CU Amiga Super CD-ROM 14/CU Amiga Magazine's Super CD-ROM 14 (1997)(EMAP Images)(GB)(Track 1 of 3)[!][issue 1997-09].iso/VistaPro/Documentation/VP3Manual.TXT

Text File | 1997-07-14 | 233KB | 6,111 lines

                         VISTAPRO 3.05

                          USER MANUAL

                   INTRODUCTION TO VISTAPRO

                        GETTING STARTED

                  Vistapro 3.0 Installation

Before installing Vistapro, you should be aware that
Vistapro requires a minimum of four megabytes of memory to
run and at least six megabytes to access the new AGA modes.
If you are installing Vistapro onto floppies, format three
blank disks before installing Vistapro (leave them with the
name Empty). If you are installing onto a hard disk,
Vistapro (including its associated DEM files, sample
scripts, etc.) takes approximately three megabytes of hard
disk space.

If you have DCTV or HAM-E display devices and are installing
Vistapro for the first time, select Intermediate as your
user level when the Installer prompts you. The appropriate
support files will then be installed for you.

Insert the Vistapro Program Disk into any available disk
drive. Double click on the disk icon to open it. Double
click on the Install icon found on the Vistapro Program
Disk. The Installer will ask you several questions about
your system and whether or not you want Vistapro installed
on floppies. After installation is complete, you are ready
to run Vistapro 3.0.

                       A Quick Tour

Vistapro makes pictures of landscapes from two different
types of data. Pictures of real landscapes are made from
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
data. You can also explore billions of imaginary fractal
landscapes generated from data produced by Vistapro itself.
Starting with the control screen, you see a rectangular
picture bordered by gray on the left two-thirds of the
screen. This contains a topographic map of a landscape that
you can explore. Vistapro's topographic map uses shades of
green to represent the lowest altitudes, browns to represent
the middle altitudes, and gray-whites for the highest
altitudes. You control Vistapro using the buttons on the
right side of the screen.

To get acquainted with Vistapro, move the red crosshair to
the Camera button and click the left mouse button. Note that
the Camera button appears to be indented, which means that
the crosshair will now place the camera (the small n on the
map) when you click the left mouse button over the
topographic map. Note that the X, Y and Z coordinates within
the boxes next to the X, Y and Z buttons, change each time
you click on a new camera location. The Z coordinate shows
the altitude of your camera. It is automatically set to 30
meters above the point that you clicked on. When you have
your camera placed where you want it, add several hundred
units to the Z altitude by clicking on the numerical value
and typing in the new number. The extra altitude puts the
camera far enough above the surface to reduce the size of
polygons in the foreground. Next, click on the Target
button, then click on the topographic map to place the
target. A small + appears on the map to identify the target
location. The manual contains information on how to use all
the other controls but for now, click on the CMap button.
This causes Vistapro's Color Control Panel to appear. This
control panel is used for adjusting the colors, contrast and
brightness used to paint the landscape. Since this is merely
a tour, don't change any of the settings. Click on OK at the
bottom left part of the screen to return to the primary
control screen. Using the right mouse button, go to the top
left part of the primary control screen to view Vistapro's
pull down menus. Don't select any right now. Again, the
manual describes their use in detail. Click Render on the
bottom control panel and wait. Vistapro will render (draw
and color) a rough (big polygon) view of the target you have
chosen. After it has rendered the picture, a click on any
part of the screen returns you to the primary control
screen. Notice that the default Poly value is 8. This is the
roughest and fastest view. It helps you quickly reset the
camera view and lighting until you think you have it the way
you want it. The lower Poly values increase the rendering
time as they yield a more detailed picture. Now that you
know your way around Vistapro, you may wish to take a few
minutes to follow the tutorials. We designed the tutorials
to teach by doing. When you have finished the tutorials, you
will have an intuitive understanding of Vistapro which will
increase your ability to use the program. The remainder of
this manual is a reference text for your use should you need
detailed information about a particular feature.

                      What is Vistapro?

Vistapro is a three-dimensional landscape simulation
program. Using U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Digital
Elevation Model (DEM) files, Vistapro can accurately
recreate real world landscapes in vivid detail. As a fractal
landscape generator, Vistapro can create landscapes from a
random seed number. Often these landscapes are more
interesting than those found in the real world. Vistapro
supports over four billion different fractal landscapes.
Simply by changing a number, you can create whole new
worlds. Vistapro is also a tool. Besides simulating real and
imaginary landscapes, it allows extraction of a certain
amount of data from the DEM files. You can use the program
output as an educational tool, as well as a research tool
for the study of topography. In addition, by simply clicking
on several buttons, you can create rivers and lakes in a
landscape where none existed previously. Vistapro converts
DEM files to Turbo Silver data which will enable you to
import them into Imagine or similar ray tracing programs to
add stunning realism to ray tracings. For instance, you can
add a house that you have worked on in a favorite rendering
package to a real world landscape. Imagine being able to
place an architectural creation on top of Mount St. Helens
or on an island in the middle of a fractal landscape!

                     How Vistapro Works

Vistapro uses a combination of artificial intelligence,
chaotic math and a user definable set of values to simulate
landscapes in their natural state. At present, the USGS has
converted about 40% of the United States and its territories
to DEM files which can potentially be used with Vistapro.
Vistapro is a single frame generator, meaning that it acts
like a camera; every time you point the camera and click, it
renders a new view of the landscape. You can view landscapes
from a practically infinite combination of heights, angles
and distances. Using the combination of user controllable
values and Vistapro's built-in routines, you can make
landscapes as realistic or as surreal as you desire. It is
easy to alter tree and snow lines, haze, exposure, rivers,
lakes and light sources to customize the appearance of the
landscape. Vistapro uses data derived from United States
Geologic Survey Digital Elevation Mapping files for
generating its images. These files contain coordinate and
elevation data at 30 meter (roughly 100 ft.) increments.
Each Small Vistapro DEM file contains about 65,000 elevation
data points and generates 130,000 polygons. A Large Vistapro
DEM file contains about 256,000 data points and generates
512,000 polygons, and a Huge Vistapro DEM file contains
about 1,000,000 data points and generates over 2,000,000
polygons. Vistapro doesn't know anything about what covers
the terrain. It doesn't know where the trees, roads or
buildings are. It does its best to color each polygon (based
upon a few numbers that you input) in a realistic way.
However, it can't draw each rock and tree. Adding texture
and trees can result in images containing as many as a
hundred times as many polygons as the landscape by itself.

                 Some Uses for Vistapro

Vistapro is not only of interest to scientists and
engineers. Artists, writers, teachers, game designers,
travelers and people just looking for hours of entertainment
will appreciate Vistapro. Artists can design realistic
scenery as backgrounds for their artwork. Writers can create
worlds and see them through their character's eyes.
Geography, geology and meteorology teachers can use Vistapro
to breathe life into their subjects. Game designers can make
realistic or surrealistic scenery for backgrounds in their
games. Travelers, hikers and backpackers can preview their
journeys. Vistapro can be pure entertainment. Explore
fascinating terrains that you might never have a chance to
see or visit distant planets that man has not yet trod.
Build new worlds that exist nowhere except in the
imagination and then visit them as if they were really
there. On the other hand, there are many scientific and
business applications for Vistapro. Environmentalists,
surveyors, geologists, architects and engineers will all
find Vistapro a useful adjunct to their work.

                      NOTES ON VISTAPRO

              VISTAPRO ON ACCELERATED AMIGAS

                    The program selection

Vistapro is for those who have standard Amiga 500's, 600's,
1000's or 2000's without an accelerator board. We optimized
the program selection Vistapro.881 for use with a 68020 or
68030 AND a 68881 or 68882 math co-processor or with a
68040. Vistapro.881 will NOT run without a math co-processor
or on a 68000 based machine. Both programs are otherwise
identical. The correct version of the program is
automatically installed based upon your answers to the
Installer program.

We strongly advise using an accelerated machine with
Vistapro. On an unaccelerated machine, renderings can take
from several hours to several days, depending upon the
complexity of the rendering. With an accelerated machine
(68040/25 MHz), renderings can take anywhere from ten
minutes for a relatively simple 700,000 polygon image to
three hours for a complex ten million polygon image.

                    Vistapro Landscapes

All Vistapro Landscapes on the disk have the file protection
mode set to read only This assures that you will not
accidently delete a landscape. The Protect function on your
Workbench allows you to reset the protection. You may set
normal protection by typing Protect <filename> rwed where
<filename> is the name of the file you want to change. Do
not type the < or > characters.

               Vistapro Stack Requirements

Vistapro contains some recursive routines which may require
large amounts of stack space. If Vistapro is run via its
icon from the WorkBench, you needn't worry about the stack
it has already been set up in the Vistapro.info file. If
Vistapro is run from a CLI or Shell, you must ensure that
you run Vistapro with enough stack memory. From the CLI or
Shell you can type Stack to see the current default stack
setting. The usual default value is 4000 bytes. (The Lake
function is the only function requiring much stack space. If
you do not use the Lake function, you don't need to increase
the stack beyond the 4000 byte default.) Otherwise, if the
current stack setting is fewer than 50000 bytes, we suggest
raising it. If it is very much larger, consider lowering it,
especially if your machine is short of memory (see Loading
Vistapro below). To set the default stack size, click once
on the Vistapro icon. Select the Information item from the
Icon menu (WorkBench 2.04 or later) or the WorkBench menu
(WorkBench 1.3). In the resulting window, type 50000 and
then Return in the string gadget labelled Stack. Vistapro is
now ready to use. If you are using Large or Huge mode, 50000
may not be enough stack space for all lakes. You may want to
try 60000 bytes in Large mode and 120000 bytes in Huge mode.

         Loading Vistapro from the CLI or a Shell

Before starting Vistapro from a CLI or Shell, be sure the
default stack size is set to at least 50000 (type Stack
50000 from the CLI or Shell). You can start Vistapro from
any CLI or Shell by typing Vistapro from the directory where
Vistapro is located. You can force Vistapro to load a
particular landscape by including its device:path/name on
the command line. Some possible examples:

   Vistapro ElCap.dem
   Vistapro df0:CraterLake.dem
   Vistapro dh0:Vistapro/Landscapes/Mons.dem

You may, of course, simply type Vistapro and load a
landscape via the Load menu.

               Vistapro Startup Preferences

When it first loads, Vistapro looks in the S: directory for
a script file with the name Vistapro.prefs. This script file
can be used to set up Vistapro to the modes that you use
most frequently. It is a standard Vistapro script file and
can use any of the Vistapro script commands.

