3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics, sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering digital images, usually 2D images but sometimes 3D images. The resulting images may be stored for viewing later (possibly as an animation) or displayed in real time.

3D computer graphics, contrary to what the name suggests, are most often displayed on two-dimensional displays. Unlike 3D film and similar techniques, the result is two-dimensional, without visual depth. More often, 3D graphics are being displayed on 3D displays, like in virtual reality systems.

3D graphics stand in contrast to 2D computer graphics which typically use completely different methods and formats for creation and rendering.

3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D computer vector graphics in the wire-frame model and 2D computer raster graphics in the final rendered display. In computer graphics software, 2D applications may use 3D techniques to achieve effects such as lighting, and similarly, 3D may use some 2D rendering techniques.

The objects in 3D computer graphics are often referred to as 3D models. Unlike the rendered image, a model's data is contained within a graphical data file. A 3D model is a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional object; a model is not technically a graphic until it is displayed. A model can be displayed visually as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering, or it can be used in non-graphical computer simulations and calculations. With 3D printing, models are rendered into an actual 3D physical representation of themselves, with some limitations as to how accurately the physical model can match the virtual model.

William Fetter was credited with coining the term computer graphics in 1961 to describe his work at Boeing. An early example of interactive 3-D computer graphics was explored in 1963 by the Sketchpad program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory. One of the first displays of computer animation was Futureworld (1976), which included an animation of a human face and a hand that had originally appeared in the 1972 experimental short A Computer Animated Hand, created by University of Utah students Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke.

3-D computer graphics software began appearing for home computers in the late 1970s. The earliest known example is 3D Art Graphics, a set of 3-D computer graphics effects, written by Kazumasa Mitazawa and released in June 1978 for the Apple II.

Virtual Reality 3D is a version of 3D computer graphics. With the first headset coming out in the late 1950s, the popularity of VR didn't take off until the 2000s. In 2012 the Oculus was released and since then, the 3D VR headset world has expanded.