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New (^N): creates a new, empty Meshwork document called "Untitled".
Open... (^O): presents an Open File dialog, showing text and binary files. Select a Meshwork file. If you attempt to open a non-Meshwork file, you will usually get an empty window.
Import: under the Import submenu are a variety of import options, i.e. ways to create a Meshwork document out of non-Meshwork data. Note that the import is not perfect; usually only mesh geometries are imported, and material properties are lost.
Close (^W): closes the frontmost Meshwork document. If the document has changed since it was last read or saved, you will be given the opportunity to save it before closing.
Save (^S): save the frontmost Meshwork document to its current file location -- i.e., the file from which it was last read or saved. If the document has no file (e.g., because it was just created with New), this is equivalent to Save As.
Save As...: presents the standard Save File dialog. Enter a filename and choose a directory in which to save the document. The standard ending for a Meshwork file is ".mesh", but this is not required. See Section 3.4 for a description of the file format.
Export: under the Export submenu are a variety of export types, i.e., ways to create non-Meshwork data from your Meshwork document. Note that the export may be imperfect; usually only mesh geometries are exported, and material properties are lost. The exceptions are 3DMF and VRML export, which preserve all the model properties including texture. Note that with VRML, the textures are not actually included in the file; instead a reference is made to "texture0.jpg" for the first material texture, "texture1.jpg" for the next, and so on (counting from the left in the material palette). You must supply these texture image files yourself, or modify the VRML file (with a text editor) to make it refer to textures elsewhere.
Quit (^Q): closes all documents (prompting for save first where needed), and quits the Meshwork application.
Undo (^Z): undoes the most recent command. This command may be repeated, undoing your work up to the last time the document was saved.
Redo: redoes the most recently undone command. This command may be repeated until there are no more commands to redo.
Cut (^X), Copy (^C), Paste (^V), Clear: these are the Mac standard editing operations. In the main document window, these operate on the currently selected vertices, edges, and faces. The clipboard format is internal to Meshwork and not meaningful to other applications. Note that pressing the delete or del key on the keyboard is equivalent to using Clear. In the Material Properties dialog, these editing functions operate on the material texture. You can also Paste a picture into the main document window; this will appear as the background of the document. This is an extremely useful way to trace out an existing model or image, and convert it into a 3D model.
Select All (^A): selects all vertices (and therefore, all edges and faces) which are not hidden (see Hide Selected).
Select None (^D): deselects all vertices, edges, and faces.
Select Connected: selects all vertices connected, directly or indirectly, to vertices which are already selected. For example, if you've created a sphere and a cylinder in the same place and in the same material, it may be difficult to select just one of them to move it elsewhere. Simply click on any vertex of the sphere, and use this command to select the rest of it.
Duplicate: duplicates the selected vertices, edges, and faces, moving them one step down and to the right of the originals. This is basically equivalent to doing a Copy and Paste, then pressing down-arrow, right-arrow (see keyboard controls).
Relax (^R):
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shifts the position of the selected vertex towards the average position of all points to which it is attached. This command may be repeated multiple times, causing the vertex to shift ever closer towards this ideal central point. Think of the edges as rubber bands; Relax reduces and equalizes the tension on these bands as much as possible.
Tense (^T): shifts the selected vertex away from the average position of all points to which it is attached. If the edges were rubber bands, this operation would tend to increase the tension of the system.
Find Overlaps...: This command prompts you for a distance, then selects all vertices which are within that distance of any other vertex. The idea here is to find all overlapping vertices. You can simply do this for your own information, or you can follow it with the next command.
Combine Overlaps: Use this command to combine any selected overlapping vertices. "Overlapping" here means within the distance specified in the last "Find Overlaps" command. Each overlapping pair of vertices is replaced with a single vertex, to which all edges are appropriately attached. This command is used to fuse together two objects which may have been modeled separately, for example, the left and right halves of a model, or a torso and limb.
Find Strays: This command selects any vertices which are not attached to some triangle. (They may be attached to edges, as long as those edges don't form a triangle.) Such vertices are "stray" in the sense that they generally won't contribute to the final rendering.
Set Bone... (^B): sets the bone code or codes for the selected vertices. Bones are a way of assigning vertices (and their attached edges and faces) to units which can be positioned and rotated relative to one another, like joints and limbs of a marionnette.
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Every bone in Meshwork is specified by a 4-character code. You can enter one or two bones into the Set Bone dialog (shown at right). To attach the selected part of the model to a single bone, enter the bone code in the field on the left, and make sure the slider is set all the way to the left. To attach to two bones, first enter bone codes in both fields. Then set the slider to reflect the relative strength of attachment between the two bones.
