Putting It Together

You’re now armed with quite a variety of graphics primitives: spheres, planes, cubes, cylinders, and cones. What can you make with them? Here are some ideas:

• An ice cream cone with one (or more!) scoops.
• The US Capitol building.
• An arrow.
• A lightbulb.
• Stonehenge.
• A spiral staircase.
• A picture frame.
• The Saturn V rocket.
• A pencil.

If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you might consider trying a (simplified!) model of something organic: a tree, a dog, or even a stick-figure person.

When you’re ready, turn the page. You’ll learn an easier way to construct complex models, as well as an optimization you can use to potentially reduce the number of intersection tests required to render your scenes.