HA7 Task 1 - Applications of 3D

3D has been a growing part of the media industry for a while now. It has been used to create objects, organisms etc. where originally it had to be done using a different method. It is a growing piece of technology and has come a far way from when it started, 3D has been used in every way from educational needs to leisurely needs. Below are a few examples of where 3D has been used.

3D in games

Games have come a long way from since they were first created, originally games were 2D as that was all that was capable of being made due to technology and experience in games being low. One of the first games to implement 3D into video games was battlezone, it was considered to have some of the most realistic graphics at the time of creation (1980) and was even used to train tank gunners for the US army. The coding for the game at that time was highly complex and the graphics was made in the same style as asteroid by using wireframe vector graphics. The game was about a tank which the player would control, they would have to go around destroying other tanks. The game included structures for the player to use as cover so that other tanks couldn't kill them as easy making for strategic gameplay.

Gaming dimensions came in 3 stages, originally it started off with games using 2D making them have flat graphics and gameplay. Then there is 2.5D games, this utilises the use of 2D and 3D games together whether that be graphics or gameplay wise. Finally there is 3D in which the environment for games are made to look as though they are in a 3rd dimension whether the graphics are made using pixels or vector.

3D became highly popular in the fifth generation of consoles from 1992 on wards, games like spyro the dragon, crash bandicoot and super mario 64 took 3D and made amazing explorable games with fully 3D graphics and gameplay. As the 3D gameplay progressed so did the graphics that came with it, instead of worlds being made with pixels or polygonal graphics to show off this cartoon type style they slowly became photorealistic and 3D worlds started to look more human like as the years went by.


Spyro (2000)
Spyro was a 3D game series developed for the playstation 1, as you can see all models in this game are made out of 3D. Due to the limitations the objects and world don't look that realistic and things like the grass are flat.

Uncharted 4 (2016)

Uncharted 4 is a game developed for the playstation 4, if we compare this to spyro we can see a massive change in how 3D modelling is done and how far the technology has come, if we look at the dome on the right in spyro's game it's curves are quite polygonal and making the shape less round. However, if we look at objects like the cars in uncharted we can see that the models are being curved and how objects like leaves aren't just circles with a texture over them.

3D in TV & film

3D in television and films has also come a long way, now shows and movies can make unrealistic objects or characters to look like they are real and belong in the real world. Originally if a realistic tv show or film wanted to include a creature they would have to make a costume out of real life materials. Although it was a good idea, the creations they had to make were to extreme for some simple stitching to do and so the costumes wouldn't be as scary as what they can look like today. Let's begin by talking about film.

Film unknown (1950's)

As time has progressed special effects has allowed for creatures like mr fish sticks over here to become more monster like. This means making the body size a huge proportion, spikes to stick out of its body, claws to be created and more. 3D has allowed for this change in creating objects for the sake of making their products look ten times better.

As 3D started the products created didn't look that great, in fact a lot of creations looked out of place. This was due to the technology at the time, budgets, deadlines and experience. However, it was a start and it still allowed for much more creativity on their creations and what the creations can do. 3D also allowed for things like physics to be affected such as a superhero jumping into the sky or a space station to be created that can float around it's space environments.

Men in black (1997)

3D also allowed for animations to become transformed from this 2D platform into 3D immersive worlds. This allowed for all kinds of adventures to be spawned but instead of it being done in the usual 2D style it could be done in 3D making the audience feel more involved in the films. 

Madagascar (2005)

The difference between movies and TV is the fact that TV won't use 3D as much for their content whether it be a realistic show or cartoon. This is because of the budget difference involved, movies will have a higher budget meaning they can spend a lot more into the 3D side of things, they also have a lot more planning on one project instead of having to work out an 11 episode season meaning that the quality produced in movies is higher. This doesn't mean that TV hasn't tried to implement 3D into its piece of media and the very first series to fully be 3D was a Canadian TV show known as ReBoot. Since then there has been a lot of series which uses 3D as its whole style but they don't seem to have a high quality when it comes down to it.

Fanboy and chum chum (2009)
As you can the characters and environment are quite blocky and have simple designs around them. Although that isn't a bad thing it does highlight the fact that movies use 3D technology to its full potential due to the points discussed earlier.

In the modern day we even have 3D screens, this means that we can experience TV shows and films as though they are in the same room as us. Even video games can be enjoyed with this style as the 3DS uses a 3D screen to make its games look as though the visuals are coming out of the screen towards the player.

