A model is a collection of triangular polygons, combined in such a way to form a 3D object. The image below illustrates a basic cube model built from 12 triangular polygons.


Our model data structure is a class that has a polygon array to store all the polygons of the model.

1. Open Xojo.
2. In the Project Chooser select Desktop.
3. Enter "Tutorial008" as the Application Name, and click OK.
4. Save your project.
5. Configure the following controls:

Control	Name	DoubleBuffer	Left	Top	Maximize Button
Window	SurfaceWindow	-	-	-	ON
OpenGLSurface	Surface	ON	0	0	-

6. Position and size Surface to fill the window, and set its locking to left, top, bottom and right.


7. Add the following code to the SurfaceWindow.Open event handler:

Self.MouseCursor = System.Cursors.StandardPointer

8. Add the following code to the SurfaceWindow.Paint event handler:

Surface.Render

9. Import the X3Core module, created in the previous tutorial.
10. Add the following code to the Surface.Open event handler:

X3_Initialize

11. Add the following code to the Surface.Resized event handler:

X3_SetPerspective Surface

12. Add a new class named "X3Model" to module X3Core.
13. Add the following property to X3Model:

Name	Type
Polygon()	X3Polygon

14. Add the following method to module X3Core:

Sub X3_RenderModel(model As X3Core.X3Model)   Dim i, j As Integer   Dim poly As X3Core.X3Polygon   OpenGL.glBegin OpenGL.GL_TRIANGLES   for i = 0 to model.Polygon.Ubound     poly = model.Polygon(i)     if poly.FillColor <> nil then       OpenGL.glColor3d(poly.FillColor.Red, poly.FillColor.Green, poly.FillColor.Blue)     else       OpenGL.glColor3d(1, 1, 1) ' set the color of the polygon     end if     for j = 0 to poly.Vertex.Ubound       OpenGL.glVertex3d poly.Vertex(j).X, poly.Vertex(j).Y, poly.Vertex(j).Z     next j   next i   OpenGL.glEnd End Sub

15. Import the X3Test module into your project.
16. Add the following code to the Surface.Render event handler:

OpenGL.glPushMatrix OpenGL.glClearColor(0, 0, 0, 1) OpenGL.glClear(OpenGL.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT + OpenGL.GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT) OpenGL.glTranslatef -2, -2, -8.0 X3_RenderModel X3Test_Cube1 OpenGL.glPopMatrix

17. Save and run your project.

The X3Model class has an array of type X3Polygon that stores all the polygons of the model. Rendering the model is the simple task of looping through the polygons in this array, and rendering each one.

X3Core.X3_RenderModel:

Sub X3_RenderModel(model As X3Core.X3Model)   Dim i, j As Integer   Dim poly As X3Core.X3Polygon   OpenGL.glBegin OpenGL.GL_TRIANGLES   for i = 0 to model.Polygon.Ubound     poly = model.Polygon(i)     if poly.FillColor <> nil then       OpenGL.glColor3d(poly.FillColor.Red, poly.FillColor.Green, poly.FillColor.Blue)     else       OpenGL.glColor3d(1, 1, 1) ' set the color of the polygon     end if     for j = 0 to poly.Vertex.Ubound       OpenGL.glVertex3d poly.Vertex(j).X, poly.Vertex(j).Y, poly.Vertex(j).Z     next j   next i   OpenGL.glEnd End Sub

Large scenes have thousands of models. It therefore makes sense to have a dedicated method to render a model with. The X3_RenderModel method is just such a method, and takes as a parameter the model to render. X3_RenderModel starts the drawing of triangular polygons with a call to glBegin. It then loops through all the polygons of the model. For each polygon the color of the polygon is set with a call to glColor3d, and then all the vertices of the polygon is added using a nested loop and the glVertex3d function.

Surface.Render:

OpenGL.glPushMatrix OpenGL.glClearColor(0, 0, 0, 1) OpenGL.glClear(OpenGL.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT + OpenGL.GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT) OpenGL.glTranslatef -2, -2, -8.0 X3_RenderModel X3Test_Cube1 OpenGL.glPopMatrix

In the Surface.Render event handler, we use the X3_RenderModel method to render a test cube. The X3Test module provides convenient helper methods that can be used for testing during development. One such method is the X3Test_Cube1 method that generates a colored test cube.