CODEWITHSUNDEEP
openglgame-development
pdid
pdid

Reputation: 347

One Quaternion Camera

Would it be possible to represent a 3D Camera using only a Quaternion? I know that most cameras use an Up vector and a Forward vector to represent it's rotation, but couldn't the same rotation be represented as a single Quaternion with the rotation axis being forward, and the w component being the amount from the Y Axis that the camera was rotated. If there is a way to do this, any resources would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 302

Answers (1)

MuertoExcobito
MuertoExcobito

Reputation: 10039

In general, no, it's not possible to represent a 3D camera using only a quaternion. This is because a 3D camera not only has an orientation in space, but also a position, and a projection. The quaternion only describes an orientation.

If you're actually asking whether the rotation component of the camera object could be represented as a quaternion, then the answer in general is yes. Quaternions can be easily converted into rotation matrices (Convert Quaternion rotation to rotation matrix?), and back, so anywhere a rotation matrix is used, a quaternion could also be used (and converted to a rotation matrix where appropriate).

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions