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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.

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For more information on this program, or to find a more recent 
version, look at http://www.bendys.com
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MetaObjects Preview
4 July 1999
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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.