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Thread: What is....

  1. #1
    JKNIGHT Animations
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    What is....

    hi everybody

    I don't have much experience in advanced math, so I cannot understand the rules and theorie.

    What are sin and cos?
    And for what can I use it?

    Can anybody explain it in easy and understandable words?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    If you don't know what they are then you'll probably not need to use them..... and other than that they are trigonometric functions used to find the ratios of pairs of sides of a triangle by using an angle within that triangle.

    swills

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Originally posted by swills
    If you don't know what they are then you'll probably not need to use them.....
    that's a super-short-sighted statement.

    they are probably the most useful things you will ever learn about graphics programming.

    check this:

    http://home.velocitus.net/leroyclimb/

  4. #4
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    I seem to have upset you bit-101 - didn't mean to, and in fact I'm not saying that they aren't important - in fact as a physics teacher I think its just the opposite!!

    I was just thinking that if you have to ask what they are then you are probably not at a stage to use them. It would be different if the question was posed as "I want to make an mc follow a dynamic circlular path that I can control the speed of?", or, "I'm making a psuedo 3D engine and am a bit confused as to FLASH's use of sin and cos?"

    And yes, I am short sighted.

    swills

  5. #5
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    not upset, just didn't want anyone to get the idea that they weren't useful.

  6. #6
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    bit-101, message received and understood.

    And I suppose we should help out Super_saiyan while we are at it.....

    Don't be worried about them - they are not "advanced" math anyway. Along with "tan" they give you information about the angles within a right angled triangle if you know the lengths of the sides, or vice versa.

    In FLASH, generally you use them (actually Math.atan2)to determine/control the rotation or direction of movement of an mc.

    Also right angled triangles are closely linked with circles and circular motion. And also can be used as "pure" sin and cos waves to make something oscillate back and forth (some snowflake effects do this)

    Super_saiyan - What were you hoping to do with them?

    swills

  7. #7
    JKNIGHT Animations
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    Hey jou,
    thanks for your help.
    So many actionscripted (source) codes are available, some include this the math object and wanted to understand what it is. You know, i never had that in school before.

  8. #8
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    i never trig in school either. picked it all up learning flash over the last few years. once you get the idea, it's pretty easy. much more visualization than math. if you can get a picture of what's happening, you can plug in the right formula and let flash do the math.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
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    Speaking of "trignorance" and a late start, I took algebra back in 1972-1973, geometry the year after, and sidestepped trig altogether thinking I wouldn't need it. It caught up with me so I have to pick it up ad hoc. Bummer...
    las vegas, nevada
    2Minimal

  10. #10
    Senior Member Hiperion's Avatar
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  11. #11
    [ all flesh is code ]
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    thanks!

    check this:

    http://home.velocitus.net/leroyclimb/

    whoa... i checked it and it's awesome!

    i too am rather weak in the math department (and feel extra-guilty about it 'cause my brother's a nasa engineer) and i loved the TRIGONOMETRY tutorial.

    thanks for posting the link. and cool site generally...

    cheers


    -- frosty
    http://www.medienkunst.com/

  12. #12
    Senior Member
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    Sine and Cosine are ratios of different parts of a right triangle. Sine (sin) is the opposite side of a right triangle over the hypotenuse. Cosine (cos) is the adjacent side over the hypotenuse.

    i doubt this helps, but thought i would post it just in case

  13. #13
    I have 2 brains
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    I'm currently reading a book about Flash games programming, and in chapter 3 of it, it covers Trigonometry, wow, that was quite hard to follow.

    Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between the sides and angles of triangles.
    In game programming, trigonometry is used to help determine trajectories, distances, and deflection after a collision...
    (quoted from the book)

    Thanks for the links btw! I'm eager to learn math and physics, because of my game programming wishes.

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