software3d.com

Hey all -

New to the software and attempting to tessellate the truncated octahedron. I am approaching this by using the "put models on faces and vertices" functionality. I can get pretty far into the tessellation, but at a certain point, models begin pinning to faces at odd angles, not flush with the parent face. I cannot find a method to rotate models in order to get them to fit into the tessellation. It's funny, because the models seem to intelligently snap to the parent faces for a while and then grow confused after the tessellation gets large enough.

I know that what I'm trying to do is feasible, because I've seen some of Robert's screenshots of the tessellated truncated octahedron online - I'm wondering if I'm using the wrong method or overlooking a specific tool.

Thanks!
Keegan

Don't use "Put models on faces and vertices". You want to use "Poly->Augment Polyhedron" instead (or keyboard shortcut "a").

This always glues parts together at matching faces. Start by loading a truncated octahedron, and put it in a memory slot (eg type "m1" or from the menu "Edit->Put Model in Memory->Memory 1").

Select the face you want to add to, eg a square face. Then hit "a" (or "Poly->Augment Polyhedron").

From the dialog, select "Memory" from the "Augment using..." section at the top.

Hit Enter (or click OK) and you'll see a preview, with dashed edges for the new parts. If it's not right you can hit "a" again to change the settings. Otherwise hit Enter to accept it. The preview will look like this:



You can continue to add any number of parts. I would advise not showing the net view though as it may have trouble if the polyhedron gets very complex.

Thank you!