this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025
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[–] rescue_toaster@lemmy.zip 87 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Top one is incorrect. Z needs to point outwards.

[–] AllYourSmurf@lemmy.world 61 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There are three kinds of people…

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 126 points 2 months ago (23 children)
[–] lime@feddit.nu 27 points 2 months ago (1 children)

unreal georg is an anomaly and should not be counted

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[–] cepelinas@sopuli.xyz 15 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Z up all the way because my 3d printer but why is Minecraft y-up D:

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[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (7 children)

I know Z as upward. X and Y were always on the base plane representing length and width. Z comes in being all like, "Now we're being 3D!"

So wherever the "floor" is, represented with gridlines, boundary, canvas, etc. that's where they live. That is Flatland where there is no up or down. It is 2D where most of my work is. If you try tell me Y is Z, I'd ask "wtf is a Z?"

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[–] Teepo@sh.itjust.works 37 points 2 months ago (4 children)

The top one is wrong because it violates the right hand rule.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

What about the left hand rule?

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[–] etuomaala@sopuli.xyz 36 points 2 months ago (5 children)

I legit had no idea anybody actually used the upper system until now. I had to read the comments just to see whether the upper system was just some sort of joke. I am horrified.

[–] drcobaltjedi@programming.dev 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

It depends on how you view 2D->3D.

If you're thinking of a side scroller like the original Super Mario, Y is up/down and X is left/right making the new dimention Z being forward/backward.

However if you think of 2D space like the first LoZ, then Y is North/South and X is East/West making Z up/down

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[–] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 15 points 2 months ago

Almost the entirety of computer graphics uses the z coordinate for depth afaik.

Even Minecraft does it.

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[–] mr_account@lemmy.world 31 points 2 months ago (2 children)

One of my friends and I used to always have this debate because of our different backgrounds. I got used to +Y being up because of doing physics for several years and seeing side-on diagrams that needed to account for gravity. My friend has a background in geology, so he's used to top-down surveying maps where +Z is up. It all depends on your perspective.

But my way is right. We need to have standards, people.

[–] JigglySackles@lemmy.world 30 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Z is elevation. Any real world application, z goes up down. 3D applications SHOULD use it for elevation. I despise that many do not. It's so fucking confusing. 2D, sure y go brrr. But once that 3rd dimension is added, y needs to take several seats and quit trying to take on dimensions it doesn't have any right to.

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[–] Bazell@lemmy.zip 29 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 11 points 2 months ago

damn Australians

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[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Thanks to 3D printing Z is firmly “up” in my brain even if the modeler I use does it differently.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If 2d, Y up, if 3d Z up.

I always tough as inputs down, answer up. And usually, x is the variable y the result, or xy the variables and z the result

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[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 23 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Yeah... As a Blender 3D artist, Z axis has been baked into my brain as the up/down axis.

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[–] loie@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

In my brain Z is Up, Z is Height. In my job I have to deal with both all the time which is quite annoying.

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[–] simbico@lemmy.zip 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

In 2D Y is up, in 3D Z is up.
X is always red🤷‍♂️

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

On Nintendo X is up. On Xbox X is left. On Playstation X is down.

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[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I’m from a computer graphics background.

Y is down. z is depth. Fight me.

[–] simbico@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You're on, just send the coords!

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[–] L0rdMathias@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Z is always depth. Both are correct but define different perspectives. Top is looking across the landscape from an arbitrary floating perspective, bottom is looking down with anchored mapping to the surface.

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[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

In a 2D game Y is up. Going from 2D to 3D would make sense to add another dimension forward to account for depth.

However if you start with a map of a 3D surface then North is Y and East is X you'd add Z to account for elevation like everybody making maps would.

I guess it depends on how you look at it.

[–] KSPAtlas@sopuli.xyz 15 points 2 months ago (2 children)

y-up ftw

It's easier when writing 3d renderers cause the x and y coordinates of the 3d points eventually become the x and y coordinates of the 2d points on screen and it's easier to keep track of

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[–] mvirts@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago

Don't forget the handedness of each coordinate system!

[–] Redex68@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'll leave this here for context (bottom right is the only sane one)

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[–] Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

X is up, there now no one is happy.

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[–] KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The second fellow is a machinist, like me.

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[–] khepri@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Z is depth, full stop, and I have my fists raised, Queensbury-style, to anyone who contends otherwise.

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[–] BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago (7 children)

My son and I have had this very argument. I think the top one is right as he thinks it's the bottom one. I have a coding background and he has a 3D printing background. I figure that's why we're different but I know nothing about 3D printing beyond the cool stuff I see on the Internet and things he's printed for me.

[–] ccunning@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

I have a looking-at-the-chalkboard-in-highschool background which I’m pretty sure defines my perspective(heh).

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[–] t0fr@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 months ago (5 children)

There are clearly more than two. In the top image that z-axis is pointing in the wrong direction.

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[–] Brosplosion@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Neither of these are right. X is forward, Y is to the right and Z is down.

Source: https://iansguides.com/tutorials/aircraft-coordinate-system-and-anatomy/

[–] mad_lentil@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Above and below the page/plane is the z-axis.

But some people "hold" the page up in front of them, or down on the table.

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[–] kn0wmad1c@programming.dev 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm the bottom person. X and Y need to be on the same plane.

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Technically, regardless of dimensions, x and y always make/share a plane.

But I agree with you, I always imagine Z as jutting out from the plane x and y make.

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[–] swagmoney@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

ah yes the correct way and the Minecraft way

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[–] socsa@piefed.social 8 points 2 months ago

<i,j,k> vector master race.

[–] Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

I hate this so much in the 3d printing world. I want it to graph from the angle I'm watching it, not from the angle the nozzle is.

[–] hOrni@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I've never heard of Y pointing up. Z is always up. Unless you're talking about lathes, where Z points to the right and X points up. Whoever came up with that, I hope his frying in hell.

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I am the latter, because if I draw a X-Y plane and lay it on the ground, it aligns with that XYZ reference frame.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 8 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Weird didn't everyone learn XY on paper on a desk first? All they did was add z axis to that original concept for elevation which gives us the bottom image.

Top image is like if I held paper straight parallel to my face.

[–] homura1650@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

When working in 2 dimensions with gravity, it is common to treat Y as up. E.g, 2d video games, physics problems, computer screens.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

That's basically what it comes down to: Is your XY plane a piece of paper that you look at from the top, or is it the pixel coordinates of the screen you are looking through?

That's why X is usually not contested, because it's the same on a piece of paper that you view top-down and on a screen that you view from the front.

Y is then one of the two potential axies for either a top-down or a side-scrolling view, and Z is the remaining axis.

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[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 8 points 2 months ago

x in red and z in blue please..., this is difficult to look at. My conventions !

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