Particle system and SetMatrix_Matrix

Helper

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On 03/06/2011 at 06:45, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Well, I seem to have resolved this. For anyone else undergoing the same pain, what I did was to change these lines:

  
     mx = bh->GetMg();   
     bd->SetMatrix_Matrix(NULL, mx);

to this:

  
     bd->SetMatrix_Matrix(NULL, Matrix());

And now it works as intended. As to *why* it works... is beyond me. Some more documentation regarding SetMatrix_Matrix() and what it does and why it does it would be extremely helpful.

Helper

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On 03/06/2011 at 07:07, xxxxxxxx wrote:

That's confusing. Setting the Matrix's off attribute to Vector(0,0,0) should have had the same effect, (referring to the position of the particles, not the position by rotation)

Helper

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On 03/06/2011 at 07:22, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Confusing... you're right enough there!

Helper

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On 06/06/2011 at 07:28, xxxxxxxx wrote:

You should do all your particle calculation in global space. To make it work like Cinema's particle system each particle needs basically its own matrix, even if it's a reduced one. You then store the current position, direction etc. in the particle. To draw it you set the BaseDraw's transformation matrix to global space by passing the world axis (just a union matrix) to SetMatrix_Matrix().

bd->SetMatrix_Matrix(NULL, Matrix());

Please have a look at the Particle class.

cheers,
Matthias

Helper

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On 06/06/2011 at 07:46, xxxxxxxx wrote:

But why was this

mg.off = mg.v1 = mg.v2 = mg.v3 = Vector(0)

not the same as

mg = Matrix()

?

Thanks,
Niklas

Helper

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On 06/06/2011 at 07:51, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

But why was this
mg.off = mg.v1 = mg.v2 = mg.v3 = Vector(0)
not the same as
mg = Matrix()
?

Because the Matrix() constructor initializes a unit matrix, like this:

  
off = Vector(0.0);  
v1 = Vector(1.0, 0.0, 0.0);  
v2 = Vector(0.0, 1.0, 0.0);  
v3 = Vector(0.0, 0.0, 1.0);

EDIT: corrected some typos in the code

cheers,
Matthias

Helper

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On 06/06/2011 at 08:11, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Thanks Matthias. In fact my particle class is a subclass of the C4D particle class, with position and direction set for each particle. The thing I was missing was setting the draw matrix to global space, although I got there in the end by trial and error.

The problem I'm having with these coordinate spaces is the different parameters SetMatrix_Matrix can take. For example, what is the difference between these various forms, some of which occur in the SDK examples:

SetMatrix_Matrix(op, Matrix());
SetMatrix_Matrix(NULL, Matrix());
SetMatrix_Matrix(op, bh->GetMg());
SetMatrix_Matrix(NULL, bh-GetMg());

They all seem to do something different but what? And if you have a moment could you give any guidance about when to use them, please?

Many thanks,

Steve

Helper

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On 07/06/2011 at 02:38, xxxxxxxx wrote:

The second parameter, the matrix, is used to transform the vectors into global space.

Example: You have an object generator which should draw some handles in the view port. The handle vectors are in the object's local space. To bring them into global space they need to be multiplied with the object's global matrix. So in this case you pass the global matrix of the object, or even better the BaseDrawHelp's global matrix which is the cached object's global matrix.

Another example: You have a particle system and do all particle calculations in global space. So your particle vectors are already in global space. So the passed matrix needs to be just a unit matrix, which defines the world origin, to keep the vectors in global space.

So the thing to keep in mind is to pass the matrix to which your vectors are relative.

As for the first parameter, the object, I'm not sure. I will have to ask the developers.

cheers,
Matthias

Helper

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On 07/06/2011 at 02:47, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Matthias, that's really helpful - thank you. Now I understand what the second parameter does, it is clear what's going on and when I should use a world or object matrix.

If you could ask the developers what the first parameter does, that would be very interesting.

Kind regards,

Steve

Helper

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On 08/06/2011 at 08:41, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

If you could ask the developers what the first parameter does, that would be very interesting.

Ok, the first parameter just compares the passed pointer with the last internally stored pointer. This is used to avoid unnecessary matrix comparisions. If the pointers are different no matrix comparision occurs. Basically it's used for performance reasons. So if possible pass an object pointer.

I will add this to the docs.

cheers,
Matthias

Helper

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On 09/06/2011 at 00:03, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Right, got it, thank you very much.

Steve