What the heck is a Buckyball?

A Buckyball, or Buckminsterfullerene, is really a carbon-60 molecule. It is the most symmetrical molecule possible. The 60 atoms are arranged like the vertices of a truncated icosahedron. An icosahedron is a regular polyhedron with 20 faces. It has 12 vertices, so to truncate it we need a regular polyhedron with 12 faces, like a dodecahedron. Happily, Lightwave comes with a Platonic Solids macro that lets us create both the icosahedron and the dodecahedron.

So how do I make one?

• Pop up the Platonic Solids macro and ask it for an icosahedron
• Go to another layer
• Pop up the Platonic Solids macro and ask it for a dodecahedron
• Put the icosahedron on the background layer.
• Fiddle with the dodecahedron until its flat bits line up with the pointy bits on the icosahedron
• Do a Boolean Intersect

Now you're left with a spunky truncated icosahedron. All that's left to do is to hit Remove Polygons and Particle Clone some spheres over the remaining points. Voila! Instant Buckyball. - GLYPH