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Document the default "North"

Ethos Erlanger

August 18, 2017 19:00

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It would benefit us to be informed where Linden Lab places the default "North" in their default scene. We could all guess that a default scene has a direction to it based on the idea that forward is North. Then from there, turning 90 degrees to the right would make us face East. But there seems to be an error in the Skybox template that makes us unsure of where Linden Lab has placed the four cardinal direction.

Yes, in Office Hours, Jason said that we as creators can place North anywhere we want it to be. But if we knew for sure that we can agree with Linden Lab that the default North was the +Y axis, the discussion that follows about the error in the Official Skybox template would become a coherent conversation.

4 comments

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  OldVamp August 18, 2017 20:24

  I define north as +Y
  But! North will vary by your editing program
  For example: in Blender it is 180* from in sansar, so north in blender is -Y

  It seems your camera always points north when you enter an experience, even if you change the direction of the spawn.

  Edited by OldVamp August 18, 2017 20:26
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  Ethos Erlanger August 21, 2017 04:59

  @OldVamp, I too have a belief about where North is in Sansar, but my belief has been rendered inconsequential by Jason. What really matters is what Linden Lab was thinking when they produced a Skybox template that has +Z (forward) as North. It really may make sense to LL and I want to hear it.

  And, I disagree that the original source of the mesh model is relevant to the Sansar Skybox or to where Sansar North is. The question is not about how to use any other software to make stuff that ends up in Sansar. And when I am on a forum that focused on Blender and the concept of North, I might even argue that -Y is not where you think it is. It may not be a concern at all in Blender. But I wish my discussion to stay closely focused on Sansar.

  And regarding the camera direction when we enter a scene, without knowing where Sansar North is, we should not pretend to know that we enter facing anything other the +Y direction. That is all that we know for sure.

  Here is where I add the obligatory comment that is now appearing in all of my requests for Documentation:

  I am asking for an OFFICIAL Linden Lab response via documentation in the Knowledge Base. This is not a Feature Request.

  Edited by Ethos Erlanger August 21, 2017 05:02
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  Gindipple August 21, 2017 06:10

  I don't think there is such a thing to document.

  North is for maps.

  We don't have maps here.

  If you want to know where positive X is, then you have to first specify which of the many different coordinate systems you want to know for.

  For the Skybox template it may very well be different than the object placement coordinate system and further different than the avatar coordinate system.

  This is similar to asking someone what time it is. From Einstein we learned that that question that seems so simple is dependent on where you are.

  It is a question of relevance.

  So asking where +X is, first depends on frame of reference.

   

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  Ethos Erlanger August 21, 2017 07:28

  Thank You Gindipple. There may be no North in Sansar as you suggest, but it then begs the question of why the word North appears on the Sansar Skybox template.

  

  And if the Skybox coordinates are different than the object placement coordinates, this is unknowable from any documentation that Linden Lab has offered. I am asking LL to share their thinking on this question. Until then I am not going to guess. And if there is no North, then we may be inclined to ask that the words North, South, East, and West be removed from the Sansar Skybox template.

  I am asking for an OFFICIAL Linden Lab response via documentation in the Knowledge Base. This is not a Feature Request.

  Edited by Ethos Erlanger August 21, 2017 07:34