BUILT-IN MATHEMATICA SYMBOL

GraphicsComplex

represents a graphics complex in which coordinates given as integers i in graphics primitives in data are taken to be

.

MORE INFORMATION

GraphicsComplex works in both 2D and 3D.

GraphicsComplex effectively replaces integers i that appear as coordinates in data by the corresponding .

GraphicsComplex provides a convenient way to build up meshes or simplicial complexes in which vertices of polygons are shared.

GraphicsComplex is treated like a single primitive in Graphics and Graphics3D.

In GraphicsComplex, data can be any nested list of graphics primitives and directives.

The following options can be given:

ContentSelectable	Automatic	whether to allow contents to be selected
VertexColors	Automatic	vertex colors corresponding to each
VertexNormals	Automatic	vertex normals corresponding to each
VertexTextureCoordinates	None	vertex texture coordinates for each

GraphicsComplex[{pt₁, pt₂, ...}, data, VertexColors->{c₁, c₂, ...}] replaces Polygon by Polygon[{pt_i, pt_j, ...}, VertexColors->{c_i, c_j, ...}].

The VertexNormals and VertexTextureCoordinates option works the same way.

Normal substitutes coordinates to give an ordinary list of graphics primitives and directives.

EXAMPLES

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Basic Examples (3)

Polygons and lines in 2D:

Polygons and lines in 3D:

Use built-in PolyhedronData:

Polygons and lines in 2D:

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In[2]:=

Out[2]=

Polygons and lines in 3D:

In[1]:=

In[2]:=

In[3]:=

Out[3]=

Use built-in PolyhedronData:

In[1]:=

In[2]:=

Out[2]//Short=

In[3]:=

Out[3]=

Scope (3)

The coordinate data for any primitive can come from a GraphicsComplex:

3D primitives:

Mixing directives and primitives within a GraphicsComplex:

Options (7)

No individual object is selectable; the graphics complex appears as one object:

Allow the individual objects in the graphics complex to be selectable by a single click:

The first click selects the whole complex, and subsequent clicks select individual objects:

Specify colors for each vertex:

Specify vertex colors for 3D polygons:

Define vertices and face indices of a cylindrical model:

Without surface normals, the shading is constant or flat for each polygon face:

With surface normals, the shading is interpolated or smooth across each polygon face:

Texture mapping with 2D polygons:

Texture mapping with 3D polygons:

Applications (2)

Most surface and region plots produce GraphicsComplex:

You can use GraphicsComplex to transform the coordinates in this simple rotation:

The same idea applies to 3D surfaces:

Properties & Relations (4)

Set up a graphics complex with shared coordinates:

Applying Normal will split a complex into primitives with duplicated coordinates:

Both forms produce the same image:

Graphics complexes can be built up from integrated PolyhedronData:

Or, get a graphics complex directly:

ExampleData contains a number of 3D graphics complex models:

Many Import formats produce GraphicsComplex:

In this case the surface has about 35000 vertices:

Neat Examples (2)

A random selection of index coordinates:

Cows with random gradients: