The Excel Draw version 5 add-in gives you the ability to open, import, create, graph, export and view X1 Y1 Z1 X2 Y2 Z2 data in 2D/3D only using Excel. With Excel Draw you can guarantee that anyone with a version of Excel can view your drawing regardless if they have CAD or not! 3D drawings use optical illusions to make it appear that an image has depth. This technique can make any drawing come to life. It may seem difficult to achieve but it is actually easier than it. Take pictures with your webcam and make them 3D, or use BMP, JPG, PNG, and TGA files. Emboss any object with text or images. Drag-and-drop to build with simple shapes. Merge, intersect, or subtract objects from each other, or slice them into pieces.
The aim of this tutorial is to explain how to create basic 3D graphics. It uses the Khan AcademyComputer Science platform, but the principles are the same no matter what graphics program you use. I used the HTML5 Canvas and very similar code to make the 3D examples on this page. These platforms is not really designed for 3D graphics, but that just means we can write our own 3D graphics engine and, in doing so, learn a bit how 3D graphics work (and why there is a reason to learn trigonometry).
This tutorial has now been ported to Khan Academy.
What are 3D graphics?
Since computer screens are essentially two-dimensional, 3D graphics are just 2D optical illusions that trick your brain into thinking it is seeing a 3D object.
A 3D graphics engine works by calculating what 2D shapes a 3D object would project on to the screen. So to write our own 3D engine, we need to know how to do these calculations. Our program won't be as quick as most 3D engines but it should help us understand the principles of how they work.
Representing shapes
A 3D graphics engine takes a 3D object and converts into 2D graphics, but how do we represent a 3D object in code?
A single point in 3D space is easy to represent using an array of three numbers. For example, we can use [30, 80, 55] How to format a drive in dos. to represent a point 30 pixels along the horizontal (x) axis, 80 pixels along the vertical (y) axis, and 55 pixels along the axis that goes into and out of the screen.
Video Teaching Kids How To Create A 3d Drawing
Representing a line is also easy: you just connect two points. One way to represent an object in 3D, therefore, is by converting it into a group of lines. This is called a wireframe, as it looks like the object is made from wire. It's obviously not ideal for representing solid objects, but it's a good place to start.
Terms
3d Design online, free
What are 3D graphics?
Since computer screens are essentially two-dimensional, 3D graphics are just 2D optical illusions that trick your brain into thinking it is seeing a 3D object.
A 3D graphics engine works by calculating what 2D shapes a 3D object would project on to the screen. So to write our own 3D engine, we need to know how to do these calculations. Our program won't be as quick as most 3D engines but it should help us understand the principles of how they work.
Representing shapes
A 3D graphics engine takes a 3D object and converts into 2D graphics, but how do we represent a 3D object in code?
A single point in 3D space is easy to represent using an array of three numbers. For example, we can use [30, 80, 55] How to format a drive in dos. to represent a point 30 pixels along the horizontal (x) axis, 80 pixels along the vertical (y) axis, and 55 pixels along the axis that goes into and out of the screen.
Video Teaching Kids How To Create A 3d Drawing
Representing a line is also easy: you just connect two points. One way to represent an object in 3D, therefore, is by converting it into a group of lines. This is called a wireframe, as it looks like the object is made from wire. It's obviously not ideal for representing solid objects, but it's a good place to start.
Terms
3d Design online, free
Below are some terms I will use when refering to 3D shapes. Other terms might be used elsewhere, but I like these ones.
- Node: a point (also be called a vertex) represented by three coordinates, x, y and z.
- Edge: a line connecting two points.
- Face: a surface defined by at least three points.
- Wireframe: a shape consisting of just nodes and edges.
