Amapi 3D is a very innovative piece of software. There are many ways to quickly master this simple yet powerful tool. Its best NOT to start off by tediously learning each and every feature.
You will benefit more by studying the following exercises closely. They were designed to quickly introduce you to most of the navigation and manipulation principles that apply to the Amapi 3D tools.
Repeat each exercise several times until you can go through each construction without hesitation.
Once you are familiar with the software, you will be able to build your own creations and will only need to refer to the Users Manual occasionally. It explains in detail how each tool operates.
You can work with
your models displayed in basic wireframe mode, or in various lit and shaded mode (based on
OpenGL). While the lit and shaded modes may help in better perception of intricate
details, it is true that the basic wireframe mode has benefited from better optimization
in absence of high end graphics accelerators and are less prone to deficiencies found in
low- to mid range gaming oriented graphics cards with limited OpenGL support. Therefore,
we strongly recommend that you initially use the basic wireframe mode when doing the
tutorial exercises. Later, you may want to repeat each exercise using the shaded modes
such as the Wireshade mode.
How can you switch from one display mode to another? In the menu: Preferences/Interface/Work Space/Display.