This section describes Direct3D's Retained Mode, Microsoft's solution for real-time 3-D graphics on the personal computer. If you need to create a 3-D environment and manipulate it in real time, you should use Direct3D's Retained-Mode API.
Direct3D is integrated tightly with DirectDraw. A DirectDraw object encapsulates both the DirectDraw and Direct3D states-your application can use the IDirectDraw::QueryInterface method to retrieve an IDirect3D interface to a DirectDraw object.
If you have written code that uses 3-D graphics before, many of the concepts underlying Retained Mode will be familiar to you. If, however, you are new to 3-D programming, you should pay close attention to Direct3D Retained-Mode Architecture, and you should read Getting Started. Whether you are new to 3-D programming or just beginning, you should look carefully at the sample code included with this SDK; it illustrates how to put Retained Mode to work in real-world applications.
This section is an introduction to 3-D programming. It describes Microsoft's 3D-graphics solutions and some of the technical background you need to manipulate points in three dimensions. It is not an introduction to programming with Direct3D's Retained Mode; for this information, see Direct3D Retained-Mode Tutorial.