how do I make vectors normalized? can some one show some simple code/math? thanks lots

If for example you have a 3-d vector (x,y,z) = V

then the length of the vector, |V| = sqrt(x^2+y^2+z^2)

and the normalized vector V is V/|V|
or
(x / sqrt(x^2+y^2+z^2), y/sqrt(x^2+y^2+z^2), z/sqrt(x^2+y^2+z^2))

this makes the length of the normalized vector 1

edit: screwed up formatting

[edited by - Cold_Steel on October 29, 2002 8:35:00 PM]

so a normalized vector has same "direction" but always has a length of 1.

is that right?

Exactly.

oh yeah, know first if you really want your vector normalized, that sqrt() might slow down your code somewhat.... Some situations you don''t need to normalize your vector you see....

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Usually, you don''t find the normals (and normalize them) in real time, but only once. So, the SQRT is not a problem.