8-1 Discussion - LOD

docx

School

Southern New Hampshire University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

350

Subject

Mechanical Engineering

Date

Jan 9, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

2

Uploaded by Darkmaster1939

Report
Linear algebra is used quite a bit in the digital world. For instance, computer graphics boil down to the the manipulation of matrices. We saw this in the second project. The data for a image is stored in a matrix with the rows and columns representing the rows and columns of pixels of the graphic, and the values representing the color value that should be displayed from at the pixel. Manipulation of these values is how video games display the environment to the player. In 3D games, this is done with polygonal structures. This essentially breaks the images down into a wireframe of vectors, where the smaller the polygon is, the more detailed the image is. This level of detail (LOD), can be changed, depending on how close the camera is to the object. In the majority cases, until recent, the LOD had to be predetermined by the programmer. In the Unreal Engine 5, a relatively new version of the engine, they incorporated something called nanite. Nanite removed the need for the developer to create these LODs. The engine analyzes the model and predetermines the amount of polygons that can be applied to it and will smoothly adjust depending on distance. This could change the future of video game graphics by reducing the loss in quality to near zero, allowing for much more realistic looking games. As an aspiring game developer myself, understanding the manipulation of vectors and matrices is fairly important. Whether I'm creating a game from scratch and need to figure out to properly display an image, or I'm using an engine, like Unreal, where that is handled for me, knowing how to work through linear algebra can be the difference of a good game or a mess. An example of this would be from one of my previous projects I did in Unreal. In this project, the player could shoot an arrow from a bow. To direct the arrow in front of the player, I had to get the forward vector, the direction the player was facing, and add it to the players location, also stored as vector. With this calculation applied to the spawning of the arrow, it appears at the player and moves in the forward direction. While this is one example, making a video game, at its core, is just a lot of vector and matrix calculations. Computer Graphics . Fluids at Brown. (n.d.). https://www.cfm.brown.edu/people/dobrush/cs52/Mathematica/Part7/graphics.html#:~:text=In %20Computer%20Graphics%2C%20matrices%20are,environment%20and%20characters%20in %20game. Nanite virtualized geometry . in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.0 Documentation. (n.d.). https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/nanite-virtualized-geometry-in-unreal-engine/
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
  • Access to all documents
  • Unlimited textbook solutions
  • 24/7 expert homework help