Need help with custom element tweaks

[Michael Heidemann]

3) Is there a tutorial on how to calc the rotation matrix? I recall someone saying they use a spreadsheet to automate the matrix. In other words they enter XYZ scaling and rotations in 6 separate cells... and it generates the matrix. Have you ever heard of this?

That should not be too difficult
There are two different aim that the matrix can do for us:
1) SCALING
Just take the the unity matrix 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 and change the value 1 to 2 if you want to double the size etc.
1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 for example will generate a double hight (y-axis) part.
2) ROTATION
That is more difficult as you have to calculate depending on the angles of rotation each value. I found a webside that will do that for you (http://tools.wikimedia.de/~dschwen/tools...0%2Cz%3A50)

I hope this helps