Class PerspectiveCamera
Perspective camera class for 3D rendering.
Provides a perspective projection camera with configurable field of view, aspect ratio, and near/far clipping planes. Supports view transformations and coordinate conversions.
Fields
| perspectivecamera.m_projection | Projection matrix for perspective transformation. |
| perspectivecamera.m_inv_projection | Inverse projection matrix. |
| perspectivecamera.m_view | View matrix computed from eye, center, and up vectors. |
| perspectivecamera.center | Position where the camera is looking at. |
| perspectivecamera.eye | Position of the camera in world space. |
| perspectivecamera.up | Normalized up vector defining camera orientation. |
Methods
| perspectivecamera:init (fov, aspect, nclip, fclip) | Creates a new PerspectiveCamera instance. |
| perspectivecamera:update_view_matrix () | Updates the view matrix based on current eye, center, and up vectors. |
| perspectivecamera:screen_point_to_ray (x, y, viewport) | Generates a ray from the camera through a screen point. |
| perspectivecamera:world_to_screen_point (x, y, z, viewport) | Transforms a position from world space into screen space. |
| perspectivecamera:get_direction () | Gets the normalized direction vector the camera is facing. |
Fields
- perspectivecamera.m_projection
-
Projection matrix for perspective transformation.
- m_projection mat4
- perspectivecamera.m_inv_projection
-
Inverse projection matrix.
- m_inv_projection mat4
- perspectivecamera.m_view
-
View matrix computed from eye, center, and up vectors.
Updated by calling updateviewmatrix().
- m_view mat4 readonly
- perspectivecamera.center
-
Position where the camera is looking at.
- center vec3
- perspectivecamera.eye
-
Position of the camera in world space.
- eye vec3
- perspectivecamera.up
-
Normalized up vector defining camera orientation.
- up vec3
Methods
- perspectivecamera:init (fov, aspect, nclip, fclip)
-
Creates a new PerspectiveCamera instance.
Initializes the camera with perspective projection.
Parameters:
- fov number Field of view of the camera, in degrees (default: 60)
- aspect number The aspect ratio (width/height) (default: 1.6666667)
- nclip number The distance of the near clipping plane from the camera (default: 0.1)
- fclip number The distance of the far clipping plane from the camera (default: 2048.0)
- perspectivecamera:update_view_matrix ()
- Updates the view matrix based on current eye, center, and up vectors. Call this method after modifying the camera position or orientation.
- perspectivecamera:screen_point_to_ray (x, y, viewport)
-
Generates a ray from the camera through a screen point.
Useful for ray casting, mouse picking, and collision detection.
Parameters:
- x number Screen position x coordinate
- y number Screen position y coordinate
- viewport table Viewport rectangle {x, y, width, height}
Returns:
-
table
Ray data containing {origin = vec3, direction = vec3}
- perspectivecamera:world_to_screen_point (x, y, z, viewport)
-
Transforms a position from world space into screen space.
Converts 3D world coordinates to 2D screen coordinates.
Parameters:
- x number or table World position x coordinate, or vec3 object containing world position
- y number World position y coordinate (ignored if x is vec3)
- z number World position z coordinate (ignored if x is vec3)
- viewport table Screen viewport {x, y, width, height}
Returns:
-
vec2
Screen space coordinates
- perspectivecamera:get_direction ()
-
Gets the normalized direction vector the camera is facing.
Returns:
-
vec3
Normalized direction vector from eye to center