Active Dimensions 3 Documentation Purchasing Information System Requirements Screenshot Installation Adding surfaces to your scene Dynamic Transformation Control Standard 3D Positioning Inverse Kinematics Color Selection File Menu Edit Menu Interactions Menu Render Menu Help Menu Right-Click Context Menu Parts Library Sample Models Online Tutorial Support Uninstallation Purchasing Information The price of Active Dimensions 3 version 2.2 is $50 US and includes the Parts Library. Click here to purchase your copy online. For mail orders, you may use the order form that is included with the demo version. System Requirements Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows Millennium Edition (ME), or Windows 2000 16 bit color (24 or 32 bit recommended for better rendering quality) 12MB free hard disk space Screenshot Installation You have the option of installing Active Dimensions 3 Version 2.2 in either of two ways. You may use the first method if you are using Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition or have the Windows 2000 installer on your machine. If you are using Windows 95/98 or NT and are not sure if you have the installer, then extract the file named ad3setup.msi into a temporary directory. If the file is represented by a setup icon then you have the Windows 2000 installer on your computer. Method 1. Extract the file named ad3setup.msi into a temporary directory. (If you use this method, all other files within the zip file are not needed.) Launch this file and follow each step to install. Method 2. Simply extract the files into a permanent directory of your choice, e.g., "C:\Program Files\Active Dimensions 3\". If you use this method, you may delete the file named ad3setup.msi since it is only used by the first method. Double-click Ad3cad.exe to run the application. If you use this method, no changes will be made to your system, such as adding or modifying registry entries and/or DLL files. Adding surfaces to your scene Surfaces are grouped into ten categories as shown below. Cubes, octahedrons, tetrahedrons and pyramids can be used as outline blocks.
Category | Surfaces In Category
Miscellaneous | outline block, plane, tiled plane
Extruded Regular Polygons | extruded hexagon, extruded octagon, extruded pentagon, extruded triangle
Joints | mechanical joint, organic joint (Both are inverse kinematics-ready.)
Diamonds | round diamond, soft diamond, softer diamond, softest diamond
Platonic Solids | dodecahedron, icosahedron, octahedron (outline block), tetrahedron (outline block)
Cones | cone, pyramid (outline block)
Cubes | cube (outline block), soft cube, softer cube, softest cube
Cylinders | cylinder, soft cylinder, softer cylinder, softest cylinder
Sphere | sphere
Toruses | torus - small pipe, torus - medium pipe, torus - large pipe
Simply click the button that categorizes the surface you want and select the desired surface from the menu. The surface will appear on the left side of the scene. Dynamic Transformation Control The Dynamic Transformation Control.avi file that is included with the demo version of Active Dimensions 3 gives a visual tutorial on how to use the Dynamic Transformation Control. The Dynamic Transformation Control (DTC) is located directly beneath the ten surface category buttons and consists of six yellow arrows and three green rings that encircle a cube. The DTC is designed to facilitate 3D positioning by using a "true" 3D control. The DTC automatically orients itself to coincide with the local coordinate system of the selected surface and provides for extrusion (of planar geometry), rotation, scaling, and translation that is based on the local coordinate system of the selected surface. You should use the Dynamic Transformation Control as much as possible to position surfaces, particularly when the scene is rotated at an angle. It allows greater accuracy and control than freehand 3D positioning allows. Extrusion The DTC allows for the extrusion of planar geometry. Planar geometry must be created using the 2D Editor for Active Dimensions 3. (Prior to extrusion, it is best to rotate planar geometry so that it is positioned at an oblique angle. This helps make extrusion easier.) Simply left click a planar surface within your scene to select it. Click the right mouse button on the appropriate yellow arrow on the DTC and drag the mouse in the direction of the arrow. The selected surface will be extruded in the direction of the arrow. After releasing the right mouse button, a message box will appear asking you if you want to bevel the edges of the geometry you just extruded. Click Yes to bevel the edges or No to leave the geometry as is. The edge beveling process may take a few seconds. There is no explicit way to change the beveling radius in Active Dimensions 3. However, you can achieve that effect by following the proceeding method. Scale the planar geometry to a smaller size before extruding with beveled edges. After the extrusion and beveling process, scale the geometry back to original size. This achieves the same effect as increasing the bevel radius. To decrease the bevel radius, use the same process, except scale the geometry to a larger size prior to extrusion. The figure above shows an I-beam created by extruding a 2D cross-section. Edge beveling was not required in this instance. Rotation Left click a surface to select it. Click and hold the left mouse button on one of the three green rings on the DTC. The selected surface will automatically rotate in the same way the green ring would if it were a wheel. The entire DTC will rotate in the same way to dynamically reflect the current orientation of the selected surface. Usage of the right mouse button will cause the selected surface and