Glossary » Z

Every point in 3D is assigned a “Z” value, which denotes its depth in the scene about to be rendered just as it’s assigned “X” and “Y” value which denotes its horizontal and vertical position.

A method used to accurately bump map intersecting polygons. Often used in scenes where bump mapped land and water meet.

This is an alternative, rather crude form of dealing with hidden surfaces that doesn’t even require the use of a Z-Buffer. Z-Sorting involves rendering a scene from the back forwards so that each layer of the scene hides the relevant parts of the layer behind. Because all parts of Z-sorted scenes are rendered fully this process is usually slow and inaccurate when objects are close to or intersect each other.

Every point in 3D is assigned a “Z” value, which denotes its depth in the scene about to be rendered just as it’s assigned “X” and “Y” value which denotes its horizontal and vertical position.