NAME

       lightspeed - Shows how objects moving at speeds near the speed of light look like.

SYNOPSIS

       lightspeed [-hsa] [object]

DESCRIPTION

       Light  Speed! is a simulator which can illustrate the effects of special relativity on the
       appearance of objects travelling at ultra-high speeds. Depending on the particular  speed,
       and  one's  point  of  view,  relativistic effects can cause the object to appear shorter,
       longer, brighter, darker, deformed and/or off-color.

CONTROLS

       To adjust the velocity, use the slider along the right edge of the main  window.  You  can
       also  type  in a value, using the entry at the top right (press <Enter> once it is in). To
       change the units shown, press the button to the right of the  entry,  and  it  will  cycle
       through a small list.

       The  object  travels  in  the  positive-x  direction,  which  can  be  visually checked by
       activating Objects -> Coordinate axes.

       Most interactive control is performed with the mouse. By holding down a particular button,
       and dragging the pointer around, various camera motions can be obtained:

          Left button:  Revolve camera around view target

          Left button + Shift key:  Revolve view target around camera

          Middle button:  Translate camera left, right, up or down

          Right button:  Dolly in or out

       The  first  and  last  motions  are  generally  the most useful.  Should the camera become
       difficult to control at any point, it may be re-initialized by selecting Camera  ->  Reset
       View.

OPTIONS

       -h, --help
              Print this help screen

       -s, --simple
              Use simplified interface

       -a, --advanced
              Use advanced interface (default)

       object 3D file to load on startup (.3DS or .LWO)

                                            April 2000                              LIGHTSPEED(1)