Heuristic42
Blog
Opengl
Meta
Rendering
2
comment
Mar 27 at 17:19
Matrices
Are you still in business? heuristic42.com
–
anonymous
comment
Mar 25 at 4:59
Matrices
Hey There I tried calling your phone number but it was unsuc…
–
anonymous
comment
Mar 5 at 15:39
Matrices
Hi, I hope this message finds you well. I'm reaching out to …
–
anonymous
comment
Feb 7 at 5:45
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Replacement
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here, it tells me e…
–
anonymous
comment
Jan 28 at 23:31
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Replacement
Oh man, I feel this post. Not sure if you've seen the "new" new…
–
anonymous
comment
Jan 25 at 12:06
Matrices
Hi, Mark here. If it is ok for your business processes to be…
–
anonymous
comment
Jan 20 at 3:11
Matrices
[deleted]
–
anonymous
reverted
Dec 21 '23
Route contention when running docker and a VPN
updating to latest
–
admin
edited
Dec 21 '23
Route contention when running docker and a VPN
Things have improved since the original post. It may have been …
–
pknowles
edited
Dec 21 '23
Route contention when running docker and a VPN
Things have improved since the original post. It may have been …
–
anonymous
edited
Dec 21 '23
Route contention when running docker and a VPN
This have improved since the original post. It may have been up…
–
anonymous
comment
Nov 24 '23
Matrices
[deleted]
–
anonymous
edited
Sep 17 '23
Writing custom C++ containers, iterators and value references
Generic containers are awesome. 1. The effort required to wr…
–
pknowles
created
Sep 17 '23
Writing custom C++ containers, iterators and value references
Generic containers are awesome. 1. The effort required to wr…
–
pknowles
comment
Sep 15 '23
DerBard: Custom Split Mechanical Keyboard Prototype
Hey. Thanks for your interest! I've uploaded the files here, bu…
–
pknowles
comment
Sep 13 '23
DerBard: Custom Split Mechanical Keyboard Prototype
Hi! Is it possible to get some models so I can also make it?
–
anonymous
edited
Aug 14 '23
On docker stealing routes and breaking the internet
Boy this is frustrating. The internet just doesn't work with do…
–
pknowles
edited
Aug 14 '23
On docker stealing routes and breaking the internet
Boy this is frustrating. The internet just doesn't work with do…
–
pknowles
created
Aug 14 '23
On docker stealing routes and breaking the internet
Boy this is frustrating. The internet just doesn't work with do…
–
pknowles
comment
Jul 13 '23
Matrices
[deleted]
–
anonymous
comment
Jul 6 '23
Matrices
[deleted]
–
anonymous
edited
Jun 19 '23
DerBard: Custom Split Mechanical Keyboard Prototype
![DerBard Cover Image][1] In my last post I presented my que…
–
pknowles
comment
Jun 2 '23
Matrices
[deleted]
–
anonymous
comment
Jun 2 '23
Matrices
[deleted]
–
anonymous
…
View All
Log in
Matrices
leave this field blank to prove your humanity
Slug
*
A URL path component
Parent page
<root>
3D Rendering (Computer Graphics)
--- Cameras
--- Matrices
------ Projection Matrix
--- Vectors
--- 3D Geometry
------ triangle_meshes
--- Shading
------ Transparency and Alpha Blending
--- Lights
--- rasterization
------ Deep Image
--- Shadows
--- Vector Spaces
------ Tangent Space
------ Clip Space
--- rotations
--- images
------ mipmapping
--- materials
OpenGL Tutorials
--- Order Independent Transparency (OIT)
--- The Framebuffer
Pages About This Site
--- Contributing
--- Bugs
--- Why does this website exist?
The parent page this belongs to.
