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HEDRA2.TXT
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1994-05-01
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HEDRA2 PXP -- DEMO VERSION
Copyright 1994 Rolf Berteig
For Yost Group, Inc.
HEDRA2 is a PXP that creates polyhedra. Originally written as HEDRA
by Dan Silva, the interactive IPAS3 interface for this version was
designed by Rolf Berteig. This demo version lets you play with all the
controls in the dialog box, but won't actually create the polyhedra.
Additionally, the "p" and "q" values in this version have been replaced
with the world DEMO. But this won't prevent you from twiddling the
spinners and viewing some great geometry.
To install HEDRA2, do this:
* Place the HEDRA2.PXP file in your 3ds3/process directory.
* Place the HEDRA.DAT file in your 3ds3 root directory, along with
3ds.res.
HEDRA2 uses a fast-shading viewport that requires a newer version of
the Vibrant drivers than those that shipped with the initial release of
3D Studio. If you're using the shipping Vibrant version 1.0.0, you'll
need to update your VIB3DS.VLM file to 1.0.1, 1.0.2, etc. Here's how to
tell which version of the Vibrant drivers you're using:
Run 3D Studio by typing 3DS VIBCFG.
Result: A Vibrant copyright notice appears, along with a version number
and date. If the version number is 1.0.0, you have the original release
that needs to be updated. If the version number is higher, it doesn't
need to be updated. If you need to update, log onto the ASOFT forum on
Compuserve and browse for VIB3DS.ZIP. That file will contain a new
VIB3DS.VLM and VIBRANT.RES, which you should install over your
1.0.0 files. If you don't do this, graphics performance in HEDRA2 will
be quite slow.
Once the new Vibrant drivers are installed, and in Render ON mode, the
fast-shading viewport can push 40-50,000 Gouraud-shaded polygons per
second on a Pentium 66Mhz machine with a fast PCI-bus graphics card.
Since Hedra2 only makes small objects, the performance on slower
machines will still be exceptional.
Here's how to use HEDRA2:
* Use the PXP Loader in the Programs menu to select D-HDRA. (The HEDRA2
dialog box will appear after the copyright screen.)
* Click on the five buttons in the "Family" area to switch between the
different family of polyhedra.
* Click on the Browse button to display the Browse sub-dialog box.
Click on Prev. and Next to step through the predefined polyhedra in
the database. Click on the >> or << buttons to step forward or
backward through the family types. Click on OK to place the displayed
polyhedron in the HEDRA2 viewport.
* You render the image in a shaded mode by clicking on the Render
button. To turn on high-speed interactive shading, turn on the On
option below the Render button. To change the shading mode (Flat,
Shaded Wire), shift-click on the Render button.
Here's how to alter the displayed polyhedron:
* Under "Family Parameters" click on the "p" spinner arrows, and move
the mouse up and down, or click on the "q" spinner arrows and move
the mouse up and down. (As you adjust these two spinners, the
vertices grow toward facets, and the facets shrink toward vertices.)
* Under "Axis Scaling," click on the "P," "Q," or "R" spinners and move
the mouse vertically. You can have up to three different types of
facets on any polyhedron (as defined by the type of polygon that
makes the facet). The "P," "Q," and "R" spinners each affect one of
the three different facets -- making it bulge inward or outward. If
your polyhedron has only one type of facet (a cube, for example),
only one of the three spinners will affect the polyhedron. If there
are two types of facet, two spinners affect the polyhedron, and if
there are three types of facets, all three spinners affect the
facets.
* The "Vertices" buttons and the "Material" buttons have no effect on
this demo version of HEDRA2. The first set of buttons specifies the
vertex arrangement of the facets, and the second set of buttons lets
you assign materials to each type of facet.
* The viewport control icons should be fairly intuitive. When you
select an orthographic view, such as Top, as soon as you rotate the
view, the User button becomes active. If you click on the User
button, the view is reset to the default User angle. The Zoom is a
"smart zoom." That is, click and move the mouse horizontally, and the
view zooms where you clicked.
Both the Disk#6 and Disk#7 IPAS3 collections come with 120-page heavily-
illustrated manuals, tutorials, and example files. The Hedra2 section
also includes a detailed description of the unique algorithms that produce
polyhedra.
[end]