Hello, I am using c# and managed directx, but I know it is the same in c++ and unmanaged. I can translate in x and y just fine, but I am having trouble with z. I try to do it and it just disappears. I have turned on Zenable in the render state. I was thinking it might be my matrix multiplication. I first multipy the scale and the rotation, then that by the translation to get my world transformation. Is there something I am missing?

I think I figured it out, I was using an orthographic view, but even that has a znear and a zfar. anyway I changed it to a perspective view with a view looking at the center and now the z translates. Is there a reason I can't do it with an orthographic?

As far as I know the orthognal view is used for displaying a 2D scene, thus only the x,y axes are used. The z values has the same purpose like in a perspective view, though in an orthognal view the z axis has no effect on an object's size (unlike the perspective view which reduces object's size depending on how far it is). You can use z values with your objects in an orthognal view to specify if an object should be drawn before or after other objects. (Using the ZEnable flag)