Why is the floor in my raycaster seemingly "misaligned"? - processing

I have been working on a doom/wolfenstein style raycaster for a while now. I implemented the "floor raycasting" to the best of my ability, roughly following a well known raycaster tutorial. It almost works, but the floor tiles seem slightly bigger than they should be, and they don't "stick", as in they don't seem to align properly and they slide slightly as the player moves/rotates. Additionally, the effect seems worsened as the FOV is increased. I cannot figure out where my floor casting is going wrong, so any help is appreciated.
Here is a (crappy) gif of the glitch happening
Here is the most relevant part of my code:
void render(PVector pos, float dir) {
ArrayList<FloatList> dists = new ArrayList<FloatList>();
for (int i = 0; i < numColumns; i++) {
float curDir = atan((i - (numColumns/2.0)) / projectionDistance) + dir;
// FloatList because it returns a few pieces of data
FloatList curHit = cast(pos, curDir);
// normalize distances with cos
curHit.set(0, curHit.get(0) * cos(curDir - dir));
dists.add(curHit);
}
screen.beginDraw();
screen.background(50);
screen.fill(0, 30, 100);
screen.noStroke();
screen.rect(0, 0, screen.width, screen.height/2);
screen.loadPixels();
PImage floor = textures.get(4);
// DRAW FLOOR
for (int y = screen.height/2 + 1; y < screen.height; y++) {
float rowDistance = 0.5 * projectionDistance / ((float)y - (float)rY/2);
// leftmost and rightmost (on screen) floor positions
PVector left = PVector.fromAngle(dir - fov/2).mult(rowDistance).add(p.pos);
PVector right = PVector.fromAngle(dir + fov/2).mult(rowDistance).add(p.pos);
// current position on the floor
PVector curPos = left.copy();
PVector stepVec = right.sub(left).div(screen.width);
float b = constrain(map(rowDistance, 0, maxDist, 1, 0), 0, 1);
for (int x = 0; x < screen.width; x++) {
color sample = floor.get(floor((curPos.x - floor(curPos.x)) * floor.width), floor((curPos.y - floor(curPos.y)) * floor.height));
screen.pixels[x + y*screen.width] = color(red(sample) * b, green(sample) * b, blue(sample) * b);
curPos.add(stepVec);
}
}
updatePixels();
}
If anyone wants to look at the full code or has any questions, ask away.

Ok, I seem to have found a "solution". I will be the first to admit that I do not understand why it works, but it does work. As per my comment above, I noticed that my rowDistance variable was off, which caused all of the problems. In desperation, I changed the FOV and then hardcoded the rowDistance until things looked right. I plotted the ratio between the projectionDistance and the numerator of the rowDistance. I noticed that it neatly conformed to a scaled cos function. So after some simplification, here is the formula I came up with:
float rowDistance = (rX / (4*sin(fov/2))) / ((float)y - (float)rY/2);
where rX is the width of the screen in pixels.
If anyone has an intuitive explanation as to why this formula makes sense, PLEASE enlighten me. I hope this helps anyone else who may have this problem.

Related

I have a question about using turtle graphic functions and looping methods on p5.js