               Limits of Vistapro's World

Hypercube Engineering created a fast mixed integer and
floating point 3-D engine for use in Vistapro. Vistapro
displays landscapes properly, when the Camera and Target are
kept within -2000000000 and [phone] (on all three axes).
Placing the camera or target outside this range or
underground may result in distorted images or no images at
all.

                  Speeding Up Vistapro

There are two ways to speed up Vistapro: strategy and brute
strength. After you have used the program for a while, you
will learn to read the lower resolution settings in Vistapro
to see if you are obtaining the picture you want. When the
scene is properly positioned and lighted, and when you have
set the tree line, snow line and water levels where you want
them, then, and only then, render the picture at the
time-consuming full resolution mode. Using the Place Control
Panel to select the location of grass and trees rather than
having Vistapro generate them randomly can reduce rendering
time by half or more.

The alternative method for speeding up Vistapro's rendering
process is to add power to your machine. Vistapro has been
programmed to use every available computing resource as
efficiently as possible. The time consuming rendering
process is a function of the enormous amount of computation
that Vistapro must do, not any lack of optimization of the
program itself. Vistapro automatically looks for and uses
whatever processing resources you supply. When you add an
accelerator board or upgrade to a faster machine, Vistapro
takes advantage of the additional processing power without
any adjustment or request on your part.

Texturizing the landscape can take a significant amount of
time, as can the Tree and Grass functions. We suggest test
rendering without those functions active to prove the scene
and then, when you are satisfied with the layout, add the
Texturization and Trees.

Realistic ray traced CAD objects, detailed 3-D animations
and realistic landscapes are all a part of the emerging
software categories called virtual reality, artificial
reality and simulation. These categories all require immense
computational capacity but, as the cost of computing power
continues to plummet, these types of programs will become
the standard. As a Vistapro user, you are pioneering virtual
reality exploration and it is admittedly a bit tedious on an
unaccelerated machine. But, looked at another way, it is
amazing that this type of rendering can be done at all, let
alone on a personal computer. Until the advent of Vistapro,
landscape renderings of such realism were only available to
users of workstations and supercomputers for secret
government projects.

              MAKING THE MOST OF VISTAPRO

Making a stunning landscape in Vistapro requires the
combined eye of a photographer and the artistic sense of a
painter, but here are a few tips which can help improve your
first attempts.

                       Lighting

Experiment with the lighting. If the light is coming from
behind the camera, scenes may appear rather flat. There
won't be a strong feeling of three dimensionality. You can
create dramatic shadowing effects by choosing the proper
lighting direction and angle. With the power of Vistapro,
you can choose to light the scene in ways which could never
occur in the real world or, if you are a purist, you can
select the correct solar position for the particular season,
geographic location and time of day. Our Distant Suns
planetarium program (or most other astronomy programs) can
easily calculate such solar lighting conditions in order to
correctly set the light, target and camera position to
obtain maximum realism in your rendering. If you just leave
the lighting to chance, you may find that shadows cover your
scene and it does not look as good as it could. We find that
setting the light source (the sun) at 45 to 90 to the left
or right of the camera gives the best results. For example,
if the camera is facing due north, placing the sun at the
southeast, east, southwest or west usually makes the best
pictures. Placing the sun directly behind the camera usually
results in a lack of three dimensionality and contrast,
although there are times when this is the desired effect.
Back-lit scenes (for example camera facing north, sun
shining from the north) can also yield interesting images.

         Snow and Tree Line Setting Considerations

If you know the normal range of snow line for the season
that you are viewing and at what altitude the tree line
begins, you can use Vistapro in a very realistic way. Tree
line varies with latitude until, in arctic regions, it
reaches sea level. Snow levels vary with the weather and
altitude. A little research at the local library or even
listening to the weather on the evening news will allow you
to increase the realism in Vistapro landscape rendering. Of
course you needn't follow the real world as an example. You
are free to set the tree and snow lines wherever you want.
You may want to see a landscape as it might have looked
during the last ice age or how it might look after severe
global warming from the greenhouse effect!

                     Changing colors

Use the Color Control Panel to change the colors, contrast
and exposure used to render the landscape. Most landscapes
shipped from Virtual Reality Laboratories have shades of
green for lower elevations, brown for middle elevations and
white for upper elevations. Try changing the Tree colors to
pinks and whites. This makes them look like flowering fruit
trees in the spring. Change them to reds, browns and yellows
for an autumn scene.

              Foreground fat polys or jaggies

Since the accuracy of the data limits the detail that
Vistapro can display, some of the foreground features will
contain fat polys or jaggies Vistapro builds all images with
polygons millions of polygons per scene. The polygons are
all about the same size but those near the camera appear
very large on the screen, just as an object very near you
looks large, while when it is far away, it looks very small.
There are several ways to reduce this effect. One of the
simplest is to raise the camera a few hundred meters above
the ground. If you use the mouse to position the camera, it
is automatically set thirty meters above the landscape.
Since the nearest polygon (the one right under the camera)
is only thirty meters away it will look very large (if it is
within the field of view). If you raise the camera 300
meters it will look about ten times smaller.

A second method is to use the Textur function. This actually
consists of two functions, shading and altitude texturing.
Shading texture is the same as the Textur function in
Vistapro 2.0, which breaks nearby polygons into several
smaller pieces and renders each at a slightly different
shade giving them a marbleized appearance. Altitude texture
fractalizes the polygons into groups of smaller polygons and
adds fractal texture as well as shading. Altitude texture
can result in extremely realistic ground texture, especially
for cliffs and desert sand.

Another way to hide foreground polys is to use the Tree
function. Trees are made of many small polygons and can
obscure the large polygons of the ground underneath them.

If you are looking at a small portion of the landscape you
might consider using the Enlarg function to blow that
section of landscape up to twice its size.

A third method to hide fat polys is to use Gouraud shading.
This blends the edges of the polygons with each other,
eliminating the sharp color change from one polygon to the
next and provides a beautiful artistic interpretation of the
scene. This shades even very large foreground polygons into
oblivion. Shading Textur and Gouraud shading can be combined
to generate even more interesting details. The use of
Gouraud shading with Altitude Textur is not recommended.

Sometimes there is a small bump immediately in front of the
camera that blocks a large part of the scene. Moving the
camera a few meters higher may be enough to move the bump
out of the field of view, or you might move the camera far
enough forward to get the bump behind it.

                A note about aesthetics

Remember, there is no more a right way to use Vistapro than
there is a right way to use a camera. A child using a camera
or Vistapro may derive a lot of knowledge and entertainment
from a result which would not please a more professional
artist. Like the natural world it imitates, Vistapro gives
the artist an unlimited number of choices for portrayal.
What looks great to one person may not appeal to the next.

Fractals imitate the way nature looks, but they are not the
same. They have no knowledge of geology, plate tectonics or
erosion. So, whatever pictures you produce with Vistapro
will be interpretive because Vistapro is producing an
artificial reality to begin with. The philosophical and
aesthetic ramifications of virtual reality construction are
immense. Vistapro is an early forerunner of a medium of art
and expression as powerful and unique as photography for
creative work.

For many years after their introduction, photographs sparked
lively debate about whether or not they were art Computer
art and virtual reality simulation seem destined to foment a
similar debate.

                Exploration with Vistapro

As a virtual reality simulator, Vistapro allows you to
explore landscapes that you will probably never be able to
explore first hand. We hope that most of you will have the
opportunity to visit a few of the national parks but it is
highly unlikely that any of us, except those who are now
children, will have the chance to tour the caldera of Mons
Olympus on Mars. As we are able to convert more of the data
already available from planetary probes and undersea
explorers, Vistapro will allow you to explore forbidding and
alien landscapes decades, or even centuries, before the
first human explorer is able to take tourist snapshots. By
giving its users the ability to wander about distant
landscapes, rendering true perspective pictures of their
choice, Vistapro and later progeny will free humanity from
its current boundaries long before such explorations are
commercially feasible.
Your own data

Vistapro can be used to visualize any kind of surface which
can be represented as a two dimensional array of integers
(up to 1024x1024). Scanning tunneling electron microscope
data is an example of such data think of it as a tiny, tiny
landscape! You might even be able to convert your backyard
into Vistapro format!

                       VISTAPRO MENUS

If you are not familiar with how to use menus on the Amiga,
simply click on the right mouse button when Vistapro is
displaying the control screen. This shows a title bar at the
top of the screen. Continue to hold down the right mouse
button and move the crosshair to one of the selections in
the title bar. Continuing to hold down the right mouse
button, drag it down the menu. Notice that it illuminates
various selections or causes another sub-menu to appear.
Continue holding down the button, until you illuminate your
choice. Release the button to select that choice.

There are seven menus in Vistapro: the Project menu, which
controls the  size of the topographic map, printing and
supplies information about the program; the Load and Save
menus, which control loading and saving of files; the
GrModes menu, which controls the display and monitor modes
that are available with Vistapro; the Script menu, which
controls script creation and execution; the ImpExp menu,
which controls importing and exporting data to and from
programs other than Vistapro; and the IQuality menu, which
allows you to choose predefined image quality settings.

Note: Many of the following menu items involve the use of a
file requestor. Vistapro can use two different file
requestors. If you are using version 2.0 or newer of
AmigaDOS, Vistapro defaults to using the standard ASL file
requestor. If you are using an earlier version of AmigaDOS,
the Vistapro file requestor is the default. You may
specifically disable the ASL requestor with the script
command NoAslRequestor. The Vistapro.prefs script file in
the S: directory, which Vistapro looks for and executes on
startup, would be a logical place to use this command.

The Vistapro file requestor contains a space to enter the
name of the directory where you keep files of the given
class (i.e. the Landscape directory for landscapes, or the
Pic directory for IFF images), a window containing a partial
listing of the contents of that drawer and a scroll bar to
the right of the window for scrolling the contents of the
window, a space for the name of the file you are dealing
with, and a list of common device names where you are likely
to find the drawer (i.e. DF0:, DH0:, RAM:).

                         PROJECT MENU

                        Landscape Size

                            Small

The Small size landscape sets up a 258 x 258 topographic map
region. It works on most Amigas with at least three
megabytes of available RAM, and is used to load single
Vistapro Landscape files.