DTC to rotate in the opposite direction. To increase the speed of rotation, drag the mouse horizontally (in either direction) away from the mouse-down location. Scaling Left click a surface to select it. Click the right mouse button on one of the six yellow arrows on the DTC and drag the mouse in the direction of the arrow. The selected surface will be scaled to a larger size in the direction of the arrow. If the mouse is moved in the opposite direction of the arrow, the selected surface will be scaled to a smaller size in the opposite direction of the arrow. Translation Left click a surface to select it. Click the left mouse button on one of the six yellow arrows on the DTC and drag the mouse in the direction of the arrow. The selected surface will be translated or moved in the direction of the arrow. If the mouse is moved in the opposite direction of the arrow, the selected surface will also be translated in the opposite direction of the arrow. Standard 3D Positioning The first three of the little round buttons directly beneath the DTC allow you to transform surfaces in a manner consistent with or similar to most real-time 3D applications. The last round button is for inverse kinematics. The first button allows you to rotate a surface by clicking the left or right mouse button on it and dragging the mouse around in the area of the scene. The second button allows you to scale a surface. Click a surface with the left mouse button and drag the mouse to the right to make the selected surface larger or to the left to make the selected surface smaller. Click a surface with the right mouse button and drag the mouse to the right to make the selected surface larger horizontally and upwards to make the selected surface larger vertically. The third button allows you translate a surface by clicking the left or right mouse button on it and dragging the mouse around in the area of the scene. Use the left mouse button to move the selected surface left, right, up and down. While holding the right mouse button, move the mouse upwards to translate the selected surface away from you and move the mouse downwards to translate the selected surface towards you. Inverse Kinematics Inverse Kinematics can only be applied to joints. Inverse kinematics in Active Dimensions 3 is simple and basic. The user does not have to know anything about inverse kinematics in order to begin experimenting with it. Simply add a joint to your scene. Click the Inverse Kinematics button. Drag the mouse on the tip of the smaller end of the joint, and watch the joint follow the mouse in a natural manner. Want to learn more about the use of inverse kinematics? Open the file named "inverse kinematics.ad3". This file contains a simple robot arm that can positioned in a natural way using inverse kinematics. After opening the file, simply click the Inverse Kinematics button. Then click on the tip of the robot arm and slowly drag the mouse around and watch the arm follow in a realistic manner. Color Selection Click the left mouse button on the color you want in the color selection box. All new surfaces added to the scene will be the color you selected. You can change the color of an existing surface by right-clicking it and selecting Apply Current Color from the context menu. You may also change the current color by selecting Choose Custom Color... on the Edit menu. This will display the Windows color dialog box so you can choose an exact color. File Menu New If the current scene has not been saved or has unsaved changes, you are prompted to save your work. Afterwards all surfaces in the current scene are cleared. Open... Displays the Open dialog box so you can open a scene that is in the native AD3 2.2 format. You may also open an AD3 file by dragging it from Windows Explorer onto the Active Dimensions 3 window. Files that were saved with all versions of Active Dimensions 3 prior to version 2.2 are in the AD3 1.0 or 2.0 format and must be converted to the 2.2 format. A conversion utility is available for all registered users. Save As... Displays the Save As dialog box so you can save your scene in the native AD3 2.2 format. Save Image... Displays the Save As dialog box so you can save the current image of your scene as a bitmap. Export:DXF... Displays the Save As dialog box so you can export your scene as a DXF file. Import Part... Displays the Open dialog box so you can import a part that is in the AD3 2.2 format into your current scene. Export:VRML 2... Displays the Save As dialog box so you can export your scene in the VRML 2.0 format. If you intend to export your work in the VRML file format, you should not use the Paint Polygon Face feature. Export:Wavefront... Displays the Save As dialog box so you can export your scene in the Wavefront obj format. Exit If the current scene has not been saved or has unsaved changes, you are prompted to save your work. Afterwards the program exits. Edit Menu Undo If the last action you performed can be undone, this menu item will be enabled so you can undo the action. Select All Selects all surfaces in your scene. Deselect All Deselects any selected surface(s) in your scene. Choose Custom Color... Displays the Color dialog box so you can choose an exact color. Background Color:Black Changes the background color to black. Background Color:White Changes the background color to white. Highlight Selection Toggles highlighting, by outlining polygons, of any selected surface(s). Create Detailed Geometry from Outline If this menu item is checked, Active Dimensions 3 will generate detailed geometry when you create a curved surface from an outline surface. Interactions Menu Paint Polygon Face Allows you to paint, using the current color, any of the polygons on