CPS 124/296.3
Fall 2001

Coordinate Spaces

Graphics Rendering Pipeline

Computer graphics is generally, the representation of a 3D scene on a 2D plane. 
Traditionally accomplished using a pipeline to compose transformations from object space to screen space.

Object Space (3D)

Also called modeling space
Object of unit size centered at origin
Model of object constructed using, typically, triangle strips
glVertex3f(-0.25, 0, 0)

World Space (3D)

Position, rotate, scale object in relation to other objects
Light object
glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW)

Eye Space (3D)

Also called normalized viewing space
Position, rotate, scale object as seen by camera
Clip, remove, objects not visible within camera frustrum
glMatrixMode(GL_PROJECTION)

Viewport Space (3D)

Also called image space
Project objects onto camera's 2D viewport
Clip, remove, hidden surfaces

Screen Space (2D)

Scale object to device coordinates, based on dimensions of window on screen
Scan convert, rasterize, object from geometry to pixels
Color object based on capabilities of hardware
glViewport(0, 0, theWindowWidth, theWindowHeight)

References

Notes on 2D and 3D transforms
The transformation game from Brown University
 

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