                            Large

The Large size landscape sets up a 514 x 514 topographic map
region. It works on most Amigas with at least 4.5 megabytes
of available RAM, and is used for loading up to four small
Vistapro Landscape files or any single Vistapro Landscape
file up to 514 x 514 data points in size. It is for use with
Vistapro "X" series contiguous landscapes to load large
contiguous regions. You may also load a small landscape and
enlarge it with the Enlarg function to render with more
apparent detail. See Enlarg function.

                            Huge

The Huge size landscape sets up a 1026 x 1026 topographic
map region. It works on most Amigas with at least eight
megabytes of available FAST memory and is used for loading
up to sixteen small Vistapro Landscape files or any single
Vistapro Landscape file up to 1026 x 1026 data points in
size. The Huge size landscape is used with Vistapro "X"
series contiguous landscapes to load large contiguous
regions. You may also load a small landscape and enlarge it
twice with the Enlarg function to render in very fine
detail. See Enlarge function.

                            Auto

Postpones setting up a topographic map region until it
checks the header of the Vistapro landscape file next loaded
with Load VistaPro DEM. At that time a topographic map
region is set up to match the size of the file to be loaded.
Print

The Print menu item allows you to export Vistapro renderings
directly to your printer. It prints whatever is on your View
screen, so you can use Load IFF to load an image into memory
and then use Print to send it to your printer.

                      About VistaPro

The About VistaPro menu item tells you about the program
Vistapro, the authors and the publisher.

                      About Landscape

The About Landscape menu item tells you about the currently
loaded landscape, including the file name, the landscape
name, and any available comments about the landscape. This
information comes from the header contained at the beginning
of Vistapro's landscape files. If you generate a fractal
landscape and save it, the header will contain information
about the fractal setting used to generate the landscape,
which you can use for your own future reference.

                       About Image

The About Image menu item tells you about the image last
rendered, including the number of polygons used and the time
it took to render.

                          Quit

The Quit menu item closes down Vistapro and returns you to
the WorkBench.

                       LOAD MENU

The Load menu allows you to load a Vistapro DEM landscape
file, Vistapro ColorMap header or image file. The Drawer
name is the name of the drawer in which you keep your
landscapes, ColorMaps or images and the Device is the disk
where you keep this drawer. On a single floppy system, the
drawer name contains the name of the disk, followed by a
colon ":", followed by the name of the drawer where you keep
landscapes, ColorMaps or images.

                    Load VistaPro DEM

The Load VistaPro DEM menu item allows you to load a
Vistapro DEM Landscape file into Vistapro. This can be a
landscape that comes on the Vistapro disk, a landscape that
you have previously saved or a landscape from a Vistapro
expansion disk. Note that the landscapes that come with
Vistapro and those that are on the Vistapro expansion disks
are write protected to avoid the possibility that they will
accidentally be overwritten by a Save VistaPro DEM command.
To unprotect these images (you probably will never need to
do this), type Protect <landscape>.dem rwed at the CLI or
SHELL prompt, replacing <landscape> with the name of the
landscape you wish to unprotect.

If you have set the size to Large or Huge, a grid of
landscape regions is displayed in the topographic map
region. When you select the Load Vistapro DEM menu item and
have previously selected Large or Huge, you will be asked to
choose a placement mode. Manual mode allows you to point to
the quadrant of the topographic map you want to load the
landscape into, regardless of whatever else may be there.
Auto looks at the coordinate information in the header of
the landscape and tries to place it correctly in relation to
other landscapes already loaded. If Vistapro cannot place
the landscape, it will warn you that the landscape is out of
range. The Auto feature works only with "X" series Vistapro
DEMs.

                       Load Region

With Load Region, Vistapro loads the requested landscape
file into the lower left corner of the topographic map
region and then searches the current landscape directory for
other landscapes that are located within the current
topographic map region. The Load Region function requires
the "X" series Vistapro landscape files. Vistapro's Load
Region function searches all files in a given directory for
additional landscapes to load into the current topographic
region. It determines which landscapes to load by examining
the header of each landscape. The header has information
about the file's longitude and latitude. We highly recommend
that you install different landscape sets into different
directories. That way Vistapro will have fewer files to
examine when you load a region. There is also the
possibility that some data from other planets will overlap
areas of the earth or that a DEM file you have modified
(Vistapro saves the current landscape's coordinates along
with its other data) will load in on top of unmodified data.
You wouldn't want Vistapro to have to search through
thousands of files to find the four that fit into the
current area! Also, the file requestor takes quite a while
to fetch all the file names when there are thousands of
files in a directory.

                   Load ASCII USGS DEM

The Load ASCII USGS DEM menu item loads the requested ASCII
file as DEM data from the US Geologic Survey (USGS), using
Vistapro's default color map. DEM data is available from the
USGS for much of the United States.

                     Load Binary DEM

The Load Binary DEM menu item loads the requested binary
file as DEM data. It is useful for porting digital data not
in DEM format into Vistapro or for those of you trying to
create your own landscapes. Vistapro's binary format is very
simple. Each file consists of a number of signed 16 bit
integers (Motorola format on the Amiga hi byte first, low
byte second) in sequence. The first integer in the file is
loaded at the lower left (south-west) corner , the second to
the right (east) of the first, etc. When the south-most row
is finished, the next row up (north) is loaded. Data
continues until all rows have been filled. A Small Vistapro
landscape consists of 258x258 (rows x columns) integers
(133,128 bytes). A Large Vistapro landscape consists of
514x514 integers (528,392 bytes). A Huge Vistapro landscape
consists of 1026x1026 values (2,105,352 bytes). If your data
is less than the required size from left to right (east to
west) you will have to either pad to the required length or
scale your data to fit. The file need not have enough data
to fill all rows; if the file is short the top part of the
landscape will simply be left with altitude 1.

                         Load CMap

The Load CMap menu item allows you to load an existing
ColorMap onto a landscape that you have already loaded. This
does not affect the Landscape DEM data in memory, just the
color palette information. You can load a ColorMap from
another Vistapro DEM Landscape file or from a Vistapro
ColorMap file that you have saved previously. See Color
Control Panel for more information on ColorMaps.
Load Clouds

The Load Clouds menu item loads a cloud map for use with the
Clouds function. The requested file must have been
previously saved with the Save Clouds menu item in the Save
menu and have a filename extension of .CLD. See Cloud
Control Panel for information about creating cloud maps.

                         Load IFF

The Load IFF menu item loads standard Amiga IFF files and
IFF HAM files, regardless of resolution.

                       Load IFF 24

The Load IFF 24 menu item loads Amiga Commodore standard 24
bit IFF files, regardless of resolution. They must be no
more than 768 pixels wide or 484 pixels tall. Smaller images
are loaded toward the top left corner. After loading the 24
bit image data, Vistapro draws the image to the display
screen at the current display settings.

                        SAVE MENU

The Save menu allows you to save a Vistapro DEM, ColorMap,
cloud map, Turbo Silver Object or rendered image file. The
Drawer name is the name of the drawer in which you want to
save your file and the Device is the disk where this drawer
is located. On a single floppy system, the drawer name
contains the name of the disk, followed by a colon ":",
followed by the name of the drawer where you will find the
images, i.e. MyDisk:Pics. On a hard disk you might use
something like Work:Vistapro/Pics.

                    Save VistaPro DEM

The Save VistaPro DEM menu item allows you to save a
randomly generated fractal landscape as a Vistapro DEM
Landscape file. This file will not contain surface features
such as lakes and rivers. It saves the ColorMap currently in
effect along with the landscape.

                    Save Extended DEM

Vistapro has an extended DEM format which allows you to save
all the current settings of the program along with the DEM
data. This data includes colors, shades, camera and target
positions, script mode, haze level virtually every setting
in the program. This is useful when continuing an aborted
animation. Extended DEM files range from 300KB to 400KB each
for Small landscapes and up to four megabytes for Huge
landscapes.

                        Save CMap

The Save CMap menu item allows you to save the current Color
Control Panel settings as a Vistapro ColorMap. This does not
save the DEM landscape data, resulting in a much smaller
file. You may want to keep several different ColorMaps
around so that you can quickly load them into any landscape.
See Color Control Panel for more information on ColorMaps.

                       Save Clouds

The Save Clouds menu item saves the current cloud map to a
file whose extension is .CLD.

                        Save IFF

The Save IFF menu item saves an image in standard Amiga IFF
format using the current settings of the GrModes menu. You
can load these images into paint programs such as DPaint IV
for non-HAM renderings or DigiPaint 3 for HAM renderings.
The picture saved is the one currently on the View screen.
This is usually the scene that has just been rendered or
redrawn.

                       Save IFF24

The Save IFF 24 menu item saves an image in Amiga 24 bit IFF
format, with the image width and height the same as the
currently displayed image. For example, if you are
displaying in LoRes, no interlace and no overscan, this
saves a 320x320 IFF24 file.

                       Save RGB

The Save RGB menu item saves the rendered image in the
format output by Sculpt-Animate 4D. Vistapro produces only
746x484 pixel files. They are given the base-name supplied
by you with.ored,.ogrn,.oblu extensions used by the Mimetics
framebuffer program, version 1.01. For example, if you
select PIC as the base picture name, Vistapro produces
PIC.ored,  PIC.ogrn and  PIC.oblu.

Vistapro can execute an AmigaDOS control file after
generating each frame of an animation. Vistapro passes the
name of the data file just produced (IFF, IFF24 or RGB
format) to the scripting function. The control file can run
whatever programs you want to process the picture. For
example, you can run the Mimetics Framebuffer program in
command-line mode to encode the picture and then delete the
file.

   .k FILE/a
   c:fbuf -e <FILE>
   c:Delete <FILE>.ored
   c:Delete <FILE>.ogrn
   c:Delete <FILE>.oblu

If you have a single-frame recorder, you could also send a
command to step the recorder, etc.

This function is available only if you start up from the CLI
or a Shell.

                    Save Turbo Silver

The Save Turbo Silver menu item allows you to save the
current landscape as a Turbo Silver Object file. Vistapro
saves landscapes as Turbo Silver Objects at all levels. This
is because Vistapro saves a landscape as a series of Turbo
Silver Objects rather than a single one. Vistapro saves
landscapes at all polygon sizes. If Vistapro hasn't yet
colored the landscape, it will inform you of this and give
you the choice of letting Vistapro color the landscape at
the current setting or aborting the save.