I have to create these two included images using the turtle function and the loop method on p5js and I am struggling I was given https://editor.p5js.org/dpapanik/sketches/_lbGWWH6N this code on p5js as a start please help, thanksenter image description here
So I've played around with some of the stuff for awhile, and I've created two functions. One that makes a single quadrant of the first problem, and one that creates a single wiggly line for the second problem. This is just a base for you to work of in this process. Here's each of the functions. Also, note that each of them takes in the turtle as a parameter:
function makeLineQuadrant(turtle) {
// this currently makes the top left corner:
let yVal = windowWidth * 0.5;
let xVal = windowWidth * 0.5;
for (let i = 0; i < 13; i++) {
// loop through the 12 lines in one quadrant
turtle.face(0); // reset for the new round
turtle.penUp();
let startLeft = i * ((windowWidth * 0.5) / 12); // decide which component on the button we should start at
let endTop = (12 - i) * ((windowWidth * 0.5) / 12); // how far down the y-axis should we go? You should write this out on paper to see how it works
turtle.goto(startLeft, yVal);
turtle.penDown();
let deg = turtle.angleTo(xVal, endTop); // what direction do I need to turn?
turtle.face(deg);
let distance = turtle.distanceTo(xVal, endTop); // how far away is it?
turtle.forward(distance);
}
}
I tried to add a few comments throughout, but if there is any step that is confusing, please add a comment.
function makeSquiggle(turtle) {
turtle.setColor(color(random(0, 255), random(0, 255), random(0, 255)));
let middleX = windowWidth * 0.5, middleY = windowHeight * 0.5;
turtle.goto(windowWidth * 0.5, windowHeight * 0.5);
// let's start moving in a random direction UNTIL our distance from the center is greater than some number X
let X = 300; // arbitrary distance from center
// some variables that can help us get some random movement for our turtle:
let turtleXvel = random(-3, 3), turtleYvel = random(-3, 3);
while (turtle.distanceTo(middleX, middleY) < X) {
turtle.face(0);
// calculate movement:
let newXmove = turtle.x + turtleXvel, newYmove = turtle.y + turtleYvel;
// direct our turtle:
turtle.face(turtle.angleTo(newXmove, newYmove));
let distance = turtle.distanceTo(newXmove, newYmove); // how far away is it?
// move our turtle
turtle.penDown();
turtle.forward(distance);
// change the velocity a little bit for a smooth curving:
turtleXvel += random(-1, 1);
turtleYvel += random(-1, 1);
}
}
Note that I'm changing the velocities instead of the position directly. This is a classic Calculus / Physics problem where the derivative gives us a smaller range, so adjusting turtleXvel and turtleYvel change the position in much less drastic ways versus:
turtle.x += random(-1, 1);
turtle.y += random(-1, 1);
You should look at the difference as well to visualize this. Beyond this is working with these structural components to finish this up!

Confusion about zFar and zNear plane offsets using glm::perspective

I have been using glm to help build a software rasterizer for self education. In my camera class I am using glm::lookat() to create my view matrix and glm::perspective() to create my perspective matrix.
I seem to be getting what I expect for my left, right top and bottom clipping planes. However, I seem to be either doing something wrong for my near/far planes of there is an error in my understanding. I have reached a point in which my "google-fu" has failed me.
