Copyright (C) 1986-2009 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.

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This Web site is dedicated to the thousands of "users" of my programs, those who have helped test my programs over the last 23 or so years, and especially those who shared their experiences with me.

You must read this notice: This is a licensed Web site (HTML document and associated files). You must read and agree to be legally bound in contract by the Terms of Use and conditions given in the End User License Agreement ("EULA"), Legal Notices, Instructions, Warnings, Disclaimers, and all other text in "SECTION: 0" of "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) before reading or using any of the information, software programs, and or files, contained in, linked to, and or associated with, "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files). Any use or "Beta Testing" of "This Web Site" constitutes your acknowledgment of your full agreement with the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") and your decision to have this current license supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings. Information and files in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) have been placed here so that long time users of "The Author's" programs DANCAD3D.COM (tm) , DANCAD87.EXE (tm), DANCINEL.EXE (tm), DANCINES.EXE (tm) , DANCAM.EXE (tm) , or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) could help proofread the text of the documentation files or screens displayed, and also help test data files, example files, and or any software programs that might be made available from time to time, to aid "The Author" in finding mistakes, bugs, and other errors, omissions, defects, mistakes, and faults. Everything in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) is "Beta Test", "Beta Code", Experimental, Preliminary, requires proofreading, or is being evaluated for possible revision, and is NOT warranted to be free of defect. To help "The Author" report any bugs, foul-ups, defects, or mistakes that you find, see "SECTION: 8" for instructions. "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) and all other files and programs by Daniel H. Hudgins are made available "AS IS" without warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. All offers and specifications are subject to change or discontinuation without notice of any kind. Please look over "SECTION: 8" of "This Web Site" before contacting "The Author."

SECTION: 4.20 is for some information and illustrations relating to example images of the various Display Modes that affect the way drawing elements are displayed.

The Perspective Display Modes relate to the way the lines and edges of the triangle elements are colored in and outlined. The Perspective Display Modes also control how line elements, triangle elements, or mixed elements will be processed for display.

See Section: 3.1.25.0 for a detailed discussion of issues relating to Perspective Display Modes, Printing Display Modes, and other issues related to this Section.

The Stereoscopic Display Modes relate to the way the right and left eye views will be formatted for display. Different stereoscopic viewing methods require different formatting of the two images, these formatting options are controlled through a code number. Various other values are associated with each formatting code number so as to optimize the display for each Stereoscopic Display Mode, and its relation to the particular elements being displayed. The Perspective Display Mode selected affects the appearance of the images used for the Stereoscopic Display Formatting, i.e. you can use all of the Perspective Display Modes with any of the Stereoscopic Display Modes giving a large variety of combinations, only some of which would be of interest generally.

See Section: 3.3.7.8 for a detailed discussion of issues relating to Stereoscopic Viewing Methods, Anaglyph glasses, and other issues related to this Section.

The modes available and the images they produce may be altered in other program revisions, so the images generated by the program version you have may not match the illustrations shown here. Variations in the code used in different program, revisions and versions can affect the results, so you should not expect the same results from different versions and revisions of the programs. The Author reserves the right to make any kind of changes at any time without notice.

Some Browsers may not display the larger size illustrations properly, so you may only be able to view the smaller sizes of each illustration. You should turn off the shrink-to-fit feature in your browser, if it has one, since that can distort or degrade the illustrations or make thin lines disappear.

The example macro code below illustrates how to generate Brightness to Tool Height Conversion for use when rendering a triangle element contoured surface into a line element tool path. The automatic output macro command, O from the Main Menu, used in conjunction with the Files Utilities BMP ASCII command off the Main Menu can be used to automatically code the necessary commands for this type of element conversion. See Appendix: B for more information about macro commands.

CONTOUR1.MAC (tm) is used in conjunction with CONTOUR2.MAC (tm) or CONTOUR3.MAC (tm) to convert image brightness into tool height contour lines. CONTOUR1.MAC (tm) makes the contour surface element out of triangles so that it can be rendered by using Perspective Display Mode 44 in such a way that the pixels render with their brightness in proportion to their height, with the highest being bright and the lowest being dark. Perspective Display Mode 54 can also be used for this sort of rendering with the added option of having the shading near and far points adjustable to do clipping and other brightness adjustments with.

This example macro code illustrates the use of Perspective Display Mode 44 in the conversion of Brightness to Tool Height contour lines. Since the relative proportions of the triangle element of the surface contours is lost in the conversion from rendered pixels to contour lines in the ASCII file of lines created, the MAGNIFY and OFFSET commands are required to adjust the converted contour lines so that the proportions conform to the sizes required. The dithering would normally be set to zero when rendering the surface element using Perspective Display Mode 44 unless you want a textured surface. Likewise the view point distance should be set to 1E18 in order to have the height of the contoured surface rendered along "parallel" lines.

