Reputation: 286
TLDR; Given a set of triangle vertices and a normal vector (all in unit space), how do I calculate X, Y, Z Euler rotation angles of the triangle in world space?
I am attemping to display a 3D model in HTML - with actual HTML tags and CSS transforms. I've already loaded an OBJ file into a Javascript class instance.
The model is triangulated. My first aim is just to display the triangles as planes (HTML elements are rectangular) - I'll be 'cutting out' the triangle shapes with CSS clip-path later on.
I am really struggling to understand and get the triangles of the model rotated correctly.
I thought a rotation matrix could help me out, but my only experience with those is where I already have the rotation vector and I need to convert and send that to WebGL. This time there is no WebGL (or tutorials) to make things easier.
The following excerpt shows the face creation/'rendering' of faces. I'm using the face normal as the rotation but I know this is wrong.
for (const face of _obj.faces) {
const vertices = face.vertices.map(_index => _obj.vertices[_index]);
const center = [
(vertices[0][0] + vertices[1][0] + vertices[2][0]) / 3,
(vertices[0][1] + vertices[1][1] + vertices[2][1]) / 3,
(vertices[0][2] + vertices[1][2] + vertices[2][2]) / 3
];
// Each vertex has a normal but I am just picking the first vertex' normal
// to use as the 'face normal'.
const normals = face.normals.map(_index => _obj.normals[_index]);
const normal = normals[0];
// HTML element creation code goes here; reference is 'element'.
// Set face position (unit space)
element.style.setProperty('--posX', center[0]);
element.style.setProperty('--posY', center[1]);
element.style.setProperty('--posZ', center[2]);
// Set face rotation, converting to degrees also.
const rotation = [
normal[0] * toDeg,
normal[1] * toDeg,
normal[2] * toDeg,
];
element.style.setProperty('--rotX', rotation[0]);
element.style.setProperty('--rotY', rotation[1]);
element.style.setProperty('--rotZ', rotation[2]);
}
The CSS first translates the face on X,Y,Z, then rotates it on X,Y,Z in that order.
I think I need to 'decompose' my triangles' rotation into separate axis rotations - i.e rotate on X, then on Y, then on Z to get the correct rotation as per the model face.
I realise that the normal vector gives me an orientation but not a rotation around itself - I need to calculate that. I think I have to determine a vector along one triangle side and cross it with the normal, but this is something I am not clear on.
I have spent hours looking at similar questions on SO but I'm not smart enough to understand or make them work for me.
Is it possible to describe what steps to take without Latex equations? I'm good with pseudo code but my Math skills are severely lacking.
The full code is here: https://whoshotdk.co.uk/cssfps/ (view HTML source) The mesh building function is at line 422.
The OBJ file is here: https://whoshotdk.co.uk/cssfps/data/model/test.obj The Blender file is here: https://whoshotdk.co.uk/cssfps/data/model/test.blend
The mesh is just a single plane at an angle, displayed in my example (wrongly) in pink.
The world is setup so that -X is left, -Y is up, -Z is into the screen.
Thank You!
Upvotes: 3
Views: 580
Reputation: 180
If you have a plane and want to rotate it to be in the same direction as some normal, you need to figure out the angles between that plane's normal vector and the normal vector you want. The Euler angles between two 3D vectors can be complicated, but in this case the initial plane normal should always be the same, so I'll assume the plane normal starts pointing towards positive X to make the maths simpler.
You also probably want to rotate before you translate, so that everything is easier since you'll be rotating around the origin of the coordinate system.
By taking the general 3D rotation matrix (all three 3D rotation matrices multiplied together, you can find it on the Wikipedia page) and applying it to the vector (1,0,0) you can then get the equations for the three angles a, b, and c needed to rotate that initial vector to the vector (x,y,z). This results in:
x = cos(a)*cos(b)
y = sin(a)*cos(b)
z = -sin(b)
Then rearranging these equations to find a, b and c, which will be the three angles you need (the three values of the rotation array, respectively):
a = atan(y/x)
b = asin(-z)
c = 0
So in your code this would look like:
const rotation = [
Math.atan2(normal[1], normal[0]) * toDeg,
Math.asin(-normal[2]) * toDeg,
0
];
It may be that you need to use a different rotation matrix (if the order of the rotations is not what you expected) or a different starting vector (although you can just use this method and then do an extra 90 degree rotation if each plane actually starts in the positive Y direction, for example).
Upvotes: 0