Tag Archives: 3D
3D holograms! Me want!!
Last time I introduced you to the idea of a time-space diagram, which is a kind of map used to describe motion. As with many maps and diagrams, we choose to use a flat, two-dimensional representation. Someday hologram technology may advance to casual use of three-dimensional images, but so long as we use paper and display screens, we’re stuck with two.
Motion is movement in both space and time, so we want to use one of our two dimensions to represent time. That leaves us with only one remaining dimension for space, so our diagrams exist in a reduced one-dimensional world.
Today I’ll explore that world in more detail.
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7 Comments | tags: 1D, 2D, 3D, diagrams, dimensions, maps, motion, space, Special Relativity, time, time-space, time-space diagram | posted in Physics
Last week I introduced you to the idea of relative motion between frames of reference. We’ve explored this form of relativity scientifically since Galileo, and it bears his name: Galilean Relativity (or Invariance). Moving objects within a (relatively) moving frame move differently according to those outside that frame.
I also introduced you to the idea that light doesn’t follow that rule; that light moves the same way to all observers. This is what makes Special Relativity different. It turns out that, if a frame is (relatively) moving fast enough, some bizarre things happen.
Time-space diagrams will help us explore that.
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2 Comments | tags: 1D, 2D, 3D, diagrams, dimensions, Edwin Abbott, Emmy Noether, Flatland, maps, motion, Special Relativity, time, time-space, time-space diagram | posted in Physics
As reported earlier, this week got off to a rough start. I let my guard down (foolishly) and got nabbed by the greedy PC rapists. All I wanted was to find a particular font for a project. The next day a more careful search turned up exactly what I needed, the fonts and just the fonts (ma’am).
Monday I mentioned that I planned to share my font-needing project with you. It’s not finished (many of my projects live a long time as I tweak them — some are living things that grow and improve forever). But it turned out so much better than I expected, I just had to share it with you this Science Fiction Saturday.
I’m also going to boldly try a new WordPress blogging trick!
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10 Comments | tags: 3D, 3D images, CGI, computer generated images, ffmpeg, mp4, NCC-1701, POV-Ray, Star Trek, TOS, USS Enterprise | posted in Computers, Sci-Fi Saturday, TV
Back on my first Sideband post, I wrote that, “Sideband posts are miscellaneous thoughts that accompany the main thread of posts. Think of them as small paths that meander off the main road. Some branch off, go a short ways and die after a short while. Others are scenic trails that follow along the main road.”
They never quite achieved that vision, so this year one goal is getting Sidebands back on track with that original “mission statement.”
And I’m going to start with fun topic: computer-generated 3D images!
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12 Comments | tags: 3D, 3D images, abacus, bar stool, CGI, computer generated images, POV-Ray, ray tracing | posted in Computers, Sideband
The maps you find in some buildings and malls have a little marker flag that says, “You are here!” The marker connects the physical reality of where you are standing at that moment with a specific point on a little flat map.
Your GPS device provides your current location in terms of longitude and latitude. Those numbers link your physical location with a specific point on any globe or map of the Earth.
But to fully represent our location, longitude and latitude are not quite enough. (We might be high overhead in a hot air balloon!) To fully represent our position, we need a little more ‘tude, but in this case that’s altitude, not attitude.
We need three (and only three) coordinates to completely represent our location in space. This post is about why.
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18 Comments | tags: 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D, altitude, Calabi-Yau, Cartesian, coordinates, dimensions, latitude, longitude, polar coordinates, rectangular coordinates | posted in Basics, Math, Physics, Science
I completely forgot to rant about 3D when I wrote about the Green Lantern movie. Part of the reason I did forget is that I didn’t see it in 3D.
Except for certain special cases — basically occasionally checking to see the state of the art — I will never willingly see any movie in 3D.
Number me, along with film critic Roger Ebert, as a hater of 3D.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3D, Roger Ebert | posted in Movies, Sideband
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