Everyone! We've moved to WordPress.

CUBE: The Rollover Method Returns! Spin a cube in a 3d environment with your mouse!

Ok, so I know I promised no more updates, but this one is too cool. Basically, I combined Andy Pope's 3d rotation tutorial with the rollover method. The result is a free-floating cube which you can rotate by passing your mouse over it. Here's a choppy-ish video of what's going on. I promise however that it run smoothly on your computer. The choppiness is a result of the video's frame rate.

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.


The mechanism is similar the the election map and the details-on-demand graphs: the chart is placed on top of the hot spots to get the mouse's coordinates. In this case, the rollover pulls in the mouse's location and initiates a timer. The timer adjusts the rotation angles based on the mouse's location. Additionally, some fancy calculations in the timer process procedure give the rotation a "slowing down" effect. I urge you to open on the Visual Basic Editor and do some dissection, if you desire. Remember though, the Timer API is a bit finicky. Make sure to save often in case your Excel crashes while in the middle of your investigations.

The download file: Rotate Cube Rollover.xlsm

Have fun.

Comments: 1

  1. Wow, I don't usually get impressed but this is pretty cool, thanks for sharing... Mark Kubiszyn

    ReplyDelete