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3D computer graphics are often referred to as 3D models. Apart from the rendered
graphic, the model is contained within the graphical data file. However, there are
differences: a 3D model is the mathematical representation of any three-dimensional
object. A model is not technically a graphic until it is displayed. A model can be
displayed visually as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering
or used in non-graphical computer simulations and calculations. With 3D printing,
3D models are similarly rendered into a 3D physical representation of the model,
with limitations to how accurate the rendering can match the virtual model
William Fetter was credited with coining the term computer graphics in 1961[1][2]
to describe his work at Boeing. One of the first displays of computer animation was
Futureworld (1976), which included an animation of a human face and a hand that had
originally appeared in the 1972 experimental short A Computer Animated Hand,
created by University of Utah students Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke.[3]
3D computer graphics software began appearing for home computers in the late 1970s.
The earliest known example is 3D Art Graphics, a set of 3D computer graphics
effects, written by Kazumasa Mitazawa and released in June 1978 for the Apple II.
[4][5]
Overview
Modeling
Main article: 3D modeling
The model describes the process of forming the shape of an object. The two most
common sources of 3D models are those that an artist or engineer originates on the
computer with some kind of 3D modeling tool, and models scanned into a computer
from real-world objects. Models can also be produced procedurally or via physical
simulation. Basically, a 3D model is formed from points called vertices (or
vertexes) that define the shape and form polygons. A polygon is an area formed from
at least three vertexes (a triangle). A polygon of n points is an n-gon.[citation
needed] The overall integrity of the model and its suitability to use in animation
depend on the structure of the polygons.