Re: [boost.QVM] can you explain quaternions in the docs?

From: Emil Dotchevski (emildotchevski_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-05-11 20:44:51

On Sat, May 11, 2024 at 12:56 PM Andrzej Krzemienski via Boost <
boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
> I landed on this library docs when trying to learn what quarterions are
> for. Although the library has a vast documentation it doesn't explain what
> quaternions are and why they are used. When I was taught algebra for the
> purpose of computer graphics, vectors and matrices were on the table, but
> no quaternions. The examples show that I need to create a quaternion only
> to turn it into a rotation matrix. I am pretty sure there has to be more to
> it.
>

There's more to it, yes -- but if you know what to do with matrices and
vectors, you can think of unit quaternions as a replacement for rotation
matrices that provides superior efficiency and interpolation support. If
you need examples, anything that has to do with robotics or skeletal
animation in video games uses quaternions.

I suppose I can include a sentence like this in the docs, but if you need a
tutorial, that's beyond the scope of the docs, I think.