What the 3D matrix vectors mean

Hi all! I have a question about the modelview matrix. How are the vectors stored within it, and what do they represent? The OGL Blue and Red books told me a lot about how to transform and multiply the matrices, but I have not found this information.

 I know the vectors are composed of x,y,z and w coordinates, so that explains the number of coordinates in the vectors.  However, there must be four vectors then, right?  So what vectors could they be?  Positive x, positive y, positive z and ... what?  Also, I saw a reference to a matrix equation for a plane, "Ax + By + Cz + D = 0" in the red book.  Does anyone know what D is supposed to represent?  The fourth coordinate, w, is also a mystery to me.  If anyone would explain that to me, that'd be great!

 Finally, when submitting a matrix to openGL in the format m[16] where m is the matrix of GLfloats, m[0] to m[3] is positive x, m[4] to m[7] is positive y, m[8] to m[11] is positive z and m[12] to m[15] is positive w, right?  I've done some basic linear algebra, but I don't know how the ARB is representing the 3D positions in the modelview matrix.  I'm also aware that this isn't a very advanced question, but I didn't think it was beginner level either, so I posted it here to err on the side of getting an answer.  :~)

 I'm just trying to climb out of newbie-ism and into the guts of OGL here to do some more powerful stuff.  I've been programming in OGL for 2 years and I'm trying to throw together my first real playable-and-enjoyable 3D game.  Any help is much appreciated!

-Matt

You are correct that you can think of the upper left 3x3 sub-matrix in the modelview matrix as a set of basis vectors that define an orientation in space (or a rotation from the default orientation). As far as what the rightmost column represents, it is an offset from the origin…a translation.

When you look at the equation Ax + By + Cz + D = 0, you can think of the A, B, and C as the 3 components of the vector that is normal to the plane. D is the distance of the plane from the origin along that normal vector (so long as it’s normalized).

The modelview matrix does not represent just 3d position, rather, it represents a 3d position AND orientation…a coordinate frame.

I believe the last term is actually wD, but w is “almost always” == 1, so that’s often a sufficient shortcut.