Skybox
A Skybox is a cube that is placed around the entire model and the 6 sides of the box are texture mapped with 6 images that are continuous at the seams; this creates the illusion of a 3D world around the model that rotates as the model is being rotated. The cube has to be significantly bigger than the limits of the model, so the user can zoom in to the model and see the 3D world in the background. The user creates the skybox and then navigates inside the cube to produce views like this:
To use this tool, first use the box tool to select a region around your current parts. In general, this box should be significantly larger than the parts. You need to select a part as the parent of the new geometry. For example, to make a skybox around the shuttle model, zoom out so the model is relatively small at the center of the screen and click Tools -> Box (resize the box if needed):
Select the Space Shuttle (Part ID 2) in the Parts List, click the skybox icon
and click Ok.
The tool will next prompt you for a texture image. Some example skybox formatted images can be found here. This image should be in a ‘cubemap’ format as shown here:
