------------------------------------------------------------------ MetaObjects Preview Copyright © Bendy's 3D Systems 1999 This program is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. If you have payed someone for this software please let me know. If you wish to re-distribute this plugin please email me at bendy@bendys.com to organise details. ------------------------------------------------------------------ For more information on this program, or to find a more recent version, look at http://www.bendys.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ MetaObjects Preview 4 July 1999 ================================================================== MetaObjects is a plugin for Truespace 3.1 and higher which provides a greater range of primitives than are builtin. This preview version can create all 5 Platonic solids, the truncated Archimedian Solids and Geodesic Speheres. Objects can be created as solid meshes or as a "scaffolding" covering the edges and vertices of the object. REQUIREMENTS trueSpace 3.1 or above trueSpace 4.1 or above to use Boolean functions INSTALLATION Unzip all files into your Truespace TSX directory. To use simply fire up Truespace 3.1 or above, open the 3D Plugins window and load 'MetaObjects.tsx' into the plugin panel. If TrueSpace reports "Library not found" or the TSX Extender refuses to load the plugin please download the file mfc42u.dll from my webpage and install it. This should fix the problem. USAGE Left click on the MetaObjects icon to open the MetaObjects dialog. The dialog contains a row of buttons for creating the platonic solids. Simply click on one of the buttons to create an object of that type. Below these buttons are 5 sets of parameters which modify the platonic created. Truncate: Click on the Truncate box to activate vertex truncation. Truncating an object involves cutting off each corner (vertex) of the object. We can truncate either one third or one half of the way from each vertex. The Archimedian solids are created through truncation. Geodesic: Click on the Geodesic box to create geodesic spheres. Geodesics can only be created from Tetrahedrons, Octahedrons or Icosahedrons, other buttons are disabled. Although it is possible to create geodesics from truncated objects, this can be unpredictable. Depth controls the resolution of the sphere. Strutting: Click on the Strutting box to create a "scaffolded" object rather than a mesh. Spheres are placed at each vertex and cylinders along each edge then they are glued together. Radius and resolution of these objects can all be set by the user. If you have trueSpace 4.1 or above it is possible to boolean union the scaffolding together rather than glue. Orientation: Controls the rotation of the initial Platonic created. Flat rotates so a face is in the x/y plane whilst Point rotates the object to stand on a point. Size: Set the Size of the object in x/y/z. Size can be specified in meters as an absolute value or relative to the default size. PLATONICS AND ARCHIMEDANS AVAILABLE Tetrahedron Cube Octahedron Dodecahedron Icosahedron Truncated Tetrahedron: (Truncate 1/3) Truncated Cube: (Truncate 1/3) Truncated Octahedron: (Truncate 1/3) Truncated Dodecahedron: (Truncate 1/3) Truncated Icosahedron (BuckyBall): (Truncate 1/3) Cubeoctahedron: (Cube/Octahedron Truncate 1/2) Icosidodecahedron: (Dodecahedron/Icosahedron Truncate 1/2) FULL VERSION (subject to change) The full version of MetaObjects will contain the other Archimedian Solids as well as rounded/filetted primitives (aLa RoundIt). Geodesics will be expanded to handle further geodesic types. Custom objects will be able to be used for strutting and all functions (truncation, geodesic, filetting) will be able to be applied to selected objects/faces/ edges/points. FILES MetaObjects.txt - this document MetaObjects.tsx - MetaObjects Preview tsx file VERSION HISTORY Preview Relased 4 July 1999. KNOWN BUGS None HOW TO GET IN TOUCH Please send any comments, suggestions, and bug reports to Brendan Hack bendy@bendys.com. If submitting a bug report please put the word 'bug' in the subject of the message. Point your web browser to http://www.bendys.com for updates to MetaObjects and other plugins. TrueSpace is a product of Caligari, Inc. Their web site is at http://www.caligari.com.