What’s a Tri Fan?

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A triangular fan is a collection of triangles around a main vertex used in 3D graphics to build computer models and meshes. It’s a primitive used to build complex shapes, making it easier for programmers to control and manipulate polygons. Using a fan charges faster and consumes less memory.

A fan triangle is a collection of triangles grouped around a main vertex and used in three-dimensional (3D) graphics to build computer models and meshes. The triangular fan is considered a primitive, like a line or a dot, because it is used to build complex shapes. Most of the polygons used to create a polygon mesh are, or can be, separated into a fan, which makes it easier for programmers to control and manipulate a polygon. Aside from the control, the biggest benefit of using this fan is that the computer can process the shape faster and filing is much easier due to line retention.

The triangular fan is aptly named, because the shape looks like a fan. It starts with a main vertex and all triangles are connected to this vertex. If a triangle is connected to another triangle instead of the vertex, the shape is considered a triangular stripe.

In computer graphics there are shapes known as primitives; this is not because the forms are old and no longer used, but because they are capable of building other forms. While most primitives are very simple shapes, such as a line or dot, the triangular fan is slightly more complex than most primitives. This allows programmers to create shapes that would otherwise be impossible, or at least difficult, to code.

Polygon mesh structures are used in low-level designs, typically as a skeleton upon which to place high-level graphics or graphics viewed by users. While a polygon mesh looks like a jumble of polygons, each polygon can be separated into a triangular fan. A point of the polygon is used as the main vertex and several triangles are formed around this vertex. By using triangles instead of the whole polygon, programmers can easily manipulate the size and shape of the polygon. This lengthens the programming time slightly but allows for very precise measurements.

A big advantage of using a triangle fan instead of other shapes is that a fan can charge much faster. The computer has to load fewer lines, because lines next to each other are counted as one line. For example, if two triangles are facing each other, the computer will need to render six lines; however, with the fan, the joke lines are combined and only four lines are rendered. Storage is also improved, because line conservation means your computer has to consume less memory.




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