I draw a sphere with OpenGL which will be transformed by glRotate(), glScale(), glTranslate().
How could I get the absolute Position of the Object without calculating all transformations on my own?
I need the coordinates for setting the camera eye position to this point.
When using those transformations, you are manipulating the modelviewmatrix
To get the current one you can use ( http://linux.die.net/man/3/glgetfloatv )
void glGetFloatv(
GLenum pname,
GLfloat * params
);
for example:
float modelview[16];
// save the current modelview matrix
glPushMatrix();
// get the current modelview matrix
glGetFloatv(GL_MODELVIEW_MATRIX , modelview);
should get you the current matrix, multiplying the starting vectors/vertices/coordinates with this matrix will give you the absolute world coordinates.
EDIT: When making an application you usually want control over the absolute coordinates of each object, manipulate them, and use the opengl transformations to draw them where they are defined.
Objects are often modeled in one coordinate system, then scaled, translated, and rotated into the world you're constructing. World Coordinates result from transforming Object Coordinates by the modelling transforms stored in the ModelView matrix. However, OpenGL has no concept of World Coordinates. World Coordinates are purely an application construct.
Object Coordinates are transformed by the ModelView matrix to produce Eye Coordinates.
From opengl.org:
9.120 How do I find the coordinates of a vertex transformed only by the ModelView matrix?
It's often useful to obtain the eye coordinate space value of a vertex (i.e., the object space vertex transformed by the ModelView matrix). You can obtain this by retrieving the current ModelView matrix and performing simple vector / matrix multiplication.
To get the matrix use something like this
float fvViewMatrix[ 16 ];
glGetFloatv( GL_MODELVIEW_MATRIX, fvViewMatrix );
You can read more about opengl transformations here: http://www.opengl.org/resources/faq/technical/transformations.htm
Related
I am confused on how the OpenGL coordinate system works. I know you start with object coordinates -- everything defined in its own system. Then by applying a matrix, the coordinates change to world coordinates. By applying another matrix, you have view coordinates. Then if you're working in 3D, you can apply a perspective matrix. In the end, you are left with a set of coordinates which likely are not from [-1, 1]. How does OpenGL know how to normalize them from [-1, 1]? How does it know what to clip them out? In the shader, glPosition is just given your coordinates, it doesn't know that there have been through several transformations. I know that a view to normalized coordinate matrix involves a translation and a scale, but we never explicitly make a matrix for that in OpenGL. Does OpenGL use its own hidden matrix to translate from coordinates passed to glPostion to normalized coordinates?
Deprecated fixed function vertex transformations are explained in https://www.opengl.org/wiki/Vertex_Transformation
Shader based rendering is likely to use same or very similar math for each transformation step. The missing step between glPosition and device coordinates is perspective divide (like LJ commented quickly) where xyzw coordinates are converted to xyz coordinates. xyzw coordinates are homogeneous coordinates for 3-dimensional coordinates that use 4 components to represent a location.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogeneous_coordinates
I am having profound issues regarding understanding the transformations involved in VTK. OpenGL has fairly good documentation and I was of the impression that VTK is verym similar to OpenGL (it is, in many ways). But when it comes to transformations, it seems to be an entirely different story.
This is a good OpenGL documentation about transforms involved:
http://www.songho.ca/opengl/gl_transform.html
The perspective projection matrix in OpenGL is:
I wanted to see if this formula applied in VTK will give me the projection matrix of VTK (by cross-checking with VTK projection matrix).
Relevant Camera and Renderer Parameters:
camera->SetPosition(0,0,20);
camera->SetFocalPoint(0,0,0);
double crSet[2] = {10, 1000};
renderer->GetActiveCamera()->SetClippingRange(crSet);
double windowSize[2];
renderWindow->SetSize(1280,720);
renderWindowInteractor->GetSize(windowSize);
proj = renderer->GetActiveCamera()->GetProjectionTransformMatrix(windowSize[0]/windowSize[1], crSet[0], crSet[1]);
The projection transform matrix I got for this configuration is:
The (3,3) and (3,4) values of the projection matrix (lets say it is indexed 1 to 4 for rows and columns) should be - (f+n)/(f-n) and -2*f*n/(f-n) respectively. In my VTK camera settings, the nearz is 10 and farz is 1000 and hence I should get -1.020 and -20.20 respectively in the (3,3) and (3,4) locations of the matrix. But it is -1010 and -10000.
