Find the normal (a,b,c) of the triangle using the cross product, take any vertex (x,y,z) of the triangle and calculate d = -(ax+by+cz).

Now the equation ax+by+cz+d=0 is true for any point (x,y,z) which lies in the triangle''s plane.

If you know the (x,z) of your camera then you can work out your height (y) at that point.

y = -(ax+cz+d/b)

This should work aslong as the y component (b) of the normal is non-zero, i.e. the triangle is not vertical.

Andy.

This question comes up so much there should be a FAQ (no offense.

I really suggest you check out this site: http://www.math.hmc.edu/calculus/tutorials/

Many of the vector topics will be extrememly useful if you get into other areas of 3D programming; like BSP trees or collision detection.

Step through your code. It''s possible that a correct formula isn''t working for another reason. Calculus has been around for a while, so I don''t think you''ll find too many bugs in it

"either way, I've tried 4 different methods for finding the height and all of them have bugs;"

They are most likely not bugs. The reason they may not work for you is because you haven't adapted them to your own code.

"They are all almost identical copies of the posted/written up method (I had to change them so I could test it in VB first), for example, one method works fine, but if you set the 0 vertex to higher than all the others it overpowers them and they all become that value ???"

This sounds like a good reason to step through your code with a debugger and monitor the formula as it works. However, if you don't understand the formula, it will still be confusing

"any further ideas? I will help you with anything you may need help with/shower you with praise if you can solve this - it's driving me up the wall"

Honestly, this is not a hard problem. But I don't think you understand why the solution works. First you need to understand that the point in plane formula works with a displacement vector. If you leave out that small fact your result will be buggered as you move away from the origin. So understand that the formula ax+by+cz = d is actually a simplification of the formula a(x-x0)+ b(y-y0)+c(z-z0) = 0. Note the displacement values!

All you need is a) the displacement value (D or x,y,z), the normal, and the X,Z point on the plane. The rest is just algebra.













Edited by - Sydan on February 16, 2001 1:54:23 AM