Glossar

This differs from 3D animation in that a 2D object always needs only two orientation points.

3D glasses are special glasses that are needed in some stereoscopic processes (3D photo, 3D film) to make spatial depth visible.

The 3D hologram is a form of 3D experience that can be viewed without any type of 3D Glasses. The hologram stands freely in space and appears a s a projection. This requires a 3D hologram projector that can generate holograms.

3D printing is an additive process where material is applied layer by layer to produce a three-dimensional object. The important factor for all objects is that the material is initially liquid and then hardens quickly. These days, countless models can be generated through 3D printing. From abstract shapes to clothing and shoes - limitations are fading fast.

3D Realtime visualization refers to the display of computer generated worlds that are computed in real time. Realtime means that the image is generated immediately at the time it is viewed. Users can interact with the visualization because it is not unalterably pre-computed.

A 3D product configurator contains all components of a product. The configuration options are always subject to certain rules. Individualized products are created with selection, combination, and parametrization options. A unique end product is created at the time of the interaction. The visual result can be viewed immediately and allows for a virtual shopping experience.

3ds Max is a high-performance solution for 3D modelling, animation and Rendering.

Ambient light (AL) is a component of light calculation in computer graphics. Put simply, it is the amount of light that shows up evenly from all directions in 3D scene. It gives the entire surroundings even illumination that does not come from a clearly defined direction.

AO for short;
is a shading method used in 3D computer graphics to achieve realistic shading of scenes with relatively short rendering time. 

An operating system whose name is derived from the Greek word "androïde". The word means "like human" and the system is used for operating mobile devices like smart phones, netbooks, or tablets. Android was developed by Open Handset Alliance, a group consisting of numerous large companies, software developers, and smart phone manufacturers. Its main member is Google.

Apache Cordova (also called Phone Gap) is a framework for creating hybrid applications with HTML5 and JavaScript. The command line program Cordova provides for this purpose lets the user create projects and compile them for different end devices. The code in HTML5 and JS is inserted into the individual projects of the end devices and just has to be compiled. Cordova also has plugins, such as reading GPS data.

The term app is short for application. In Germany, the term almost exclusively refers to software that runs on mobile end devices. In English usage, "application software" can describe all types of software programs.

Just as the User Interface of an application represents an interface between humans and the software behind it, an API is the machine-readable equivalent of the it. The API provides a clearly abstracted and structured access to the functions of the backend. In addition, data can be exchanged in a particularly easy to process and reduced form, for example.

Augmented Reality, AR for short, is computer-assisted augmentation of perception of reality. The real world is augmented with virtual content, such as the insertion of virtual lines or circles within a TV broadcast.

Splines are functions that are piecewise-defined by polynomials of maximum degree "n". They are used in programming for computing camera flights. B-Splines are the most commonly used method for approximating splines. This is done by approximation of defined points with the aid of weight functions, where the first and last point can be the beginning and ending point of the curve.

Antonym: Frontend
Describes data base servers or data access systems. Sometimes the administration surface for data entry by the site operator is also called backend. It is the part of the IT system that deals with data processing in the background – the data layer.

Blender is a free graphics suite licensed with GPL for modelling, texturing, and animating objects.

C# (pronounced "cee sharp") is a programming language that was developed for creating a large range of applications. It is mostly used for proprietary Windows applications. C# is simply structured, high-performance, more typical, and object-oriented.

Refers to a markup language that is based on style sheets and is used for designing web sites. CSS3 is used particularly in connection with HTML, because that markup language gives programmers and web designers little freedom in terms of layout and typography.

Cinema 4D is a graphics software for creating 3D video animations. It provides professionals all the options for modelling, rendering, texturing, illuminating, and animating spaces, figures, and objects.

For short: CAD
It refers to designing a product using a computer. These days almost all CAD drawings are three-dimensional.

The term CMS describes a certain system, that assists in handling the various different types of assets that are displayed in an interactive application. For example text content, images or 3d models are commonly managed by some sort of CMS.

Crossmedia describes communication across several channels that are interlinked in terms of content, design, and editing. The term is particularly well known in marketing, where it is used as a common campaign tool for addressing customers on several channels simultaneously.

