Running \texttt{mpost} on \texttt{threeddice.mp} produces 26 figure files.
Six of them are are \texttt{die3d-1.mps}%
\footnote{If your \texttt{mpost} version is less that 0.9, you will
get figure files with names like \texttt{threeddice.1}. You should
update your \TeX{} system.}
through \texttt{die3d-6.mps}. These are pictures of a single die face
with the number of dots indicated by the numerical part. Three of these
would look the same if rotated by multiples of $90$ degrees. The other
three could look different. It is up to the users to perform this
rotation if they want a different view.
The twelve files with 2-digit numerical part are 3D pictures of dice with
two faces showing, as if your were looking directly at a horizontal
edge. You will have to rotate it $\pm90$ degrees if you want the edge to be
vertical, or $180$ degrees if you prefer the positions of the top and
front face to be exchanged.
The eight files with 3-digit numerical suffix are 3D pictures of dice with
three faces showing, as if your were looking directly at one of the
corners. They show a top face and a left and right face flanking a
vertical edge. You can get 16 other views by rotating them $\pm120$
degrees. These rotations put one of the side faces on top.
\section{Modifications}
These figures were taken from an actual right handed die, and are all
the permissable views of such a die, apart from size of dots and the
actual orientation of the patterns of dots. As near as I could determine
from internet searches, there are no official standards for the
following.
\begin{itemize}
\item The 2-spot face has dots in opposite corners, but which two
corners? On my die, if the 1-spot is on top, the 2-spot to the
left and the 3-spot to the right (figure
\texttt{die3d-123.mps}), the dots on the 2-spot face are in
upper left and lower right. It seems it could just as well have
been the other two corners.
\item Similar question for the 3-spot face: three dots in a diagonal
between opposite corners, but which two corners? In the previous
example (figure \texttt{die3d-123.mps}), the diagonal is from
lower left to upper right.
\item The 6-spot face has two lines of three, parallel to two edges,
but which two edges? In \texttt{die3d-246.mps} the lines of dots are
horizontal, but it seems they could just as well have been
vertical.
\end{itemize}
If you want some other orientation of these faces you will need to edit
\texttt{threeddice.mp}: for the 2-spot face exchange the definitions of
\texttt{pips2} and \texttt{pips7}; for the 3-spot face exchange
\texttt{pips3} and \texttt{pips8}; for the 6-spot face exchange
\texttt{pips6} and \texttt{pips11}.
You can also change the size of the dots by giving a different value to
\texttt{dot_diam}. The dice have rounded corners, you can change their
radius by changing \texttt{corner_rad}. The dots are placed so there is
at least \texttt{face_margin} of space between the dots and the straight
edge of the face. You can change this variable as well.
For other effects, you are on your own. A common requirement is that
faces with fewer dots have larger dots. This is relatively easy to do,
but requires changing the definitions of the 9 picture variables
\texttt{pips1} through \texttt{pips11}.
Naturally, the \texttt{graphics} and \texttt{graphicx} packages let you
scale these as you want. If you would prefer to change the unscaled
sizes, edit \texttt{threeddice.mp} to change \texttt{die_size} from 1cm to
the desired size.
Finally, to get views of a left-handed die, simply reflect the views of
the right-handed die.
