots:

Unit 41 – Assignment 1

Mesh constructionBox modelling is a 3d modelling technique in which starts with low-resolution primitive usually a sphere by extruding, scaling and edges. The detail is added to a 3D primitive either by manually adding edge loops. The most common example of this is with avatar due to it being the first to extensively use this technique. (Slick, 2020). Extrusion modelling is also a 3D modelling technique in which a 2D shape is used to trace the outline of an object from a drawing which is then turned into a 3D model. Common primitives are shapes such as spheres, cubes, cylinders, pyramids etc They are considered the building blocks of 3d modelling and are used to create more complex shapes. (Autodesk,

2017)

3D Development SoftwareThere is a variety of software for developers/fx artists to choose from when developing software. These are:

1. 3D Studio Max: a computer graphics program for creating 3D models, animations, digital images and game assets. Its main benefits are that it has a very efficient workflow which in turn saves game developers a huge amount of time. This is because this software uses polygon

Unit 41 – Assignment 1modelling which allows the developers to have a high degree of control over each polygon which gives them a greater range of detail and

precision in their work. (Petty, 2018) . A screenshot of the software being used with the Witcher video game’s asset being shown as the example:

2. Maya: A 3D development tool that allows for animation, modelling, rendering and simulating software. Its applications are creating environments, motion graphics, virtual reality and character creation. It is best suited for 3d applications such as video games due to it having a variety of benefits such as being compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS and having a trialware licence. This means that potential users can try before they buy it. (Educba, n.d.) An example of a 3d game using this software is uncharted 4: a thief’s end as seen with a screenshot below.

Unit 41 – Assignment 1

3. Blender: Blender is an open-source 3d graphics software application similar to both may and 3d studio max in that it was created with the intention of being able to develop animated movies, visual effects, 3D games etc but what is unique about is that it is free and it allows developers to add custom extension written in C, C++, and Python code. (Computer Hope, 2019)

4. Houdini: This application is used by the artist who is working in the field of 3D animation and VFX for web, Film and video games. It is the most popular software application visual effects in movies and games due to it having the main feature of advanced dynamic simulation tools. These tools provide the components needed in one interface within the software to create high-quality visual effects and filters. With Houdini being a node-based environment, this helps the user to work multiple projects/assets as one machine with good CPU efficiency. An example of Houdini being used within games with horizon zero dawn and it is using a variety of development techniques such as shadowing and lighting and following the graphics pipeline which resulted in the game looking very photorealistic. (Petty, n.d.)

5. Lightwave: Lightwave is an editing software best known for use in film and TV for its powerful motion graphics, visual effects, and architectural visualisations.

6. AutoCAD: AutoCAD is a software that is an industry-standard when it comes to housing and architectural applications. 2D drawings of a project can be imported and then turned into 3D versions of homes that

Unit 41 – Assignment 1can be used to visualise what a final model would look like just as I said previously with the architectural walkthrough section of this report.

7. Cinema 4D: This is mostly used for creating motion graphics, rendering and it has extra features such as texturing and lightning which can be used in cartoons and within architecture.

8. Softimage/XSI: This is discontinued software that was used originally in the gaming and film industries for creating computer-generated characters, objects, and environments. It was released in 2000 as the successor to Softimage|3D, Softimage|XSI was developed by a subsidiary of Avid Technology. It was then bought by Autodesk in 2008 and was rebranded by them as Autodesk Softimage in 2009.

There are a variety of file formats that developers can save their projects in these are:

3ds: This is the file format used in 3d studio max. It contains mesh data, material attributes, bitmap references etc. It is compatible with both 3d studio max and Autodesk 3d studio. (FileInfo, n.d.)

. mb: This is the file format used with Maya. Unfortunately, most features are only compatible with that specific version of the software. An example is with performance recording such as CPU load management cannot be used on the previous version since its codebase hasn’t been updated. (FileInfo, n.d.)

.lwo: This is the file format used with Lightwave 3D. This format is also compatible with Foundry Modo, which is another 3D modelling program. (FileInfo, n.d.)

.C4d: This is the file format used with cinema 4d. This format’s files (once saved), can be exported to image-editing programs, such as Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as video-editing software, like After Effects and Final Cut Pro. (FileInfo, n.d.)

.dxf: This is the file format used with Autodesk products and used for CAD (computer-aided design) vector image files, such as AutoCAD documents. (Fileinfo, n.d.)

