Every 3D modelling software simply uses a series of flat polygons, small enough to appear curved, to created spheres etc. Why? Why can technology even today find it easier to render literally millions of little triangles, than just one curve?
In: Technology
It’s not impossible. It’s relatively easy to directly render spheres, cylinders, cones, conic sections and other shapes that can be described in nice mathematical terms. The problem is if you want more general shapes you need building blocks that are general enough to describe almost any shape and nice enough to lend themselves to efficient implementation in hardware/software. Triangles are one or even the simplest shape that fulfills both of these criteria.
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