the selected surface by clicking the polygon. You cannot paint polygons while all is selected. Pick Color Enables you to set the current color to the color of a polygon in the scene by clicking the polygon. Position Light Enables you to drag the left mouse button in the scene to position the light. Render Menu Rendering is the process of creating an image (on the screen or some other medium) of your model. The Render menu controls the way your scene is shown on your screen. Wireframe (orthographic) The scene is rendered as a set of line segments that represent the edges of the polygons that make up each surface. Perspective is not shown. Before performing any Boolean operation or connecting outline blocks, it may be helpful to render the scene in this wireframe mode so that surface intersections can easily be seen. Wireframe (perspective) The scene is rendered as a set of line segments that represent the edges of the polygons that make up each surface. Perspective is shown. Flat Shading Flat shading gives a rough approximation of the scene and results in a faceted appearance of surfaces. Surfaces may look distorted and out of place, but this occurs because polygon intersections are not shown. Surface selection is based upon the view of the scene from flat shade mode. You can only select a surface by clicking the part of the surface that would be visible during flat shading regardless of how the surface appears in gourand or phong shading. Gourand Shading When you first start Active Dimensions 3, the current rendering mode is gourand shading. Gourand shading makes the curved surfaces in your scene appear smooth and rounded. Polygon intersections are shown during gourand shading. Phong Shading Phong shading makes the curved surfaces in your scene appear smooth, rounded and shiny. If your scene is composed of less than thirteen polygons, phong shading will render shadows. Phong Shading (Antialiased) This rendering mode is designed to give you a final view of your scene. It is the same as Phong Shading, but with antialiasing enabled. Antialiasing helps make the jagged edges in your scene appear less jagged for higher image quality. Help Menu Help Topics Displays a message box, informing the user to refer to this documentation. About Active Dimensions 3 Displays the Active Dimensions 3 Splash screen so the user can read version information, vendor information, license information, and program specific information. Simply click the mouse anywhere on this splash screen to close it and return to the main window. Right-Click Context Menu The context menu appears when you right-click a surface without moving the mouse. Apply Current Color Applies the current color to all polygons on the selected surface that have the same color as the selected polygon. If all surfaces are selected, all polygons of all surfaces will be changed to the current color; no color matching will be performed. Delete Deletes the selected surface(s). You may also delete the selected surface(s) by pressing the delete key on the keyboard. Duplicate Duplicates the selected surface. The duplicate surface will coincide with the original surface. This menu item will not appear when all is selected. Mirror Creates a mirror image of the selected surface over a vertical plane. Reset Orientation Returns the selected surface to its default orientation. This menu item will not appear when all is selected. Set as Front Makes the current orientation of the selected surface be regarded as its default orientation. This menu item will not appear when all is selected. Outline Blocks Active Dimensions 3 uses outline blocks to help make modeling rounded objects easier. Using outline blocks, you can build an outline of whatever rounded object you are modeling, and then let Active Dimensions 3 automatically create the curved geometry. The process is very simple and efficient, and thereby enables you to quickly model more complex objects. Although the basic concept of outline blocks is simple, there are some important aspects to this modeling method that must be taken into consideration. First, you must understand that Active Dimensions 3 can only automatically create curved geometry from an outline surface. An outline surface is defined as a surface that was formed solely from outline blocks. You may construct an outline surface by connecting outline blocks or by performing Boolean operations on outline blocks. In many cases you can simply connect outline blocks to build an outline surface, however there will be cases wherein you should use Boolean Operations to help build your outline surface. When you use Boolean Operations to construct outline surfaces, you should attempt to create the simplest possible geometry. For an example on how to help create simple geometry, open the file named simple.ad3. Right-click the gray outline block and select Boolean Difference (A - B): Select Operand B from the context menu. Click one of the two white outline blocks. Since the two white outline blocks have been united, they will be subtracted from the gray outline block in one step, thereby helping to create simple geometry. If the two white outline blocks were sequentially subtracted from the gray outline block the resulting geometry would be more complex than necessary. Connect to Outline Connects two outline surfaces to form a single outline surface. A connection will be made only if one or more polygons on the first outline matches and coincides with a polygon on the second outline. You should choose Wireframe (orthographic) on the Render menu to enable you accurately match up polygons. Create Curved Geometry From Outline Creates a curved surface from an outline surface. This menu item will only appear when an