Getting started with 3D coordinates and vertices

The world around us is three-dimensional, so in order to simulate parts of the world, we can create a 3D representation and display it on our 2D screen.

Raspberry Pi enables us to simulate a 3D space, place 3D objects within it, and observe them from a selected viewpoint. We will use the GPU to produce a representation of the 3D view as a 2D image to display it on the screen.

The following example will show you how we can use pi3d (an OpenGL ES library for Raspberry Pi) to place a single 3D object and display it within the 3D space. We will then allow the mouse to rotate the view around the object:

Single 3D object

Getting ready

Raspberry Pi must be directly connected to a display, either via the HDMI or an analog video output. The 3D graphics rendered by the GPU will only be displayed on a local display, even if you are connecting to Raspberry Pi remotely over a network. You will also need to use a locally connected mouse for control (however...