Article title
*
Article revisions must have a non-empty title
Article body
*
Matrices are 2D arrays of numbers, grouped as such to enable higher level operations, just like [vectors](/10/rendering/vectors/). In fact the columns and rows in matrices are frequently thought of as vectors and constructed as such. They have strong roots in linear algebra, representing linear transformations and solving systems of linear equations. Matrices in computer graphics, in particular 4×4 homogeneous matrices, are frequently used to represent transformations between different [vector spaces](../spaces/). An important one is the [projection matrix](/11/rendering/matrices/projection/), used to define virtual [cameras](../camera). A transformation is a mapping of one coordinate system into another, or finding the coordinates to a point in space from another perspective. For example finding a vertex position in pixels within a rendered image from its object space position in a triangle mesh. This page introduces matrices used for linear transformations, beginning with rotations and relying heavily on knowledge of [vectors](/10/rendering/vectors/), vector spaces, basis vectors and the scalar/dot product. #Operations The matrix multiply is the most used operation and is summarized here. Each new element is the dot product of its position's row in $A$ with its position's column in $B$. The operation is non-commutative, i.e. $AB \not= BA$. $$A \times B = \begin{bmatrix} A_{1, 1} & A_{1, 2} \\ A_{2, 1} & A_{2, 2} \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} B_{1, 1} & B_{1, 2} \\ B_{2, 1} & B_{2, 2} \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} A_{1, 1} B_{1, 1} + A_{1, 2} B_{2, 1} & A_{1, 1} B_{1, 2} + A_{1, 2} B_{2, 2} \\ A_{2, 1} B_{1, 1} + A_{2, 2} B_{2, 1} & A_{2, 1} B_{1, 2} + A_{2, 2} B_{2, 2} \end{bmatrix} $$ The transpose of a matrix flips it along the diagonal, i.e. $A_{x,y}$ becomes $A_{y,x}$: $$A^\intercal = \begin{bmatrix} A_{1, 1} & A_{2, 1} \\ A_{1, 2} & A_{2, 2} \end{bmatrix}$$ When multiplying a vector by a matrix, it is implicitly transposed to match the matrix multiply operation. Also $\mathbf{v} \times A \equiv A^\top \mathbf{v}$. $$A \times \mathbf{v} = \begin{bmatrix} A_{1, 1} & A_{1, 2} \\ A_{2, 1} & A_{2, 2} \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} \mathbf{v}_x \\ \mathbf{v}_y \end{bmatrix}$$ Others, particularly the [matrix inverse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invertible_matrix) $A^{-1}$ are important, but beyond the scope of this page. The inverse of an *orthonormal matrix* (discussed later) is its transpose, which is often a particularly helpful shortcut for avoiding expensive computation. #Rotation Matrices Multiplying a point by a rotation matrix computes its rotated coordinates. The original coordinates are in the point's local space. Then visualizing from the perspective of the new coordinates, the original space is now rotated. Again, rather than imagining a sweeping animated rotation, think of this purely as computing the result --- finding coordinates of points in a new space. A simple example is a 2D 180 degree rotation, as shown below. The different spaces are visualized by drawing their axes, or the basis vectors. ![180 degree rotation example][1] The new coordinates $b$ for a point $a$ are simply $b=(-a_x, -a_y)$. This is easy to see, ignoring the path points follow during the rotation. $b$ is made from a combination of $a$, specifically $-1$ and $-1$ amounts of $a_x$ and $a_y$ respectively. This transformation can be written in matrix form: $$\begin{bmatrix}b_x \\ b_y\end{bmatrix} =\begin{bmatrix}-1 & 0\\0 & -1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}a_x \\ a_y\end{bmatrix}$$ This matrix can be seen as a 180 degree rotation matrix, but also one that reflects in both $x$ and $y$ and one that applies a uniform scale by $-1$. Now for a more complex example with an arbitrary rotation. Below, a transform is applied to rotate a vector space $O$ to give $W$. Initially, $O$ is viewed as the frame of reference. Then with the basis vectors of $W$ are added, still relative to $O$, to provide the relation between the two spaces. Finally, $W$ becomes the frame of reference showing the now-rotated space $O$. ![A vector space is transformed by a 30 degree rotation][2] The basis vectors of $W$ in the space of $O$, $W_{x_O}$ and $W_{y_O}$ are known, discussed shortly. [Scalar projection](/10/rendering/vectors/#dot-product) can then be used to find $p$ in $W$. The portion of $p$ along each vector $W_{x_O}$ and $W_{y_O}$ provides $p_{W_x}$ (shown) and $p_{W_y}$ respectively: $$p_{W_x} = W_{x_O} \cdot p_O$$ $$p_{W_y} = W_{y_O} \cdot p_O$$ $$p_W = (p_{W_x}, p_{W_y})$$ These dot products can be written as a single matrix multiply, with $X=W_{x_O}$ and $Y=W_{y_O}$. $\overrightarrow{OW}$ denotes a matrix to transform a point in $O$ to a point in $W$. Its inverse is the reverse: $\overrightarrow{OW}^{-1} = \overrightarrow{WO}$. $$p_W =\overrightarrow{OW} p_O = \begin{bmatrix} X_x & X_y \\ Y_x & Y_y \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} p_{O_x} \\ p_{O_y} \end{bmatrix} $$ This hinges on knowing $W$'s basis vectors in $O$. These provide the relationship between the spaces and *are* the transformation, becoming vectors in the transformation matrix. To construct a rotation matrix which rotates by $\theta$ radians, the basis vectors