outline surface is selected. Create More Curved Geometry From Outline Creates a more curved surface from an outline surface. This menu item will only appear when an outline surface is selected. Create Most Curved Geometry From Outline Creates a very curved surface from an outline surface. This menu item will only appear when an outline surface is selected. Boolean Operations Note: Since Boolean Operations can be unwieldy and can require careful planning, Active Dimensions 3 checks the geometric topology of the result of every Boolean Operation. If the result fails the geometric topology test, AD3 will display the text "Non-Solid Result" in the status area. This means that the Boolean operation did not produce solid geometry. As a general rule, if both operands were solids prior to the Boolean Operation, then the result should be a solid. (All preset surfaces in AD3 are solids except for the plane, tiled plane, mechanical joint and the organic joint.) However, due to the complexity of Boolean Operations, AD3 may be unable to produce solid geometry. If both operands were solids prior to the Boolean Operation, and the text "Non-Solid Result" is displayed in the status area immediately after the Boolean Operation, then the operation should be undone and reattempted after the position, size, and/or orientation of one or both operands has been adjusted. Under a few rare conditions, some geometry may pass the solid topology test, even if it is not a valid solid. The boolean.avi file that is included with the demo version of Active Dimensions 3 gives a visual tutorial on how to perform one of the three Boolean Operations. Boolean operations are used to form a more complex surface from two simpler surfaces. Before performing any Boolean operation it is recommended that you be sure that the surfaces on which the operation will be performed are positioned exactly as you want them. You should view your scene from various different angles to verify this. Active Dimensions supports the difference, intersection, and union operations. To perform a Boolean operation, right click the first surface. This surface will be operand A - the target surface. Select the desired Boolean operation from the resulting context menu, and then click the second surface, which will be operand B - the tool surface. The following pictures show the result of each Boolean Operation on the scene below. Sphere interpenetrating a Cube. Operand A = Cube: Operand B = Sphere Boolean Difference (A - B): Select Operand B This menu item will not appear when all is selected. Boolean Intersection (A and B): Select Operand B This menu item will not appear when all is selected. Boolean Union (A + B): Select Operand B This menu item will not appear when all is selected. Front View Shows your scene from the predefined front view. This menu item will only appear when all is selected. If you are not satisfied with the predefined front view, rotate your scene to the desired front view. With all selected, right click in the area of the scene and select Set as Front View from the context menu. Side View Shows your scene from the predefined right side view. This menu item will only appear when all is selected. Top View Shows your scene from the predefined top view. This menu item will only appear when all is selected. Set as Front View Makes the current view of the scene be the front view. This menu item will only appear when all is selected. Parts Library
The Parts Library is a small set of parts and models that is included with the full version of Active Dimensions 3. |
Sample Models car.ad3 - an outline of a car body. Simply right-click the car body and select Create Curved Geometry From Outline from the context menu. After this stage you can use Boolean Operations to complete the car. connect.ad3 - shows you how to connect outline blocks to build an outline surface. Open this example and change the rendering mode to Wireframe (orthographic) Right-click the first outline block and select Connect to Outline from the context menu. Then click the second outline block to connect the two. Right-click the two connected outline blocks (now an outline surface) and select Connect to Outline from the context menu. Then click the third outline block to form another connection. Use the same process to connect all the outline blocks into a single outline surface. When you are finished, you can right-click the outline surface and select one of the Create Curved Geometry commands from the context menu. engine.ad3 - demonstrates a basic Active Dimensions 3 model inverse kinematics.ad3 - demonstrates basic inverse kinematics capabilities of Active Dimensions 3. This file contains a simple robot arm that can positioned in a natural way using inverse kinematics. After opening the file, simply click the Inverse Kinematics button. Then click on the tip of the robot arm and slowly drag the mouse around and watch the arm follow in a realistic manner. shadow.ad3 - demonstrates shadow capability of Active Dimensions 3 when scene is composed of less than thirteen polygons. Choose Phong Shading on the Render menu to render shadows. simple.ad3 - used to help show how to create simple geometry. See the Outline Blocks section above. Online Tutorial Click here to visit the online tutorial. Support If you need assistance then please send an email to microtools@onebox.com Uninstallation If you installed Active Dimensions 3 using the first method then you may uninstall it by using the Add/Remove Programs Dialog Box. If you used the second method then all you need to do to completely remove Active Dimensions 3 from your system is delete the application and its additional files.

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