Formerly also called Compute Unified Device Architecture, this is a programming technique (similar to OpenCL ) by NIVIDIA, which can significantly increase computing performance of a system by using the performance of the graphic processor. 

The term describes a process that can be used in simulations of illumination in a 3D scene to reduce the amount of computational effort required. The process essentially separates geometry processing from light calculation and thereby makes it possible to increase the number of light sources in 3D scenes without compromising too much on performance.

DirectX is the Microsoft programming interface for games and other video technologies. Simply put, it is intended to help developers of Windows games. They only have to consider the particulars of DirectX, without having to align their game with several graphic cards. The game works with all graphic cards that support DirectX.

The domain Shader is one of the programmable Shader of the graphics pipeline. It is developed in HLSL and is part of the DirectX world. This type of Shader is used for Tesselation.

Drag & drop or "drag and drop", "drag'n drop" refers to a method for working with graphic surfaces using a pointing device. Elements can be moved to a particular position simply by clicking and pulling.

To display an object on the screen, the Engine sends "Draw Calls" to the Graphics API. These draw calls contain all information like textures, Shaders and geometry, where each material of an object represents exactly one draw call.

In order to realistically simulate and render reflecting surfaces in 3D computer graphics, the surrounding environment of the object is stored as a texture and mapped onto its surface. Most often, spherical mapping (texture is mapped on the inside of a sphere) or cubic mapping (texture is divided on six sides of a cube) take place.

Equirectangular Mapping is a mapping method in which a curved surface is projected onto a rectangular surface. The individual polygons of a mesh are distorted in the UV Unwrap so that they form uniform rectangles in the UV Space. The distortion increases the closer a polygon is to a pole.

The FBX format is a free, platform-independent 3D development and exchange format. It enables access to 3D data from all commonly used 3D systems and platforms.

The framebuffer is part of a computer's video RAM and is a digital copy of the monitor image. Since the 1990s, the framebuffer is usually located on the graphic card.

Framework refers to a programming structure that is used particularly in software development. A program code consists of many small building blocks. To make programming easier and save time, we use so-called frameworks. They are only a foundation for the programmer, not complete and autonomous programs.

Antonym: Backend
The Frontend is the part of IT that is closer to the user, meaning the web site or application with which the user actually has contact.

A game engine is a special programming framework that offers a large range of functions. It reduces the programming effort and helps supply programmers with predefined software that does not have to be independently programmed. The Unity3D engine is the most commonly used 3D engine in our programming.

GPGPU is an integral part of high performance computing (HPC) and describes a programming interface that provides the option of having general computations of the graphics processor (GPU) executed on the graphic card. The original purpose of graphic chips is to fill the screen with pixels. Nowadays, the command sets of GPUs are so extensive that they are also suitable for general computations.

Beschreibt die genau Positionserkennung mittels Breiten- und Längengrad

Ghosting effects occur when the timing of a 3D image is not precisely right. It manifests in blurry images, half-transparent shadow edges, or trailing effects.

Git is a distributed version management system that is freely available as open source. Git is used for consistent logging of changes to files. It is used particularly in the programming segment for monitoring changes, undoing them, making them available to others via so-called "repositories", or obtaining updates from others.

In 3D computer graphics, the term generally describes the simulation of reciprocal effects between light and objects. It creates a realistic image with faithful dispersion of light components.

The Google Cardboard is a cardboard holder that lets the user view content in Virtual Reality on a smartphone. The phenomenon can be created by positioning of a smart phone and the appropriate  applications.

The GPU (short: graphics processing unit) is a processor for computers, smartphones and game consoles that is responsible for calculating graphics and displaying those on the screen.

GPU instancing tells the GPU to render multiple copies of the same Mesh in a single Draw Call to keep the number of calls low.
This improves rendering performance.

A graphics engine is part of a computer program or hardware, a so-called engine, that serves to display computer graphics. Usually these are highly realistic 3D computer graphics like objects, environments, and people (key term: VR). In the context of 3D computer graphics, the graphics engine is also called 3D engine. Specifically, the engine consists of integrated or externally stored program code, which runs parallel to the actual (Game-Engine) to calculate the graphics interface.

