Datasheet

4
Part 1: Getting Started
But before you get started it ’ s important that you understand the coordinate system you ’ ll be rendering
your objects in. It ’ s a little different to the way you learned it in math class, and well worth reviewing.
3D Coordinates in Flash 10
Understanding the Flash coordinate system is vital to rendering in Papervision3D or CS4. With the
transition to Flash Player 10, every ActionScript display object has a z property. Adding a 3rd dimension
allows an object to move towards and away from the viewpoint of the user using perspective scaling.
As a side note, this extra dimension is easily handled using a 3D transformation matrix that
incorporates the three fundamental transformations found in all physical systems, such as translation,
rotation, and scaling. Every 3D object within Papervision3D has a Matrix3D. The Matrix3D class
supports complex transformations of 3D geometry, such as rotation, scaling, and translation.
But unlike other 3D systems, especially those you might have met in math class, the y and z - axes are
reversed as shown in Figure 1.1.
X
Y
Y
Z
Z
X
Figure 1-1
From the figure you can see that:
x increases as you move to the right along the x - axis
y increases as you move down along the y - axis
z increases as you move away from the viewpoint.
❑
❑
❑
c01.indd 4c01.indd 4 12/14/09 3:03:22 PM12/14/09 3:03:22 PM