Hi guys,

I have created a simple 3D perspective camera for my project. Which is rendering a simple triangle correctly as anticipated.

I am wondering how to go about setting the 'look at' position.

This is my main code:

// CAMERA
XMMATRIX viewMatrix = XMMatrixIdentity();
XMMATRIX projMatrix = XMMatrixPerspectiveFovLH(60.0f * 0.0174533f, float((float)nWidth) / ((float)nHeight), 1.0f, 1000.0f);
viewMatrix = XMMatrixTranspose(viewMatrix);
projMatrix = XMMatrixTranspose(projMatrix);
 
// position the camera
XMMATRIX rotationMatrix = XMMatrixRotationZ(0.0f);
XMMATRIX translationMatrix = XMMatrixTranslation(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
XMMATRIX worldMat = rotationMatrix*translationMatrix;
worldMat = XMMatrixTranspose(worldMat);
 
d3dContext->UpdateSubresource(worldCB, 0, 0, &worldMat, 0, 0);
d3dContext->UpdateSubresource(viewCB, 0, 0, &viewMatrix, 0, 0);
d3dContext->UpdateSubresource(projCB, 0, 0, &projMatrix, 0, 0);
 
d3dContext->VSSetConstantBuffers(0, 1, &worldCB);
d3dContext->VSSetConstantBuffers(1, 1, &viewCB);
d3dContext->VSSetConstantBuffers(2, 1, &projCB);

This is the vertex part of my shader:

struct VS_Input
{
     float4 pos  : POSITION;
};
 
struct VS_Output
{
     float4 pos  : SV_POSITION;
};
 
VS_Output VShader(VS_Input IN)
{
     VS_Output OUT;
     matrix mvp = mul(projectionMatrix, mul(viewMatrix, worldMatrix));
     OUT.pos = mul(mvp, IN.pos);
     return OUT;
}

A nudge in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

XMVECTOR eyePosition = XMVectorSet(0, 0, -20, 1);
XMVECTOR focusPoint = XMVectorSet(0, 0, 0, 1);
XMVECTOR upDirection = XMVectorSet(0, 1, 0, 0);
viewMatrix = XMMatrixLookAtLH(eyePosition, focusPoint, upDirection);
viewMatrix = XMMatrixTranspose(viewMatrix);

cbuffer PerObject : register(b0)
{
	matrix worldMatrix;
}

cbuffer PerFrame : register(b1)
{
	matrix viewMatrix;
}

cbuffer PerApplication : register(b2)
{
	matrix projectionMatrix;
}

struct VS_Input
{
	float4 pos  : POSITION;
};

struct VS_Output
{
	float4 pos  : SV_POSITION;
};

VS_Output VShader(VS_Input IN)
{
	VS_Output OUT;
	matrix mvp = mul(projectionMatrix, mul(viewMatrix, worldMatrix));
	OUT.pos = mul(mvp, IN.pos);

	return OUT;
}

		// Camera
		XMMATRIX projMatrix = XMMatrixPerspectiveFovLH(60.0f * 0.0174533f, float((float)nWidth) / ((float)nHeight), 1.0f, 1000.0f);
		projMatrix = XMMatrixTranspose(projMatrix);

		// Position the camera
		XMVECTOR eyePosition = XMVectorSet(0.0f, 0.0f, -10.0f, 0.0f);
		XMVECTOR focusPoint = XMVectorSet(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
		XMVECTOR upDirection = XMVectorSet(0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
		XMMATRIX viewMatrix = XMMatrixLookAtLH(eyePosition, focusPoint, upDirection);
		viewMatrix = XMMatrixTranspose(viewMatrix);

		// Position the object at 0,0,0 for the moment
		XMMATRIX translationMatrix = XMMatrixTranslation(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
		XMMATRIX worldMat = translationMatrix;
		worldMat = XMMatrixTranspose(worldMat);


		// Update and set the contant buffers
		d3dContext->UpdateSubresource(worldCB, 0, 0, &worldMat, 0, 0);
		d3dContext->UpdateSubresource(viewCB, 0, 0, &viewMatrix, 0, 0);
		d3dContext->UpdateSubresource(projCB, 0, 0, &projMatrix, 0, 0);

		d3dContext->VSSetConstantBuffers(0, 1, &worldCB);
		d3dContext->VSSetConstantBuffers(1, 1, &viewCB);
		d3dContext->VSSetConstantBuffers(2, 1, &projCB);

was the triangle always in world space, was the camera previously at origin? I can't see where you create the triangle, so i'm not sure where you *should* find it. what does the view transform look like immediately before being sent to the shader?

EDIT: looking at the original code I'm not sure how you got anything displayed! Both the view and the world transforms were identity matrices. ie the camera and triangle were in the same place, unless the tri verts put it somewhere else (since they would be in world space at that time)

VS_Output VShader(VS_Input IN)
{
	VS_Output OUT = IN;

	OUT.pos = mul(IN.pos, worldMatrix);
	OUT.pos = mul(OUT.pos, viewMatrix);
	OUT.pos = mul(OUT.pos, projectionMatrix);

	return OUT;
}

Turns out the other half of the problem was in the shader.

I have changed the shader to this and the whole scene seems to be working correctly now

VS_Output VShader(VS_Input IN)
{
	VS_Output OUT = IN;

	OUT.pos = mul(IN.pos, worldMatrix); // transform from model to world space
	OUT.pos = mul(OUT.pos, viewMatrix); // transform from world to camera space
	OUT.pos = mul(OUT.pos, projectionMatrix); // transform from camera to projection space

	return OUT;
}

Sorry i kind of afk'd on the convo here, but I see you solved it. Working your critical thinking skills will payback 10x the effort you put into them. I find myself answering so many more questions than i have to ask now. When I run into an issue, I have the experience, as well as the critical thinking to pinpoint the problem in a fraction of the time that i would have spent even a year ago, so good on you for solving your own problem.

Looking back at the original shader

 matrix mvp = mul(projectionMatrix, mul(viewMatrix, worldMatrix));

should probably have been

 matrix mvp = mul(mul(worldMatrix, viewMatrix), projectionMatrix);

so that the matrices are being concatenated in the right order. An even better idea would be to concatenate those transforms per object on the CPU, and then upload the fully formed model->projection transform(via update subresource) to the shader as a single matrix, so you are not performing all of those muls in the first place.