Making a pyramid with VPython

VPython makes it easy to create navigable 3D displays and animations, even for those with limited programming experience. Because it is based on Python, it also has much to offer for experienced programmers and researchers. VPython allows users to create objects such as spheres and cones in 3D space and displays these objects in a window. This makes it easy to create simple visualizations, allowing programmers to focus more on the computational aspect of their programs. The simplicity of VPython has made it a tool for the illustration of simple physics, especially in the educational environment.

Installation :

pip install vpython

A pyramid is a geometrical object in three-dimensional space with a rectangular base and sloping sides that meet in a point at the top. We can generate a pyramid in VPython using the pyramid() method.

pyramid()

Syntax : pyramid(parameters)

Parameters :

• pos : It is the position of the center of the base of the pyramid. Assign a vector containing 3 values, example pos = vector(0, 0, 0)
• axis : It is the axis of alignment of the pyramid. Assign a vector containing 3 values, example axis = vector(1, 2, 1)
• up : It is the orientation of the pyramid. Assign a vector containing 3 values, example up = vector(0, 1, 0)
• color : It is the color of the pyramid. Assign a vector containing 3 values, example color = vector(1, 1, 1) will give the color white
• opacity : It is the opacity of the pyramid. Assign a floating value in which 1 is the most opaque and 0 the least opaque, example opacity = 0.5
• shininess : It is the shininess of the pyramid. Assign a floating value in which 1 is the most shiny and 0 the least shiny, example shininess = 0.6
• emissive : It is the emissivity of the pyramid. Assign a boolean value in which True is emissive and False is not emissive, example emissivity = False
• texture : It is the texture of the pyramid. Assign the required texture from the textures class, example texture = textures.stucco
• length : It is the length of the pyramid in the x axis. Assign a floating value, the default length is 1, example length = 10
• height : It is the height of the pyramid in the y axis. Assign a floating value, the default length is 1, example height = 8
• width : It is the width of the pyramid in the z axis. Assign a floating value, the default length is 1, example width = 4
• size : It is the size of the pyramid. Assign a vector containing 3 values representing the length, height and width respectively, example size = vector(1, 1, 1)

All the parameters are optional.

Example 1 :A pyramid with no parameters, all the parameters will have the default value.

# import the module
from vpython import * pyramid()

Output :

Example 2 :A pyramid using the parameters color, opacity, shininess and emissivity.

# import the module
from vpython import * pyramid(color = vector(0.5, 0.5, 0.5),
        opacity = 0.5,
        shininess = 1,
        emissive = False)

Output :

Example 3 :Displaying 2 pyramids to visualize the attributes pos and size.

# import the module
from vpython import *

# the first pyramid
pyramid(pos = vector(-2, 2, 0),
         size = vector(5, 2, 2),
         color = vector(0.5, 1, 0))

# the second pyramid
pyramid(pos = vector(1, -1, 5),
         color = vector(0, 1, 0.5))

Output :

Example 4 :A cylinder using the parameters texture, axis and up.

# import the module
from vpython import * pyramid(texture = textures.wood,
        axis = vector(-1, 4, 3),
        up = vector(1, 2, 2))

Output :