3D in education

3D has been used in education to help demonstrate the learning objective easier so students have a higher understanding and knowledge of the piece of information they are being taught. It can make some subjects easier to teach and can be a very helpful tool for teachers to use. 3D can also offer bigger job opportunities and more career paths to be opened as subjects could be created around 3D software or learning about 3D software could be implemented into subjects such as media.

An example of 3D use in education would be in science or PE, due to the need that the student will at some point need to learn about the human body. 3D technology can be hugely beneficial for this as students can get a full scale model of the human body online or in a text book which can show a lot more information than what a 2D drawing can do. As 3D continues to grow, the educational system grows with it, in the future schools and colleges can have a fully working 3D interfaces in school where students and teachers can interact to learn more about their subjects making textbooks irrelevant which would be very beneficial for the earth. 3D can also showcase things that can't be seen or done within school's (for safety reasons or it's impossible) such as showing blood transport through the body and the role that it has as it is transported.

DNA double helix

The circulation of blood

3D in medicine

As I have discussed in the education section, 3D can help to show diagrams and things that originally couldn't be seen. 3D in medicine is the same, diagrams and videos can be made in 3D to show the effects of medicine and how it helps. It can also help patients as doctors use 3D imaging software and hardware to scan bodies and find the causes of what is causing the patient their illness or pain. 3D can also be used to educate junior or apprentice doctors about their future jobs and what they should know when they have the job.
Baby scan

3D in architecture

3D has helped to make architectural structures. With the use of 3D people have been able to plot what buildings would look like, their sizes, their shape, what would go where, the different materials they could use and more. 3D can also allow for buildings to be edited so if a archeologist built a house and didn't like the look of one side he could reshape that side and create a new shape extended onto the original house or if he doesn't like it in general he could scrap it and start again. This means that no resources get wasted and builders can picture how to go around making the house without having to refer to just 2D flat images.

Floor plan of a house

3D in product design

3D can also help when designing products. In the modern day products are everything for a human to want, they either need the newest technology or the newest accessory. For product designers it can be quite hard to create an idea and portray it using 2D images or explaining it in words, this means that 3D technology allows for it to be showcased to an audience or potential funder in an easier light so they get a better understanding of what the product will look like in real life. It also means that if the designer doesn't like the design or feels it is too stupid that he can change it or scrap it in a more efficient and faster way than using a 2D method. It can also help to put components together that hold the product together or make the product work e.g. 3D can help to show the components of a car like the engine and wheels and show where they go by using a simple animation that explodes the product and then puts it together again.

3D in printing

3D can not only be used to display objects virtually on a software but can be used to actually print real life objects, it has been a very new technology and is growing increasingly popular as a way to create objects in real life. This is due to how easy and fast it is (although it is a little expensive.) The way it works is you create something using a 3D software such as maya or unity, once it is complete you transfer the information from the software over the the 3D machine which then begins to print the object you have created in the software. 3D printing has made objects such as a working gun, an acoustic guitar, 3D medical models and even a working prosthetic limb which has been fitted onto people with a missing limb.




As technology increases 3D will increase with it making for new software and hardware to be developed. It also means that the technology we have now can become updated to make even bigger and better things than what is already being made. Video game worlds could be come more interactive, education could become a lot easier and better and even more, 3D is forever growing and it will continue to grow as the years go by.

3D environments

3D environments are environments created for use within a 3D world or demonstration, as with the world there are multiple environments that can be created ranging from deserts, forests, space etc. Video games have great examples of 3D environments because of the vast amount of varied games and the environments featured within them. Depending on which setting the developers go with will depend on the architecture featured within the environment, in most cases they will try to create architecture that goes with and compliments the environment.

This is an example of a desert like environment from a game known as rage, as you can see it is mainly sculpted to look like a rocky and barren wasteland.

3D Web

The internet is one of the only interactive platforms where 3D is quite scarce, it allows you to access millions of files that show off 3D such as images or videos but does not utilise the use of 3D to simulate any kind of information or entertainment to the user. An example of the web utilising 3D can be by creating a web page that allows the user to walk around an area or environment from a first person perspective, almost like a video game but the interactive tabs would work as different areas. So say you want to learn about science, the web page could present the user walking into a classroom presented with three different symbols for each three main categories of science, depending on which symbol you interact with will depend on where the character in the web will transport to. If Biology is chosen it could allow the player to be transported to a room filled with a huge amount of interactive biological information such as messing with a 3D model of the human anatomy.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctr54kopo8I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-r5JMyyOVM
http://stuffpoint.com/spyro-the-dragon/image/269984/year-of-the-dragon-gameplay-screenshot/
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http://mayaida.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/justin-owens-rage-dlc-10.jpg