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    Multiplying (transforming) a Vector by a Matrix - in 3 or more steps...

    Cinema 4D SDK
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    • K
      Keith Young
      last edited by r_gigante

      Hi gang,

      So... back in the good-ole days (at least R14 and earlier), it was quite common in my code to have something like...

      m_xfPoints[ndx] = m_pPoints[ndx] * mxForm;    // transform point by current matrix
      

      In other words, within a loop (increasing the value of 'ndx'), you could transform all points/vertices by some matrix - with a single line of code.

      The (R20, but maybe back as far as R15?) API no longer seems to have a built-in "multiply a vector by a matrix" operator, so you end up with more lines of code, to achieve the same thing...

      Vector xfPt = m_pPoints[ndx];             // get a copy of the point...
      xfPt *= mxForm;                           // use the '*=' operator to modify it...
      m_xfPoints[ndx] = xfPt;                   // ...finally, assign it to the transformed array
      

      ...note that I had to use a new Vector to store a temporary copy of the original (so I wouldn't modify the original with the '*=' operator).

      Of course I could have done it with one less line of code...

      m_xfPoints[ndx] = m_pPoints[ndx];          // get original point value... 
      m_xfPoints[ndx] *= mxForm;                 // use the '*=' operator to modify it.
      

      ..but the above is just the most simplistic example... I have other cases where more math is done on the same (single) line of code to the point (scaling, other matrices or vectors involved, etc.), so I more often than not have to add more, separate operations.

      So... am I missing something? I'm sure there was some rationale for removing some operators (you can no longer multiply 2 Vectors either... have to use Dot(), can no longer use '%' - must use Cross(), etc.), but/so I'm just wondering what that is.

      Thanks,

      Keith

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      • S
        s_bach
        last edited by

        Hello,

        actually, you can still multiply in one line. You just have to multiply a matrix with a vector:

        maxon::Vector points[count];
        maxon::Matrix matrices[count];
        
        // fill arrays ...
        
        for (maxon::Int i = 0; i < count; ++i)
        {
            points[i] = matrices[i] * points[i];
        }
        

        You find information on how to use matrices in these manuals:

        • Matrices
        • Matrix Manual (Classic)

        best wishes,
        Sebastian

        MAXON SDK Specialist

        Development Blog, MAXON Registered Developer

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        • K
          Keith Young
          last edited by Keith Young

          "actually, you can still multiply in one line. You just have to multiply a matrix with a vector:..."

          D'oh! I'm surprised that I didn't try that - tho it doesn't seem as intuitive ("vector = some other vector, being modified by some operations" vs. "vector = a matrix, imposing/operating on some vector", etc.)... do you know why the Vector lost so many direct operators (* other Vector (Dot()), * Matrix, % other Vector (Cross()) - there may be others)?

          Apparently, you can still '!v' to normalize it (yay), even tho there's a v.Normalize() call... and I can understand why the "Identity Matrix" operator might have changed from '!' to '~'... some of the other changes just seem a bit arbitrary.

          I've already made all the changes at this point, but thanks for the tip/reply - I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

          Cheers.

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