Displaying 3D Models.pptVIP

Displaying 3D Models Game Design Experience Professor Jim Whitehead March 4, 2009 Announcements Days until Final Project Due: 12 Due Monday, March 16 3D modeling homework Assignment text now on web Due Monday, March 9 Assignment will involve: Create a simple 3D model (e.g., in Blender) Something slightly (but not by much) more complex than a cube will be fine Make this model show up in XNA Extra credit for making model rotate, applying bitmap textures Goal is to exercise a model import pathway Intended to be a straightforward assignment Triangles are fine, but models are better Today’s 3D games have a large number of objects Theoretically possible to create these objects by manually writing C# code to create each individual triangle In practice, this is rarely done. Far better to use a 3D modeling tool Maya, XSI, 3DS Max, Blender Allows artists to create objects in world Allows programmers to focus on behavior of objects Modeling tools permit much faster creation and editing of models 3D Modeling Several ways to model a 3D object Polygonal modeling Objects are subdivided into a series of polygons (triangles) Can only approximate curved surfaces Dominant modeling form in computer games and computer graphics due to speed of rendering NURBS Surfaces are defined by spline curves Curves defined and controlled by control points Splines and patches Curved lines define surfaces. Between polygons and NURBS Primitives modeling Objects built up from primitive shapes (balls, cubes, cylinders, etc.) 3D Model formats There is a huge number of 3D model formats No dominant standard Interchange among models is often lossy XNA supports two 3D model formats .X (DirectX) .FBX Originally for FilmBox by Kaydara, then Alias, now Autodesk Models in XNA Model Represents some entity A person, a car, or potentially a complex scene with many parts Typically used to represent one logical object (e.g., a person) that has multiple parts (head, arms, legs, etc.) A model contains multiple meshes a