Chapter 15. Drawing in 3D

 

This chapter covers:

  • Building a 3D world
  • 3D Transforms
  • Our ponderings on the thoughts of electronic monks

When we first saw that WPF had extensive support for 3D, we immediately started talking about some of the cool things we expected to be able to do, such as having controls angling off into the distance on a pane to the side of the screen to take up less real estate or creating some really cool 3D transitions.

It turns out that, although it’s possible to do these things, it isn’t the primary target for 3D in WPF. The 3D support in WPF is reasonably extensive and pretty cool, but it’s quite distinct from the 2D world we’ve inhabited so far. The general approach for 3D is to put a special container into your application and then put 3D content into that. An example would be building a 3D model of your office and allowing the user to fly through it. Adding a maniac with a gun, à la Quake XVII, is an optional extra. When WPF first came out, thinking about anything approaching a Quake-like game would have been unthinkable, but as the technology has progressed, it has become more and more reasonable. WPF still isn’t the platform of choice for high-speed games, but it’s getting there...

15.1. Lights, camera...

 
 

15.2. Graphing in 3D

 
 

15.3. 3D Transforms

 

15.4. Summary

 
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