Operating under the assumption that I am correctly extracting clip planes from my glm::perspective matrix, and using the general plane equation:
aX+bY+cZ+d = 0
I am getting strange d or "offset" values for my zNear and zFar planes.
It is my understanding that the d value is the value of which I would be shifting/translatin the point P0 of a plane along the normal vector.
They are 0.200200200 and -0.200200200 respectively. However, my normals are correct orientated at +1.0f and -1.f along the z-axis as expected for a plane perpendicular to my z basis vector.
So when testing a point such as the (0, 0, -5) world space against these planes, it is transformed by my view matrix to:
(0, 0, 5.81181192)
so testing it against these plane in a clip chain, said example vertex would be culled.
Here is the start of a camera class establishing the relevant matrices:
static constexpr glm::vec3 UPvec(0.f, 1.f, 0.f);
static constexpr auto zFar = 100.f;
static constexpr auto zNear = 0.1f;
Camera::Camera(glm::vec3 eye, glm::vec3 center, float fovY, float w, float h) :
viewMatrix{ glm::lookAt(eye, center, UPvec) },
perspectiveMatrix{ glm::perspective(glm::radians<float>(fovY), w/h, zNear, zFar) },
frustumLeftPlane {setPlane(0, 1)},
frustumRighPlane {setPlane(0, 0)},
frustumBottomPlane {setPlane(1, 1)},
frustumTopPlane {setPlane(1, 0)},
frstumNearPlane {setPlane(2, 0)},
frustumFarPlane {setPlane(2, 1)},
The frustum objects are based off the following struct:
struct Plane
{
glm::vec4 normal;
float offset;
};
I have extracted the 6 clipping planes from the perspective matrix as below:
Plane Camera::setPlane(const int& row, const bool& sign)
{
float temp[4]{};
Plane plane{};
if (sign == 0)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 4; ++i)
{
temp[i] = perspectiveMatrix[i][3] + perspectiveMatrix[i][row];
}
}
else
{
for (int i = 0; i < 4; ++i)
{
temp[i] = perspectiveMatrix[i][3] - perspectiveMatrix[i][row];
}
}
plane.normal.x = temp[0];
plane.normal.y = temp[1];
plane.normal.z = temp[2];
plane.normal.w = 0.f;
plane.offset = temp[3];
plane.normal = glm::normalize(plane.normal);
return plane;
}
Any help would be appreciated, as now I am at a loss.
Many thanks.
The d parameter of a plane equation describes how much the plane is offset from the origin along the plane normal. This also takes into account the length of the normal.
One can't just normalize the normal without also adjusting the d parameter since normalizing changes the length of the normal. If you want to normalize a plane equation then you also have to apply the division step to the d coordinate:
float normalLength = sqrt(temp[0] * temp[0] + temp[1] * temp[1] + temp[2] * temp[2]);
plane.normal.x = temp[0] / normalLength;
plane.normal.y = temp[1] / normalLength;
plane.normal.z = temp[2] / normalLength;
plane.normal.w = 0.f;
plane.offset = temp[3] / normalLength;
Side note 1: Usually, one would store the offset of a plane equation in the w-coordinate of a vec4 instead of a separate variable. The reason is that the typical operation you perform with it is a point to plane distance check like dist = n * x - d (for a given point x, normal n, offset d, * is dot product), which can then be written as dist = [n, d] * [x, -1].
Side note 2: Most software and also hardware rasterizer perform clipping after the projection step since it's cheaper and easier to implement.

