You are on track: an ellipsoid is just an appropriately scaled sphere.
In this line of thought:
http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=308119
François
> De: Reinhard Claus <rclaus(at)gmail.com>
> Date: 2006/06/13 mar. PM 06:13:53 GMT-04:00
> À: XSI(at)softimage.com
> Objet: Re: [Math formula] find closest point to ellipsiod
>
> Just thinking aloud here.... For a sphere, the distance would be
>
> |Point ----> sphere center| - sphere radius
>
> Maybe you could "virtually" distort space so the ellipsoid becomes a
> circle, then use the fomula, and then recompute the distance somehow to
> compensate for the distortion.
>
> Could be totally off the track here, close to falling asleep.
>
> Reinhard
>
>
> Mathieu Leclaire schrieb:
> > I'm looking for the fastest formula to find the closest point on the surface
> > of an ellipsiod. Well actually I only need the distance of the closest point
> > so if a point has more then one point on the surface that has the same
> > distance, it doesn't really matter which one, I only need the distance. I'm
> > browsing through my old Math books but I'm having a hard time finding a
> > solution so I'm just checking to see if anyone remembers his Math well
> > enough to guide me towards a formula.
> >
> >
> > Mathieu Leclaire
> > R&D Programmer
> > Hybride Technologies
---
Unsubscribe? Mail Majordomo(at)Softimage.COM with the following text in body:
unsubscribe xsi
