Transformations is a Python library for calculating 4x4 matrices for translating, rotating, reflecting, scaling, shearing, projecting, orthogonalizing, and superimposing arrays of 3D homogeneous coordinates, as well as for converting between rotation matrices, Euler angles, and quaternions. It is no longer actively developed and is largely superseded by other libraries.
Install & Compatibility
Where this runs
tested against v2025.1.1 · pip install
no network on importno background threads
Install × environment matrix
Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux
muslpy 3.10–3.920 runs
build_error
glibcpy 3.10–3.920 runs
installs and imports cleanly · install 3.7s · import 0.286s · 86MB
87MB installed
● package 87MB
Code
Verified usage
Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.
Common practice to alias for brevity and to distinguish from other transformation libraries.
import transformations as tf
This quickstart demonstrates how to create rotation and translation matrices and apply them to a 3D point using homogeneous coordinates. It also shows how to concatenate transformations.
import numpy as np
import transformations as tf
# Create a rotation matrix around the Z-axis by 90 degrees (pi/2 radians)
angle = np.pi / 2
rotation_matrix = tf.rotation_matrix(angle, [0, 0, 1])
# Define a point in homogeneous coordinates (x, y, z, w=1)
point = np.array([1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0])
# Apply the transformation
transformed_point = np.dot(rotation_matrix, point)
print(f"Original point: {point[:3]}")
print(f"Rotation matrix:\n{rotation_matrix}")
print(f"Transformed point: {transformed_point[:3]}")
# Create a translation matrix
translation_matrix = tf.translation_matrix([5.0, 2.0, 0.0])
# Concatenate transformations (apply rotation then translation)
combined_matrix = np.dot(translation_matrix, rotation_matrix)
combined_transformed_point = np.dot(combined_matrix, point)
print(f"\nCombined transformation matrix:\n{combined_matrix}")
print(f"Combined transformed point: {combined_transformed_point[:3]}")
Upgrade
Version history
Breaking-change detection hasn't run for this library yet.
Audit
Security & dependencies
CVE tracking and dependency tree are planned for a later release.