animating sine waves in processing

how do I animate the sin lines in the following code to move along the y-axis, to somehow look more like moving water waves?
-if you take out the velocity and acceleration codes you will see what I was trying to work with
float scaleVal = 6.0;
float angleInc = 0.19;
float velocity=0.0;
float acceleration=0.01;
void setup(){
size(750,750);
stroke(255);
}
void draw(){
background (0);
float angle=0.0;
for (int offset = -10; offset < width+10; offset += 10) {
for (int y = 1; y <= height; y += 3) {
float x = offset + (sin(angle) * scaleVal);
line(x, y, x, y+2);
angle += angleInc;
velocity += acceleration;
y += velocity;
}
angle += PI;
}
}
Try using sin() to change the y position instead of x.
The x position can simply increment.
The math may be daunting, but it gets fun once you get the hang of it.
Imagine going around a circle with the radius of 1.0 in a cartesian coordinate system (0 is centre , x and y increase to the right and down and decrease towards left and top):
Let's say you start at the top, the highest value, the length radius of your circle (1.0).
As you decrease the angle, the x move to the left, but the y will go towards the centre( 0.0 )
then x will increase as it gets close to the centre and y will drop to bottom of the circle (-1.0)
then x will keep increasing until it reaches the right edge of the circle and the y value will increase and reach the vertical centre (0.0)
finally the x will decrease until it reaches the horizontal centre and y will increase and reach back to the top of the circle (1.0)
This image explains it pretty well:
Essentially it's like a converter: you plug in an angle from 0 to 360 degrees or TWO_PI radians (as sin works with angles in radians) and you get back a value between -1.0 and 1.0.
If you want to draw a sine wave, you have to draw multiple points:
the x position will increase value directly
the y position will increase the angle, but use the result of the sin() function to obtain a value that goes up and down.
The last thing to do is multiple the result of the sin() function by a larger number to essentially scale the sine wave (from -1.0 to 1.0) to a size more appropate for the screen.
Here's a quick commented demo you can use the mouse position to play with:
function setup(){
createCanvas(640,100);
}
function draw(){
background(255);
var numberOfPoints = 1+(mouseX/2);
//how often apart will the points be
var widthPerPoint = width / numberOfPoints;
//how much will the angle change from one point to another
var anglePerPoint = TWO_PI/numberOfPoints;
var waveHeight = 25;
for(var i = 0; i < numberOfPoints; i++){
var x = i * widthPerPoint;
var y = sin(anglePerPoint * i) * waveHeight;
ellipse(x,50 + y,5,5);
}
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/p5.js/0.5.4/p5.min.js"></script>
The gist of it is this line:
var y = sin(anglePerPoint * i) * waveHeight;
which can be broken down to:
//increment the angle
var incrementedAngle = anglePerPoint * i;
//compute sine (-1.0,1.0)
var sine = sin(incrementedAngle);
//scale sine result
var waveY = sine * waveHeight;
Once you can draw a static sine wave, it's pretty easy to animate: to the angle increment at each point you add an increasing value. This increases the angle and essentially goes around the circle (TWO_PI) for you.
You can create your own variable to increase at your own rate or you
can easily use an increasing value based on time(millis()) or frame(frameCount) which you can scale down (divide by a large number...or better yet multiple by a small fractional number):
function setup(){
createCanvas(640,100);
}
function draw(){
background(255);
var numberOfPoints = 1+(mouseX/2);
//how often apart will the points be
var widthPerPoint = width / numberOfPoints;
//how much will the angle change from one point to another
var anglePerPoint = TWO_PI/numberOfPoints;
var waveHeight = 25;
for(var i = 0; i < numberOfPoints; i++){
var x = i * widthPerPoint;
var y = sin(anglePerPoint * i + frameCount * 0.01) * waveHeight;
ellipse(x,50 + y,5,5);
}
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/p5.js/0.5.4/p5.min.js"></script>
Hopefully the animation and simple demos above help illustrate the point.
In even simpler terms, it's a bit of an illustion: you draw points that only move up and down, but each point use an increasing angle along the circle.
Have a look at Reuben Margolin's kinectic sculpture system demo:
(I recommend checking out the whole PopTech talk: it's inspiring)