When you select Save Turbo Silver, Vistapro draws an eight
by eight grid over the topographic portion of the screen.
You can then select a portion (or all) of the landscape by
clicking with the left mouse button on the upper left hand
corner of the area that you want saved as a Turbo Silver
object. A rubber band box will appear. Position the mouse at
the lower left corner of the area you want saved. This is
the area within the box. Click again with the left mouse
button.

Please note that these Turbo Silver objects are of extreme
complexity and require a good deal of memory to render using
Turbo Silver or Imagine. A polygon size 2 landscape requires
at least seven megabytes of memory to render with Turbo
Silver and a complete polygon size 1 landscape requires more
than thirty megabytes. We suggest that you clip only the
regions that you actually need, in order to save memory, or
render at a larger polygon size (lower resolution).

                       GRMODES MENU

                       GraphicsPanel

The Graphics Panel menu item opens the Graphics Control
Panel, which is used to specify display and monitor modes,
image and display sizes, and use of special display hardware
(DCTV, Firecracker24, HAM-E). See the Graphics Control Panel
section for information about its use.

                        BackGround

You can have Vistapro load a 24 bit IFF file as a background
before rendering. For example, you could load a picture of a
cloudy sky as a background, turn off the Sky function in
Vistapro and then render the landscape. The clouds will be
visible anywhere that the landscape doesn't overwrite them.
The IFF24 file should be 768x484 pixels.

                        ForeGround

You can have Vistapro load a 24 bit IFF file as a foreground
after rendering. For example, you could load a picture of a
dashboard as a foreground. Any pixel that is black (R=0,
G=0, B=0) in the IFF24 file is considered transparent. Any
non-black pixel will overwrite the rendered image. You can
create 24 bit IFF background and foreground images from
regular IFF files using the View->RGB function. You can also
use ASDG's Art Department Professional package, or
ImageMaster by Black Belt Systems.

                       Show Render

The Show Render menu item allows you to watch Vistapro
render images on the View screen. The default palette is
used during rendering; the image is updated to the final
palette when rendering is complete. This function slows down
the rendering process.

                       SCRIPT MENU

Vistapro's scripting controls allow creation of multiple
unattended views of a landscape. The most common use for
scripts is the creation of animations. Scripts are lists of
camera and target positions which are landscape independent.
You can use the same script for several different landscapes
or you can change the settings for the current landscape
re-executing the script. Script control allows changes to be
made to the landscape without having to rebuild the script
every time. For instance, if you want to change the light
source direction, or if you want to see a landscape from
several views with and without water, all that you have to
do is make the appropriate changes and execute the proper
script.

Vistapro 3.0 supports many script commands which allow you
to control most functions of the program from within a
script file. You can only generate these commands by editing
the script file with a text editor (Amiga's ED, TxEd, CED,
etc.). The commands have the following form:

   CommandName:  argument(s)  comment

for example:

   CameraX: 1234 Set Camera X position to 1234
   VerticalScale: 1.2 Scale landscape to 1.2
   Render: Render landscape

The CommandName parameter can be uppercase, lower case or
mixed case, and must have the trailing colon. Missing
numerical arguments are treated as a 0. Comments are, of
course, optional.

You can also access all of the script functions with ARexx.
For a complete list of  commands as well as instructions on
how to use the ARexx interface in Vistapro, see the
ReadMe.ARexx file on your Vistapro Disk1.

                         Generate

The Generate function allows you to make a quick linear path
from the current camera position to the current target
position. This is most useful for generating simple
straight-line paths for animations. When you select this
option, Vistapro asks for the name of the script file to
generate. It then asks for the number of frames. If the
camera is 1000 meters from the target and you select 100
frames, the camera will move 10 meters closer to the target
in each frame. The Bank, Heading and Pitch remain constant
(the camera continues to point at the target). If you select
the name of an existing file Vistapro will ask you if you
want to delete the file or abort the operation. We recommend
putting script files in a script subdirectory, usually
Work:vistapro/script. For more complex scripts, you can use
MakePath, a stand-alone script generation utility available
from Virtual Reality Laboratories.

                         Create

The Create menu item makes a new script. When Create is
selected, Vistapro displays a file requestor from which you
select the device where you want to save the script, the
drawer you want to put the script in and the name of the
script. If you attempt to create an existing file, Vistapro
overwrites that file. After the script name is entered,
Vistapro creates a blank script file and opens it for use
with the Add option.

                             Open

Open retrieves a previously created file for appending new
frames. When Open is selected, Vistapro displays a file
requestor from which you select the script to open.

                             Add

Add appends the current camera and target positions to the
script that is currently open.

                           Preview

The Preview menu item allows you to see the path that your
script will follow on the topographic map. When selected,
Vistapro displays a file requestor from which you select the
script to preview. After selecting the script, you are given
the choice of previewing in 2-D or 3-D mode. In 2-D mode
Vistapro draws a sequence of dots on the topographic map to
indicate each camera location (one dot for each frame). In
3-D mode Vistapro renders a real-time, 3-D wire frame
preview in the topographic map area.

                          Execute

Execute causes Vistapro to execute a selected script,
creating a picture for each frame in the script file. When
Execute is selected, Vistapro displays a file requestor from
which you select the script to execute. After the script is
selected, Vistapro displays another file requestor for a
base picture file name. It saves pictures as the base name
plus a five digit number. For instance, if you supply Pic as
the base name, Vistapro will save the pictures as Pic00000,
Pic00001, Pic00002 and so on.

                         Anim Mode

                            IFF

In IFF mode Vistapro produces IFF files in the selected
display format for each frame. If you started up from the
CLI or a Shell, Vistapro then spawns the Execute program to
execute an AmigaDOS script (filename = DoFB.iff) which can
do whatever you want. Remember that each file will have the
base name plus a five digit frame number.

                            IFF24

In IFF24 mode Vistapro produces 24 bit IFF files. These file
will be in the resolution selected from the Graphics Control
Panel. If you started up from the CLI or a Shell, Vistapro
then spawns the Execute program to execute an AmigaDOS
script (filename = DoFB.iff24) which can do whatever you
want. Vistapro displays the frame in LoRes/ non-interlace/
non-overscan format so that you can see what you are
generating. Remember that each file will have the base name
plus a five digit frame number.

                             RGB

In RGB mode Vistapro produces 24 bit RGB files as used by
the Mimetics framebuffer program. If you started up from the
CLI or a Shell, Vistapro then spawns the Execute program to
execute an AmigaDOS script (filename = DoFB.rgb) which can
do whatever you want. Vistapro displays the frame in
LoRes/non-interlace/ non-overscan format so that you can see
what you are generating. Remember that each file will have
the base name plus a five digit frame number.

                            VANIM

Vistapro does not directly support the Amiga's standard ANIM
format. You must use some other ANIM file generator to
convert Vistapro's IFF files into ANIM files.

Vistapro does directly support its own proprietary animation
format (Vistapro ANIM or VANIM). Our format has both
advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are:

1) VANIM animations limit you to available disk space, not
memory size. If you have an 800MB disk you can play an 800MB
animation.

2) Each frame has its own color palette.

3) You can play animations backward, forward, single-
stepped, jump-stepped, etc.

The disadvantages are:

1) Animation files are about twice as large as regular Amiga
ANIM files.

2) Playback of animations with large frame sizes can be as
slow as two frames per second.

Vistapro always produces a file with a list of the picture
names that it generates. The name of this file is
PICBASE.list where PICBASE is the base picture name selected
by you when you started the animation script. For example if
you select DH0:ANIM/PIC as the base name, Vistapro would
produce a sequence of pictures with the following file
names:

   DH0:ANIM/PIC00000
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00001
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00002

and the file DH0:ANIM/PIC.list would contain those full
names. This is the format used by the popular MakeAnim
program. If you are creating an animation in RGB mode, the
file names would be:

   DH0:ANIM/PIC00000.ORED
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00000.OGRN
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00000.OBLU
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00001.ORED
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00001.OGRN
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00001.OBLU
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00002.ORED
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00002.OGRN
   DH0:ANIM/PIC00002.OBLU

                        IMPEXP MENU

For a complete description on how to use the following
functions, please see the ReadMe.tutorial file on the
Vistapro Disk1.

                           Col->IFF

Color table to IFF. This function outputs Vistapro's
internal table of polygon colors to an IFF file. With
Col->IFF (and IFF->Col), you can place individual trees,
rivers, cliffs, etc. anywhere you want. When Vistapro
renders an image, it uses thousands of polygons to produce
the image. Internally each polygon is assigned a color which
relates to the physical features of the landscape. For
example, shades of green for trees, blues for water, whites
for snow, etc. These colors are for internal representation.
When the image is actually rendered, the colors specified
with the CMap Palette are the ones used for the picture.
When the Col->IFF option is selected, Vistapro saves its
internal color table to an IFF file which can then be loaded
into a paint program and modified. (Deluxe Paint works quite
well. We recommend using the 320x200 LoRes mode.)

For example, to add a row of trees to a landscape you would:

1) Load a Vistapro DEM file into Vistapro

2) Adjust tree line, snow line, etc.

3) Select Col->IFF from the Property Menu. Select a name for
the output file. Answer OK to the "Need to calculate"
requestor if it pops up.

4) Start up DPaint and load the file created in step 3.

5) Using the color green, draw a line on the landscape.

6) Save the IFF picture.

7) To load the new colors onto the landscape, from Vistapro
select IFF->Col and specify the file given in step 3.

8)Render as usual.

Since the colors that appear in the IFF file represent the
terrain types assigned to each polygon within Vistapro, not
the actual colors of the rendered image, they will always be
the same.

The colors are assigned as follows:

 #        color     terrain type
 0        black     not used
 1        white     not used
 2 - 6    blues     Water1 Water5
 7        tan       Beach
 8 - 11   browns    Tree1 Tree4 without trees
12 - 15   greens    Tree1 Tree4
16 - 19   tans      Bare1 Bare4
20 - 23   whites    Snow1 Snow4
24 - 27   grays     Cliff1 Cliff4
28 - 31   RYGB      Buildings

Buildings can be created using either this function or the
Place Middle Control Panel.

                         IFF->Col

IFF file to color table. This is the opposite of Col->IFF.
It loads the selected IFF file back into Vistapro's color
table. Vistapro will then render the landscape with the
terrain types that were specified in the IFF file. WARNING:
if you change a setting that requires re-coloring after
loading the IFF file, the landscape will be re-colored,
overriding the loaded colors.

