Amiga Tools 3/Amiga Tools 3.iso/grafik/raytracing/plans3ddemo/readme

Text File | 1993-10-06 | 16KB | 385 lines

Plans Version 3.0 Demo Readme File
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Getting started
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To get Plans going on a floppy based system just click on the Plans
icon.
    or from the CLI with the PlansDemo disk in DF1:
    cd DF1:PlansDemo
    run PlansDemo

To get Plans going on a Hard Disk based system:

        From Workbench:
    Drag the PlansDemo drawer onto the Hard Disk

        From the CLI or Shell type:
    Copy DF1:PlansDemo HardDisk:PlansDemo all
    Copy DF1:PlansDemo.info HardDisk:PlansDemo.info ; create a drawer
icon?

These commands will automatically create the necessary directories
and put everything in it's proper place.  No Assign commands need to
be added to the startup-sequence.  Now just click on the Icon.

Plans requires the following files to be able to run:
    Fonts/Plans-Font
    Plans-Setup
    LIBS:mathtrans.library
    LIBS:diskfont.library
    LIBS:icon.library

Plans requires a little over 1 meg of memory to be in the machine.

To try Plans out, I recommend that you load the Sample Drawings
included and try the many drawing and editing modes available.

To move around in the drawing, use the space bar to center a portion
of the drawing or use the arrow keys.
To make things look smaller use 'z'.
To make things look bigger, use 'Z'.
To show the full drawing, use 'f'.
To undo almost any action, use 'u'.
Hit number keys to emulate menu subitem selections.
Hit ESC when drawing to numerically edit a new entry.
There is now a simple command line in the second line of text at the
top of the drawing window.  To activate it, hit <RETURN> or click
there.
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Introduction
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Plans is a high speed, versatile drafting program.  Plans uses a
hierarchical (DOS like) data structure allowing the user to group
and manipulate complex drawing objects including the entire drawing.

Using the tools provided, the user can create drawings that are very
detailed and accurate.  A pen plotter or high resolution printer is
required for the highest quality drawings.  Plans can print the
drawing on any Preferences selected graphics printer.
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If you are new to the Amiga Computer
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Attached to the Amiga Computer is an input device known as the
"mouse".  Plans receives information about the mouse position and
the status of the mouse buttons from the operating system.  When the
mouse is moved, or one of the buttons is pushed, Plans hears about
it, and tries to figure out what the user wants to do.  The mouse is
used in a context sensitive way.  For example, pressing the left
button may either initiate a drawing command or it may finish a
drawing command.  Similarly, pressing the right mouse button may be
used to access the menus or it may cancel the current drawing
operation.

It is recommended that the novice user read the manuals that
accompany the Amiga Computer to become familiar with the normal and
special ways the mouse and keyboard may be used.  Many Amiga
Computer users are not familiar with all of the ways that the
mousebuttons and the keyboard can be used to enter information.
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If you are new to Computer Aided Design and Drafting
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When the Plans draftsperson draws, Plans records the information
entered with the mouse and the keyboard in a way that can be
interpreted from many different scales and viewpoints.  Plans puts
together a numeric database of information describing the objects
that are drawn by the user.  Because of the way this information is
stored, the user can quickly erase, duplicate or modify the
appearance of objects.