You should have a look at the Processing SineWave example as well.
Here's a more complex encapsulating the notions in a resuable function to draw multiple waves to hint at an atmospheric perspective:
int numWaves = 5;
void setup(){
size(400,400);
noStroke();
}
void draw(){
background(255);
for(int i = 0 ; i < numWaves; i++){
fill(30,120,180,map(i,0,numWaves-1,192,32));
drawSineWave(HALF_PI,0.00025 * (i+1),50 + (10 * i),8,width,mouseY);
}
fill(255);
text("drag mouse x to change number of waves",10,height-10);
}
/*
* radians - how often does the wave cycle (larges values = more peaks)
* speed - how fast is the wave moving
* amplitude - how high is the wave (from centre point)
* detail - how many points are used to draw the wave (small=angled, many = smooth)
* y - y centre of the wave
*/
void drawSineWave(float radians,float speed,float amplitude,int detail,float size,float y){
beginShape();
vertex(0,height);//fix to bottom
//compute the distance between each point
float xoffset = size / detail;
//compute angle offset between each point
float angleIncrement = radians / detail;
//for each point
for(int i = 0 ; i <= detail; i++){
//compute x position
float px = xoffset * i;
//use sine function compute y
//millis() * speed is like an ever increasing angle
//to which we add the angle increment for each point (so the the angle changes as we traverse x
//the result of sine is a value between -1.0 and 1.0 which we multiply to the amplitude (height of the wave)
//finally add the y offset
float py = y + (sin((millis() * speed) + angleIncrement * i) * amplitude);
//add the point
vertex(px,py);
}
vertex(size,height);//fix to bottom
endShape();
}
void mouseDragged(){
numWaves = 1+(int)mouseX/40;
}
Which you can also run bellow:
var numWaves = 5;
function setup(){
createCanvas(400,400);
noStroke();
}
function draw(){
background(255);
for(var i = 0 ; i < numWaves; i++){
fill(30,120,180,map(i,0,numWaves-1,192,32));
drawSineWave(HALF_PI,0.00025 * (i+1),50 + (10 * i),8,width,mouseY);
}
fill(255);
text("drag mouse x to change number of waves",10,height-10);
}
/*
* radians - how often does the wave cycle (larges values = more peaks)
* speed - how fast is the wave moving
* amplitude - how high is the wave (from centre point)
* detail - how many points are used to draw the wave (small=angled, many = smooth)
* y - y centre of the wave
*/
function drawSineWave(radians,speed,amplitude,detail,size,y){
beginShape();
vertex(0,height);//fix to bottom
//compute the distance between each point
var xoffset = size / detail;
var angleIncrement = radians / detail;
for(var i = 0 ; i <= detail; i++){
var px = xoffset * i;
var py = y + (sin((millis() * speed) + angleIncrement * i) * amplitude);
vertex(px,py);
}
vertex(size,height);//fix to bottom
endShape();
}
function mouseDragged(){
numWaves = ceil(mouseX/40);
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/p5.js/0.5.4/p5.min.js"></script>
The only other suggestion I have, in terms of rendering, it to have play with beginShape(). Rather than having to worry about where to draw each line, simply pass a bunch of points(via vertex(x,y)) in between beginShape()/endShape() calls and let Processing connect the dots for you.
Stack Overflow isn't really designed for general "how do I do this" type questions. It's for more specific "I tried X, expected Y, but got Z instead" type questions. That being said, I'll try to help in a general sense.
If you want to animate something going up and down, you have to modify its Y position over time.
One approach is to use the sin() or cos() functions to come up with a value that alternates between -1 and 1, which you can then multiply by a height and add to a center:
void setup() {
size(100, 200);
}
void draw() {
background (0);
float centerY = height/2;
float waveHeight = 75;
float input = frameCount/10.0;
float ballY = centerY+sin(input)*waveHeight;
ellipse(width/2, ballY, 10, 10);
}
Another approach is to keep track of the position and speed yourself. When the position reaches a min or max, just reverse the speed. Something like this:
float ballY = 100;
float ySpeed = 1;
void setup() {
size(100, 200);
}
void draw() {
background (0);
ballY += ySpeed;
if(ballY < 0 || ballY > height){
ySpeed *= -1;
}
ellipse(width/2, ballY, 10, 10);
}
You could also use the lerp() function. The point is that there are a million different ways to do this. The best thing you can do is to try something and post an MCVE if you get stuck. Good luck.