                         Alt->IFF

The Alt->IFF function is similar to Col->IFF. It converts
the topographic map currently loaded as an IFF picture,
where each elevation is represented as a color. When you
select Alt->IFF, Vistapro asks for a file name to which to
save the picture. After the picture has been saved, it can
be edited in a paint program (DeluxePaint works fine)
essentially you will be painting the contour map. The table
below describes the color palette that Vistapro saves with
the IFF picture.

 #       color      terrain type
 0       blue       altitude 0, sea level
 1 - 11  greens     lowest land altitudes
12 - 22  browns     middle altitudes
23 - 30  grays      highest altitudes
31       varies     used internally to indicate meters
between each contour

The IFF file produced has only 31 colors to encode
elevations so only crude editing of landscapes is possible
using this function. When you load an IFF file back in,
using IFF->Alt, you will see discrete steps in the rendered
image. You can use Smooth or Frctlz to reduce or eliminate
the steps. For more precise editing of landscapes you should
use TerraForm, a stand-alone landscape editing utility which
is available directly from Virtual Reality Laboratories.

                           IFF->Alt

IFF->Alt is the reverse of Alt->IFF. It loads an IFF file
into Vistapro as a topographic map. This is one of the most
powerful functions in Vistapro. With this feature, it is
possible to digitize topographic map, paint in elevations
between the contour lines and import the finished picture
into Vistapro as a landscape. See Tutorial Three in the
Tutorials Manual for step by step instructions on how to use
this function.

It is suggested that you use Smooth or Frctlz to reduce or
eliminate the steps caused by the limited number of
altitudes encoded in the IFF file. Note that color 31 is
used to indicate the scaling of each step, i.e. each step is
N times the value indicated by color 31. N is calculated as
follows:

   N = 256 * Red + 16 * Green + Blue

If color 31 is Red=0, Green=1, Blue=5 then N is 0*256 + 1*16
+ 5, or 21. So Color 0 represents 0 meters, Color 1
represents 21 meters, color 2 represents 42 meters.

                          View->Col

View->Col converts the current image on the View screen into
Vistapro's internal polygon color table. The colors used in
the image are used on the polygons when Vistapro renders.
The image is scaled (squished or stretched) to fit onto the
full landscape area.

                          View->Alt

View->Alt converts the current image on the View screen into
altitude data. There are two modes of operation: Intensity
and Color.

In Intensity mode the intensity of each pixel is converted
into an altitude. The darkest pixels get the lowest
altitudes and the lightest pixels get the highest altitudes.

In Color mode the color numbers are translated into
altitudes. The actual colors mean nothing. Color 0 gets the
lowest altitude, color 1 is a little higher and color 31 is
the highest.

The image is scaled (squished or stretched) to fit onto the
full landscape area.

This function works properly for LoRes, HiRes and HalfBrite
modes. HAM is not supported and will give unpredictable
results.

                         View->RGB

View->RGB converts the current image on the View screen into
the internal 24 bit virtual frame buffer. It is useful for
converting IFF files into 24 bit IFF for the BackGround and
ForeGround functions. The View image is scaled to fit the
768x484 virtual frame buffer. For instance a 320x200 IFF
image is enlarged to 768x484 to fit the virtual frame. This
function works properly for LoRes, HiRes and HalfBrite
modes. HAM is not supported and will give unpredictable
results.

                       IQUALITY MENU

The IQuality menu offers a quick way to set functions on the
control panels to predefined settings, resulting in
different levels of quality for rendering images. The Low,
Medium, High and Ultra menu items are mainly for casual
users so that they won't have to search through the manual
for the most frequently used settings at the various image
quality levels. The User Configuration item can be used in
addition to the Vistapro.prefs script file which is executed
on startup. User Configuration is intended to be used by
more advanced users to customize Vistapro.

The items in the IQuality menu execute standard Vistapro
scripts which reside in the Script directory. The script
names are iq_low.script, iq_med.script, iq_high.script and
iq_user.script. These configuration scripts can be edited
using any text editor. Remember to save them as ASCII.

                            Low

The Low menu item sets Vistapro up for fast but relatively
crude renderings. It is useful for test renderings to check
camera and target locations.

                          Medium

The Medium menu item sets Vistapro up for medium resolution
renderings. It is useful for slower machines or for "proof
of concept" renderings.

                           High

The High menu item sets Vistapro up for high resolution
renderings and results in good quality images. It is not
quite the best quality possible, but it is faster than the
absolute best settings.

                          Ultra

The Ultra menu item sets Vistapro up for the absolute
highest resolution renderings possible. It can take hours to
render an image, even on a fast machine, but the result is
worth the time it takes.

                   User Configuration

The User Configuration menu item allows you to define your
own preset display parameters. To use this menu item to
customize your use of Vistapro, edit the file
iq_user.script, found in the Script directory, using any
text editor (remember to save it as ASCII). This script uses
the standard Vistapro script commands.

                    CONTROL PANELS

The Vistapro Control Panels (on the right side of Vistapro's
main screen) are split into four main sections, which we
shall call the Upper, Middle, Lower and Bottom Control
Panels. In addition, there are five control panels that are
accessed by pressing buttons on the main control panels and
one that is accessed by choosing the Graphics Panel item in
the GrModes menu. They are: the Color Control Panel, Place
Control Panel, Stereo Image Control Panel, Tree Control
Panel, Cloud Control Panel, and Display Control Panel. All
of these panels are described below.

                 CONTROL PANELS AND TOPO MAP

The map on the left side of the main screen represents a
landscape area which has been loaded into Vistapro. The
small_ symbol on the map is the target. The small x symbol
is the camera.

                     UPPER CONTROL PANEL

                           Target

The Target represents the point at which you are aiming the
camera. Its location is measured in meters from the lower
left corner of the topographic map and in meters above sea
level. After selecting the Target button on the Upper
Control Panel, place the mouse pointer anywhere over the
landscape and click the left mouse button, setting a new
target position in the X and Y direction. The Z, or height,
value is set to the elevation of the landscape at that X, Y
coordinate. That is, the Z value in the Target represents
the actual elevation of the landscape at that point. As an
alternative, you can place the target precisely by entering
coordinates directly into the X, Y and Z value windows. To
change a value, select the appropriate value window by
clicking the left mouse button in the value window. Use
normal editing techniques to change the window values
(Backspace, Delete, etc.). See also Locking Functions.

                           Camera

The Camera represents the location of a hypothetical camera
used to take a scenic picture. Its location is measured in
meters from the lower left corner of the topographic map and
in meters above sea level. The X coordinate is from left to
right on the topographic map. The Y coordinate is from
bottom to top of the topographic map, and the Z coordinate
is in meters above sea level. Select Camera on the Upper
Control Panel. By placing the pointer anywhere over the
topographic map and clicking the left mouse button, you can
select a new camera position in the X and Y directions. The
Z, or height, value changes with the elevation of the
landscape. The Z value of the camera is set to an elevation
30 meters above the landscape. Alternatively, you can place
the camera precisely by entering coordinates directly into
the X, Y and Z value windows. To change a value, select the
appropriate value window by clicking the left mouse button
inside the value window. Use normal editing techniques to
change the window values (Backspace, Delete, etc.). See also
Locking Functions

                      Locking Functions

Other tools that you can use with both the Camera and Target
functions are the X, Y and Z locks. Use the locks when you
want to restrain the target or camera from moving in one or
more directions. For instance, if you want to move the
camera to a new location on the landscape without changing
its altitude, depress the Z lock and then click on a new
camera location. You will see that the X and Y coordinates
of the Camera have changed but that the Z value has remained
unchanged. Of course there are two other ways of achieving
this same result: you could simply type the new X and Y
locations into the Camera X and Y string gadgets or you
could click the mouse on the new camera location (with the Z
lock not set) and then type in the desired altitude.
Vistapro will restrain both the camera and target X, Y and Z
values as long as the locks are depressed.

                              P

The P button shows you what the camera sees as a wire frame
perspective. This is useful for getting a preview of the
features your picture will contain. While in the wire frame
preview mode, you can rotate (point) the camera by clicking
where you want the camera to point in the preview area. For
instance, if the camera is pointing at the top of a mountain
and you would rather look at the base, place the mouse
pointer at the base of the mountain and click the left mouse
button. Vistapro will rotate the camera and render the new
wire frame view.

You can also adjust the focal length of the camera lens by
pressing the up-arrow key to zoom in a little or the
down-arrow key to zoom out a little. Each time you press the
key, the camera will zoom in or out a little more.

While in the wire frame preview mode you can not access the
control panel or the menus. To exit wire frame preview mode,
click anywhere outside the wire frame preview area and the
topographic map will return.

                             dR

DR displays the distance in meters between camera and
target. This distance is the radius from the target. You can
use this value to step closer to or away from the target,
just as you might do when taking a photograph.

When you type in a new distance value, Vistapro changes the
camera's X, Y and Z coordinates to match the desired
distance as well as it can. The Bank, Heading and Pitch
values are not changed.

                             dX

DX displays the difference between camera and target X
coordinates. You can change this value by entering a new
value in the dX numerical gadget. Changing this value moves
the camera to reflect the new distance. The Heading and
Pitch of the camera may also change to keep the camera
pointed at the target.

                             dY

DY displays the difference between camera and target Y
coordinates. You can change this value by entering a new
value in the dY numerical gadget. Changing this value moves
the camera to reflect the new distance. The Heading and
Pitch of the camera may also change to keep the camera
pointed at the target.

                             dZ

DZ displays the difference between camera and target Z
coordinates. You can change this value by entering a new
value in the dZ numerical gadget. Changing this value moves
the camera to reflect the new distance. The Heading and
Pitch of the camera may also change to keep the camera
pointed at the target.

The following descriptions use an airplane as a model.

                            Bank

Bank controls the rotational angle of the camera along its
longitudinal axis. Imagine an airplane floating in space.
You can describe the longitudinal axis as an invisible line
drawn from the tail of the airplane to its nose. A rotation
that causes one wing to dip and the other to raise is a
rotation around the longitudinal axis. A positive rotation
around this axis causes rotation in a clockwise fashion. The
left wing raises and the right wing lowers. Note that when
the plane (camera) banks in one direction, the view that is
rendered appears to have rotated in the opposite direction.

                            Head

Head describes the rotational angle of the camera around its
Z axis relative to the landscape. Imagine an airplane
floating in space. You can describe its Z axis as a line
drawn from the top of the airplane through its middle to its
bottom. A rotation around this axis causes the airplane to
turn right or left. Positive rotation causes the airplane
(camera) to turn right.


