Please define some basic terms related to 3D engine for me

[Guest]

Hi. I'm trying to learn from the short comments in the scripts, so I will know how to use them, because

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external_call(global._149,argument0);

is hard for me to understand. Anyway, here are the most of the termonology I'd like to learn for now. I know they're probably quite basic, so don't call me an idiot Alot of them are abbreviations, but hopefully they're easy to understand for someone more experienced.

-bpp
-stencil buffer, backbuffer, bool, z-buffer bool
-reference counter
-dynamic lights
-texture pointer
-source rect
-a,r,g,b (in a script for drawing a 2D rectangle)
-ambient light
-Terms in a "set fog" script: a,r,g,b as int, bLinearFog, start, end, density(0-1),bPixelfog,bRangefog
-viewport
-texture creation flag
-render target
-aspect ratio (is that like the perspective factor?)
-clipping plane
-Field Of View (of camera)
-pitch, turn, and roll (I know what they are, but how are they measured?)
-upvector
-map key
-billboard
-mesh
-node
-material
-screennode


The ones in bold I think are very basic and important to me yet since I am only starting 3D programming and know as little as anyone about it I'm not farmiliar with them.

Thanks. I shouldn't expect all of them in a short period of time, but some of the more basic and crucial ones would be nice (unfortunately, I don't know which ones those are).

-Time of Death
dlubarov@yahoo.com

[slurmmunger]

OK lets see:

- pointer : holds a memory address.
- bpp : bits per pixel
- stencil buffer : hardware buffer that is used mostly for shadow calculation
- backbuffer, z-buffer : hardware buffer that holds depth information
- bool : boolean type
- reference counter : counts references to a pointer
- dynamic lights : lights in a scene that are used to calculate shadows etc.
- texture pointer : a pointer to a texture structure
- source rect : the source rectangle
- a,r,g,b : alpha, red, green and blue values for a color
- ambient light : a light that illuminates the whole scene
- setFog .. please consult the API docu
- viewport : where the scene is rendered to -> render target either a viewport of a texture
- aspect ratio factor screenwidth/screenheight (5:4 , 16:9)
- clipping plane : plane that cuts off all rendering actions behing this plane nothing will be rendered
- Field of View : the angle at which the camera views the scene
- pitch turn roll : degrees around the respective axis
- upvector : vector pointing up
- map key : mapping of keyboard input to actions
- billboard : a scene node that always faces the camera
- mesh : a structure of points in 3D that are connected with lines
- node / scenenode : an entity that is used to structure a scene
- material : structure that holds information about color transparency etc. that is applied to the subsequent rendering instructions
- screennode : ??? node that is visible on the screen??

[warui]

I know they're probably quite basic, so don't call me an idiot

Maybe not an idot, but for sure you are damn lazy. Why do you except us to do all work for you ? Use www.google.com or something like that. Go to sites like www.gamedev.net or www.gametutorials.com and learn. It's not a good way to start using 3d engine without even knowing what is RGB.

[Electron]

hmm, now I'm curious what is a source rectangle? I don't think I've encountered that one before

BTW: gamedev and gametutorials are good sites, but a forum is for asking questions after all. No one is forcing anyone to answer them. I do, however, recommend some good online tutorials or (even better from my point of view) good solid books for someone just starting out.

[Tyn]

Warui's point is that noone else here has asked these questions, they have found out for themselves through reading through the API and looking on websites like GameDev.net. Asking what a Z-buffer is not something that anyone would expect anyone to know if they are new to game programming but things like Pointers and RGB are things that you should already know, or at least be finding out about. They are the basics of programming ( in the case of RGB, the basics of any kind of graphical program, something that could have been found out by looking at MSPaint ).

You also have a point as this is the beginners forum.

I think that Screen node refers to the Screen Graph system that Irrlicht uses. It simply means the parent/child relationship all objects in Irrlicht share. It's called a screen graph because it is the objects that can be displayed on the screen and it can be drawn out into a flow diagram before setting the parent/child status of the nodes ( Correct me if I am wrong, that is my understanding of it ).

[ford prefect]

I think it's not called a "screen" graph. It is called a "scene" graph because the scene on the screen is forming a graph with its nodes
There are some very good books about graph theory etc. like "Algorithms in C++" by R.Sedgewick.
and another book about "the c++ programming language" by B. Stroustrup.

These are very nice books go and read them

[stodge]

Go to:

http://engine.stodge.net/dict/

Register, and add some terms!

[Tyn]

I think it's not called a "screen" graph. It is called a "scene" graph because the scene on the screen is forming a graph with its nodes

Didn't know that, the site I got my info from originally referred to it as a screen graph. Live and learn

[Guest666]

There are some very good books about graph theory etc. like "Algorithms in C++" by R.Sedgewick.
and another book about "the c++ programming language" by B. Stroustrup.

Pure math books like graph theory are not really going to help you to learn how to create a 3d game, or create a 3d engine. And Stroustrups book is far too advanced for a beginner. The best way to learn these things is to find very basic examples, get them working, and then tweak them. Do not waste money on the above mentioned books!

[Time of Death]

Thank-you slurmunger, good job defining them.

Maybe not an idot, but for sure you are damn lazy. Why do you except us to do all work for you ? Use www.google.com or something like that. Go to sites like www.gamedev.net or www.gametutorials.com and learn. It's not a good way to start using 3d engine without even knowing what is RGB.

You've got to be kidding me. As electron said, one of the main things this forum is for is asking questions. The section tile, "Beginners Help", plays a role is implementing that purpose. Use Google for this? If I searched for "screennode" or "bbp", most likely I would find something that looked like code, but turns out to be a German porn site for screennode and a Body Buffing Powder commercial product for bbp. Or, I could ask in a place that is devoted to a subject related to the terms where people know what I'm talking about.

[warui]

OK, maybe I overreact (but not very much IMO). But your question sounded for me like "hey, i don't want to wast my time on reading book or articles in the net, so tell me what are these...". First you shoul go and learn some theory before starting to toy around with something as complicated as Irrlicht.

[Guest]

OK, maybe I overreact (but not very much IMO). But your question sounded for me like "hey, i don't want to wast my time on reading book or articles in the net, so tell me what are these...". First you shoul go and learn some theory before starting to toy around with something as complicated as Irrlicht.

Why not? It's the only challenge, and as little as I know now, I'm sure I will improve, though that may not be for a while.

[warui]

Why not ? Because it's like trying to solve quantum physisc problems without knowing what is an integral.

[123]

One of the advantages of irrlicht engine (I have not tried it myself yet though) is a very active community and good responses/help in the newbie forum section.

Why not ? Because it's like trying to solve quantum physisc problems without knowing what is an integral.

This can be hardly called a good comparison.

Polite response, link to google and the other links (that you posted above) should have been more than enough instead of this drama.

[Guest]

Why not ? Because it's like trying to solve quantum physisc problems without knowing what is an integral.

Exactly, and right now I'm trying to learn what an integral is, based on your comparison.