Grunt is a so-called "task runner“. The tool is based on Node.js and with appropriate modules it can compress, compile, etc. The module helps to automate recurring tasks in Frontend projects. (See Gulp.js)

Gulp.js is a so-called task runner based on Node.js. Node.js therefore has to be installed to work with Gulp.js. With Gulp, tasks are routed through channels, so-called "pipes". This helps with logically structuring a task and speeds up the process. (See Grunt.js)

Bestehend aus einem Doppelkreuz und kann vor Schlagwörter gesetzt werden um diese in sozialen Netzwerken auffindbar zu machen.

HLSL is a programming language that was developed for DirectX and is used for programming Shader building blocks. This programming language competes with the OpenGL Shading Language by OpenGL.

The HTC Vive is a head-mounted display, better known as VR glasses. With the HTC Vive, users can view or play VR-based games, films, or other applications. It has two integrated controllers and two cameras that scan the room and transmit the data into the application.

HTML5 is a markup language that allows for cross-platform display of texts, images, videos, and other elements in a web document. HTML5 replaces its predecessor HTML4. The markup language comes with code that can be used to create dynamic content without the use of external plugins.

It is the technical term for being immersed in the virtual world. It causes a merging with the real world to varying degrees depending on the level of immersion.

Describes an operating system developed by Apple. All Apple mobile devices use it. It functions by touch, so it supports input via touch gestures.

JavaScript is a scripting language which - amongst other things - can be used for implementing dynamic content for websites. In this context JavaScript can be classified as a client-side scripting language, since the code is executed locally on the system of the user. JavaScript is an integral tool for creating dynamic websites.

Der Key Performance Indicator bezeichnet Kennzahlen, mit denen die Leistung und Aktivität eines Unternehmens ermittelt werden kann. 

So-called grid systems provide a simple way of building layouts based on grids. The grids then form the basis for the arrangement of texts, images, or other objects.

The level of detail refers to the various degrees of detail in a virtual image. To guarantee that applications run smoothly, 3D Realtime applications are implemented with a high level of detail for close-up images and a lower level of detail for more distant images.

Lighting refers to the correct light computation in connection with a particular material. For instance, light has a different effect on a matte surface than on a glossy one. This is why lighting is usually computed in connection with shading in our applications.

Lightmapping is a method for achieving static per-pixel illumination. To accomplish this, textures are precomputed on the CPU for all static surfaces of a scene, which per texel contain the collective light value of this texel position in world coordinates.

The speed of 3D real time applications depends among other factors on the number of polygons used. To allow applications to run smoothly, the number of polygons has to be reduced to lessen the strain on the computer. The basic principle is: as few as possible – as many as necessary.

Marker-based tracking refers to the determination of an object's position and its direction. In marker-based tracking, the marker is used as an object by which content can be moved and displayed. Markers can be equipped with certain information about a person – name, age, etc.. In our case, marker-based applications are at the same time touch applications that can be viewed on touch tables.

Maya is a fully equipped software for 3D animation, modelling, simulation, and rendering. Maya offers fast, creative tools that help artists communicate their ideas.

A mesh in computer graphics is a collection of points that are connected with one another in a certain way. They form a Polygon mesh and are rendered together. Objects set up in mesh data can be reloaded and saved in 3D programs at any time.

A mesh collider provides collision recognition between the Mesh and the primitive. Simply put, it builds a box around the complex 3D object to keep it from colliding with other objects.

Microservices are architectural patterns of information technology. They are used in complex software projects to enable changes without major interruptions. The individual services cooperate in one application. Services therefore run in separate processes and communicate with other services via lightweight procedures. As Microservices run in separate processes, they can be deployed and commissioned independently of each other. This reduces the dependency of the microservices to the dependency of the interfaces. Changes to a service do not have a major impact on the rest of the system and can be made independently of each other.

Describes multiple touch recognition. Sensitive screens recognize gestures from not just one but several points of contact. These could be fingers or other touch-generated systems. For instance, users can select, scale, or zoom several images on a screen simultaneously.

The multi user system is an operating system that lets several users act simultaneously in one application and strictly separates these users from one another.

Node.js is an open source platform user for server based execution of JavaScript. Run in the JavaScript runtime environment "V8", Node.js offers a very resource-efficient architecture that allows for a particularly large number of simultaneous network connections.

