Overview
You work as a C++ and OpenGL 3D graphics developer for Triangle & Cube Studios. This company designs 3D worlds for clients and customizes them based on the varied needs presented by each particular client.
In this professional landscape, the demand for computational graphics and visualizations is continually growing. Your clients may come from the games industry looking for graphics and animations, the healthcare industry for medical visualizations, the entertainment industry for computer-generated imagery (CGI) and visual effects, business industries for 3D printing to create physical objects for applied real-world problem solving, and much more. When you are assigned one of these types of projects, you become responsible for writing code in OpenGL to create objects, apply texture, apply light, render, and control virtual environments relative to a virtual camera.
Your current project with Triangle & Cube Studios is to recreate a 3D version of a 2D image that you have been given by a client. Your client will later be 3D printing this to use as a preliminary concept for their business, so they only need you to create a simple approximation using a few basic shapes.
This week you will begin recreating the 2D scene by constructing just one 3D object. Note that you will be using the image you selected last week for this task.
Prompt
Using the image you selected in the Module Two milestone, begin creating a 3D object to represent one of the objects in your 2D scene. The object you create in this milestone will need to be made from two or more primitive 3D shapes. You will complete your work in Visual Studio. Be sure to work from a project file that has the libraries set up correctly from your work in Module One.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Create a complex 3D object using at least two primitive shapes. The object you create should be reflective of one object from your 2D scene. At this stage of your object’s creation, you should add different colors to each vertex of the object. This will help you better visualize the variance between the different parts of the shapes you are creating. Note that the code you already have uses rainbow colors on the shapes that are provided; if you use this code you may keep that rainbow format. Remember, the shapes you may wish to use are as follows:
Cube
Cylinder
Plane
Pyramid
Sphere
Torus
Apply transformations so shapes are scaled, rotated, and translated (placed) correctly. This work should be relevant for the 2D reference image. For example, if you are working with a cylinder, should it be standing up or lying on its side, based on the image you are referencing? If you are also creating a cube, where should it be placed relative to the cylinder? What sizes are the two objects when compared to each other? It will be easier if you complete these transformations in the right order for your specific object. In general, you will wish to first scale, then rotate, and then translate. While this is not always the case, that is the most likely order for your process to follow.
Create code that follows a logical flow without syntax errors. The code you create needs to be executable and all the code that is included will have to be reached by the execution. Note that not everything should be written in a single function and your work should be well-modularized.
Apply coding best practices in your creations. Pay particular attention to the way you format and comment your code. Program code should be easy to read and follow industry standard code formatting practices, such as indentation and spacing. Commenting best practices should be in place to ensure the source code is briefly and clearly explained using descriptive comments.
Guidelines for Submission
Submit a completed ZIP folder with all of your code, which may include one or multiple CPP files along with Visual Studio project files. Also make sure the ZIP folder includes an EXE file, because without this your code will not be able to run. Checking for the EXE can be used as a quick reference on the functionality of your code before you submit. Reference the Visual Studio Export Tutorial, linked in this week’s Resources, for guidance on how to download the necessary ZIP folder.