I have changed my clipping range values to see the changes and the (3,3) position is always nearz+farz which makes no sense to me. Also, it would be great if someone can explain why it is 3.7320 in the (1,1) and (2,2) positions. And this value DOES NOT change when I change the window size of the renderer window. Quite perplexing to me.
I see in VTKCamera class reference that GetProjectionTransformMatrix() returns the transformation matrix that maps from camera coordinates to viewport coordinates.
VTK Camera Class Reference
This is a nice depiction of the transforms involved in OpenGL rendering:
OpenGL Projection Matrix is the matrix that maps from eye coordinates to clip coordinates. It is beyond doubt that eye coordinates in OpenGL is the same as camera coordinates in VTK. But is the clip coordinates in OpenGL same as viewport coordinates of VTK?
My aim is to simulate a real webcam camera (already calibrated) in VTK to render a 3D model.
Well, the documentation you linked to actually explains this (emphasis mine):
vtkCamera::GetProjectionTransformMatrix:
Return the projection transform matrix, which converts from camera
coordinates to viewport coordinates. This method computes the aspect,
nearz and farz, then calls the more specific signature of
GetCompositeProjectionTransformMatrix
with:
vtkCamera::GetCompositeProjectionTransformMatrix:
Return the concatenation of the ViewTransform and the
ProjectionTransform. This transform will convert world coordinates to
viewport coordinates. The 'aspect' is the width/height for the
viewport, and the nearz and farz are the Z-buffer values that map to
the near and far clipping planes. The viewport coordinates of a point located inside the frustum are in the range
([-1,+1],[-1,+1], [nearz,farz]).
Note that this neither matches OpenGL's window space nor normalized device space. If find the term "viewport coordinates" for this aa poor choice, but be it as it may. What bugs me more with this is that the matrix actually does not transform to that "viewport space", but to some clip-space equivalent. Only after the perspective divide, the coordinates will be in the range as given for the above definition of the "viewport space".
But is the clip coordinates in OpenGL same as viewport coordinates of
VTK?
So that answer is a clear no. But it is close. Basically, that projection matrix is just a scaled and shiftet along the z dimension, and it is easy to convert between those two. Basically, you can simply take znear and zfar out of VTK's matrix, and put it into that OpenGL projection matrix formula you linked above, replacing just those two matrix elements.
I usually find matrix libraries building both modelview and cameras matrices from the RUB (right-up-back) vectors, as depicted in these pages:
http://3dengine.org/Right-up-back_from_modelview
http://3dengine.org/Modelview_matrix
Is the RUB tuple just a common standard?
Otherwise, is there a reason the RUB vectors are preferred over any other orientation (such as forward-up-right)?
Particularly if you're using the programmable pipeline, you have almost complete freedom about the coordinate system you work in, and how you transform your geometry. But once all your transformations are applied in the vertex shader (resulting in the vector assigned to gl_Position), there is still a fixed function block in the pipeline between the vertex shader and fragment shader. That fixed function block relies on the transformed vertices being in a well defined coordinate system.
gl_Position is in a coordinate system called "clip coordinates", which then turns into "normalized device coordinates" (NDC) after dividing by the w coordinate of the vector.
Based on the vector in NDC, the fixed function rasterization block generates pixels. It will use the first coordinate to map to the horizontal window direction, and the second coordinate to map to the vertical window direction. The third coordinate will be used to calculate the depth, which can be used for depth testing.
This means that after all transformations are applied, the first coordinate has to be left-right, the second coordinate has to be bottom-up, and the third coordinate has to be front-back (well, it could be back-front if you change the depth test).
