In DOS, change to the directory where the file combo.exe is located. At the command prompt, type combo -i followed by the name of the file you wish combo to read from. If you wish to specify a file name to which the output will be saved, you may also use -o followed by the name of the file you wish combo to write to. By default, combo reads from foo.sps and writes to bar.sps.
When combo is executed, two windows appear--the viewer, illilevel, and the editor, iLevelEditor--with the illilevel window active. You may resize the windows by dragging the edges, or maximize and minimze using the buttons in the upper right hand corner as with any Windows application.
illilevel automatically detects the position of your mouse in relation to the origin (specified by a small circle in the center of the window) which begins the image orbiting around the origin along that vector. To maintain the object's current position, move the mouse to the origin.
Press f to freeze the image in the window. Hit f again to unfreeze.
Press Z to return the image to its default position.
Press W to clear the onscreen menu.
Press the F1 key (from the illilevel window) to save the current image.
Press the Esc key to exit the program.
You need a (three button) mouse and a keyboard to successfully navigate in the illilevel viewer.
To view the image from another angle, move the mouse until the image is oriented the way you want it. (Note: since the image is orbiting around the origin, one side of the object will always be closer to you than the other side.)
You can zoom in by pressing the middle mouse button and zoom out by holding down the Shift key and pressing the middle mouse button at the same time (if you have a three button mouse--otherwise you must use the keyboard to zoom).
You can also rotate the image about the origin by pressing the left or right mouse buttons.
Once you have stabilized the image by moving the mouse to the origin, you may use these keys to move the image in the window:
The left and right arrow keys can be used to move the image left and right.
The up and down arrow keys zoom in or out, respectively.
Page Up and Page Down keys move the image up and down.
Note: You do not have to hold down the keys to continue the action--just tap it once and then hit the End key to stop the motion.
Use the spacebar to toggle between Flying and Control mode. In Control mode, the object rotates about its own axis, allowing you to see all sides of the object. In Flying mode, the object maintains its orientation with respect to you, which allows you to fly around and through the object.
v Toggles between normal and binocular mode
n/N Adjusts the space between the two images in binocular mode
On the screen, you will see a menu of options that you can control. Each of these keys will automatically increment or decrement when pressed, and will continue if the key is held down. You may also enter a numerical value from the keyboard and then the key for the variable you want to change.
Holding the Shift button down while pressing any of these keys reverses the action:
| s/S | Change the zoom speed |
| q/Q | Change the rotational speed |
| o/O | Change the focal length |
| i/I | Change your size in relation to the world |
| g/G | Slice the image |
| a/A | Change the ambient lighting on the object |
| t/T | Recenters image |
| r/R | Compress or expand the image |
| d/D | Change the plaid design |
| < > | Used for 3D picking (not necessary with the use of the iLevelEditor) |
With the iLevelEditor, you can see a cross section of the object, one level at a time. You can move points in the editor window and see the results simultaneously in the viewer window.
-Use the up and down arrow keys to change the level you are viewing.
-Use the left mouse button to drag a point to a new position.
-You may also flip the curve about its x- and z- axes by pressing the x and z keys.