4.2.1 vec3 - 3d vector

A vec3 represents a 3D vector type that can be used to store points, vector, normals or even colors. You can construct a vec3 by several ways:

# all components are set to zero
v = vec3()

-> (0.0000, 0.0000, 0.0000)

# set all components to one value
v = vec3(2.5)

-> (2.5000, 2.5000, 2.5000)

# set a 2d vector, the 3rd component will be zero
v = vec3(1.5, 0.8)

-> (1.5000, 0.8000, 0.0000)

# initialize all three components
v = vec3(1.5, 0.8, -0.5)

-> (1.5000, 0.8000, -0.5000)

Additionally you can use all of the above, but store the values inside a tuple, a list or a string:

v = vec3([1.5, 0.8, -0.5])
w = vec3("1.5, 0.8")

Finally, you can initialize a vector with a copy of another vector:

v = vec3(w)

A vec3 can be used just like a list with 3 elements, so you can read and write components using the index operator or by accessing the components by name:

>>> v=vec3(1,2,3)
>>> print v[0]
1.0
>>> print v.y
2.0

Mathematical operations

The mathematical operators are supported with the following combination of types:

vec3  =  vec3 + vec3
vec3  =  vec3 - vec3
float =  vec3 * vec3      # dot product
vec3  = float * vec3
vec3  =  vec3 * float
vec3  =  vec3 / float
vec3  =  vec3 % float     # each component
vec3  =  vec3 % vec3      # component wise
vec3  = -vec3
float =  vec3[i]          # get or set element

Additionally, you can compare vectors with ==, !=, <, <=, >, >=. Each comparison (except < and >) takes an epsilon environment into account, this means two values are considered to be equal if their absolute difference is less than or equal to a threshold value epsilon. You can read and write this threshold value using the functions getEpsilon() and setEpsilon().

Taking the absolute value of a vector will return the length of the vector:

float = abs(v)            # this is equivalent to v.length()

Methods

angle( other): Return angle (in radians) between self and other.

cross( other): Return cross product of self and other.

length( ): Returns the length of the vector ( $\sqrt{x^2+y^2+z^2}$ ). This is equivalent to calling abs(self).

normalize( ): Returns normalized vector. If the method is called on the null vector (where each component is zero) a ZeroDivisionError is raised.

reflect( N): Returns the reflection vector. N is the surface normal which has to be of unit length.

refract( N, eta): Returns the transmitted vector. N is the surface normal which has to be of unit length. eta is the relative index of refraction. If the returned vector is zero then there is no transmitted light because of total internal reflection.

ortho( ): Returns a vector that is orthogonal to self (where self*self.ortho()==0).

min( ): Returns the minimum value of the components.

max( ): Returns the maximum value of the components.

minIndex( ): Return the index of the component with the minimum value.

maxIndex( ): Return the index of the component with the maximum value.

minAbs( ): Returns the minimum absolute value of the components.

maxAbs( ): Returns the maximum absolute value of the components.

minAbsIndex( ): Return the index of the component with the minimum absolute value.

maxAbsIndex( ): Return the index of the component with the maximum absolute value.