by Ben Walker

Created on: October 14, 2009

What is 3D? 3D stands for three-dimensional, or anything on a three-dimensional plane. A three-dimensional plane is an object with the normal X and Y axis', but also with a Z axis. 3D is used for modeling, animation, and what we live in everyday.

Before I go into 3D, let me explain the other dimensions. First this is the 1D, or first-dimension. 1D usual only consists of the X axis, but can be labeled as Y or Z. The first dimension is only a line of points, only one point wide (because it cannot go past 0 on the Y axis) and one point thick (because it cannot go past zero on the Z axis.)

2D on the other hand, has two axis', as it is two-dimensional. 2D consists of the X and Y axis, and can be used for pictures and cartoons. 2D is also used for conventional graphs. 2D can go from one to infinity on the X axis (usually left to right) and one to infinity on the Y axis (up and down) but cannot go past zero on the Z axis (vertically up, or vertically down.)

Now onto 3D, as stated before it is used for modeling, animation, and we live in 3D every single day. 3D is us, everything has matter on the X, Y and Z axis', even the super-small thickness of an object can be measured down to nanometers, the sharpest objects on Earth is a tungsten needle sharpened down to only one atom thick.

3D is really just a theory, we try to make theories to explain our world, and sometimes we just can't! Some scientists work for many years trying to prove this theory wrong. 3D is technically known as stereoscopic vision. Most of us have two eyes looking at the world from two slightly different, horizontally spaced angles. The brain merges these two different views into a single impression that we easily take for granted. This allows us to judge with accuracy distances to and between objects.

Throughout the ages, artists have strived to recreate the stereoscopic impression with largely "flat" art media. Sculpture is the most refined of such attempts. With the advent of photography in the mid-1800's, it was immediately recognized that taking two pictures from two slightly different angles (imitating the human eyes) and viewing those images in a way that our left eye sees only the left image, and our right eye sees only the right image, true stereoscopic imagery was possible.

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