Sorry about all the questions. I have (attempted) research on all OpenGL related topics and this is one (very basic I assume) principle that I just don't seem to get. How does Translate work? When placed inside a PushMatrix/PopMatrix and before the drawing of an object, I assume it would translate it by the specified 3D coordinates. ie, translatef(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f) would move the object 1 unit away from the camera. From the tutorials, I can tell that I'm clearly wrong about the z. When I try it myself, it moves the object down by 1 unit. Someone, please correct me and my mistake. How does translate REALLY work (I'd prefer if you don't go until matrices unless that's the only way to explain). And how would you move the object 1 unit away like I intended? Again, thanks for any and all help I recieve. [Edited by - Caglow on April 5, 2009 8:30:07 PM]

I see...well, that fixes the X/Y part of it but the Z axis still doesn't seem to want to work as you say it should.

The code:

PushMatrix();
glTranslated(0, 0, 10);
glutSolidSphere(1.4, 150, 150);
PopMatrix();

According to what you say, that should move the "glutSolidSphere" closer to me by 10 units. However, this is what it does: http://aciqra.sf.net/images/z10.PNG

This is the original without a translate: http://aciqra.sf.net/images/z0.PNG

I'm not sure what it's exactly doing here...it's either moving the camera around the object or it's moving the light source.

Thanks.

EDIT: From what I just realized...I think translating an object closer or farther doesn't change its size. How would I go about "linking" the translate with a size change? It feels very obvious but I can't figure it out.

Set a perspective projection instead of an orthographic one. Check out glFrustum or gluPerspective instead of glOrtho or gluOrtho2D.

Now THAT works like magic! Thanks for the help!