Dome Software Tools
Just as a note, all this software runs under Linux and X Windows. All
of these also have WinDoze support as well, but as a Linux bigot, I
only use Linux apps.
CAD Software
- QCAD
- This is the best of the free CAD programs, and excellent for 2D
work. This is the only CAD package I found that is GPL'd, and
distributed as source.
- ACAD3D
- This is a commercial 3D CAD package, but their demo version is
mostly fully-functional. This is a pretty well know 3D CAD package,
and it can export files as POV, DXF, VRML, RenderMan, etc... I don't
like the GUI however, and I find it strange in usage.
- Cycas2
- This is another commercial 3D CAD package distributed as a
demo. My main gripe is they've disabled all the other file formats,
although I do like the usage of this progam, as it is optimized for
architectural drawings.
- Dome 4.6
- This is a version of Richard
J. Bono's Dome program, version 4.6. Although the Unix port was
already done, I tweaked things to (like adding a real Makefile) so it
would build on my Linux system. This program will generate a DXF or
POV file, describing the geometry of a dome skin.
- PovRay
- PovRay is a free rendering program that runs on many platforms,
and is used by both Dome46, Cycas2, and ACAD3D to render the 3D
graphics in a pretty "camera ready" form.