Math

I know people have created tools for making giant domes and spheres an whatnot. But I was wondering if anyone knew the actual math behind it. Because in the end, the tools are not perfect and I also find it most interesting to know how it was done.

Measurements are from the center of mass so you need to consider the width/length/height of objects. This is why walls often look wrong on the corners because people are failing to deduct the width of the walls. The more complex domes and such come from distorting the prim to get an appearance of a bigger radius, but there's some manipulation involved in getting it all to fit together, and you have sheer and such. I think the best way to learn the intricacies of it all is to just go hands on. Pay attention to how things lay when you rough it out and you'll see the patterns which indicate the right measures. I've mentored some people on some basic builds and they started getting the hang of it, and I'm still learning too. I will say it's best to start simple and build things you can complete in relatively short time before jumping into a big project you'll never finish. When you're ready to move up to a big project you'll know it ...

I believe Izanagi is looking for maths behind building geodesic domes (i.e. multiple triangular prims) such as described here:
http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=155838&highlight=geodesic


Unfortunately I never quite understood the maths behind it myself. Look up some of the maths websites, I'm sure they'll have a good deal of information. (will post some links on my break)

Edit: forgot that BBcode is disabled

First port of call was Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geodesic_dome

Wikipedia didn't go into the maths but the external links section at the foot of the page looks like it hosts some gems, noted below are ones which may prove useful:

http://www.tekcad.com/monkeyhouse/geodesics/
http://www.cjfearnley.com/fuller-faq-4.html
http://housing.byrene.com/Geodesic_Polyhedra
http://housing.byrene.com/Geodesic_Dome_Notes

Thanks! You all have been more than helpful.