If you use a classic setup with modelview and projection matrix, it makes sense to use the modelview matrix to transform the original geometry into this orientation, and then use the projection matrix to apply e.g. a perspective.
I don't think there's anything stopping you from using a different orientation as the result of the modelview transformation, and then include a rotation in the projection matrix to transform the whole thing into the correct clip coordinate space. But I don't see a benefit, and it looks like it would just add unnecessary confusion.
http://www.cs.uaf.edu/2007/spring/cs481/lecture/01_23_matrices.html
I have just finished reading this, but i have 2 questions about multiplications.
gl_Position = gl_ProjectionMatrix*gl_ModelViewMatrix*gl_Vertex
This is the final screen coordinates (x,y) when i multiply them all. What if i only multiply gl_ModelViewMatrix*gl_Vertex or gl_ProjectionMatrix*gl_Vertex ? And what does gl_Vertex mean alone ?
gl_Vertex is the vertex coordinate in world space.
vertices and the eye may be arbitrarily placed and oriented in world space.
After multiplication with ModelViewMatrix, you get a vertex coordinate in 'eye-space', a coordinate system with the eye at 0,0,0. Multiplying by the projection matrix(and doing that homogenous coordinate system division thingy) gives you coordinates in screen space. Those are not pixel-coordinates yet, but some normalized coordinate system with 0,0,0 in the center of the screen/window. Viewport transform is last. It maps the image to window (pixel?) coordinates.
An explanation is given in:
http://www.srk.fer.hr/~unreal/theredbook/
chapter 3.
What if i only multiply gl_ModelViewMatrix*gl_Vertex or gl_ProjectionMatrix*gl_Vertex ?
Then the projection matrix (the 1st case) or model-view matrix (the 2nd case) will not take effect. If they are identity matrices, you will not see effect. If they are not, then your view angle or position might be wrong.
And what does gl_Vertex mean alone ?
gl_Vertex is the vertex coordinate that is passed to the input of the pipeline.
In opengl there is one world coordinate system with origin (0,0,0).
What confuses me is what all the transformations like glTranslate, glRotate, etc. do? Do they move
objects in world coordinates, or do they move the camera? As you know, the same movement can be achieved by either moving objects or camera.
I am guessing that glTranslate, glRotate, change objects, and gluLookAt changes the camera?
In opengl there is one world coordinate system with origin (0,0,0).
Well, technically no.
What confuses me is what all the transformations like glTranslate, glRotate, etc. do? Do they move objects in world coordinates, or do they move the camera?
Neither. OpenGL doesn't know objects, OpenGL doesn't know a camera, OpenGL doesn't know a world. All that OpenGL cares about are primitives, points, lines or triangles, per vertex attributes, normalized device coordinates (NDC) and a viewport, to which the NDC are mapped to.
When you tell OpenGL to draw a primitive, each vertex is processed according to its attributes. The position is one of the attributes and usually a vector with 1 to 4 scalar elements within local "object" coordinate system. The task at hand is to somehow transform the local vertex position attribute into a position on the viewport. In modern OpenGL this happens within a small program, running on the GPU, called a vertex shader. The vertex shader may process the position in an arbitrary way. But the usual approach is by applying a number of nonsingular, linear transformations.
Such transformations can be expressed in terms of homogenous transformation matrices. For a 3 dimensional vector, the homogenous representation in a vector with 4 elements, where the 4th element is 1.
In computer graphics a 3-fold transformation pipeline has become sort of the standard way of doing things. First the object local coordinates are transformed into coordinates relative to the virtual "eye", hence into eye space. In OpenGL this transformation used to be called the modelview transformaion. With the vertex positions in eye space several calculations, like illumination can be expressed in a generalized way, hence those calculations happen in eye space. Next the eye space coordinates are tranformed into the so called clip space. This transformation maps some volume in eye space to a specific volume with certain boundaries, to which the geometry is clipped. Since this transformation effectively applies a projection, in OpenGL this used to be called the projection transformation.