how to figure out cursive paths for an enemy to follow

The Problem
I am making a game where enemies appear at some point on the screen then follow a smooth curvy path and disappear at some point. I can make them follow a straight path but can't figure out the way to make them follow the paths depicted in the image.
Attempts
I started with parabolic curve and implemented them successfully. I just used the equation of parabola to calculate the coordinates gradually. I have no clue what is the equation for desired paths supposed to be.
What I want
I am not asking for the code.I just want someone to explain me the general technique.If you still want to show some code then I don't have special preference for programming language for this particular question you can use C,Java or even pseudo-code.
First you need to represent each curve with a set of points over time, For example:
-At T(0) the object should be at (X0, Y0).
-At T(1) the object should be at (X1, Y1).
And the more points you have, the more smooth curve you will get.
Then you will use those set of points to generate two formulas-one for X, and another one for Y-, using any Interpolation method, like The La-grange's Interpolation Formula:
Note that you should replace 'y' with the time T, and replace 'x' with your X for X formula, and Y for Y formula.
I know you hoped for a simple equation, but unfortunately this is will take from you a huge effort to simplify each equation, and my advise DON'T do it unless it's worth it.
If you are seeking for a more simple equation to perform well in each frame in your game you should read about SPline method, In this method is about splitting your curve into a smaller segments, and make a simple equation for every segment, for example:
Linear Spline:
Every segment contains 2 points, this will draw a line between every two points.
The result will be some thing like this:
Or you could use quadratic spline, or cubic spline for more smooth curves, but it will slow your game performance. You can read more about those methods here.
I think linear spline will be great for you with reasonable set of points for each curve.
Please change the question title to be more generic.
If you want to generate a spiral path you need.
Total time
How many full rotations
Largest radius
So, total time T_f = 5sec, rotations R_f = 2.5 * 2 * PI, the final distance from the start D_f = 200px
function SpiralEnemy(spawnX, spawnY, time) {
this.startX = spawnX;
this.startY = spawnY;
this.startTime = time;
// these will change and be used for rendering
this.x = this.startX;
this.y = this.startY;
this.done = false;
// constants we figured out above
var TFinal = 5.0;
var RFinal = -2.6 * 2 * Math.PI;
var RStart = -Math.PI / 2;
var DFinal = 100;
// the update function called every animation tick with the current time
this.update = function(t) {
var delta = t - this.startTime;
if(delta > TFinal) {
this.done = true;
return;
}
// find out how far along you are in the animation
var percent = delta / TFinal;
// what is your current angle of rotation (in radians)
var angle = RStart + RFinal * percent;
// how far from your start point should you be
var dist = DFinal * percent;
// update your coordinates
this.x = this.startX + Math.cos(angle) * dist;
this.y = this.startY + Math.sin(angle) * dist;
};
}
EDIT Here's a jsfiddle to mess with http://jsfiddle.net/pxb3824z/
EDIT 2 Here's a loop (instead of spiral) version http://jsfiddle.net/dpbLxuz7/
The loop code splits the animation into 2 parts the beginning half and the end half.
Beginning half : angle = Math.tan(T_percent) * 2 and dist = Speed + Speed * (1 - T_percent)
End half : angle = -Math.tan(1 - T_percent) * 2 and dist = **Speed + Speed * T_percent
T_percent is normalized to (0, 1.0) for both halfs.
function LoopEnemy(spawnX, spawnY, time) {
this.startX = spawnX;
this.startY = spawnY;
this.startTime = time;
// these will change and be used for rendering
this.x = this.startX;
this.y = this.startY;
this.last = time;
this.done = false;
// constants we figured out above
var TFinal = 5.0;
var RFinal = -2 * Math.PI;
var RStart = 0;
var Speed = 50; // px per second
// the update function called every animation tick with the current time
this.update = function(t) {
var delta = t - this.startTime;
if(delta > TFinal) {
this.done = true;
return;
}
// find out how far along you are in the animation
var percent = delta / TFinal;
var localDelta = t - this.last;
// what is your current angle of rotation (in radians)
var angle = RStart;
var dist = Speed * localDelta;
if(percent <= 0.5) {
percent = percent / 0.5;
angle -= Math.tan(percent) * 2;
dist += dist * (1 - percent);
} else {
percent = (percent - 0.5) / 0.5;
angle -= -Math.tan(1 - percent) * 2;
dist += dist * percent;
}
// update your coordinates
this.last = t;
this.x = this.x + Math.cos(angle) * dist;
this.y = this.y + Math.sin(angle) * dist;
};
}
Deriving the exact distance traveled and the height of the loop for this one is a bit more work. I arbitrarily chose a Speed of 50px / sec, which give a final x offset of ~+145 and a loop height of ~+114 the distance and height will scale from those values linearly (ex: Speed=25 will have final x at ~73 and loop height of ~57)
I don't understand how you give a curve. If you need a curve depicted on the picture, you can find a curve is given analytically and use it. If you have not any curves you can send me here: hedgehogues#bk.ru and I will help find you. I leave e-mail here because I don't get any messages about answers of users from stackoverflow. I don't know why.
If you have some curves in parametric view in [A, B], you can write a code like this:
struct
{
double x, y;
}SPoint;
coord = A;
step = 0.001
eps = 1e-6;
while (coord + step - eps < B)
{
SPoint p1, p2;
p1.x = x(coord);
p1.y = y(coord);
coord += step;
p2.x = x(coord);
p2.y = y(coord);
drawline(p1, p2);
}

How does depth work in a frustum environment?

