In Unity, why does a positive Z-axis rotation goes counter-clockwise while X and Y rotations go clockwise?

Question

In Unity:

With a perspective having Y and Z axes pointing up and right respectively, if I make a positive X rotation, the object rotates clockwise

With a perspective having Z and X axes pointing up and right respectively, if I make a positive Y rotation, it also rotates clockwise

But Z rotation behaves differently. With a perspective having Y and X axes pointing up and right respectively, if I make a positive Z rotation, It rotates counter-clockwise, not clockwise.

Why is that?

Point your left thumb in the direction of the axis of rotation. Positive rotation will then turn in the direction that your fingers curl. This is consistent around every axis. — DMGregory, Jul 09 '22 at 23:39

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 09 '22 at 23:33

When you have Y and Z pointing up and right respectively, the rotation is positive and the X-axis is pointing towards you.

When you have Z and X pointing up and right respectively, the rotation is positive and the Y-axis is pointing towards you.

When you have Y and X pointing up and right respectively (I assumed "X and Y" is a typo), the rotation is counter-clockwise and the Z-axis is pointing away from you.

What you wrote, "X up and Y right", is equivalent to having Y pointing up and X pointing left (or, Y pointing down and X pointing right). This implies the Z-axis is now pointing towards you, and the rotation will occur clockwise.

Thanks. Yes, it is a typo. I have edited it. – Raymond Pang Jul 10 '22 at 04:32 — Raymond Pang, Jul 10 '22 at 04:32

In Unity, why does a positive Z-axis rotation goes counter-clockwise while X and Y rotations go clockwise?

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