How do the numbers in a matrix relate to coordinates in 3D space. I've looked at a ton of tutorials for an answer but I still haven't come to an answer. They explain mainly the math which I try to use to answer my question, but I can't come to a conclusion I'm sure of. If I needed to apply a transformation matrix to the vertices of a model, I'd be held completely at how the matrix values correspond to x, y, and z locations.

Imagine your screen being a cube. The x and the y values give you the position at the very front of the screen/cube. y determines how high a point is, and x determines how far a point is from the edges. The z axis then adds a depth to this. If we map this onto our cube the z value would give how far away from the screen your point is.

So x is width, y is height, z is depth.

I dont mean to discredit you, but I already knew that, my question is how do the coordinates relate to the contents of a matrix

For example:

If I transformed a coord by this matrix:

1,0,0,0
0,1,0,0
0,0,1,0
0,0,0,1

Why would it come out as the same, How do the numbers in the matrix correspond to vectors and coordinates. How do I picture a matrix in 3D space (or 4D when using perspective). I don't understand a matrix to be more than a 4x4 array of values.

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