                            Pitch

Pitch is the rotational angle of the camera around its wing
axis. Once again, imagine an airplane floating in space. A
line drawn from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other
describes the wing axis. A rotation around this axis causes
the airplane's nose to move up or down, with positive
rotation causing the nose to go up.

                            Range

The Range numerical gadget causes Vistapro to not render
portions of the landscape. If a positive value is entered,
Vistapro will not render parts of the landscape farther away
from the camera  than that value (in meters). If the value
is negative, Vistapro will not render any part of the
landscape closer than the equivalent positive value. A value
of zero turns this function off.

For example, entering 1000 causes Vistapro to not render any
part of the landscape more than 1,000 meters away;1000
causes any part of the landscape closer than 1,000 meters to
be not rendered. Entering 0 causes Vistapro to render all of
the landscape (Range is disabled). Range is relative to the
camera's location; it follows the camera during animations.

The Range function can be quite useful for testing script
files to make sure that the camera doesn't run into nearby
obstacles. Set the Range value to something like 500 meters
and run a script. Frames will generate very quickly since
far fewer polygons are being drawn.

We don't know of any good reason to use negative values, but
it was easy to implement so we tossed the function in!

                    MIDDLE CONTROL PANEL

                           SeaLvl

By setting the sea level, you can sink the landscape into
the sea to that level. All points below this level become
sea level (0 meters) and all points above this level have
that value subtracted. For example, if you select 1,000
meters as sea level, all points below 1,000 meters sink to
0, 2,000 meters sinks to 1,000 meters, 3,000 meters sinks to
2,000 meters, etc.

Vistapro asks if you would like to erase rivers and lakes
(if present) when it generates a new sea level and if you
would like to add waves on the ocean. Vistapro will need to
color and shade the landscape again.

Vistapro has a button for selecting sea level. Click on the
SeaLvl button and then select the level by clicking on the
topographic map. You can also specify the sea level
explicitly by typing the value into the string gadget
immediately below the SeaLvl button.

                           TreeLn

The TreeLn button is used to set the timber line, the
altitude above which there are no trees. The timber line is
a "fuzzy" value. Just as in nature, some trees will appear
above the tree line and some bare areas will appear below
it. Vistapro's AI rules compensate for features of the
landscape. Trees generally will not cover the face of a
cliff even though the entire cliff may be below the tree
line. Trees may grow upward in the bottom of a valley (more
water is available at the bottom of a valley) and a ridge
will tend to be devoid of trees (ridges tend to dry out from
exposure to the wind).

If none of the tree types (Pine, Oak, Palm, or Cactus) are
selected in the Tree Control Panel (accessed by pressing the
Tree button), Vistapro does not actually draw the trees, it
just uses the under tree colors to color the ground. (The
under tree colors are Grass 1 through Grass 4 on the Color
Control Panel.)

Use the TreeLn button to select the tree level. Depress the
TreeLn button and then  click on the topographic map at a
location which has the desired altitude. You can also
specify a tree level numerically by typing a value into the
string gadget located below the TreeLn button.

                           SnowLn

The Snow Level is the lowest elevation in meters where
Vistapro will cover the landscape with snow. The Artificial
Intelligence (AI) rules in Vistapro use this value to
calculate where to use the snow colors. Vistapro compensates
for cliffs, ridges, valleys, rivers and lakes in an attempt
to mimic natural snow cover. Snow colors don't have to be
the colors of snow. You can use any colors you like. Just
keep in mind that the snow colors will be placed on the
landscape following the AI rules for snow. For instance, you
can set the snow colors to shades of grey to make mountain
tops look like barren rock. The barren rocky areas will
appear to flow down into valleys just as snow would.

You can use the SnowLn button to select the snow level.
Depress the SnowLn button and then click on the topographic
map at a location which has the desired altitude. You may
also specify the snow line numerically by typing a value
into the string gadget located below the SnowLn button.

                           HazeDn

In the real world, the farther away an object is, the more
it is occluded by the atmosphere. The haze function in
Vistapro simulates this effect adding to the
three-dimensional feel of the resulting image. You can
specify how thick the haze is by changing the HazeDn value.
(You can also change the color of the haze see Color Control
Panel.) Enter the haze value by typing a number in the
string gadget below the HazeDn button. A value of 0
completely eliminates the haze effect; small values (below
100) give very little haze, medium values (100-1000) give
medium haze and high values (over 1000) create very thick
fog.

You can also automatically calculate the haze value by
pressing the HazeDn button. Vistapro will generate a value
based upon the distance between the camera and the target.
The closer the two are, the thicker (higher value) the haze.
We tried to arrange it so that setting the haze value this
way generates haze that first becomes significant at
distances about the same as that between the camera and
target.

                           Lake

Lake generation adds lakes to a landscape. Select Lake on
the Middle Control Panel. Then, using the mouse, place the
pointer on the landscape at the desired lake level and click
the left mouse button. For example, if you place the pointer
in a shallow valley at 2,100 meters, water will begin to
fill the valley until it reaches the 2,100 meter level, as
it would in nature. If there is any portion along the edge
of the valley that is below the 2,100 meter level, water
will spill out of the valley and begin to flood other parts
of the landscape. This may not be the desired effect and it
should be kept in mind when using the Lake function. If
there is uncertainty about the height of any portion of the
landscape, you can move the mouse pointer around any suspect
areas and watch the Z value on the status line to find the
lowest point in the pass to determine the maximum safe
altitude for creating the lake. Lake generation can be
aborted by positioning the mouse over the Abort button at
the right of the Bottom Control Panel and clicking the left
mouse button.

To create a lake, press the Lake button and then click on a
starting point on the topographic map. Vistapro will open a
requestor indicating the level to which the lake will fill
(the altitude of the point you clicked on). You can change
the level to a higher value if you wish. You will see the
lake being created on the topographic map in black. Once the
lake has been completed the black lake will be redrawn in
blue.

                           River

Vistapro's River function creates rivers which flow downhill
from the selected starting point. If a river reaches a
depression it slowly fills the depression, creating a pond
or lake, until it overflows. The river continues to flow
down hill until it reaches the ocean or the edge of the
topographic map. Although you can always fill a lake using
the River function, it is generally faster to fill lakes
using the Lake function.

To create a river, press the River button and then click on
a starting point on the topographic map. You will see the
river being created on the topographic map in black. Once
the river has been completed, the black river will be
redrawn in blue.

If you start a river on an existing river or lake, the river
will continue until it reaches sea level or the edge of the
topo map. A new river (one started where there was not a
river or lake to start with) will also stop at any existing
water. This allows you to create many tributaries to a river
without the main river getting very wide and deep. If you
want the main river to get very wide, start a new river on
top of the old one as many times as you like. It will grow
wider with each iteration.

You will generally want to start rivers at the head of a
valley, but it is possible to start a river anywhere on the
topographic map.

River generation can be stopped by pressing the Abort button
in the Bottom Control Panel.

                           Stars

Vistapro can generate stars in the night sky. To enable this
feature, select the Stars button from the main control
panel. You will be asked if you would like double width
stars, then double height stars. This makes the stars
brighter and more visible in LoRes modes. To disable the
stars function, select the Stars button again. When you
enable stars, Vistapro displays them in the sky whenever it
renders a scene. Vistapro automatically changes the sky
color to black and changes the haze and sky-haze colors to
dark shades. The star patterns are randomly generated and
bear no resemblance to the real night sky as viewed from
earth. Stars may not show up well in LoRes and HAM modes
(because of antialiasing), unless you use double width
and/or double height stars.

Some recommended settings to use with stars enabled:

   Item      Red  Grn  Blu
   Sky        00   00   00
   Haze       10   10   10
   SkyHaze    10   10   20
   Haze value (250)

For a sundown effect:

   Item      Red  Grn  Blu
   Sky        00   00   30
   Haze       10   10   10
   SkyHaze    60   00   00
   Haze value (250)

                            Sky

The Sky button turns the rendering of the sky on and off.
When the Sky button is depressed, Vistapro renders the sky.
When it is not depressed, the sky is not rendered. If you
have an alternate image that you would like to load in place
of the sky, turn the sky off before rendering and use the
BackGround function to load a backdrop.

                            Horiz

Technically, the horizon is that line in the distance where
the sky touches the ground or ocean. In order to create a
horizon in the distance, Vistapro draws a large disk from
the camera out to the horizon. We refer to this disk as the
"horizon" The Horiz button turns the rendering of the
horizon on and off. When the Horiz button is depressed,
Vistapro renders a horizon over which the landscape is then
rendered. When loading a background, this can be used to
eliminate the horizon line that is visible when you look off
the edge of a landscape.

                             Tree

Select the Tree button to display and activate the Tree
Control Panel. See Tree Control Panel for a description of
its features.

                             Roads

When the Roads button is depressed, Vistapro renders roads
placed using the Place Control Panel.
Bldgs

When the Bldgs button is depressed, Vistapro renders
buildings placed using the Place Control Panel.

                            Valley

The Valley function governs how much trees and grass grow in
the bottom of valleys above the normal tree line and how
much snow tends to reach down below the snow line into
valleys. It is also used by the Strtch function to
exaggerate peaks and valleys. When you press the Valley
button, a requestor appears asking you for the valley scale.
The scale value determines how much Valley effect is used.
The default value is 100. A value of 200 doubles the effect
and a value of 50 reduces it by half. Next, a requestor
appears asking for valley size. The size is the width in
data points over which the Valley effect operates. Think of
it as a small window passed over the landscape, affecting
the area beneath it. The default value is 8.

                           Cliffs

The Cliffs function controls what portion of the landscape
is colored with the Cliff colors during rendering. When you
press the Cliff button, a requestor appears asking for a
cliff threshold value. The threshold value is the slope at
which Vistapro begins using Cliff colors to color the
landscape.

                           Stereo

Select the Stereo button to replace the Main Middle Control
Panel with the Stereo Image Middle Control Panel, which is
used to generate left and right images for display with
alternate shutter glasses. See Stereo Image Middle Control
Panel for a description of its features.

                           Smooth

The Smooth function smooths or erodes the landscape,
removing the harsher, more jagged edges of hills and
mountains. Smoothing often improves the appearance of
landscapes and it is especially useful when dealing with
fractal landscapes. You should use the smoothing function
sparingly with DEM files if data integrity is important, as
it distorts data. Pressing the Smooth button on the Middle
Control Panel invokes the smoothing function. This is a
repeatable, refining function, which can be run over and
over again, smoothing (eroding) the landscape more on each
pass. Smoothing is also used to obtain snow covered peaks.
Because of the design rules of the AI algorithms, as is also
true in nature, it is very rare that the summits or peaks of
mountains are completely snow covered. It is more often the
case that due to the steep nature of the cliff faces and
other contributing aspects, such as wind and snow weight,
snow does not cover the peaks of most mountains. However,
since it may be desirable artistically to create a
completely snow-covered mountain, smoothing mountains often
gives this effect.

