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Coordinate Swap for AC3D

Latest release
Download Windows version 1.0.1
Download Linux version 1.0.1*
Download source code 1.0.1

* NOTE: Courtesy of AJ MacLeod, the Linux version was compiled and linked on a Debian 3.0 install. If this does not work for you, the source code has been proven to compile/link under Linux, so you may wish to download the source code and compile for your system.

Description

Coordinate Swap will exchange the X/Y/Z coordinates of the selected vertices. This appears to rotate/move the vertices around the origin, but it is actually substituting the numeric axis values. For example, if the dialog is set to swap where X = X, Y = Z, and Z = Y, then the selected vertices will have their Y and Z values switched.

This can have the side-effect of flipping normals. Coordinate Swap automatically detects when normals should be flipped where possible.

Coordinate Swap was originally authored for saving TargetWare geometry, where the Y and Z coordinates needed to be swapped.

AC3D versions prior to version 5 have not been tested with this script.

Known Issues

• If all geometry is flat and lies on the X, Y, or Z plane, automatic detection of flipped surfaces may not succeed.
• If surfaces are flipped during a coordinate swap, an additional "Undo" step is generated when the surfaces are flipped.

Installation

Copy the coordswap.tcl and coordswap.p files to your AC3D plugins folder (for example, if using Windows, C:\Program Files\AC3D5\plugin) and (re)start AC3D.

You will find the "Coordinate swap..." menu item under the "Tools" menu.

Usage

Coordinate Swap works on the selected vertices. Simply select in the interface which axes to swap. Use the "negate" to "flip" the geometry.

All coordinate swapping causes what appears to be flipping/mirroring about the origin (0,0,0). Here are a few examples of flipped geometry:

All examples show what happend when a coordinate swap is enacted for the entire object.

Default geometry
Swap Y to Z Swap Z to Y This is the setting for saving AC3D geometry to be imported in TargetWare. this sets the Y coordinate of each vertex to the value of Z, and sets the Z coordinate of each vertex to the value of Y.
Negate X This has the net effect of flipping the object geometry along the X axis.
Negate X Negate Y Negate Z This flips the object along all 3 axes.

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