CAP 202 - Computer Animation II

Review for First Test

The following questions are provided to help you study for the first test. Do not expect to see these exact questions on the test.

1. Why does a texture map allow us to reduce the polygon count of a scene?
   
   
2. What is the difference between a texture and a skin, according to Mr. Ahearn? What would cause us to use a skin instead of a texture on an object?
   
   
3. What limitation would prevent our using planar mapping on most 3D objects?
   
   
4. What limitation prevents using a box mapping on some box shaped objects?
   
   
5. What must be true of a map for it to be used effectively on a sphere or a cylinder?
   
   
6. Name at least 4 primitive objects that you should be able to make with any 3D modeling program.
   
   
7. What are two ways to turn a 3DS Max object into a mesh?
   
   
8. How is moving a mesh's vertex with soft selection different from moving it with hard selection?
   
   
9. What does it mean to chamfer an edge?
   
   
10. The text reviews four classic vertex types. Which two do not have control handles?
    
    Which one has independent control handles?
    
    Which one gives you the most control over the spline the vertex is part of?
    
    
11. In terms of our text, what is a game asset?
    
    
12. Why are the goals of looking good and running well in conflict with each other?
    
    
13. What measure of game performance does chapter 1 propose?
    
    
14. Assume you are going to use the MIP technique with an object in your game. What will this cause you to create regarding its texture?
    
    
15. What are two other names for a texture atlas?
    
    What are the two file components you would expect to have to create to use a texture atlas?
    
    
16. What is an unlit texture?
    
    Why is the phrase misleading?
    
    
17. Multi-texturing can mean applying several different textures to different polygons of the same object. It can also mean something else. What?
    
    
18. What system burden does a lightmap reduce?
    
    What system burden does a lightmap increase?
    
    
19. What is the advantage to setting a mask color when trying to make the background of a texture transparent?
    
    
20. What is the advantage to using an alpha channel to achieve transparency in part of a texture?
    
    
21. What does it mean to occlude an object?
    
    
22. What would cause you to make a low resolution texture when it is to be tiled over a large area?
    
    
23. What is an emitter in a particle system?
    
    How are textures used in a particle system?
    
    
24. What are three recommendations the text makes about using a particle system?
    
    
25. Ignoring textures, what should you do about optimizing actual polygons on models that are seen at several distances over the course of a game?
    
    
26. What is a collision hull?
    
    Why does its shape matter?
    
    
27. Why might a collision hull apply only to NPCs?
    
    What use is a collision hull that is a barrier to player characters?
    
    
28. What kind of collisions might a collision hull need to sense?
    
    
29. What is culling, and why would you cull polygons?
    
    
30. What is a frustum?
    
    What are the six planes of a frustum?
    
    
31. What problem does distance fog overcome?
    
    
32. What does Mr. Ahearn mean by "blocking" a game level?
    
    
33. In the urban environment from chapter 5, how many grid units correspond to a foot in the game world?
    
    
34. Why does a game asset designer need to know how tall a character is, and how high the character can jump?
    
    
35. The author uses a sensible modular approach to creating streets in chapter 5. How many different kinds of street module objects should you have constructed for this chapter?
    
    
36. If the repeating building object takes up an entire city block in the urban scene, how can it appear to be four buildings?
    
    
37. What does the author mean by a "repeating building"?
    
    What does he mean by a "landmark"?
    
    
38. What three ways does the author suggest that we might use to call a player's attention to a landmark?