For more information on bones, see Section 2.3: Using Bones.
Face Front (^F): Every face in the model has a front side and a back side; you can tell the difference in Meshwork because the faces are not drawn (colored or shaded) when the back side is facing you. The Face Front command forces all selected faces to face you -- i.e., to have the front side towards the camera, whatever its current position).
Face Out: forces every selected face to turn its back side towards the center of the selected set, and its front side away from the center. This is especially useful when you've an imported model has several faces facing the wrong way; this command can often fix the whole model at once.
Invert Face: this flips all selected faces; the front side becomes the back, and vice versa.
Flip Horizontal: this flips the selected vertices, edges, and faces horizontally about the selection center -- the leftmost point is now on the right, etc.
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Flip Vertically: this flips the selected vertices, edges, and faces vertically about the selection center -- the topmost point is now on bottom, etc.
Scale...: grows or shrinks the selected part of the model, either relative to the center of the selection, or relative to the axes origin. The Scale dialog is shown at right. The selected edges and faces can be scaled separately in the X, Y, and Z dimensions, so to get uniform scaling, enter the same percentage in all three fields.
Rotate...: rotates the selected part of the model, either around to the center of the selection, or around the axes origin. Meshwork uses a right-handed coordinate system for rotations -- that is, if you point your right thumb in the direction of the positive axis, your fingers curl in the direction of the rotation about that axis. .dmg/Shareware World/Graphics/Meshwork/doc/pics/rotate-dlog.gif/rotate-dlog.gif)
The direction of rotation about each axis is also indicated in the Rotate dialog, shown at left.
When you specify multiple rotations, they are done in Y, X, Z order. Simultaneous rotations can be confusing; if in doubt, just rotate about one axis at a time.
Subdivide: this command divides each selected triangle into four smaller triangles. It is handy when you need to add extra contours to a model, in a more symmetrical way than is possible with the split tool. But it should be used sparingly, as this command increases the complexity (and decreases the efficiency) of your model very quickly.
Note that since Meshwork faces must be triangular, each side of the box actually contains two faces separated by a diagonal. Also, since the "back" face of a box perfectly overlaps the "front" face, it may be difficult to perceive the 3-D shape unless you turn on Orthographic mode. Finally, note that a box may be a good starting point for a more complex shape; for example, you can easily indent or outdent any face of the box by using the Split tool.
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Sphere...:
creates an approximation of a sphere. The sphere is approximated by a set of regular polygons, stacked around the Y axis, and connected to form a solid 3D shape. "Diameter" is the width of the sphere. "Lattitude Lines" is how many polygons are stacked to form the sphere, including the poles; these are comparable to the lattitude lines on a globe. You must specify at least 3 lattitude lines (two poles and an equator), but may specify many more. "Longitude Lines" is how many sides each polygon has, roughly comparable to the longitude lines on a globe. If the "Stagger" checkbox is checked, each polygon will be rotated relative to the ones above and below it, resulting in a somewhat smoother appearance (by roughly doubling the number of "facets" used in the shape). An example will illustrate these concepts.
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The spheres shown above both contain 5 lattitude lines and 8 longitude lines, as shown in the dialog. The sphere at left had the "Stagger" option checked; note that the vertices in the equator are not directly in line with the vertices at upper and lower lattitudes. As a result, each facet is triangular. In the sphere at right, the Stagger option was unchecked. Each vertex is in line with the ones above and below it. While the facets are still divided into triangles within Meshwork, you may note that the triangles occur in coplanar pairs, forming a number of quadrilaterals (except near the poles). For this reason, it is recommended that Stagger be used for most purposes.
Unlike Create Box, you don't have control of the sphere's aspect ratio at creation time. However, the sphere will be the only object selected, so you may immediately follow its creation with scalings and rotations to create any ovoid shape.
Sphere 2...: also creates an approximation of a sphere, but it uses a different algorithm. This one works by starting with an octahedron, then subdividing a specified number of times (1 by default). The resulting shape has a very high degree of symmetry, and appears the same from nearly any direction; this differs from the first Sphere algorithm (above) which has distinct poles. The Samples folder contains a file comparing the two types of spheres.
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Cylinder...:
creates an approximate cylinder. This is done by creating two regular polygons around the Y axis, and joining them to form an open 3D shape. The dialog has three fields. "Diameter" is the width of each end polygon.
