A Transform is a basic construct in VRML. It is a general grouping node, meaning that it can serve as a container for many objects. However, it has a greater functionality. In computer graphics, a transformation is a generic term for a "movement", whether it's a scaling, a rotation, or a translation. A Transform node in VRML 2.0 can apply a generic transformation to a group of objects simultaneously. We'll see examples of this later. Note that we are not applying any transformations to our ball. Why do we need a Transform then? The answer is that we don't, really -- there is an equivalent grouping node called Group which does the same thing without transformations, but the simple fact is that Transforms are inherently more powerful than Group nodes, and there is no reason not to use them. This is why you will see many Transform nodes in this tutorial and not many Group nodes.