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Makewalk. Why forward is -Y axis?

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 3:06 pm
by vlad1777d
I had an error while retargeting, watched here: https://thomasmakehuman.wordpress.com/m ... e-actions/

I found that error was because my armature's front was at +X axis, top - +Z axis, left - +Y axis.
And MakeWalk needs forward of armature at -Y axis.

Why such a strange decision??
It really annoying me, that every program tries to position armature with a strange way..

(from school I remember (when we learned Decart's coordinates: +X was forward, +Y was top. When added Z axis, then +Z was top, +X was forward, Y was to left and right)

Thank you.

Re: Makewalk. Why forward is -Y axis?

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 11:45 pm
by RobBaer
vlad1777d wrote:I had an error while retargeting, watched here: https://thomasmakehuman.wordpress.com/m ... e-actions/

I found that error was because my armature's front was at +X axis, top - +Z axis, left - +Y axis.
And MakeWalk needs forward of armature at -Y axis.

Why such a strange decision??
It really annoying me, that every program tries to position armature with a strange way..

(from school I remember (when we learned Decart's coordinates: +X was forward, +Y was top. When added Z axis, then +Z was top, +X was forward, Y was to left and right)

Thank you.


Well, there are multiple standards in the 3D industry and no number of physics or math classes prepare us for this (yeah, me too). But what is IS and nothing we can do about it!

The axis conventions in Blender are different from MakeHuman and different from 3DSMax and Maya.
In Blender (where MakeWalk Runs) +z is up, +x is the right side of the screen, and +y is into the screen when viewed from the "front" [i.e., after hitting 1 on the numeric key pad] That's just the way the Blender people defined world coordinates and so it is what MakeWalk uses.

+x is forward in many game engines, but more programs place it on the right than anywhere else. Other than game engines this is

BTW, in MakeHuman +y is up, not that we generally need to know that, so go figure ...

Re: Makewalk. Why forward is -Y axis?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:31 pm
by vlad1777d
I understood, thank you.