Objective-C is a programming language supplementing the programming language C with statements for object-oriented programming. It is the foundation for programming software for iOS and OS X.

The OpenCL programming language offers the option of writing short, computing-intensive pieces of code in such a way that they can be executed on almost all processors (similar to CUDA). These pieces of code are also called kernels. Using the OpenCL software library, the kernel can be started with any desired parameters.

Open GL (graphics library)
refers to a platform and programming language-independent standard for programming graphics-enabled hardware. It contains approximately 250 commands that can be used to create two and three-dimensional graphics.

This is a programming language that can be used to execute Shader on the graphics processor by means of OpenGL. GLSL was specially adapted to the requirements of Shaders. There are built-in types for vectors, matrices and countless mathematical and graphics functions. There are five different GLSL Shader types: Vertex, tessellation, geometry, and fragment Shaders as part of the rendering pipeline, and the independent compute shaders.

Objects are assigned to hierarchical relationships within a scene. If the user moves the "parent" object, the associated "child" object is also moved and all changes are applied to it as well. A "parent" can have several "child" objects, but a "child" can only have one "parent" from which it adopts changes.

Phantom.js is a script-based browser used for automating web site interactions.

Describes the generation of particularly true-to-original materials in a 3D real-time environment based on physical properties. The materials are reproduced and implemented by reflections and colorings that are nearly physically correct.

Ein Product Information Management System (kurz PIM) ist ein System zur zentralen Pflege und Verwaltung sämtlicher Produktinformationen. Diese Daten können so für den Einsatz in verschiedenen Ausgabemedien bereitgestellt werden.

The pitch is the most commonly used method by which companies select the best agency for a project or general support. Agencies apply with specially developed implementation ideas. This type of competition is intended to ensure that companies select the most suitable service provider for general support or specific projects.

The pivot point is the point in space where transformations originate. It plays a major part in rotating and scaling objects. All points are rotated, zoomed, or moved around the pivot point.

Poles are places in a mesh where more than four edges meet in a vertex. In many cases, these lead to shading errors and are to be avoided especially on curved surfaces.

A polygon consists of several vertices (points) and their connecting lines (edges). Polygons make up the fundamental structure of all 3D models.

QR stands for "quick response" and is know as a black-and-white string of characters. It describes a method of displaying character codes in a way that makes them especially quick to read and process automatically.

Development environment for future-oriented communication of complexity and aesthetics with the newest technologies for a compelling visualization of your products.

Rendering is the process of creating a three-dimensional image from raw data. It allows us to generate 3D objects with realistic spatial surfaces.

A repository, or repo for short, contains all files including prior versions. Changes to a file that were logged in the repo are permanently available and users can track who made what changes and when.

Responsive web design (short: RWD) allows web pages to be displayed well on a variety of devices, regardless of screen size.

RFID stands for radio frequency identification. In simple terms it means identification by radio, i.e. with the aide of electromagnetic waves. The technology allows for contact-less saving and reading of data. RFID is used for automatic identification and in special applications also for localizing objects.

Rigging describes the process of creating the skeleton of a mesh. Skinning connects the rig to the mesh so that it can be animated. The creation of the skeleton is based on real anatomy in order to make the animation look as realistic as possible.

Program for integrating dynamic space area lights into projects in real time.
Buy here: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/8120
More information: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/released-screen-space-area-lights-ssal.175467/

These are digital games that are not intended primarily for entertainment, but rather designed to playfully explain serious issues and educate the user.  

In the context of realtime 3D applications the term Shader refers to micro-programs, which are executed directly by the graphics processor (GPU). Amongst many other things, shaders are used to render different material types. For example the visual characteristics of metals, cloths or leather can be expressed very realistically utilizing shader programs.

Shopware is a modular online shop system. It is offered as an open source software and extended by commercial versions.

SketchUp is a 3D CAD software program that allows the user to create 3D models and implement them with a few clicks.

Skinning is the process by which the individual vertices of a mesh are assigned to the rig. It defines in which way the mesh is deformed during the animation. The percentage assignment of the individual vertices to different bones allows a realistic deformation of stretchable surfaces such as skin.

Socket.IO can be used to create real time web applications. It is a module for Node.js consisting of two components: a server-based library for Node.js and a client-based JavaScript library.

