Blender3D Lesson 1: Intro to 3D Visualization

In Lesson 1 of Creating 3D Games with Blender3D, I will introduce Blender3D and go over
basic concept of 3D Visualization. Since this series is for students without 3D experience or 3D
math background, I will not discuss the math behind 3D visualization. I am, however, working
on a 3D Programming with OpenGL series which I will cover more advance topics such as C++
programming and 3D math.

Step 1: Blender3D

This blender does not blend frozen fruit, but it blends something better. It blends your creativity
and artistic ability to create beautiful 3D models, 3D animations, and 3D games.

Step 2: Understand the Basic of 3D Projections

We live in a 3D world but the computer monitor is a 2D plane. To map a 3D object to a 2D

plane, we use 3D projections. 3D projection is any method of mapping 3D points to a 2D plane.
Two main projection methods are orthographic projections, isometric projection, and
perspective projection.
Orthographic projection describes the shape of a 3D object from two to three angles. As shown
below, a stair is shown from three angles: front, left, and top.

Here is another example of three different views of an object.

Isometric Projections describe 3D objects from just one view.

Perspective projection treats the 2D projection as being viewed through a camera. The position,
orientation, and field of view control of this imaginary camera dictates the result of the 3D
visualization.
1-Point Perspective: 2-Point Perspective: 3-Point Perspective:
One vanishing point Two vanishing points Three vanishing points

Coordinate System in General:

You may not know it, but your right hand is a model for 3D coordinate system. Point your thumb
to the side, index finger forward, and middle finger downward; now you have thumb as your X-
axis, index finger as Y-axis, and middle finger as Z-axis.
Step 3: Understanding Surface Normal

The normal is often used in to determine a surface's orientation toward a light source or the
orientation of each of the corners.
A normal (or surface normal) to a flat surface is a vector which is perpendicular to that surface.

A normal to a non-flat surface at a point P on the surface is a vector perpendicular to the tangent
plane to that surface at P.