newbie querie

[robint]

Hi Stellas

Looks fantastic. I have dabbled with geo solids and have been fascinated at the recurrence of certain irrational factors pi tau root 2, root 3 root 5 and their appearance in dimensions, eg vertices, vert height across faces, angles etc

Has anyone successfully used the export of model data in dxf format in other 3d apps.. I make extensive use of Sketchup which can accept dxf but its not always a success (probably SU fault)

I am trialling small stella but cannot test the transfer of say a simple solid like a tetrahedron (presumably exported as "save as")

Which version should I try first small or great?

[robertw]

Models are exported by first clicking in the view to be exported (to select it) and then using "File->3D Export->Export DXF" from the menu.

The demo version will only let you export the cube though, for testing purposes, but that should let you try it.

Small Stella can't export at all, so you would need Great Stella.

[robint]

thanx for that Im working my way up the learning curve

It seems to me you have some ground-breaking s/w developed over 15yrs? and is very extensive. I am surprised that it hasnt achieved greater notoriety. Perhaps the proles only see a kids toy for folding paper (origami). Of course your followers know different

I came across Sketchup 3D modeller around 2005. It was a revelation (coming from ACAD where 3D was a tedious nightmare. You could get running on SU basically within 30 mins, thats how friendly it was. I have remained devoted to it ever since. This isnt a plug and its free for su2017 just sign up for a trial and it reverts to the free version after 30 days and it is 90% operational thereafter - well worth a play.

I was frustrated at not being able to construct non orthogonal solids like a tetrahedron because circle are only approximated by polygons (up to 999 face I believe). SU is accurate to 6dec places and you must make your intersections precise or your faces wont fill. I did find a way to make a dodecaherdon only by calculating the precise position of an intersect point in space and entering that in the window - very time-consuming but I cracked it

So it would be nice to extract a dxf of a basic solid and build on it, or take a complex model and dissect it , distort and move faces etc.

It might be nice to see these two ground breaking apps work together to open new research areas eg pipe intersections (aka accurate conic sections)

Will follow up on exporting a dxf cube as you suggest

but I am rambling, must get back to playing with GS

Cheers

Robin