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There are some terms in 3D technology that you'll run across in Second Life and in this document. <p>
<font color="#006000">OBJECTS</font><br>
An object is something created in Second Life. Objects are made out of primitives (see below) and can be just about any shape, material or appearance. Objects can have physics and/or scripts assigned to them for added functionality.<p>
<font color="#006000">PRIMITIVES</font><br>
Primitives are basic 3D shapes, like cubes, cones and cylinders. Primitives can be resized, reshaped, hollowed out and otherwise modified, then combined and connected to make more complex shapes and objects. All building starts with primitives.<p>
<font color="#006000">TEXTURES</font><br>
Textures are the visual patterns applied to sides, or faces of primitives or objects. Textures in Second Life need to be in the form of a graphic file in either .TGA (Targa) or .BMP (Bitmap) format, set to 24-bit color-depth.<p>
<font color="#006000">CAMERA</font><br>
In 3D graphics, scenes are generated from a particular viewpoint or location, known as the camera. Think of yourself as a movie director when building in Second Life, with the ability to move the camera around in the world to get the best shot.<p>
<font color="#006000">AXIS (PLURAL: AXES)</font><br>
Everything in a 3-D world-including the "real" world, can be located in space by three numbers, one on each of three axes.<p>
Remember making graphs in math class? This is just like that, but with depth.<p>
The x-axis goes from left to right on the computer screen.<br>
The y-axis goes from bottom to top of the computer screen.<br>
The z-axis goes from the screen straight back into the monitor, providing the illusion of depth.<p>
Sounds simple. But there's a little more to it.<p>
Since Second Life is full 3D, and you can look at anything from any angle, things get turned around. When a primitive is created, it is assigned X, Y and Z axes. These axes stay consistent with the primitive-not with the screen. If you rotate the primitive, its axes rotate along with it. <p>
Axes come into play for more than just positioning, especially when you get into joints (moveable connections like wheels or hinges).<p>
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