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VED 2.0 beta Manual
Copyright (c) 1996  Terry Sznober
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DISCLAMER:
  I am not liable for anything that happens to your or anyone else by having,
  or using this program.  You are not allowed to make any profit with this
  program without my written permission, this includes distributing it on
  any disks & cdrom.  Use at your own risk!
  As far as I know, it won't hurt your machine, but you have been warned.


INTRODUCTION:
=============
  This is VED (Vector Editor) version 2.0 beta.  Its is an object modeler
for use in the creation of real-time 3D applications.  Here is a list of its
features:

- totally mouse driven graphical user interface
- loads and saves objects with graphical open/save dialogs
- create/delete vertices and polygons (performs smart vertex deletion)
- change colors of polygons
- move vertices around
- polygon and vertex selection is extremely easy to do
- zoom object near and far
- rotate objects on any axis in any direction, with adjustable speed
- dot, wire frame, and solid polygon modes (uses 2D clipping)
- changeable views (top, bottom, left, right, front, back)
- object creation has never been so easy!

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MENUS:
======

FILE
  New - starts creating a new object
  Open - loads in a new object
  Save - saves the current object
  DOS - opens a DOS shell, type exit to return to editor
  Exit - quits the program (smart exit - asks to save if object modified)

VIEW
  Front - rotates object to see its front
  Back - rotates object to see its back
  Left - rotates object to see its left
  Right - rotates object to see its right
  Top - rotates object to see its top
  Bottom - rotate object to see its bottom

OPTIONS
  Lets you toggle visibility of vertices while in Wire and Polygon modes.
  Lets you adjust the speed at which the object will rotate.

MODE
  Dot - switches rendering mode to dots
  Wire - switches rendering mode to wire frame
  Polygon - switched rendering mode to polygon

INFO
  Shows how many vertices and polygons in current object

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TOOL BAR BUTTONS:
=================

CREATE VERTEX (dot with pencil pointing tip-down)
  Creates vertices one after another.  This tool requires the use of the
  keyboard.  Select the axis you wish to modify by pressing you 1, 2, 3 keys
  which modify the X, Y, Z axis, respectively.  To move the vertex along the
  X axis, hit the 1 key and move the mouse left and right.  To move the
  vertex along the Y axis, hit the 2 key and move the mouse up and down.  To
  move the vertex along the Z axis, hit the 3 key and move the mouse up and
  down.  When you are satisfied with the position of the vertex, hit the
  space bar to create the next one.  If you are finished placing your last
  vertex, hit the space bar to begin creating another one and then abort it
  by hitting your ESC key.  Also, if you just want to abort the current
  vertex you are creating, simply hit ESC.  So again, make sure you hit the
  space bar one more time after you position your last vertex because when
  you hit the escape key, the vertex you are currently editing will be lost!

DELETE VERTEX (dot with pencil pointing eraser-down)
  Move your mouse around and highlight the vertex you want to delete and then
  left click.  To stop just right click.  NOTE: if you try to delete a vertex
  with polygons attached to it, you will be asked whether you really want to
  delete it.

CREATE POLYGON (triangle with pencil pointing tip-down)
  Select 3 vertices in a row by highlighting each one and left clicking.
  You will then be shown a color chart where you can select the color of the
  polygon.  To stop just right click.

DELETE POLYGON (triangle with pencil pointing eraser-down)
  Selecct the polygon by moving the mouse cursor over it and left click.  To
  stop just right click.

PAINT POLYGON (triangle with paintbrush)
  Select the polygon by moving the mouse cursor over it and left click.  You
  will be shown a color chart where you can select the color of the polygon.
  To stop just right click.

MOVE VERTEX (dot with arrow)
  Select the vertex by highlighting it and left click, then follow same
  procedure as creating a vertex (use your 1,2,3, space bar, and ESC keys)

POLYGON INFO (triangle with quesiton mark)
  Tells you what color the polygon is.  Highlight the polygon by moving the
  mouse cursor over it.  To stop just right click.

VERTEX INFO (dot with question mark)
  Tells the coordinates of the vertex.  Highlight the vertex by moving the
  mouse cursor near it.  To stop just right click.

RESET OBJECT DISTANCE (Grover in his "NEAR!" position)
  Just resets object so that its origin is positioned at Z=(-1024).

CHANGE OBJECT DISTANCE (Grover in his "FAR!" position)
  Move the mouse backward and forward to move him near and far, respectively.

XYZ ALL
  Rotate object along all three axis.  Right click to stop.

XYZ NIL
  Reset object's rotation angles to zero (same as clicking View, Front).

X, Y, Z  CLOCKWISE / COUNTER-CLOCKWISE
  Rotates object along specified axis.  Right click to stop.

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File format:

First 3 bytes = "VED"
Next byte = major version number.  In this case it will be 0x02
Next byte = minor version number.  In this case it will be 0x00
Next 32-bit int will be the number of vertices in the object
Next will the list containing each vertex.  A vertex is defined as:
  16.16 fixedpoint value for X,
  16.16 fixedpoint value for Y,
  16.16 fixedpoint value for Z.
Next 32-bit int will be the number of polygons (triangles) in object
Next will be the list containing each polygon.  A polygon is defined as:
  32-bit int value for the index of first vertex in triangle,
  32-bit signed int value for the index of second vertex in triangle,
  32-bit signed int value for the index of third vertex in triangle,
  char value for the color of the polygon.


Thats it.

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Copyright (c) 1996  Terry Sznober

