this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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What a fantastic graphic. Neatly explaining both the weird technical shit that only engineers think about, and how two independent coin-toss decisions did not go their way.
Frankly I'm surprised how many other systems are Z-up.
Right-handed Z-up is the default orientation in mathematics and related disciplines (like physics) when working with 3D Cartesian coordinates, which I guess is why most of the software in that quadrant is used for modelling real-world objects (compared to digital-only game assets etc).
Shit I think I learned the right hand rule in Physics 1. And then in Physics 2, Statics, Dynamics, Machine Design, and several others.
Why Y-up?? Clearly the softies arent touching enough grass, apparently due to a lack of orienteering ability.
QUICKEDIT; GabeN demonstrating superior decision-making as usual with Z-up RHR in Source.
As far as I can tell, it's more about what the final output is used for. If it's to be rendered on a screen, then the convention is that the z-axis is depth (since the x-y plane represent the location on-screen). So game assets and VFX tend to prefer Y-up. If it's a digital representation of a real object (like in CAD programs), then the more "physical" convention is the useful one.
Narrowly dodging how screen coordinates are Y-down. Even engineers thought that was too silly.