The limitation of the rendering of the surface height data to about 250 shades of gray limits the surface finish quality, so objects with less than one inch of height might work best with this method. Greater accuracy of contoured surfaces might be obtained by using the BETWEENS and WEAVE commands, but not with the convenience of automatic conversion from an image file. In this example the ability of the Z-Buffer to reconcile overlapping triangles is taken advantage of to simplify the drawing of the contoured surface, i.e. the arrow buttons are put on top of the flat area around the central button, without having to make some cut out areas for them to sit within.

There is a preference to rendering the brightness values of the triangle surface element into a 24bpp BMP file rather than an 8bpp Pixel file because the M256 palette may produce a less satisfactory surface finish. Also the 24bpp BMP image save allows for oversampling the Z-Buffer to smooth some edges somewhat. Select video graphics mode BMP with the Main Menu Preview command to save a 24bpp BMP file directly, rather than selecting some other video graphics mode and rendering to the screen and then saving the screen to a BMP file.

VERSION v3.7L

TEXT

LOCATE 1 1 ECHO CONTOUR1.MAC Copyright (C) 2005 Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
LOCATE 1 3 ECHO This Macro makes a surface contour element for brightness to tool path
LOCATE 1 4 ECHO conversion from Perspective Display Mode 44 or 54.  I was written for
LOCATE 1 5 ECHO a revision of v3.7L and may need to be altered for use with others.

LOCATE 1 7 ECHO This Macro makes the triangle element, see CONTOUR2.MAC to make path.
LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:   0%

DELAY 1000

; OPEN as NEW file: CONTOUR1.MAC.  12:41:10 a.m., Thursday, March 24, 2005.

INITIALIZE
POLYGON 36 18 0.1 15 1 0 0 { This is element 1 }
# 1 OFFSET ZERO 2 0 0
# 1 LATHE D 180 180
# 1 CORRECT S 1
# 1 REVERT A

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:  10%

POLYGON 180 180 1.9 15 1 0 0 { This is element 2 }
#    2 ROTATE ZERO 90 0 0
# 2 FAN E 0 0 0
# 2 REVERT A

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:  20%

POLYGON 180 45 2.1 15 1 0 0 { This is element 3 }
# 3 FAN E 2.5 2.5 0

APPEND_LINE 2.5 0 0  2.5 2.5 0   1 1 160 0
APPEND_LINE 2.1 0 0  2.1 0 0     1 1 192 0
{ Triangle }
# 3 CORRECT L

APPEND_LINE 2.5 2.5 0 0 2.5 0 1 1 160 0
APPEND_LINE 0 2.1 0 0 2.1 0 1 1 192 0
{ Triangle }
# 3 CORRECT L

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:  30%

# 3 ROTATE ZERO 90 0 0

# 3 LINETYPE 15 1 0 0
# 3 COPY_ELEMENT_IN_WORKSPACE
# 4 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 4 ROTATE C 0 90 0
JOIN 3 4 { Join two elements }
# 3 COPY_ELEMENT_IN_WORKSPACE
# 4 OFFSET CURRENT 0 0 0
# 4 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 4 ROTATE C 0 180 0

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:  40%

POLYGON 180 45 0.4 15 1 0 0 { This is element 5 }
# 5 ROTATE ZERO 0 0 90
# 5 WINDOW_ELEMENT 240 1.0E-18 -1.0E+18 -1.0E+18 1.0E+18 1.0E+18 1.0E+18
# 5 ERASE_ELEMENT
# 5 MAGNIFY Z 1 1 0
# 5 LATHE D 360 360

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:  50%

BEGIN_NEW_ELEMENT { Number: 6 }
APPEND -0.5 -0.5 0 0.5 -0.5 0 1 1 0 0
APPEND 0.5 -0.5 0 0 0.5 0 1 1 0 0
APPEND 0 0.5 0 -0.5 -0.5 0 1 1 0 0
# 6 FAN E 0 -0.15 0.3
# 6 CENTER 0 0 0
# 6 ROTATE CURRENT 90 0 0
# 6 OFFSET CURRENT 0 0 1.25
# 6 OFFSET CURRENT 0 0 -0.05
# 6 LINETYPE 15 1 0 0
# 6 COPY_ELEMENT_IN_WORKSPACE
# 7 OFFSET CURRENT 0 0 0
# 7 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 7 ROTATE C 0 90 0
JOIN 6 7 { Join two elements }