It is helpful when learning CAD to have some experience with
technical drawing using conventional methods, but the user of Plans
will quickly learn that a new kind of power is at their fingertips.
One of several benefits of Plans is that almost any tool that could
be desired is available at any time.   For information on drawing
style, check the local library for books on the subject.
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Overview of the drawing process
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The Plans drawing process includes these steps:
    Creating a drawing
    Saving your work
    Printing or Plotting
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Creating a drawing
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All of the tools needed to quickly create accurate, detailed drawings
are provided with Plans.  Draw Points, Lines, Circles, Arcs,
Ellipses, Text, Automatic Dimensions and many other objects.  Plans
makes it easy to edit a drawing and to combine new drawings with old
drawings.  Plans allows the user to put different portions of a
drawing in different Layers, allowing easy control of the viewing,
printing or plotting, and editing processes.
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Saving your work
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It is important to save your work on a regular basis.  A good rule of
thumb is to save every 15 to 30 minutes.  Plans will remind the user
to save their work periodically.  It is also a good idea to save your
work before plotting or printing and before leaving the computer for
any length of time.
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Output: Plotting and Printing
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The drawing is done using real world dimensions.  This means that the
draftsperson is not required to scale dimensions during the drawing
process.  All of the scaling is done at the time of output.  To
produce an accurate, scalable print all that is necessary is to
select the center of the picture desired and the scale at which to
print it.
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Some of the Features of Plans include:
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User definable fonts (draw them with Plans!)
Over 32000 named lockable layers to help the user remember what they
contain
Definable screen resolution
Ability to trace over an IFF picture (an easy and quick way to
digitize)
Heirarchical parts and grouping allowing easy manipulation
Ability to Import HPGL plot files from other CAD packages
Multiple drawings loaded at one time, making part libraries a cinch!
Many Print options, all at the full resolution of the printer
68020/030, 68881/882 version available
Export Draw files, Desktop Publishing CAD files and IFF pictures
Fully programmable plotter support
38 Mouse drawing modes
over 22 numeric object creation modes
53 Editing modes incl. 22 Block modes, 19 Group modes and 8 line
modes
8 types of intelligent snap
Rulers, Crosshairs, Grid may be turned on or off
Metric, Decimal, Feet or Inches auto dimensioning
Blazing speed!
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Some of the Features of Plans3D include:
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Import DXF files and GEO (Videoscape) files.
Export DXF files and GEO (Videoscape) files.
3D with hidden line removal.
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Introduction to Plans3D
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Plans3D allows the user to quickly create mechanical and
architectural models and then render them to create 2D
perspective line drawings.  These drawings can then be
edited like any other drawing.  Plans3D uses a common
workspace for both 2D and 3D.  This allows the user to
extrude objects in a natural way and to use nearly all of
the 2D commands to manipulate 3D objects in a natural way.
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The 3D View
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The 3D View in Plans3D is defined by three variables,
found at the bottom of the Snap Variables Window activated
by hitting '~' on the keyboard:
3D View Dist, the distance from the projection plane to
the origin point (0,0,0) of the 3D world.
3D View Theta, rotation around the 'Z' or up axis.
3D View Phi, the downward inclination of the eye below the
'Z' or up axis.

The Numeric Keypad can be used to modify these variables
in a somewhat interactive way, while holding down a shift
key and hitting the following keys on the keypad:
1, rotates the view to the left around the 'Z' axis.
2, rotates the view downward, away from the 'Z' axis.
3, rotates the view to the right around the 'Z' axis.
4, sets the 3D View Distance to infinity, removing any
perspective from the view.
5, rotates the view upward, towards the 'Z' or up axis.
6, resets the 3D View Distance to the last used non
infinite value, thus showing a perspective view.
7, rotates the view to show a normal "Front View",
looking down the 'Y' axis, with 3D View Dist set to infinity.
8, rotates the view to show a normal "Top View", looking down
the 'Z' axis, with 3D View Dist set to infinity.
9, rotates the view to show a normal "Right View", looking down
the 'X' axis, with 3D View Dist set to infinity.
Note: the keys 7, 8 and 9 do not change the perspective or 3D
View Distance of the view.

In addition, it is possible for the user to perform 2D panning
and zooming the same way they are performed in Plans, using the
arrow keys and the space bar and 'z' and 'Z'.  This makes it
easy to zoom in on a section of a drawing for point editing etc.
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The 3D Draw Menu
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There are 2 ways to create a 3D object in Plans3D, extruding
a 2D outline, and drawing objects numerically.

Extrude
This is the easiest and most common way to create a 3D object.
Extrusion will only work when the view is along a principal
axis and 3D View Dist is set to 0.  The easiest way to guarantee
these conditions are met is to hold a shift key and hit '7' or
'8' or '9'.
Hit ESC and enter the following variables.
Thickness: The extrusion length.
Elevation: The height of the base above the origin (0,0,0) in
the view direction.
Create Face 0 and 1: Face 0 is the top and face 1 is the bottom.
Enter Yes or No by hitting 'y' or 'n'.

Draw Cylinder
To draw a 3D cylinder numerically, hit ESC and enter these
variables:
Axis: determines orientation of cylinder, along the 'X', 'Y'
or 'Z' axis.  Use left and right arrow keys to choose.
Edges: The cylinder will have this number of edges.
Diameter: Enter the diameter of the desired cylinder, must be
greater than 0
Length: Enter the length of the cylimder.  The base of the
cylinder will originate at (0,0,0) in 3D space.
Create Face 0 and 1: Face 0 is the top and face 1 is the bottom.
Enter Yes or No by hitting 'y' or 'n'.
Center X etc.: See 3D Edit Transform below for the meaning of
these variables.