In the software field, standalone stands for a program that works independently of other program libraries. It does not have to be installed, so it can be used anywhere. Hardware and other devices may also have standalone versions, meaning they function autonomously without the need for any additional devices.

Stereo 3D, 3D Stereo, or S3D is the short form of "stereoscopy" and describes spatial vision. Content with 3D Stereo has become widely used in film and photography. With 3D glasses the content can be viewed in three dimensions.

Swift is a programming language for developing apps for iOS, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch. Swift was developed by Apple and can be seamlessly integrated into existing Objective-C codes.

Or: Template System
In web development, we generally separate the look (layout) from the actual programming. That way, graphic artists and web designers only take care of the design and have hardly any contact with the actual programming. Template engines enable this very step, separating the actual PHP programming (application logic) from the design, meaning the HTML version. This way, the design can be added after the fact to any programming and vice versa.

Tessellation is used to further subdivide an existing grid of triangles, which nearly all 3D models are made up of. It turns low poly models into high poly models with finer details. This makes models look much more realistic than without tessellation.

A texture is a two-dimensional image that is projected onto a 3D object. There are different texture types. Some are directly visible on the object, while others describe physical features and thus have an indirect influence on the appearance.

Three.js is one of the most popular Open-Source JavaScript libraries for building WebGL applications. In the past redPlant realised many successfull projects utilizing three.js but also participated in further developing this framework.

TypeScript is a programming language and superset of JavaScript. Therefore, every valid JavaScript program is also (syntactically) a valid TypeScript program. TypeScript extensions are converted to JavaScript by a compiler. That way, TypeScript programs can be executed with virtually any browser in the world as long as they were compiled first.

Unity is considered a run-time and development environment (see: Game-Engine and facilitates the development of computer games and other 3D applications. It runs on the Windows operating systems as well as OS X. 

The term user experience refers to the experience of using a particular product or application. It includes the actual experiences as well as the emotions a person is feeling while using a certain product or application.

The user interface is the interface between machine/computer application and human being. It lets people communicate with the application or the device and for instance initiate certain events. Example: Buttons in a configurator or an application, etc.

Mapping refers to the process of applying texture to a surface or a body. Mapping a texture to a single Polygon is quite easy. However, when dealing with more complex, three-dimensional objects this process is much more complicated. A two-dimensional image has to be applied to a three-dimensional surface without introducing visible distortion.

UV Mapping is a method of projecting two-dimensional image textures onto three-dimensional models. The process of creating a UV map is called' unwrap', because it is equivalent to unfolding the mesh on a two-dimensional surface. This makes it possible to assign a position on the texture to each polygon.

A vertex (plural: vertices) is a set of information that defines a corner point of a polygon. This information includes for example: Position – Where is the corner point. Color – What color is the corner point, etc.

The Vertex Shader is a 3D function of a graphics processor (GPU) on a graphic card. It only computes illumination changes and shape changes of a 3D graphic by means of corner points of three-dimensional objects. The Vertex Shader can only change existing objects but cannot add or remove objects. It is an important component of 3D image computing.

Strictly speaking, we talk about Virtual Reality, VR for short, when the informationally produced reality is computer generated and reacts to the user's actions. Particularly the use of so-called VR glasses (see HTC Vive ; Google Cardboard ) has become a popular way to create Virtual Reality.

Vuforia is an Augmented Reality software development kit (SDK) for mobile devices and is used to develop Augmented Reality applications.

WebGL is a technology interface that makes it possible to display 3D content within web sites. In February 2011, Google Chrome became the first version of a commonly used browser to support WebGL. Today, WebGL applications run on all popular browsers. The advantage is that WebGL applications do not need any additional plugins to run.

A wireframe is a way of displaying three-dimensional objects used in Computer-Aided-Design. It draws only outlines or auxiliary lines (Mesh).

WooCommerce is a free open source shop system which is used as a plugin exclusively in WordPress.

WordPress is a free Content Management System which is used to create websites. It is self-explanatory, intuitive and does not require code knowledge. It is responsive and versatile.

The user recognizes this effect when overlapping surfaces begin to flicker when moved. This can happen for example when two polygons are positioned in exactly the same place.