This unique book presents definitions for over 1200 terms, with hundreds of illustrations, in both black and white and color (color edition only). The lexicon includes terms from many related subjects, such as CAD, CAD/CAM, cinematography, light, physics, natural behaviors, and atmospheric phenomena. It was written for students, teachers, and professionals, as well as for lay readers who want a broader understanding of the tools and concepts involved. Terms related to 3D modeling include bicubic surface, constructive solid geometry, intersection, mesh optimization, polygonization, ruled surface, and spline. Terms related to animation include character rigging, flash animation, keyframing, lattice animation, light animation, motion capture, onion skinning, skeletal animation, storyboard, and velocity curve. Animation and rendering often encompass techniques from cinematography, including lighting, camera work, and mood-setting atmospherics. Terms related to these major subjects and rendering itself include ambient light, beauty pass, caustics, color models, crane shot, Dutch angle, Gouraud shading model, graphics pipeline, lead room, matting, montage, photon mapping, ray casting, ray tracing, reflection pass, shutter angle, and wipe. Some of the key terms refer to other sources for more in-depth coverage of the topic.