Draw Block
To draw a 3D block numerically, hit ESC and enter the following
variables.
Size X: Initial size of block along the 'X' axis.
Size Y: Initial size of block along the 'Y' axis.
Size Z: Initial size of block along the 'Z' axis.
Create Face 0 and 1: Face 0 is the top and face 1 is the bottom.
Enter Yes or No by hitting 'y' or 'n'.
Center X etc.: See 3D Edit Transform below for the meaning of
these variables.
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The 3D Edit Menu
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One of the great features of modeling in Plans3D is that it is
so easy and natural to use the 2D transformations such as copy,
move and rotate to modify the 3D world.  What you see is what
you get in Plans3D.  These normal manipulations can only be
performed when viewing the model along a principle axis.  It is
recommended that the user hold a shift key and press '7', '8' or
'9' on the numeric keypad for Front, Top or Right side views
prior to using the 2D transformations.

In addition to these 2D manipulations, the user may use the
following modes to modify objects from any view, including
perspective views.  Sometimes it is easiest to isolate an object
or part of an object by picking a perspective view instead of an
orthogonal view.

Edit Transform Object
Pick a 3D object to transform.  Enter these variables or
choose Cancel to exit.
Appearance variables: These variables will modify the
non-rendered appearance of objects on the screen.  This will
sometimes make it easier to figure out what you are looking at.
3D objects exist in layers just like 2D objects, and so can be
locked, grouped, and made invisible in the same ways.
Copies: normally 1, can be used to create duplicates of an
object.  The new objects will be successively transformed
according to the following transformation variables.
Center X,Y,Z: Used to specify the center of 3D scaling and
rotation.
Axis X,Y,Z: Used to specify the rotation axis for rotations.
This will be set automatically to the viewer's eye whenever
the user picks an orthogonal view in the drawing window.
Scale X,Y,Z: Scale the object along the X,Y or Z axis according
to this factor. 1 means no change.
Rotate Angle: Rotate the object around the X,Y,Z axis by this
amount. 0 means no change.
Translate: Move the object along the X,Y and Z axes by these
amounts. 0 means no change.

Edit Block Transform Points
Hit ESC and enter these variables, then draw a box around the
3D points to transform. This function works from any view,
allowing the easy manipulation of individual points.
Center X,Y,Z: Used to specify the center of 3D scaling and
rotation.
Axis X,Y,Z: Used to specify the rotation axis for rotations.
This will be set automatically to the viewer's eye whenever
the user picks an orthogonal view in the drawing window.
Scale X,Y,Z: Scale the points along the X,Y or Z axis according
to this factor. 1 means no change.
Rotate Angle: Rotate the points around the X,Y,Z axis by this
amount. 0 means no change.
Translate: Move the points along the X,Y and Z axes by these
amounts. 0 means no change.
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New functions:
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Hit number keys to emulate menu subitem selections.

The Snap variables and a few others are in their own window
    now, use '~' to open.

Hit ESC when drawing to numerically edit a new entry.

Use Numeric Edit to numerically edit anything about any entity.

Plans can now do a simple import and export of DXF files.

Bezier curves have been added.

Plans can now load Compugraphic outline fonts from 2 sources:
    The .type files in the FONTS:_Bullet_Outlines directory
    The .lib files in CGFONTS:

There are now two number format variables:

The current default number format determines the format of
numbers in the display at the top of the drawing window and the
format of normal dimension lines.  This variable is found in the
"Options" menu and in the "Options Current Setup" window.

The dimension format chosen in the Draw variables window brought
up with the ESC key, if not set to "Use Default", specifically
tells Plans which format to use for subsequent dimension lines.
This allows more than one format to be used in a given drawing.
Note that conversion is done relative to the current default
number format above.
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How to get Plans or Plans3D
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For a limited time Plans will be available for the introductory price
of $150.00.
For a limited time Plans3D will be available for the introductory price
of $250.00.

Plans is currently available direct from the developer:

Gary Hale Development
94340 Horton Road
Blachly OR, 97412
[phone]