                           Shrink

The Shrink function shrinks Large and Huge landscapes to the
next smaller size, Large or Small, respectively. The Shrink
function requires an additional buffer to copy the new map
data and will report an error if there is not enough memory
to open this buffer. Small landscapes are ignored by this
function.

                         Enlarg

The Enlarg function allows you to select a portion of the
landscape and enlarge it to fill the entire topographic
area. The intermediate data points are either filled with
the average of the points around them or filled with
duplicates of the nearest point. To invoke this function
press the Enlarg button. You will see a box that follows the
mouse cursor around the screen. Place the box over the
section that you want to enlarge and press the left mouse
button. Vistapro will open a requestor near the top of the
screen asking you to select either Interpolate (average) or
Duplicate mode. Select the desired mode and the area inside
the box will be enlarged to fit the entire topographic area.
Any rivers, lakes, or oceans will be lost.

The difference between the two modes is best described by an
example. Consider the side of a small hill viewed in
cross-section. In Interpolate mode the hill doubles in size
in all dimensions and the side of the hill remains smooth.
In Duplicate mode the hill also doubles in size but it
becomes stepped.
Interpolate mode: "in between" data is the average of
surrounding points.

Duplicate mode: "in between" data is the same as surrounding
points.

                         LockP

The LockP button locks the color palette. Normally, Vistapro
generates the best color palette that it can for each image
based on the terrain it is rendering. This can cause some
flickering in animations as the same areas change color
slightly from frame to frame. By locking the color palette,
you guarantee that the colors will be consistent between
frames of an animation. When you select the LockP button,
the palette is locked at the current settings. You should
generate a typical frame before locking the palette to
ensure that the palette contains a reasonable cross-section
of colors.

                          Clouds

Select the Clouds button to display and activate the Cloud
Control Panel. See Cloud Control Panel for a description of
its features.

                          Place

Select the Place button to replace the Main Middle Control
Panel with the Place Middle Control Panel, which is used to
place individual clumps of grass, trees, buildings and roads
onto the landscape. See Place Middle Control Panel for a
description of its features.

                          VScale

Vistapro can vertically re-scale any landscape. Typing a
number into the VScale string gadget causes Vistapro to
scale the landscape by that amount. For example, if you type
2.0, Vistapro stretches the landscape vertically so that
mountains are twice as tall, etc. Values between 0.0 and 1.0
cause Vistapro to flatten the landscape. Values less than 0
cause the landscape to flip over (valleys become ridges,
mountains become pits) before Vistapro scales them.
Elevations on the landscape are multiplied by the VScale
value. Landscapes can be saved after scaling.

You can generate some interesting effects with the scaling
function. You can flip landscapes upside down by using
negative values. Scaling mountains so that the tops exceed
32,767 meters and then scaling them back down to normal
results in mountains with big pits or calderas. Scaling to
very large values can even cause several layers of this
effect resulting in a mountain inside a collapsed mountain
inside a collapsed mountain. Scaling mountains down until
they are very small and scaling them back up results in
stepped mountains.

                             CMap

Select the CMap button to display and activate the Color
Control Panel. See Color Control Panel for information about
specifying colors.

                 STEREO MIDDLE CONTROL PANEL

The Stereo Image Middle Control Panel is used to generate
the left and right images necessary for stereo viewing with
alternate shutter glasses.

                             Right

When the Right button is pressed, Vistapro adjusts the
camera to the right by the value in the Displacement gadget
so that it appears that you are looking at the landscape
through your right eye.

                            Center

When the Center button is pressed, Vistapro centers the
camera back into its normal viewing position.


                             Left

When the Left button is pressed, Vistapro adjusts the camera
to the left by the value in the Displacement gadget so that
it appears that you are looking at the landscape through
your left eye.

                         Displacement

The value in the Displacement gadget represents the amount
that each "eye" is shifted from the center of the view. It
is greatly exaggerated from the actual distance between your
eyes in order to give a better three dimensional effect.

                            Merge

The Merge function takes two previously generated images and
interleaves them so that they can be displayed with shutter
type 3-D glasses.

                               OK

The OK button accepts your stereo image settings and returns
you to the Main Middle Control Panel.

                  PLACE MIDDLE CONTROL PANEL

The Place Middle Control Panel is used to place individual
clumps of grass, trees, buildings and roads onto the
landscape. While it is active, all other control panels are
disabled because the topographic map is zoomed to a
resolution which is not recognized by gadgets on the other
panels.

                               OK

The OK button accepts your placed objects and returns you to
the Main Middle Control Panel.

                              Zoom

The Zoom function zooms you in on a portion of the
topographic map to allow more precise placement of objects.
Press the Zoom button. A rectangle will follow the mouse
around the topographic map. When the rectangle encloses the
portion of the map that you are interested in, press the
left mouse button and the map will zoom that area to fill
the topographic map part of the screen.

                              Draw

The Draw function allows you to change the elevation of
individual data points relative to their current elevation.
The amount of change is the value in the box below the Draw
button. This function allows for crude editing of the
landscape and primary use is editing out minor anomalies in
the USGS DEM data.

                              Quit

The Quit button returns you to the Main Middle Control Panel
without accepting any changes that you may have made.

                          Clear

When the Clear button is pressed, Vistapro erases any
existing grass, trees, buildings or roads from the currently
loaded landscape.

                           Lock

The Lock functions prevent Vistapro from generating random
grass or trees which might obscure individually placed
objects. To prevent generation of random grass, press the
Lock button which is directly above the column of Grass
buttons. To prevent generation of random trees, press the
Lock button which is directly above the column of Tree
buttons. There are no similar buttons for buildings and
roads since they are not generated randomly.

                          Remove

The Remove function restores all placed objects to the
locations they had when the Place Middle Control Panel was
opened. In other words, it is an "undo" function.

                       Grass1 - 4

The Grass1 - 4 buttons allow you to place individual clumps
of grass with the corresponding elevation colors. Clumps of
grass are shown on the topographic map as a small square
filled with the appropriate Grass color. For example, to
place a clump of grass of color Grass 1 (see Color Control
Panel for information about landscape colors), press the
Grass1 button on the Place Middle Control Panel. Then click
with the left mouse button at the point on the landscape
where you wish to place a clump of grass.

                       Tree1 - 4

The Tree1 - 4 buttons allow you to place individual trees
with the corresponding elevation colors. Trees are shown on
the topographic map as a small square filled with the
appropriate Tree color. For example, to place a tree of
color Tree1 (see Color Control Panel for information about
landscape colors), press the Tree1 button on the Place
Middle Control Panel. Then click with the left mouse button
at the point on the landscape where you wish to place a
tree.

                         Bldg1 - 4

The Bldg1 - 4 buttons allow you to place individual
buildings with the corresponding elevation colors. Buildings
are shown on the topographic map as a small square filled
with the appropriate House color. For example, to place a
building of color House 1 (see Color Control Panel for
information about landscape colors), press the Bldg1 button
on the Place Middle Control Panel. Then click with the left
mouse button at the point on the landscape where you wish to
place a building.

                         Road1 - 4

The Road1 - 4 buttons allow you to place individual roads
with the corresponding elevation colors. For example, to
place a road of color Road1 (see Color Control Panel for
information about landscape colors), press the Road1 button
on the Place Middle Control Panel. Click with the left mouse
button at the point on the landscape where you wish a road
to begin, then click again with the left mouse button at the
point where you wish it to end. A row of road symbols will
appear between the points that you clicked on.

                    LOWER CONTROL PANELS

The Lower Control Panels consist of four separate control
panels overlaid on a common space.

                            Main

The Main button enables and displays the Main Lower Control
Panel. See Main Lower Control Panel for details.

                            Lens

The Lens button enables and displays the Lens Lower Control
Panel. Use it to select the type of lens the camera uses.
See Lens Lower Control Panel for details.

                            Frac

The Frac button enables and displays the Fractal Lower
Control Panel. Use it to generate random fractal landscapes.
See Fractal Lower Control Panel for details.

                         Light

The Light button enables and displays the Light Lower
Control Panel. Use it to select the direction and intensity
of the light source. See Light Lower Control Panel for
details.

                MAIN LOWER CONTROL PANEL

                         Poly

With a  Small landscape, Vistapro produces 131,072 polygons
at its finest resolution. With a Large  landscape, Vistapro
produces four times as many polygons (524,288). With a Huge
landscape, sixteen times as many polygons (2,097,152). The
Polygon Size function controls the relative coarseness of
the landscape image. A size of 8 generates 1/64th as many
polygons (1/8th on each axis) as a size of 1 and they are 64
(8 x 8) times as large. That is, a Small landscape can
consist of 131,072 size 1 polygons, 32,768 size 2 polygons,
8192 size 4 polygon, or 2048 size 8 polygons. You can use
the larger polygons to generate quick previews of
landscapes. Then, when you are satisfied with your camera
and target placement, use smaller polygons. The smaller the
polygons, the longer it takes to render the image. The
larger the polygon size selected, the less detail that will
show up in the image, because Vistapro is displaying only a
fraction of the full data. The lower resolutions (higher
poly number, i.e. 4 or 8) are useful for quick test
renderings to check the landscape for color, light placement
and exposure settings.

                       Dither

Vistapro generally colors landscapes by altitude. The lowest
altitudes are colored with Tree 1 through Tree 4 colors,
middle altitudes are colored with Bare 1 through Bare 4
colors, the highest altitudes are colored with Snow 1
through Snow 4 colors. Each of the 130,000 triangles that
make up the landscape is assigned a color based on its
altitude and several other factors.

The Dither value determines the "fuzziness" of the division
between color bands. A setting of 0 makes the tree and snow
lines very sharp boundaries. The default setting of 128
gives a moderate amount of dithering of the colors. A large
value, like 1000, makes the colors so dithered that there is
no visible relationship between altitude and color. To set
this value, click the mouse pointer on the Dither string
gadget on the Main Control Panel. Change the number from the
keyboard. Useful values range from 0 to 1000.

