Re: [tuning] Digest Number 901 - VRML viewers, 3d Models, 4D Geometry, and Gif animation

There are several VRML viewers you can use.

The two main ones are probably Cosmo Player, and WorldView

One nice highly featured alternative is GLView for Windows 95/98/NT
http://home.snafu.de/hg/

It's not so easy to find one for the Mac - in fact would be interested if
anyone knows a good one to recommend.

Cosmo player do have a Mac beta, which has been a beta for about a year now.
http://www.cai.com/cosmo/

Also don't know about Linux or Unix, again if anyone has recommendations I'd
like to know so I can mention it on my VRML models page.

For a free gif animator, you can use Microsofts Gif Animator (sort of not
well known that it is available and free).
Review:
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/webgraph/img-r8.htm
Free tutorial
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,000HRA,.html

I've just searched the Microsoft site, and they no longer have the free
download page for it, and it is only available now as part of Image Composer
which you need Front Page 2000 to get.

It's not at ZDNet either, but still available at
Rockets downloads:
http://209.66.78.251/Details/Inte/gifsetup.htm

However I don't see how they can start calling it a free add on for a larger
package when it always has been totally free before! Leave it to your
conscience, what you think about that....

I have some VRML models of 3d models on my home page VRML site:
http://www.rcwalker.freeserve.co.uk/interactive_models_with_titles/index.htm

Also anaglyphs (the 3D red / green models), and ray traced drawings, which
you'll find if you look around.

(N.b. feel a bit hesitant mentioning my home page to eagle eared listeners
as it has some of my recorder recordings - I can hear intervals well, but
can't reproduce them so easily, not being a trained musician, and am aware
my notes aren't that steady and intonation isn't so good, and rhythm not
that steady, but the tunes are nice I think. I'll prob do some new
recordings some time - working on TS has helped me play a little better now
I think.)

I've done a bit of study of 4D solids. 4D is interesting because there are
more polytopes than in any other dimension, including 3 - after 4D there are
only the generalisations of the cube, octahedron and tetrahedron.

Amazing to see you all enthusing about 4D, and found some good links from
reading your postings, such as the contstruction of the 120 cell (4D equiv.
of dodecahedron), and the one on uniform polyhedra in 4D
http://members.aol.com/Polycell/uniform.html. Seems amazing to me - the 3D
uniform polyhedra are complex enough! If you are interested in the 3D
equivalent of these, there are some nice black and white photographs in the
book by Weninger who also explains how to construct paper models of 3D
solids of them, as well as simpler mathematical 3D figures and compounds.

There is a good list of VRML model sites at George Hart's Pavilion of
Polhedrality.
http://www.georgehart.com/pavilion.html

Includes Magnus Wnninger's home page (author of the book I mentioned):
http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/mwenninger/

George Hart's site site has an encyclopedic listing of many mathematical
models, but I think one of you have already mentioned it.

For mathematicians, a really good start is Coxeter's Introduction to
Geometry - though called an "introduction", it is pretty advanced (kind of
math. tradition - as you get on the books often get more and more titled
things like Introduction to, and less and less, things like Advanced, and
Further,....)

Has a good section on 4D solids.

Sorry, don't have any suggestions about Java apart from what Carl Lumma
said. Hope you get it sorted out.

I've found Java plug ins a bit tricky at times!

Robert