"Height" is the distance between the cylinder ends, i.e. the extent of the cylinder along the Y axis. "Sides" is the number of sides in each polygon.
There is also a "Stagger" checkbox, similar to that in the Create Sphere dialog. If it is checked, the top polygon will be rotated relative to the bottom one. The effect is that each facet is a symmetrical triangle, rather than half a quadrilateral. The Stagger option generally produces a smoother-looking cylinder. The cylinders shown at right were both created with the default parameters, but the one at left uses the Stagger option, while the one at right does not. (Note: the back halves of these cylinders have been removed for clarity.)
As of version 1.2.2, you can create either open-ended or closed cylinders. If the "Close Ends" checkbox is checked, each end will be capped by adding an extra point to the center of each end.
Cone...: creates an open-ended approximation of a cone. This is done by creating a regular polygon around the Y axis, and connecting each ventex to a single point (the cone tip). The dialog has three fields. "Diameter" is the width of the base. "Height" is the distance from the base of the cone to the tip, i.e. the extent of the cylinder along the Y axis. "Sides" is the number of sides in each polygon. Tip: to create a truncated cone, start with a Cylinder instead, and simply scale down one end.
Extrude...:
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extends the selected set of points in depth along the X, Y, or Z axis. Think of pressing clay through a mask; the result is a long tube whose cross-sectional shape is the shape of the mask. That's similar to what Extrude does.
Start by selecting a set of points. Usually you'll want these points joined by edges to form a two-dimensional figure like a circle, square, star, etc. Then use the Extrude command. In the dialog box that appears, put in the total length of the figure to create, and the number of steps (sections) to produce along the way. Also choose the axis: usually, you'll want to extrude along an axis perpendicular to the plane of your starting figure.
When you click OK, extrusion happens in two phases. First, the selected points and edges are duplicated steps times, evenly spaced to cover the specified total depth along the chosen axis. Second, every edge in the starting figure is joined by a diagonal to the corresponding edge in the next step of the extrusion -- in other words, each initial edge becomes a surface. The created surfaces face away from the center of the figure.
In the example shown, the initial shape was a triangle, and this was extruded for 100 units in two steps. It's shown in Orthographic mode so that the three-dimensional shape is more apparent.
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Lathe...: Lathe is similar to Extrude in that it begins with a template: a set of selected, usually connected, vertices. Again the starting figure is duplicated and connected to form a series of section in depth. But rather than extending straight along one axis, Lathe forms a shape that arcs around an axis in a circle (or partial circle).
Again, start by forming and selecting a two-dimensional figure. In this example, we used a circle as the starting figure. Then Lathe, choose the number of sections, and the total distance -- expressed this time in degrees counter-clockwise about the chosen axis. The example was lathed for -270 degrees in 12 sections (and again is shown in Orthographic mode).
If you lathe exactly 360 degrees (the default), the ends will be a joined together, forming a solid shape like a torus.
The faces are oriented away from the center of each radial section. So if you are making a torus, Meshwork essentially selects each section of the ring, and does a "face out" operation on that section. This is appropriate when the conceptual center of your object is not on the axis of the lathing. When it is, for example in a vase or table leg, then this behavior is often not appropriate. In that case you'll need to select each cross-section of your lathed figure and do a "face out" operation manually. (I am open to suggestions on a better way to handle this automatically.)
In addition, there is a Blueprint option (command-7). This divides the window into four panes, showing Top, Front, Right, and Front Orthographic views of the model simultaneously. To exit Blueprint mode, press command-7 again to return to the previous camera view, or select one of the other views.
The remaining commands in the Camera menu modify the way the model is drawn.
Camera: Orthographic (^I): This command switches the drawing to an orthographic view -- more specifically, what is known as a "cavalier projection". A cavalier projection combines the depth-axis with the up-down and left-right axes in such a way that you can see several sides of the object at once, and all lengths and distances on the screen are accurate. In this respect, it is similar to an isometric projection, thus the shortcut command-I.
A cavalier projection can be useful, but also has some disadvantages. Because our visual system expects the oblique sides to be foreshortened, we perceive objects drawn in this way as thicker than they are. There is an alternative known as the "cabinet projection" which corrects for this, though lengths and distances drawn on the screen are no longer veridical. A true isometric projection is probably more useful. This command may change or be supplemented in a future version of Meshwork -- let me know what you think.