are generated as follows by computing the [Cartesian coordinates from polar coordinates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_coordinate_system#Converting_between_polar_and_Cartesian_coordinates). However this matrix needs to create basis vectors in $O$, i.e. that have been transformed by $\overrightarrow{WO}$, so $-\theta$ is used rather than $\theta$. $$X = (\cos(-\theta), \sin(-\theta)) = (\cos(\theta), -\sin(\theta))$$ $$Y = (\cos(-\theta+\frac{\pi}{2}), \sin(-\theta+\frac{\pi}{2})) = (-\sin(-\theta), \cos(-\theta)) = (\sin(\theta), \cos(\theta))$$ $$\overrightarrow{OW}= \begin{bmatrix} \cos(\theta) & -\sin(\theta) \\ \sin(\theta) & \cos(\theta) \end{bmatrix} $$ A purely rotational matrix is orthonormal, being orthographic, where all basis vectors are perpendicular to one another, and of unit length. It can be inverted by taking the transpose. This introduction of 2D transformations with 2×2 matrix multiplies as dot products translates directly to 3D transforms with 3×3 as 3D vector dot products. Beyond rotation, matrices discussed in this way can also be used to represent scaling and shearing (shearing being less common in computer graphics). For translation, a new construct is needed --- homogeneous matrices. # Homogeneous Matrices Homogeneous (*ho-mo-jee-nee-us*) matrices are just regular matrices, but with values such as translation placed in carefully chosen locations so that the matrix multiply computes a certain result. By adding a right hand column to the matrix, multiplying a position vector with a $1$ results in it being transformed by the column. An additional row is commonly added to allow a perspective projection --- see [spaces](/18/rendering/spaces/). These 4×4 matrices can generalise and combine many 3D transformations. Grouping lots of information into a single matrix avoids having to keep track of many different kinds of transforms, such as keeping the translation transform as its own vector. Another important, and defining feature of matrices is that $A \times (B \times \mathbf{v}) \equiv (A \times B) \times \mathbf{v}$. This means many transformations can be consolidated into a single matrix which can then be applied to all the vertices of a model, rather than performing a matrix--vector multiply for every transform for each vertex. Note that these are just really convenient conventions and other layouts could work too. Below are the three most common base transformation matrices in computer graphics, excluding projection matrices. The rotation matrix $R$ is as described above, placed into the top left of an otherwise 4×4 identity matrix. The right hand column forms the axis offsets in the translation matrix $T$. A scale matrix $S$ is created by setting the first three elements along the diagonal. To combine any transformations, simply multiply. $$ R=\begin{bmatrix} R_{1,1}&R_{1,2}&R_{1,3}&0\\ R_{2,1}&R_{2,2}&R_{2,3}&0\\ R_{3,1}&R_{3,2}&R_{3,3}&0\\ 0&0&0&1 \end{bmatrix} \qquad T=\begin{bmatrix} 1&0&0&T_x\\ 0&1&0&T_y\\ 0&0&1&T_z\\ 0&0&0&1 \end{bmatrix} \qquad S=\begin{bmatrix} S_x&0&0&0\\ 0&S_y&0&0\\ 0&0&S_z&0\\ 0&0&0&1 \end{bmatrix} $$ A 3D vector cannot be transformed by a 4×4 matrix. As discussed in [vectors](/10/rendering/vectors/), an additional component is added, a 1 or a 0, making them 4D. Often this is done implicitly to avoid having to store the value. A vector $(x, y, z, 1)$ is a position vector, having the translational component of the matrix applied, while a vector $(x, y, z, 0)$ is a directional vector and is rotated and scaled only. The multiplication of a translation matrix with the former is as follows. $$ \begin{bmatrix} 1&0&0&T_x\\ 0&1&0&T_y\\ 0&0&1&T_z\\ 0&0&0&1 \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} x\\y\\z\\1 \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} x+0+0+T_x\\ y+0+0+T_y\\ z+0+0+T_z\\ 0+0+0+1 \end{bmatrix} $$ This shows how the translation component actually translates a vector. When combining transformations, such as a rotation or scale with a translation matrix, the column vector $(T_x, T_y, T_z, 1)$ ends up being transformed by the 3×3 component. In this way, all transformations accumulate and rotating a translated position is possible, rather than keeping a separate translation vector which would need to be updated manually when combining transformations. $$ \begin{bmatrix} R_{1,1}&R_{1,2}&R_{1,3}&0\\ R_{2,1}&R_{2,2}&R_{2,3}&0\\ R_{3,1}&R_{3,2}&R_{3,3}&0\\ 0&0&0&1 \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} 1&0&0&T_x\\ 0&1&0&T_y\\ 0&0&1&T_z\\ 0&0&0&1 \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} R_{1,1}&R_{1,2}&R_{1,3}&R_{1,1}T_x+R_{1,2}T_y+R_{1,3}T_z\\ R_{2,1}&R_{2,2}&R_{2,3}&R_{2,1}T_x+R_{2,2}T_y+R_{2,3}T_z\\ R_{3,1}&R_{3,2}&R_{3,3}&R_{3,1}T_x+R_{3,2}T_y+R_{3,3}T_z\\ 0&0&0&1 \end{bmatrix} $$ Homogeneous matrices are also used to apply a perspective projection and provide non-linear depth values. See [projection matrix](/11/rendering/matrices/projection/). [1]: /u/img/d79b45dab0fa.svg [2]: /u/img/015323c6b85f.svg
Toggle Preview
Edit message
*
A description of the changes made
Discard Draft
Save Draft
leave this field blank to prove your humanity
Flag
the thing you clicked
for moderator attention.
Reason choice:
Spam, promoting, advertising without disclosure
Rude, inappropriate, generally offensive
Too arrogant or demeaning to others
Other
Reason:
The reason for raising the flag
Error