Glossary

U Step Coordinate space along the horizontal plane of the surface mesh.

Hidden line Built-in rendering of the surface mesh of an object with overlapped or obscured areas hidden.

Interpolation Calculation of intermediate points between specified control points to approximate and smooth the distance between the end points.

Keyboard shortcuts Keyboard equivalents that can be used as alternatives to pull down menus and the mouse.

Lathe The modeling process of creating a 3-D object by revolving an outline around an axis.

Loft Stretches a skin between 2-D shapes placed on a path to create a new 3-D shape.

Menu bar The row of pull down menu names at the top of the screen.

Mesh The two-dimensional undersurface grid applied to the model for shaping purposes.

NURBs Non-uniform rational B-splines which require an explicit specification of the parameters that trace out the surface.

Photo realism A high level of realism accomplished by applying lights, shading, and textures to the 3-D model.

Phong shading Rendering technique which produces shiny surfaces.

PICT A graphics file format used by many computer applications. Pixels can export rendered images into PICT formats.

Primitives Common geometrical forms which are used as 3-D building blocks to make more complex shapes.

Proxy An approximation of the skeletal structure of the model without all the wireframe details. Pixels uses this feature to shorten redrawing time as changes are made to the model.

Render The process of recalculating all the specified geometry and drawing the model with highlights and shading, color, reflections, refractions, texture and other surface qualities is called rendering. The rendering process gives the 3-D model a finished look.