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

From: Ville Voutilainen (ville.voutilainen_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-05-12 00:07:42

On Sat, 11 May 2024 at 23:45, Emil Dotchevski via Boost
<boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>
> 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.

It's perhaps worth considering to add a mention of quaternions
avoiding gimbal locks.
That's one of the major reasons a fair amount of users reach for them.