After clip space the positions get "normalized" by their homogenous component, yielding normalized device coordinates, which are then plainly mapped to the viewport.
To recapitulate:
A vertex position is transformed from local to clip space by
vpos_eye = MV · vpos_local
eyespace_calculations(vpos_eye);
vpos_clip = P · vpos_eye
·: inner product column on row vector
Then to reach NDC
vpos_ndc = vpos_clip / vpos_clip.w
and finally to the viewport (NDC coordinates are in the range [-1, 1]
vpos_viewport = (vpos_ndc + (1,1,1,1)) * (viewport.width, viewport.height) / 2 + (viewport.x, viewport.y)
*: vector component wise multiplication
The OpenGL functions glRotate, glTranslate, glScale, glMatrixMode merely manipulate the transformation matrices. OpenGL used to have four transformation matrices:
modelview
projection
texture
color
On which of them the matrix manipulation functions act on can be set using glMatrixMode. Each of the matrix manipulating functions composes a new matrix by multiplying the transformation matrix they describe on top of the select matrix thereby replacing it. The functions glLoadIdentity replace the current matrix with identity, glLoadMatrix replaces it with a user defined matrix, and glMultMatrix multiplies a user defined matrix on top of it.
So how does the modelview matrix then emulate both object placement and a camera. Well, as you already stated
As you know, the same movement can be achieved by either moving objects or camera.
You can not really discern between them. The usual approach is by splitting the object local to eye transformation into two steps:
Object to world – OpenGL calls this the "model transform"
World to eye – OpenGL calls this the "view transform"
Together they form the model-view, in fixed function OpenGL described by the modelview matrix. Now since the order of transformations is
local to world, Model matrix vpos_world = M · vpos_local
world to eye, View matrix vpos_eye = V · vpos_world
we can substitute by
vpos_eye = V · ( M · vpos_local ) = V · M · vpos_local
replacing V · M by the ModelView matrix =: MV
vpos_eye = MV · vpos_local
Thus you can see that what's V and what's M of the compund matrix M is only determined by the order of operations in which you multiply onto the modelview matrix, and at which step you decide to "call it the model transform from here on".
I.e. right after a
glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW);
glLoadIdentity();
the view is defined. But at some point you'll start applying model transformations and everything after is model.
Note that in modern OpenGL all the matrix manipulation functions have been removed. OpenGL's matrix stack never was feature complete and no serious application did actually use it. Most programs just glLoadMatrix-ed their self calculated matrices and didn't bother with the OpenGL built-in matrix maniupulation routines.
And ever since shaders were introduced, the whole OpenGL matrix stack got awkward to use, to say it nicely.
The verdict: If you plan on using OpenGL the modern way, don't bother with the built-in functions. But keep in mind what I wrote, because what your shaders do will be very similar to what OpenGL's fixed function pipeline did.
OpenGL is a low-level API, there is no higher-level concepts like an "object" and a "camera" in the "scene", so there are only two matrix modes: MODELVIEW (a multiplication of "camera" matrix by the "object" transformation) and PROJECTION (the projective transformation from world-space to post-perspective space).
Distinction between "Model" and "View" (object and camera) matrices is up to you. glRotate/glTranslate functions just multiply the currently selected matrix by the given one (without even distinguishing between ModelView and Projection).
Those functions multiply (transform) the current matrix set by glMatrixMode() so it depends on the matrix you're working on. OpenGL has 4 different types of matrices; GL_MODELVIEW, GL_PROJECTION, GL_TEXTURE, and GL_COLOR, any one of those functions can change any of those matrices. So, basically, you don't transform objects you just manipulate different matrices to "fake" that effect.
Note that glulookat() is just a convenient function equivalent to a translation followed by some rotations, there's nothing special about it.
All transformations are transformations on objects. Even gluLookAt is just a transformation to transform the objects as if the camera was where you tell it to be. Technically they are transformations on the vertices, but that's just semantics.
That's true, glTranslate, glRotate change the object coordinates before rendering and gluLookAt changes the camera coordinate.