Hi Chuck,
You're probably not getting much in the way of responses because it seems you're going to need a lot of hand-holding, kind of like someone who knows nothing about particle physics but would like to learn about it.
Why don't try try some simple exploring with the tools in Balloon and see what you can do with it. That may lead to solid questions, and perhaps answers from the list.
Michael
P.S. A good place to start is matrix transformations points in a plane. Then move on to transforming 3D points onto a 2D picture plane.