3D Modeling Essentials

1. 3D Modeling Essentials Introducing To 3D Modeling George Atanasov Telerik Corporation www.telerik.com

2. What is 3D Modeling? • 3D Modeling process • Representing any 3 dimensional surface • Automatic or Manual

3. What is 3D Model? • The product is called 3D model • 3D model can be: • Rendered to 2D image • Printed to realistic object with 3D printer • Used in 3D games with real-time rendering

4. Splines & NURBS • Vector design is better for industrial goals • Hands of the Craftsman vs. CPU Lathe

5. Polygon Mesh Objects • Polyhedral object • Best for games and physical simulations

6. Polygon Mesh Objects • Polygon mesh sub-object level • Vertex • Edge • Face • Polygon

7. Mesh vs. Spline • Why Mesh is better for game development? • More calculations == less FPS • Nowadays GPU’s are designed to perform faster with VBO’s (Vertex Buffer Objects) • Mesh objects can be easy represented in VBO • The absolute accuracy of the objects is not basic goal in the Games • In game developing the basic goal is to create best possible representation of object with by less possible resources

8. The 3D Scene • Three dimensional coordinate system • Represents uniquely all the points in it by three parameters – values for each axis • Contain sub-coordinate systems • Each object has his own local coordinate system

9. High-Poly Modeling Explaining High-Poly Design

10. High-Poly Design • We can understand the idea of high-poly design just by its name • The more triangles in the mesh, the more detailed the object is

11. Low Poly Modeling Explaining Low-Poly Design

12. Low Poly Meshes • Low poly mesh is a mesh which has small amount of polygons • Commonly used in real-time applications • In theory polygons can have infinite number of sides, but in 3D graphics they are broken down into triangles

13. Why Low Poly? • Why we need to create low-poly models when there is so many smooth modifiers? • In general the more triangles in a mesh the more • detailed the object is • computationally intensive it is to display • To decrease render time it is better to use low poly models

14. The Polygon Budget • A combination of game engine and the computer being used defines the polygon budget • It is equal to the number of polygons which can appear in a scene and still be rendered with acceptable frame rate • It vary depending on the • speed of the render engine • the amount of polygons • The speed of the hardware

15. Low Poly As a Relative Term • There is no defined threshold for a mesh to be low poly • This term is relative and its definition depends on other factors: • The time the meshes were designed and for what • The detail required in the final mesh • The shape and properties of the object

16. Appearance • Low poly objects does not always has to look bad • You can “lie” the viewer that the object has better resolution with techniques such as • Normal mapping • Bump mapping • Etc.

17. Smoothing Smoothing techniques

18. Smoothing • There is many methods to create a smooth objects • Normal smoothing • Mesh smoothing • Etc. • It is important to understand haw to use each one of them • You have to pick the best for your goals

19. Normal Smoothing • Normal smoothing affects only the way that the light is reflected by the objects surface • That is better for games, because the triangle count stays the same • Ends of the object remain edgy • Performs better on dark colors

20. Mesh Smoothing • Mesh smoothing affects directly the geometry of the object • Can be used many times on the same objects • Iteration value • With each iteration increase, the resolution of the object increases by square

21. Lights Understanding Lightning in 3D

22. Why We Need Lightning? • Modeling the 3D object is just a little part of the whole design process • The light makes the object to look as 3D object

23. How the Light Works? • The lighting in 3D graphics is not exact representation of the real light • For full realistic light simulation you would need a NASA computer

24. Abstract Types Of Lights • The light is composed by several abstract components • Diffuse, Ambient, Specular, Emissive, Reflection, Refraction • Each light component can has its own color • It is important to understand how to deal with each type of them • And it is more than important to understand how the real light affects the objects

25. Ambient Light • When sun ray hit an object it reflects from it • The ambient light is the emission of all light sources • The result is averagely brightening whole object • 3D object with only ambient light channel applied to it looks 2D

26. Diffuse Light • Diffuse light represents a directional light cast by a light source • It can be explained as a light from light bulb placed on specific location in the space • A diffuse light of red color, coming from the left of a black object defining its 3D shape

27. Diffuse light • For more realistic result we can apply the both diffuse and ambient light channels • The diffuse light represents a light from a light bulb and flashing the front side of the object • The ambient light brightens the entire object

28. Specular Light • The specular light channel represents the brightest area of the object (the highlight area) • The position and the amount of specular highlight is depending on • Viewers position • The angle between the viewer and the source

29. Emissive Light • Emissive light is working a little different than the explained before types of lights • It is responsible for the object material ability to absorb or reflect light • Below is the result of object emitting green light with red light source applied

30. Reflections • The use of reflections helps to create more realistic objects • Remember... You wont see the reflection effect if you don’t have another objects to reflect • Reflection looks better on round objects • Do not overdo with the reflection effect • Reflection mapping saves time

31. Refractions

32. New Features in C# 4.0 ? ? Questions? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?