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:  80%

# 6 COPY_ELEMENT_IN_WORKSPACE
# 7 OFFSET CURRENT 0 0 0
# 7 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 7 ROTATE C 0 180 0

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working:  90%

JOIN 0

LOCATE 1 9 ECHO Working: 100%

DELAY 1000

; END CONTOUR1.MAC for v3.7L

This example macro code uses the surface triangle element made by CONTOUR1.MAC to generate contour lines called chains of line segments. The PLOTTERIZE command is then used to make vertical extensions at the start and end of each contour line chain so that the tool starts above the material to be cut and ends above the material to be cut. The LINK command is then used to add linking line segments so that all the motions from the tool home starting point and back are drawn out as a continuous series of line segments without large gaps. After CONTOUR2.MAC has been run four elements are left in the workspace that you can display to examine, you should not display or save them as element zero, rather you should display or save them by using their individual element numbers, i.e. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

After this macro is run you should get four elements, element 1 will be the surface triangle element, element 2 will be the contour lines, element 3 will be the contour lines with the plotterized vertical extensions, and element 4 will be the linked tool path element. Since element 1 is just a front surface with no back, it needs to be viewed from the correct side, or you will not see anything or get error messages.

VERSION v3.7L

TEXT

LOCATE 1 1 ECHO CONTOUR2.MAC Copyright (C) 2005 Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
LOCATE 1 3 ECHO This macro converts the surface element made by CONTOUR1.MAC into
LOCATE 1 4 ECHO tool path elements using brightness to height conversion.

LOCATE 1 6 ECHO This Macro was written for a revision of v3.7L and may need to be
LOCATE 1 7 ECHO altered to be run under other revisions.

LOCATE 1  9 ECHO See CONTOUR3.MAC for making a depth reverse of this tool path.
LOCATE 1 10 ECHO See CONTOUR4.MAC for display of these tool paths to BMP files.

LOCATE 1 12 ECHO Working...

DELAY 1000

; OPEN as NEW file: CONTOUR2.MAC.   9:25:40 p.m., Thursday, March 24, 2005.

RUN CONTOUR1.MAC

TEXT

LOCATE 1 1 ECHO CONTOUR2.MAC Copyright (C) 2005 Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.

LOCATE 1 3 ECHO Working...

# 1 MAGNIFY Z 10 1 1 ; boost x by 10 for low res contours

{ Setup of VARs for Preview for saving BMP file mode }
LET  B24OVER_.VAR = 6 { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24UNDER.VAR = 1 { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24XPIX_.VAR = 1600 { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24YPIX_.VAR = 120  { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24DITHE.VAR = 0    { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET$ B24BACK_.VAR = ""   { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET$ B24NAME_.VAR = "CT2_160A.BMP"
PALETTE 1 0 0 { Preview or Save Pixel }
GRAPH_MODE F0B24 { Preview or Save Pixel }
# 1 DISPLAY -90 0 0 -1.0E+18 24 44 0 0
{ --------------------------------- }

UTILITY BMP256_TO_ASCII 100 CT2_160A.BMP CT2_160A.ASC { BMP to ASCII }
LOAD ASCII CT2_160A.ASC { Element 8 }

# 2 MAGNIFY Z 0.1 1 1 ; null 10x x boost.
# 1 MAGNIFY Z 0.1 1 1

# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 2 OFFSET CURRENT -80 -60 0
# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 2 MAGNIFY C 0.04 0.04 0.04
# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 2 MAGNIFY C 1 1 0.1071429
# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0.216
# 2 MAGNIFY C 1 1 0.65573
# 2 OFFSET CURRENT 0 0 -0.074

# 2 PLOTTERIZE 1 0 0 1 3 5
# 3 LINK_LINES Y -3.5 -2.7 1.5 -3.5 -2.7 1.5 4
{ linked element is element #4 at this point }
{ Do not display all four elements at the same time }

; END CONTOUR2.MAC for v3.7L

This example macro code uses the surface triangle element made by CONTOUR1.MAC to generate contour lines called chains of line segments. After the contour lines are produced the FLIP command is used to mirror the Z axis in order to produce a reverse form of the one made by CONTOUR2.MAC. The PLOTTERIZE command is then used to make vertical extensions at the start and end of each contour line chain so that the tool starts above the material to be cut and ends above the material to be cut. The LINK command is then used to add linking line segments so that all the motions from the tool home starting point and back are drawn out as a continuous series of line segments without large gaps. After CONTOUR2.MAC has been run four elements are left in the workspace that you can display to examine, you should not display or save them as element zero, rather you should display or save them by using their individual element numbers, i.e. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

After this macro is run you should get four elements, element 1 will be the surface triangle element, element 2 will be the flipped contour lines, element 3 will be the flipped contour lines with the plotterized vertical extensions, and element 4 will be the linked mirrored tool path element. Since element 1 is just a front surface with no back, it needs to be viewed from the correct side, or you will not see anything or get error messages.

