SKULL.EXE README 17th June 2002

To Install

Ensure you have at least 4Mb of free disc space. The unpacked zip file is that big.
extract 'viewer.zip' to any - preferably empty - directory using WinZip or whatever. (The program will write nothing to the Windows registry or create any other files. To remove it, you can simply delete it - no harm will result.)
Continue as below....

Simply double click 'skull.exe' and the program will run, assuming that the files 'skull.sku' & 'metal.sku' are in the same folder/directory. They will be, when the zip.file 'viewer.zip' is extracted. If they are not, or there is some other problem, then the program will terminate.

The program begins by showing a small DOS window, then the actual viewing window. On closing the program (click the 'X' in the upper right of the viewing window to close - there is no menu) you will need to close the DOS window by selecting it and pressing any key.

The units of measurement are arbitrary. There is no scale attached.

The Controls are as follows:

You may want to print out this page to get a listing. The general principle is that the 'shifted' (upper case) version of a key undoes what the 'unshifted' (lower case) version does. Thus, 'r' undoes 'SHIFT+r' (='R') etc.

up & down arrow keys:
move the viewer towards /away from the origin.

page up/page down keys:
move the viewer higher/lower vertically.

space key :
cycles through levels of detail

left & right mouse buttons:
zoom in/out.

'w' & 'W':
zoom in/out

'x' 'y' 'z' keys and SHIFT + 'x' 'y' 'z' keys (ie X,Y & Z) :
move the point at which the viewer is looking relative to standard x y z axes.

'r' 'g' 'b' keys
lower red green blue colour component (SHIFT + same key to increase colour component. (ie 'r' lowers red, 'R' = SHIFT+'r' raises red).

'a' & 'A' :
lower (raise) the step in the angle as the viewer rotates around the object. This is shown in the information on screen as 'ANGLESTEP'. It is possible to set it to zero. If so, the left & right arrow keys have no effect, since you are rotating around the skull by zero degrees.

'l' (ell) toggles visibility of the 3 co-ordinate axes. (red = x axis, green =y axis, blue = z axis)

'f' & 'F':
decrease/increase distance at which the object is no longer rendered.

The Screen Information

LX, LY, LZ give the point at which the viewer is looking. (Change with x y z X Y Z)
PLX PLY PLZ give the location of the viewer (Change with the arrow keys. Left/right to rotate around the object, up/down to move vertically).
ANGLESTEP gives the increment in the degree of rotation about the origin. (Change with a / A).

JFK / X-Ray Related

The 3D density data contained in the .sku files was extracted from reproductions of the enhanced JFK autopsy x-rays. This is one source of error, as the enhancement process messed with the apparent densities substantially. The other source of error is that there is simply insufficient info. in those two x-rays to permit a definitve reconstruction of the actual state of affairs. The process I used effectively 'smeared out' the densities over all possible values compatible with the x-rays.

The bright white 'dots' represent the metal in the skull. The 'smearing' problem (above) still exists for these elements, but in some cases it was possible to come up with a definitive location for a particular fragment.

Executable generated with Metrowerks CodeWarrior.

Comments etc to:

paul.seaton@btinternet.com