3D Modeling Programs use different axis than I learned in math class...

[DiggsMcGee]

High school was a long time ago... but in math class we learned that, on a 2D plane, the y-axis goes up and down, and the x-axis goes left and right.

 

However, in programs such as Blender, SketchUp, and TinkerCAD, this is not the case. In Blender specifically the z-axis is shown as going up and down, the y-axis going left and right, and the x-axis going forward (out) and backward (in).

 

Why is this?

 

Are you supposed to look at these axes as NOT axes, but planes? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that, but if I squint I can see it... But even if that's the case, when using the panel to move an object it doesn't move in the direction you would imagine the planes to occupy. It moves along the axis line (the colored line) which is not the same as the axes I learned in math class.

 

Does anyone know why this is?

 

Thanks,

 

-Diggs

 

P.S. - In Minecraft, the x-axis and z-axis are relatively speaking left/right and forward/backward, while the y-axis is up/down... in case you were wondering...

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, DiggsMcGee said:

Are you supposed to look at these axes as NOT axes, but planes?

Once you start working with 3 dimensions, looking at the pure axes is usually pretty useless. So basically yes, you should be looking at them as planes. 

[DiggsMcGee]

That hurts my brain but thanks. I guess I just won't worry about... Is it different than you learned in math classes? 

[DrMacintosh]

3 minutes ago, DiggsMcGee said:

Is it different than you learned in math classes? 

I’m only in Calculus 1. We are only operating with 2 dimensional graphs mostly. 
 

A physics course teachers you how to better understand how this system works. I find the easiest way is to remember that the X and Y planes are still 2 dimensional, it is the Z access that provides a position above the X and Y plane. 

[DiggsMcGee]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

I’m only in Calculus 1. We are only operating with 2 dimensional graphs mostly. 
 

A physics course teachers you how to better understand how this system works. I find the easiest way is to remember that the X and Y planes are still 2 dimensional, it is the Z access that provides a position above the X and Y plane. 

OK. I never thought of the x- and y-axis as being on paper, and the z-axis coming up from the desk! Thanks! What power one little word can have (the word "above" hit me and made it sink in).

 

Thanks again!

[ARikozuM]

X and Y are usually length and width in drawings, adding a Z axis for height. 

 

Think of your normal coordinate plane as being parallel to your feet, not your body or a wall.

[LogicalDrm]

XY is 2D plane, usually like map. Z is pretty much always height. Or depth. The X- and Y-axis can represent which way user wants, if they aren't linked to anything special. In GIS (my field), US/Global software usually have Y as north axis and X as east axis. This is different from our local older grids which have had X as north and Y as east. Although in my trigonometry Y has always been north so maybe switch have been out since 90s.