c4d.Vector¶

class c4d.Vector¶

Single precision vector mathematics.

A vector class represents a point, a color, a direction, an HPB-angle or a simple coordinate in a 3D space using the Cartesian
coordinates x, y and z. The values are stored in the members x, y and z.

For example, positions are stored in the order (X position; Y position; Z position) and rotations in the order (H angle; P angle; B angle).

Cinema 4D also uses vectors to store colors and their values of an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color model.
The vector class can also represent a direction, an arrow pointing from the origin of the coordinates, such as (0,0,0), to an endpoint3.

Note

Cinema 4D uses a left-handed coordinate system.

Warning

The Vector type does not support the function copy.copy().

Instead use the Vector constructor

import c4d

vec = c4d.Vector(42, 39, 7)
print "Vector:", id(vec), vec

ref = vec
print "Reference:", id(ref), ref

copy = c4d.Vector(vec)
print "Copy:", id(copy), copy

Attributes

Vector.x¶

X component of the vector.

Type: float

Vector.y¶

Y component of the vector.

Type: float

Vector.z¶

Z component of the vector.

Type: float

Methods Signatures

`Vector.__init__(self[, x, y, z])`	Initializes a new `Vector`.
`Vector.__str__(self)`	Returns a string representation of the vector.
`Vector.__getitem__(self, key)`	Retrieves X, Y and Z components by index
`Vector.__setitem__(self, key, value)`	Assigns X, Y and Z components by index
`Vector.__add__(self, other)`	Adds a scalar or vector to the vector
`Vector.__sub__(self, other)`	Subtracts a scalar or vector from the vector
`Vector.__mul__(self, other)`	If other is a vector, calculates the dot product of the vectors.
`Vector.__div__(self, other)`	Divides each vector component by the scalar
`Vector.__mod__(self, other)`	Calculates the cross product of vectors
`Vector.__xor__(self, other)`	Multiplies vectors component-wise if other is a vector.
`Vector.__abs__(self)`	Returns a vector with the absolute (positive) value of each component
`Vector.__neg__(self)`	Returns the negative of the vector
`Vector.__invert__(self)`	Returns the normalized vector
`Vector.__eq__(self, other)`	Checks if two vectors are equal.
`Vector.__ne__(self, other)`	Check if two vectors are not equal.
`Vector.__ge__(self, other)`	raise NotImplemented.
`Vector.__gt__(self, other)`	raise NotImplemented.
`Vector.__le__(self, other)`	raise NotImplemented.
`Vector.__lt__(self, other)`	raise NotImplemented.

`Vector.Dot(self, v2)`	Calculates the dot product of the vector and vector v2.
`Vector.Cross(self, v2)`	Calculates the cross product of the vector and vector v2.
`Vector.GetLength(self)`	Calculates the length of the vector.
`Vector.GetDistance(self, v1, v2)`	Retrieve the distance between two vectors.
`Vector.GetLengthSquared(self)`	Calculates the squared length of the vector.
`Vector.GetNormalized(self)`	Calculates the normalized vector, so that `GetLength()` returns 1.0.
`Vector.Normalize(self)`	Normalizes the vector, so that `GetLength()` returns 1.0.

Methods Documentation

Vector.__init__(self, x=0.0, y=0.0, z=0.0)¶

Initializes a new Vector.
All arguments are optional so it is possible to create a new vector without any arguments. All components are simply 0.
Otherwise x can be a Vector so all components of the passed vector will be copied to the new vector.
If only a number is passed, all components will be set to this.

c4d.Vector()
# => Vector(0,0,0)

c4d.Vector(100)
# => Vector(100,100,100)

v = c4d.Vector(100,100,100)
c4d.Vector(v)
# => Vector(100,100,100)

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)
# => Vector(1,2,3)

Parameters

x (Union[int, float, c4d.Vector]) – If x is a number and is the only passed argument, set this to all components. If x is a vector, clone it. Otherwise set the X component.
y (number) – Set the Y component.
z (number) – Set the Z component.

Return type

c4d.Vector

Returns

A new vector.

Vector.__str__(self)¶

Returns a string representation of the vector.

Called if str() is wrapped around a vector object. (See __str__)

vec = Vector(30.0, 40.0, 2)
print vec
# => Vector(30.0, 40.0, 2.0)

Return type: str
Returns: The Vector as string.

Vector.__getitem__(self, key)¶

Retrieves X, Y and Z components by index

New in version R14.014.

v = c4d.Vector(1,2,3)
x = v[0]
y = v[1]
z = v[2]
print x, y, z
# => 1.0 2.0 3.0

Parameters: key (int) – The component index.
Raises: IndexError – If the index key is out of range : 0<=key<2.
Return type: float
Returns: The vector component.

