Round/Elliptical Objects - Cone

Cone shaped objects are easily added to the job file using the Add-Object-Round/Elliptical-Cone command. Cones may taper up or down depending on how the object height is specified. A positive object height (e.g. 5) will result in a cone whose height is above the base elevation. A negative object height (e.g., -5) will result in a cone whose height is below the base elevation. Once the cone properties have been specified, the cone is created by locating the center point of cone base and then dragging the cursor to specify the cone's radius.

You may truncate a cone so that it is open on both sides, or just the top, if desired. This is achieved by specifying a smaller Trim Height than Cone Height.

Cones may be completely or partially circular and can have an aspect ratio other than 1 applied to them so that they are elliptical, if desired. The aspect ratio defines the ratio of the left-right radius relative to the top-bottom radius of the object. A ratio = 1 produces a round sphere. A ratio > 1 produces an ellipsoidal base in the left-right direction. A ratio < 1 produces an ellipsoidal base in the top-bottom direction.

Cones may be open or closed as necessary. Open cones may be reflective on the inside or outside as long as the object is opaque (transmission = 0). Cones that are transmissive are automatically reflective on both sides.

1. From the Add menu select Object - Round/Elliptical - Cone, or from the Rooms/Objects Toolkit click the arrow adjacent to the Round/Elliptical Object button . The secondary menu will appear. Select Cone.
2. Specify a unique label for the object up to 32 characters long. The default label will be Object_1. Unless changed, subsequent labels will be Object_2, Object_3, etc. If a number is used for the label, subsequent labels will be incremented accordingly.
3. If desired, a description may be entered, up to 80 characters long. Meaningful descriptions including size and color will be useful for schedules.
4. The object will be created in AGi32 using the selected Wire Frame Color. This color is not used in AGi32's Render mode, it is only used to represent the object's shape in the graphics window. By default, this color is blue. To change it, click in the color cell. The Color dialog will appear for your use.
5. If surface labeling is desired, click on the Labeling button. A separate dialog will appear for specification of text labels for the object and/or its surfaces.
6. Specify the height of the cone in the Cone Height text box. Enter a positive cone height to create a cone that tapers up. Enter a negative cone height to create a cone that tapers down.

7. To truncate a cone, enter the height from the base to the trim in the Trim Height text box.
8. All object surfaces are assigned a color. By default, the surfaces are assigned a shade of gray corresponding to a reflectance value of 0.5. You may change the reflectance of a surface by simply typing a new value in the Reflectance cell for the Top, Sides, or Bottom. You may change surface color and its corresponding reflectance by clicking in the Color cell for the Top, Sides or Bottom. The Color Selection dialog will appear allowing you to select surface colors based on user defined reflectances.
9. You may assign a texture to the surface by clicking in the Texture cell. The Select Texture dialog will appear so that you may choose a texture from the Textures database. Alternately, you may browse for a texture anywhere on your system or assign a texture already in use on another surface in the job file. Once the desired texture is selected, you'll determine how the texture should be applied to the surface. Textures may be stretched across the entire surface, applied in a grid pattern or assigned a Static size (representing real dimensions) and tiled on the surface accordingly. In addition, you may opt to rotate the texture on the surface.

To delete a texture from the surface, Ctrl-click in the Texture cell and select the Delete key on your keyboard. When a texture is deleted from a surface, its correlated color and reflectance are used as the current color and reflectance.

• To apply additional surface properties (such as Texture, Transmittance, Transparency, Luminance, Specularity, Color Bleed control or surface specific Mesh Levels) to any of the object surfaces, you must first position the object in the environment. Then, either Edit the object and select the Surface Edit button in the Edit dialog or use the Edit Surface command to select the object.
• Removing Surfaces - Removing surfaces allows you to append other surfaces to factory defined shapes and create more complex models. Surfaces may only be removed from an object after it has been initially located in the environment. Surfaces may be removed by Editing the object and selecting the Surface Edit button in the Edit dialog or using the Edit Surface command once it has been placed.

10. If the object shape is elliptical in the X or Y plane, enter the appropriate aspect ratio in the X-Y Aspect Ratio text box. The aspect ratio is specified as the ratio of the X radius to the Y radius. If the object is longer in the X direction, the aspect ratio will be > 1. If the object is longer in the Y direction than in the X, the aspect ratio is < 1.
11. For example, to create an elliptical cone 4 feet long (diameter in the X direction) and 2 feet wide (diameter in the Y direction), an aspect ratio of 2 would be specified. When the object X radius is prompted for a radius of 2 would be given. The resulting cone will be 4 feet long (X radius = 2) and 2 feet wide (Y radius = 1).
12. To specify an open cone, click in the Open Cone selection box. Circular open cones do not have a base. Partially circular open cones do not have a base or vertical sides. Specify whether the cone is reflective on the inside or outside for open cones.
13. The Surfaces Same Attributes button will cause all surfaces to take on the color/reflectance/texture of the first surface in the list.
14. Click OK to return to the graphics window and locate the base center of the cone. Before clicking, you will have the opportunity to change the Z coordinate of the base, if desired. Move the cursor into the Z-Coord text box and enter the appropriate value. Then, click the left mouse button at the center of the base.
    • Note: If the Z-Coord value is not equal to zero,a warning icon will be displayed to alert the user to this condition.
15. Drag the cursor to specify the cone radius and left click again. Alternately, you may specify the radius length from the keyboard.
16. Specify the object’s ending angle with the left mouse button. This angle determines the circular segment to create. Enclosed cones are created by entering an ending angle that corresponds to the original radius endpoint. Segmented cones are created by dragging the cursor to indicate its horizontal cross section.