.obj: An OBJ file is a standard 3D image file format that can be exported and opened by various 3D image editing software. It contains a 3d

Unit 41 – Assignment 1project which contains; polygonal faces, texture maps and 3D coordinates. (FileInfo, n.d.)

plug-ins: These are mainly used in Maya that allows additional functionality. For example, an extension called Krakatoa which allows for high volume particle rendering within the program.

Overall, I believe that the best software for building a games asset ( as stated within the scenario) is with Houdini due to allowing for very photorealistic VFX such as particle and dust effects/ However, these require steep climb so if a potential user who is trying to choose does not want a long learning curve, I believe they should choose Maya.

ConstraintsA polygon count is referring to the number of faces in a file. If the shape was a square for example and has 4 sides, it would have 4 polygons. The smoother an object, the more polygons there are, so a circle may have hundreds of polygons because of how round it is. This, in turn, means that a higher polygon count will equate to a highly detailed model. File size means the overall storage files take up. The larger and more complex a 3d model is, the larger the file size will be. With rendering times, it refers to how long 3d graphics will convert into 2d images with effects such as dust particles and/or lens flares. Depending on the computer’s hardware and the detail and/or complexity of the project, rendering could vary from a few minutes to a few days.

References3d-ace., 2015. 6 Reasons Why to Use 3D Modeling in Product Design. [Online] Available at: https://3d-ace.com/press-room/articles/3d-product-design

Ashworth, B., 2019. What Is Ray Tracing? The Latest Gaming Buzzword Explained. [Online] Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-ray-tracing/[Accessed 13 Februrary 2020].

Autodesk, 2017. Standard Primitives. [Online] Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/ENU/3DSMax/files/GUID-66152BDE-BA64-423F-8472-C1F0EB409E16-htm.html[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Unit 41 – Assignment 1Beal, V., n.d. API - application program interface. [Online] Available at: https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/API.html[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Computer Hope, 2017. OpenGL. [Online] Available at: https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/o/opengl.htm[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Computer Hope, 2017. Pixel shader. [Online] Available at: https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/pixel-shader.htm[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Computer Hope, 2019. Blender. [Online] Available at: https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/b/blender.htm[Accessed 15 February 2020].

Educba, n.d. Difference Between Maya vs 3Ds Max. [Online] Available at: https://www.educba.com/maya-vs-3ds-max/[Accessed 13 February 2020].

FileInfo, n.d. What is a 3DS file?. [Online] Available at: https://fileinfo.com/extension/3ds[Accessed 12 February 2020].

FileInfo, n.d. What is a C4D file?. [Online] Available at: https://fileinfo.com/extension/c4d[Accessed 12 February 2020].

Fileinfo, n.d. What is a DXF file?. [Online] Available at: https://fileinfo.com/extension/dxf[Accessed 12 Fenruary 2020].

FileInfo, n.d. What is an LWO file?. [Online] Available at: https://fileinfo.com/extension/lwo[Accessed 12 February 2020].

FileInfo, n.d. What is an MB file?. [Online] Available at: https://fileinfo.com/extension/mb[Accessed 12 February 2020].

FileInfo, n.d. What is an OBJ file?. [Online] Available at: https://fileinfo.com/extension/obj[Accessed 12 February 2020].

Graitec, n.d. 3D Architectural Walkthrough Services. [Online] Available at: https://www.graitec.co.uk/3d-animation-services/architectural-walkthroughs[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Graphics Fandom, 2019. Radiosity. [Online] Available at: https://graphics.fandom.com/wiki/Radiosity[Accessed 13 February 2020].

i.materialise, 2019. Top 4 Benefits of 3D Printing Models for Architects. [Online] Available at: https://i.materialise.com/blog/en/3d-printing-for-architects/

Unit 41 – Assignment 1[Accessed 7 February 2020].

Petty, J., 2018. What is 3ds Max & What is it Used For?. [Online] Available at: https://conceptartempire.com/what-is-3ds-max/[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Petty, J., 2019. What is 3D Modeling & What’s It Used For?. [Online] Available at: https://conceptartempire.com/what-is-3d-modeling/

Petty, J., n.d. What is Houdini & What Does It Do?. [Online] Available at: https://conceptartempire.com/what-is-houdini-software/[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Slick, J., 2019. Introducing the Computer Graphics Pipeline. [Online] Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/introducing-the-computer-graphics-pipeline-1962[Accessed 13 February 2020].

Slick, J., 2020. What is 3D Box Modeling and How Does it Work?. [Online] Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/box-modeling-2150[Accessed 14 February 2020].