I need some help understanding the basics of a frustum transformation. Mainly, how depth works.
The following uses a viewport of 768x1024. Using an Orthogonal projection and a square of 768x768 (z defaults to 0) with no translation or scaling, and a viewport of glViewport(0, 0, 768, 1024) this square easily fills the width of the frame:
Now when I change the project to a frustum and mess with the z translation, the square scales appropriately due to the perspective changes.
Here is the same square in such an environment:
I can play with this z translation, as well as the near and far parameters of the frustum matrix and make the square change is apparent onscreen size accordingly. Fine.
But what I cannot figure out is the obvious relationship between its onscreen size and these depth parameters.
For example, suppose I want to use a frustum but have the square fill the frame width, as in my first example image above. How to achieve this?
I would think that if the z translation matched the near plane, then you'd essentially have a square "right in front of the camera", filling the frame. But I cannot figure a way to achieve this. If my near is 1 and my z translation is -1, then the square should be sitting right on the near plane itself (right?!) , filling the width of the frame (where the frustum's left and right planes are the same as the orthogonal projection).
I could paste a bunch of code here to show what I'm doing but I think the concept here is clear. I just want to figure out where the near plane actually is, how to situate something on it, as this will help me understand how the frustum is working.
Okay here is the relevant code I'm using, where width=768 and height=1024.
My vertex shader is the simple gl_Position=Projection*Modelview*Position;
My projection matrix (frustum) is thus:
Frustum(-width/2, width/2, -height/2, height/2, 1,10);
This function is:
static Matrix4<T> Frustum(T left, T right, T bottom, T top, T near, T far)
{
T a = 2 * near / (right - left);
T b = 2 * near / (top - bottom);
T c = (right + left) / (right - left);
T d = (top + bottom) / (top - bottom);
T e = - (far + near) / (far - near);
T f = -2 * far * near / (far - near);
Matrix4 m;
m.x.x = a; m.x.y = 0; m.x.z = 0; m.x.w = 0;
m.y.x = 0; m.y.y = b; m.y.z = 0; m.y.w = 0;
m.z.x = c; m.z.y = d; m.z.z = e; m.z.w = -1;
m.w.x = 0; m.w.y = 0; m.w.z = f; m.w.w = 1;
return m;
}
My square is just two 2d triangles with a default z=0, and an x range from left as -768/2 and right edge at 768/2. The square is clearly working properly as my first image above shows, using the orthogonal projection. (Though I switched to the frustum projection for this question)
To draw the square, I translate the Modelview with:
Translate(0, 0, -1);
Using:
static Matrix4<T> Translate(T x, T y, T z)
{
Matrix4 m;
m.x.x = 1; m.x.y = 0; m.x.z = 0; m.x.w = 0;
m.y.x = 0; m.y.y = 1; m.y.z = 0; m.y.w = 0;
m.z.x = 0; m.z.y = 0; m.z.z = 1; m.z.w = 0;
m.w.x = x; m.w.y = y; m.w.z = z; m.w.w = 1;
return m;
}
As you can see, the translation should put the square on the near plane, yet it looks like this:
If I translate instead of -1.01 just to be sure I avoid near clipping, the result is the same. If I do not translate, thus z=0, the square does not appear, as you'd expect, since it would be behind the camera.
In your frustum matrix, m.w.w should be 0, not 1. This will fix your problem.
But, the mistake isn't your fault. It's my fault! I'm actually the one who wrote that code in the first place, and unfortunately it has proliferated. It's an errata in my book (iPhone 3D Programming), which is where it first appeared.
Feeling very guilty about this!
If my near is 1 and my z translation is -1, then the square should be sitting right on the near plane itself (right?!)
Yes
, filling the width of the frame (where the frustum's left and right planes are the same as the orthogonal projection).
Not neccesarily. The near plane has the extents given with the left, right, bottom and top parameters of glFrustum. A rectangle going to exactly those bounds will snugly fit the viewport when being placed at the near plane distance.

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