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Camera: Anaglyph (^Y):
This command switches the drawing to a red/blue anaglyph. An anaglyph is a form of stereogram in which the view for one eye is drawn in one color, and the view for the other eye in a complementary color. By donning appropriate 3D glasses, the viewer may achieve a striking impression of depth; parts of the model appear to be coming right out of the screen, while others sink into it as if through a real window.
The view will work with either red/green or red/blue glasses, but you must have the red filter over your right eye. If you don't already have a pair of such glasses, you can get them for $2 shipping from Deep Vision 3D.
For best results, turn off "Draw Faces" in the Display Menu, and consider turning on Orthographic view. Also, note that our brains expect objects further away to be foreshortened. As a result, you may have a striking perception that the back of a cube (see figure) is larger than the front, when in fact they are drawn exactly the same size. Finally, using anaglyph glasses can cause a bit of odd color-shifting at first as your brain tries to sort out conflicting color information from the two eyes. With a little practice, this effect goes away and working with the glasses on can be quite comfortable.
Center Selection: shifts the axes so that the current selection is centered in the window. It is actually possible, using the Center tool, to shift the axes so far that you cannot see them or the model. If this ever happens, simply Select All, then Center Selection, and your model will once again be in view.
Hide Selected (^H): hides all the currently selected vertices, edges, and faces. Hidden vertices and edges are drawn in a light blue rather than black, and hidden faces are not drawn at all. The hidden points are deselected, and cannot be selected again until they are unhidden.
Hide Others (^G): hides all vertices, edges, and faces which are not currently selected.
Show All (^U): unhides all vertices, edges, and faces. (To remember command-U, think "unhide".)
Draw Edges: this is a toggle command; selecting it adds or removes the checkmark in the menu, which indicates the current state. When "Draw Edges" is checked, the edges (lines connecting the vertices) are drawn; when unchecked, these lines are not drawn (though they still exist in the model).
Draw Vertices: When this option is checked, unselected vertices are drawn; when unchecked, they are not drawn. Note that selected vertices are drawn in either case.
Draw Faces: When this option is checked, any unhidden face is drawn provided its "front" side is towards the camera. The face is shaded according to its color (set in the material properties dialog), and its angle with respect to the light source, which always comes from the quadrant (-X, +Y, +Z). When "Draw Faces" is unchecked, faces are not drawn.
3D Preview (^E): This command uses presents a three-dimensional rendering of your object using the QuickDraw 3D Viewer. This viewer is the same one used by SimpleText, and the same controls apply for rotating, zooming, and translating your model to view it from any angle. Note that since QD3D is not available on 68K machines, the 3D Preview is unavailable in the 68K version of Meshwork. Also note that the Viewer in QuickDraw 1.5.4 has some limitations (e.g., when you rotate the object, the lights rotate with it), which are fixed in the QD3D 1.6.
You can leave the 3D Preview window open, off to the side or behind your main document window. It will not automatically be updated when you change your model, but when you hit command-E again, it will update itself very quickly.
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Add Vertex: The leftmost tool adds vertices, or selects an existing vertex. You can temporarily select this tool by holding the "a" key.
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Connect: The next mode creates a new vertex, if there was not already one at the location clicked, and joins it to the previously selected one(s) by an edge.
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Split: This mode divides any edges between the selected vertex or vertices, and the vertex you click. The split edge gains a new vertex at its midpoint, and any faces adjoining the split edge are also divided by new edges. The example at right illustrates the effect of using the Split tool.
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Disconnect: This tool deletes an edge between the previously selected vertex, and the one clicked.
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Select: The selection tool allows you to drag around a group of points, selecting all the unhidden vertices in the box; or click a point to select only that one. (Note: the shift key modifies the selection behavior in the standard Mac way, i.e. it extends or removes vertices from the selection.) You can temporarily select this tool by holding the "m" ("marquis") key.
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Center: In centering mode the location you click will be moved to the center of the window. This substitutes for scroll bars in Meshwork, since your document is of arbitrary size. While in centering mode, you can also zoom in and out by holding the command or option key, respectively.
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Add Bone: This mode is used to
create new bones. Click in the document to place the pivot point of a bone; a dialog
will pop up where you can assign the bone a four-character identifier, and enter the
identifier of the parent bone.
Bone points can be selected and moved like other vertices, but you cannot make edges between them. Attach vertices to a bone by selecting them, and using the
Set Bone menu command.
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The symmetry buttons enable a powerful feature of Meshwork; they allow you to quickly create and edit models which are symmetrical about any axis or combination of axes. These are not tool modes, but rather options which may be turned on or off independently. The left button enables symmetry about the Y-Z plane, i.e., every point at -X is mirrored with a point at +X. The
middle button enables +/- Y symmetry, and the rightmost button enables +/- Z symmetry.
