Axis question

Graham Cohen3 months agoAnswered

Hey Dave (Or anyone to that matter), can you help explain something for me which has me a little confused. In C4d the "Z" axis seems to be pointing in a different direction when compared to the "Z" axis direction in Blender. In Blender the Z axis goes straight up and down in the World space where as in C4D the z plane seems to go "back and forth" (Sorry, I couldn't think of another way to explain it). As you can see in the two images below they are in different positions/point in different directions. Am I over thinking this? Have I missed something obvious? Which one is correct? I come from the world of video where X has always been left and right, Y is always up and down and we never really had a Z plane to speak of. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this?

Graham.

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Comments (1)

DaveAdmin3 months ago
Hey Graham,
Great question — and no, you’re not overthinking it 😄
I’ve actually never used Blender, but what you’re noticing is just a different world axis convention, not something being “wrong.”
In Cinema 4D, the default world orientation is:
- X = left/right
- Y = up/down
- Z = forward/back
So in C4D, Y is up and Z is depth.
From what you’re describing, Blender uses Z as the up axis, and Y becomes depth instead. So effectively:
- C4D → Y-up
- Blender → Z-up
Neither one is “correct” — they’re just different conventions.
In video/motion graphics, you’re used to:
- X = horizontal
- Y = vertical
- Z = depth (camera space)
C4D actually aligns pretty closely with that thinking (Y = vertical), which is why it feels natural coming from a video background.
Blender just chose a different axis system historically, and once a 3D package commits to that, it sticks with it forever for compatibility reasons.
So nothing’s broken — just different coordinate systems. Once you know which axis is “up,” everything makes sense again.
Hope that clears it up 👍