Vector.__setitem__(self, key, value)¶

Assigns X, Y and Z components by index

New in version R14.014.

v = c4d.Vector(1,2,3)
v[0] = 0
print v
# => Vector(0, 2, 3)

Note

The Vector objects does not support item deletion. For instance by calling del(v[0]).

Parameters

key (int) – The component index.
value (float) – The new vector component.

Raises

IndexError – If the index key is out of range : 0<=key<2.

Vector.__add__(self, other)¶

Adds a scalar or vector to the vector

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)+1
# => Vector(2,3,4)

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)+c4d.Vector(2,3,4)
# => Vector(3,5,7)

Parameters: other (Union[c4d.Vector, int, float]) – The other argument.
Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The result vector.

Vector.__sub__(self, other)¶

Subtracts a scalar or vector from the vector

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)-1
# => Vector(0,1,2)

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)-c4d.Vector(2,3,4)
# => Vector(-1,-1,-1)

Parameters: other (Union[c4d.Vector, int, float]) – The other argument.
Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The result vector.

Vector.__mul__(self, other)¶

If other is a vector, calculates the dot product of the vectors.
If other is a float, it multiplies each vector component by the scalar.
If other is a matrix, the vector is transformed by it.

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)*c4d.Vector(2,3,4)
# => 20

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)*5
# => Vector(5,10,15)

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)*c4d.Matrix(v1=c4d.Vector(2,0,0))
# => Vector(2,2,3)

Parameters: other (c4d.Matrix) – The other argument.
Return type: c4d.Vector or float
Returns: A float if other is of type Vector. A vector, if other is of type float or Matrix.

Vector.__div__(self, other)¶

Divides each vector component by the scalar

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)/5
# => Vector(0.2, 0.4, 0.6)

Parameters: other (number) – The other argument.
Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The result vector.

Vector.__mod__(self, other)¶

Calculates the cross product of vectors

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)%c4d.Vector(2,3,4)
# => Vector(-1, 2, -1)

Parameters: other (c4d.Vector) – The other argument.
Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The result vector.

Vector.__xor__(self, other)¶

Multiplies vectors component-wise if other is a vector.

If other is a matrix then the vector is transformed by it.

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)^c4d.Vector(2,3,4)
# => Vector(2,6,12)

c4d.Vector(1,2,3)^c4d.Matrix(v1=c4d.Vector(2,0,0))
# => Vector(2,2,3)

Parameters: other (c4d.Matrix) – The other argument.
Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The result vector.

Vector.__abs__(self)¶

Returns a vector with the absolute (positive) value of each component

abs(c4d.Vector(-1, -2, -3))
# => Vector(1,2,3)

Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The absolute vector.

Vector.__neg__(self)¶

Returns the negative of the vector

-c4d.Vector(1,2,3)
# => Vector(-1,-2,-3)

Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The negative vector.

Vector.__invert__(self)¶

Returns the normalized vector

~c4d.Vector(1,2,3)
# => Vector(0.267,0.535,0.802)

Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The normalized vector.

Vector.__eq__(self, other)¶

Checks if two vectors are equal.

Parameters: other (c4d.Vector) – The other vector.
Return type: bool
Returns: True if both vectors are equal.

Vector.__ne__(self, other)¶

Check if two vectors are not equal.

Parameters: other (c4d.Vector) – The other vector.
Return type: bool
Returns: True if both vectors are not equal.

Vector.__ge__(self, other)¶: raise NotImplemented.

Vector.__gt__(self, other)¶: raise NotImplemented.

Vector.__le__(self, other)¶: raise NotImplemented.

Vector.__lt__(self, other)¶: raise NotImplemented.

Vector.Dot(self, v2)¶

Calculates the dot product of the vector and vector v2.

Parameters: v2 (c4d.Vector) – The second vector.
Return type: float
Returns: The dot product.

Vector.Cross(self, v2)¶

Calculates the cross product of the vector and vector v2.

Parameters: v2 (c4d.Vector) – The other vector.
Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The result.

Vector.GetLength(self)¶

Calculates the length of the vector.

Return type: float
Returns: The length.

Vector.GetDistance(self, v1, v2)¶

Retrieve the distance between two vectors.

Parameters

v1 (c4d.Vector) – The first vector.
v2 (c4d.Vector) – The second vector.

Returns

the distance from v1 to v2.

Return type

float

Vector.GetLengthSquared(self)¶

Calculates the squared length of the vector.

Return type: float
Returns: The squared length.

Vector.GetNormalized(self)¶

Calculates the normalized vector, so that GetLength() returns 1.0.

Return type: c4d.Vector
Returns: The normalized vector.

Vector.Normalize(self)¶: Normalizes the vector, so that GetLength() returns 1.0.