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When enabled, any selected vertex may have "mirror" points. While selected points are drawn in red, their mirrors are drawn in purple. Any operation done to a selected point is done, suitably reflected about the axis or axes of symmetry, to the mirrored points.
In the example at right, the +/- X symmetry button was clicked (we're viewing here from the front). Then the symmetrical figure was made by clicking five times with the Connect tool. Finally, two points on the left were selected. Note that their "twin" points on the right are drawn in purple, indicating the connection of symmetry. Now, dragging the selected points to the left will cause the purple points to move to the right, and vice versa. Dragging the selected points up or down will cause the mirror points to follow.
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These spatial coordinates are editable (as of Meshwork v1.3). When coordinates are shown, click in any of the three panes or press Tab to enter "edit mode", and edit the coordinate shown as you would in any spreadsheet. Press the Return or Enter to accept the new value and update the model. Pressing Tab accepts the entry, and selects the next coordinate field. Press Esc to cancel your entry or exit the coordinate fields.
The second display, containing two fields, shows the
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The material palette can also be used for selecting parts of the model. Command-click a material in the palette, and all faces of that material (along with their edges and vertices) will be selected. The previous selection will be deselected, unless you also hold down the shift key.
To edit the properties of a material, double-click or option-click it in the material palette. The Material Properties dialog box will appear, as in the example shown below.
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This dialog contains a number of controls:
Over the texture (if any) is drawn a sketch of the faces of this material, as they would be mapped onto the texture. This is extremely useful in seeing when you have the right mapping, and just how your texture will be pasted onto the model. Meshwork also has a very handy feature: if there is no texture image (i.e., the words "no texture" are visible behind the sketch), then the Copy command will copy the sketch itself. This can then be pasted into a drawing or paint program, giving you a properly mapped outline of your model to guide creation of the texture.
You may note that where the texture sketch should touch the right edge -- or, in some cases, the bottom -- the lines instead reach clear across the texture to the left. This is because a texture map, topographically speaking, is a torus; the right side is equivalent to the left side, and the top equivalent to the bottom. However, when Meshwork actually generates the final output, faces which cross one of these borders are split from their neighbors in such a way that this wrapping effect is eliminated.
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The arrow keys move the selected vertices up, down, left, or right, as viewed in the editing window.
The numeric keypad is used to move the vertices in the X, Y, and Z directions, regardless of the current camera view. It helps to keep an eye on the coordinate display while using these.
The shift and control keys modify how much the vertices is moved with each keypress. By default, the arrow keys or keypad shift the selection by 5 pixels (the exact distance to which this corresponds depends on the current zoom). Holding the shift key changes this to moving 20 pixels per keypress. Holding control makes each keypress move the vertices by only one pixel.
A Meshwork file is of type 'TEXT', creator 'Mesh'. It is just a text file and, apart from the textures (which are stored as PICT resources), it may be edited with any text editor. It consists of the following sections, in the order given.
Mesh 1 0The format version number refers to the version of the file format, and may not necessarily correspond to the version of Meshwork which wrote the file. The header, and all subsequent lines, are terminated with the standard Mac line ending ('\r').
Each vertex line consists of a variable number fields, separated by tabs:
This is illustrated by a few lines from a Meshwork vertices block:
VERTICES 0 -45 109 0 1 -24 101 20 2 0 75 29 3 -1 154 34 Chst None 50 4 0 181 40 Chst None 100 5 -112 122 -4 LarL None 100 ArmLVertices 0-2 are normal, unboned vertices. Vertices 3 and 4 are attached to bones. Vertex 5 is actually a bone, code "LarL", with parent "ArmL".
EDGES 0 1 0 7 0 12 1 2 1 14 2 3 2 41
The material line contains six or all of the following fields, separated by tabs:
After the material line appear the triangles of that material, one per line, until the next keyword ("MATERIAL" or "END"). Each triangle line consists of three vertex indices, separated by tabs. This is illustrated in the following example, which contains several MATERIAL blocks:
MATERIAL 0 0 61602 1 0 15 385 20 15 386 385 385 386 90 385 90 95 MATERIAL 0 0 21626 1 0 393 396 392 388 391 387 396 397 392 389 387 391 394 397 396 389 391 390 395 394 396 MATERIAL 65535 0 65535 0 0 MATERIAL 65535 65535 0 0 0Note that some materials may have no triangles at all.