How to get entity's scale via the entity's matrix in Shader.

[reepblue]

Is there a way to get the entity's scale value based on the matrix value? 

I'm currently passing scale modifiers via code but I'd like to see the results in the editor if possible. How would I do this? Examples would be the most helpful!

[Josh]

Yes. The magnitude of the first three components in the first three matrix rows are the entity global scale:

vec3 scale;
scale.x = len(mat[0].xyz);
scale.y = len(mat[1].xyz);
scale.z = len(mat[2].xyz);

 

[reepblue]

Thanks for the start. The compiler complains about the len() function, so I replaced it with length. 

I'm getting the desired results with decals, but not with planes despite it using the same code.

 

If I could remove the normal blending with the decals, I wouldn't be making an overlay class.

 

[reepblue]

I rolled back to my previous solution for many reasons.

1. I would have to check the entity's normal and swap out what scale values to use.
2. I have to create a spawner class anyway which does a calculation to determine the base size from the texture. I would not be able to see the results in the editor anyway.
3. My overlay classes are never intended to resize during runtime. 

The information was helpful and I hope it's useful to others!