Torus parmeters are baffling

Hello,

Being a masochist I am working on a scheme to bring Maya baked textures into SL. I'm working through the mapping of SL prim corresponding Maya shape. Fun... not. Could someone please explain how SL Hole Size is parameterized. It really makes my head hurt.

Cheers,
Doug

So umm... do you mean that the effects of the Hole X and Hole Y settings get a bit confusing? Because it goes like this...

HOLE Y- ranging from .00 to .50, this setting determines the width along the Y (and Z) axis based on a percentage of the prim's total size - i.e. edits the distance from the outside to the hole. Only the size of the center hole changes, leaving the outer size quite the same (while moving the middle of the path).

HOLE X- ranging from .00 to 1.00, this other setting determines the width along the X axis based on a percentage of the prim's size. So for example, a prim with Hole Size X of .8 and X Size of 10m would actually be 8m across in the X direction (except, after Twist is added...).

TWIST- It's good to note that after Hole Y and Hole X are applied, but before the final Size proportions are assigned, SL applies Twist, which rotates (clockwise, assuming you Begin higher than you End) around the middle of the path (the location of which may be changed by the Hole Y setting). Getting the Twist to rotate the right elliptical shape (or rectangular or triangular if you're using a tube or ring) is the only major use of playing with the Hole X setting.

Al Sonic,

Thanks for the assist. Very helpful.

Douglass, you may have had a headache before Al posted..........but now I have one.

In short, "Hole Size" is a misnomer... while these values do affect the size of the hole in the "donut," they directly apply to the width and height of the donut's cross-section. Does that make more sense?

Ok,

Peggy and other torus tormented souls I think I've got an explanation that should help. Here goes:

Rez a torus, place it somewhere. The default rezzed state of the torus in SL is kinda kooky.
X,Y,Z = 0.5, 1, 1 (meters)
Hole Size X = 0.80 (percentage)
Hole Size Y = 0.40 (percentage)

Ah, looks more like a donut huh? Yum.

Now attach thinking cap and read on.

IMPORTANT: The hole size controls are dimensionless percentages!

Interpret Hole Size Y thusly: "The distance along the y-axis from the outer edge of the donut to the outer edge of the hole is 40% of the total width of the donut. This value can not exceed 0.5 (50%). A setting of 0.5 is known in the torus industry as hole annihilation.

Note: Hole Size Y also controls Hole Size Z. They are bound together in a holey torus hell.

Interpret Hole Size X thusly: The diameter of the donut along x-axis as a percentage of the x-dimension (above, X is 1 meter) of the torus. By making my Hole.X 80% it makes that radius along the x-axis 40% which is exactly the same as the Hole.Y along the y-axis resulting in a nice, plump and round donut.

Wow, my head is throbbing after writing this up. Is this insane. Yes. Could it be easier. Yes.

Note: never, ever touch Twist, Top Shear, or any other demented, masochistic torus controls. If you do, your head will indeed explode.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Doug