You will see here that the flipping of the contour lines is done before the PLOTTERIZE and LINK commands are used, since otherwise the tool would be starting from the impossible position of being below the work-piece. Making a mirror image might also be possible by using the CRT NEGATIVE command to reverse the tone values in the rendered image of the surface element before conversion to contour lines, although you might need to change the background color from black to white in the rendering of the surface element.

VERSION v3.7L

TEXT

LOCATE 1 1 ECHO CONTOUR3.MAC Copyright (C) 2005 Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
LOCATE 1 3 ECHO This macro converts the surface element made by CONTOUR1.MAC into
LOCATE 1 4 ECHO tool path elements using brightness to mirrored height conversion.

LOCATE 1 6 ECHO This Macro was written for a revision of v3.7L and may need to be
LOCATE 1 7 ECHO altered to be run under other revisions.

LOCATE 1  9 ECHO See CONTOUR2.MAC for making a depth mirror of this tool path.
LOCATE 1 10 ECHO See CONTOUR4.MAC for display of these tool paths to BMP files.

LOCATE 1 12 ECHO Working...

DELAY 1000

; OPEN as NEW file: CONTOUR3.MAC. Thursday, March 26, 2005.

RUN CONTOUR1.MAC

TEXT

LOCATE 1 1 ECHO CONTOUR3.MAC Copyright (C) 2005 Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.

LOCATE 1 3 ECHO Working...

# 1 MAGNIFY Z 10 1 1 ; boost x by 10 for low res contours

{ Setup of VARs for Preview for saving BMP file mode }
LET  B24OVER_.VAR = 6 { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24UNDER.VAR = 1 { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24XPIX_.VAR = 1600 { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24YPIX_.VAR = 120  { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET  B24DITHE.VAR = 0    { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET$ B24BACK_.VAR = ""   { Preview for BMP F0B24 mode }
LET$ B24NAME_.VAR = "CT2_160A.BMP"
PALETTE 1 0 0 { Preview or Save Pixel }
GRAPH_MODE F0B24 { Preview or Save Pixel }
# 1 DISPLAY -90 0 0 -1.0E+18 24 44 0 0
{ --------------------------------- }

UTILITY BMP256_TO_ASCII 100 CT2_160A.BMP CT2_160A.ASC { BMP to ASCII }
LOAD ASCII CT2_160A.ASC { Element 8 }

# 2 MAGNIFY Z 0.1 1 1 ; null 10x x boost.
# 1 MAGNIFY Z 0.1 1 1

# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 2 OFFSET CURRENT -80 -60 0
# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 2 MAGNIFY C 0.04 0.04 0.04
# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0
# 2 MAGNIFY C 1 1 0.1071429
# 2 CENTER_ON_POINT 0 0 0.216
# 2 MAGNIFY C 1 1 0.65573
# 2 OFFSET CURRENT 0 0 -0.074

# 2 FLIP Z Z { this flips, i.e. mirrors, the Z axis of the tool path lines }

# 2 PLOTTERIZE 1 0 0 1 3 5
# 3 LINK_LINES Y -3.5 -2.7 1.5 -3.5 -2.7 1.5 4
{ linked element is element #4 at this point }
{ Do not display all four elements at the same time, use their number }

; END CONTOUR3.MAC for v3.7L

This example macro code illustrates Macro code that can convert the elements created by CONTOUR2.MAC and CONTOUR3.MAC into BMP files for viewing or printing. You could also just use the Drawing Editor or the Main Menu Preview command to look at the elements after running CONTOUR2.MAC and CONTOUR3.MAC.

The files produced are as follows:

• DC20640A.BMP Flat on view of surface brightness using Mode 44.

• DC20640P.BMP Perspective view of surface with lighting and reflections using Mode 64.

• DC20640B.BMP Perspective view of contour lines using Mode 1.

• DC20640C.BMP Perspective view of contour lines plus plotterized extensions using Mode 1.

• DC20640D.BMP Perspective view of plotterized and linked contour lines using Mode 1.

• DC30640D.BMP Flipped plotterized and linked contour lines using Mode 1.