                     Textur - O L M H

Vistapro can add additional texture to polygons near the
camera by breaking them into smaller pieces and coloring
each piece a slightly different shade. This adds artificial
detail to nearby areas. There are four different levels of
detail: Off, Low, Medium and High. They are selected by the
O, L, M and H buttons below the Textur label. Pressing one
of these buttons brings up a panel which gives you a choice
of Shading or Altitude texturing. The higher the detail
level, the longer a picture takes to render but the more
detailed it will appear.

Shading texture breaks nearby polygons into several smaller
polygons and shade each polygon separately, giving the
landscape smoother transitions of shade and color and making
large polygons less visible. Shading texture works well with
Gouraud shading to eliminate a computer generated look in
landscapes and give more of an "artistic" appearance.

Altitude texture fractalizes the polygons into groups of
smaller polygons to add texture. These smaller polygons are
then individually shaded and colored. Altitude texture
produces the most realistic looking landscapes. Gouraud
shading is not recommended to be used with Altitude texture
as it tends to smooth out the fractal effect.

                         PixDth

Dithering at the pixel level increases the apparent number
of colors in the display. Vistapro uses a dithering method
which allows you to set the amount of dithering used within
the display. It can be set anywhere from no dithering to so
much dithering that you no longer recognize the picture.

                          Bound

The bounding function allows you to mark off a rectangular
area of the landscape. Vistapro then renders only the parts
of the landscape inside the bounded area. This is useful
when you want to examine details in a small portion of the
landscape or eliminate parts of the landscape that you know
will not be visible.

To use this function, select the Bound button. On the
topographic map, click the mouse pointer at one corner of
the desired region. Move the pointer to the opposite corner
notice that a rectangle follows the mouse as you move it.
Click at the second corner. A black box is drawn on the
topographic map to indicate the bounded area. To turn off
the Bound function, click on the Bound button again. The
button pops up and the black box disappears.

                          BFCull

Normally, with Vistapro's camera placed over the landscape,
the back sides of mountains are not visible to the camera;
only the fronts of mountains (the parts facing the camera)
are seen. Since the backs of mountains aren't visible, it
makes sense not to render them. The BFCull button enables
Back Face Culling, a technique of detecting the back faces
and not rendering them.

Under some conditions you may need to see the back faces of
objects. For instance, with the camera underneath the
landscape or with the camera in the area surrounding the
topographic map, some back faces will be visible to the
camera. You can disable back face culling under these
conditions if you choose.

                          Blend

Blend helps reduce the coarse texture of distant parts of
the landscape. When you select the Blend button, Vistapro
draws each polygon with a weighted average color of that
polygon and the three polygons that border it. This reduces
the aliasing of distant polygons. It also reduces the color
saturation of polygons, so its use is optional.

                          GShade

Gouraud shading produces smooth looking surfaces without
obvious triangles. It requires about 50% more time to render
a landscape with Gouraud shading than without it. Gouraud
shading gives a brush like feeling to the landscape, as if
an artist painted it using oils, rather than the Amiga
playing with numbers. Besides filtering out large polygons,
it adds mood to the landscape. The foreground may appear
blurry with Gouraud shading.

                 LENS LOWER CONTROL PANEL

The camera lens functions available on the Lens Lower
Control Panel represent the lens type of Vistapro's
imaginary camera.

                          Port

The Port function looks to the left to allow generation of
images that can be pieced together to form a panorama, at
least on three sides. This function is intended to be used
together with the Strbrd and Forwrd functions.

                         Forwrd

The Forwrd function looks straight ahead to allow generation
of images that can be pieced together to form a panorama, at
least on three sides. This function is intended to be used
together with the Port and Strbrd functions.

                         Strbrd

The Strbrd function looks to the right to allow generation
of images that can be pieced together to form a panorama, at
least on three sides. This function is intended to be used
together with the Port and Forwrd functions.

                          Wide

The Wide lens gives a 90 field of view. It allows you to see
a wide area with minimal spherical distortion. The Wide lens
has a FclLn value (similar to the focal length of a real
camera) of 16.

                           Zoom

The Zoom lens has about half the field of view of the Wide
lens (about 45), or you may think of it as having twice the
magnification. It allows you to zoom in on the target. Very
little distortion is noticeable. The Zoom lens has a FclLn
value of 32.

                     FclLn and Fld OV

The FclLn value is similar to the focal length of a real
camera. It represents the width of the field of view or the
amount of magnification. The lower the FclLn value, the
wider the field of view. The higher the FclLn value, the
narrower the field of view and the greater the
magnification.

The lowest valid FclLn value is 1. This is an extremely wide
angle lens with severe spherical distortion. Values below 8
are generally impractical but sometimes interesting to try.
You can set the FclLn to as high as 30000, but such high
numbers are only useful when the camera is very far from the
landscape (a million meters or so). You will probably use
FclLn values from 16 to 100 in normal situations.

The Fld OV value is the approximate angle of the camera's
field of view in degrees. While the Lens Lower Control Panel
is active, the field of view is indicated on the topographic
map as two lines radiating out from the camera position.
FclLn and Fld OV are tied together. That is, when you change
one value, the other also changes automatically to reflect
the new setting.

               FRACTAL LOWER CONTROL PANEL

                         Random

Random landscape generation allows creation of a vast number
of completely artificial landscapes. Vistapro supports over
four billion random fractal landscapes. Each different
number in the Fractal Landscape Number window below the
Random button represents a different landscape. You can use
both positive and negative numbers. A number such
as1,231,541 creates a different landscape than its positive
counterpart, +1,231,541. Select Random on the Fractal Lower
Control Panel. Notice that a new number appears in the
Fractal Landscape Number window. Vistapro now proceeds to
create a new landscape. After a time, depending on the speed
of the system running the program, a new landscape appears.
If this landscape is one which you may want to use again, be
certain to write down the number so that you can generate it
again, or save the landscape using the Save VistaPro DEM
menu item. To recreate a desired landscape, simply reenter
its number in the Fractal Landscape Number window and
Vistapro will create the same landscape again. This
conserves disk storage space. You may enter any number into
the Fractal Landscape Number window and explore landscapes
in this fashion. Various methods include using special dates
such as birthdays (without hyphens or slashes, i.e. 52262
rather than 5-22-62), holidays and anniversaries. Keep a
list of numbers for those landscapes that prove to be
interesting so that you can share them with other owners of
Vistapro. Like the fingerprints of the four billion
inhabitants of this planet, some Vistapro scenes may look
similar, but, upon closer examination, each one is
individual and distinctive. Fractal landscape generation is
affected by the fractal dimension and fractal divisor
settings.

                Fractal Landscape Number

This string gadget (located below the Random button) is used
to enter the number of the fractal landscape you wish to
generate. It also displays the random number generated when
you press the Random button. Vistapro uses this number to
generate fractal landscapes. To enter your own value,
position the mouse pointer over the gadget and press the
left mouse button. The pointer disappears. Type in your
number from the keyboard and press Return. Vistapro then
generates that landscape. Note that the fractal dimension
and fractal divisor values are also used to generate the
landscape.
Island

There are two modes for generating fractal landscapes,
Island and Floating. In Island mode the altitude of the four
edges of the fractal landscape are the same. This allows you
to create islands by setting the sea level higher than this
edge altitude. See the SeaLvl function for details on its
operation. In Floating mode, the four edges of the landscape
are allowed to float that is, they are allowed to vary in
altitude. Floating mode landscapes look like they were
clipped out of a larger area similar to real-world DEM
landscapes.

If the Island button is depressed, fractal landscapes are
generated in Island mode, otherwise they are generated in
Floating mode.

                          FrDim

The FrDim value controls the fractal dimension (height and
roughness) of the fractal mountains. This value is used for
subsequently generated fractal landscapes. Typing in a new
value does not affect the current landscape unless you
regenerate it. The default value is 100. Larger values
generate taller, rougher landscapes. Smaller values generate
flatter, smoother landscapes.

                         Frctlz

You can fractalize the current landscape to add fractal
detail to them. If the FrDim is set to a low value, the
effect of this is to smooth the landscape. If the FrDim is
set to a high value, the landscape becomes rougher. The
fractal divisor buttons (1, 2, 4, and 8 immediately below
the Fractlz button) control the scale at which the
fractalization occurs. At lower values, fractal noise is
added only at very small scales the landscape will be
basically the same shape, but rougher. At higher values the
landscape will start looking rougher at larger scales and
may no longer resemble the original landscape.

                     Fractal Divisor

The fractal divisor buttons are the four buttons located
between the Fractlz and Strtch buttons. They are labeled 1,
2, 4, and 8. The values they represent are used by the
fractal generation routines. When Vistapro generates a
fractal landscape (after you press Random or enter a value
into the Fractal Landscape Number gadget), it uses the
current divisor setting. The smaller the fractal divisor,
the larger the features of the landscape. At a setting of 1,
very large mountains are generated. At 8, many small
mountains are built. For the Fractlz and Strtch functions,
the divisor value represents the frequency at which the
existing landscape data is sampled in order to generate a
new landscape. See the sections for Fractlz and Strtch for
more details.

                         Strtch

The Strtch function changes landscapes by stretching
existing features vertically. Peaks grow taller, valleys and
pits grow deeper. The scale at which this happens is
controlled by the fractal divisor buttons (1, 2, 4, and 8
immediately above the Strtch button). At lower values, only
the smallest features are stretched. At higher values, only
the larger features are stretched. You can stretch
landscapes over and over again to create a caricature of the
original landscape.

                LIGHT LOWER CONTROL PANEL

The light source direction is the direction from which the
sun is shining and it is used in combination with the
exposure, contrast and shadow settings to determine the
location and depth of shadows when generating an image. This
function moves the sun.

When this panel is selected, several concentric circles are
drawn in black over the landscape. These circles are
reference points for you to use to visually estimate the
declination of the sun. The circles are labeled with the
declinations that they represent: 75, 60, 45, 30 and 0 above
the horizon. A line (the Sun Vector) is drawn from the
center of the "bullseye" toward the edge of the landscape.
The direction of the line indicates the azimuth (direction
around the horizon) from which the sun is shining. The
length of the line indicates the declination of the light
source. Think of the Sun Vector as a stick stuck in the
center of the landscape which is pointing at the sun. Since
the  topographic map is being viewed from directly overhead,
the longer the stick appears, the closer the sun is to the
horizon. If the stick appears very short, it is pointing
nearly straight up.

                          NSEW

Use the North, South, East, and West buttons (labeled N, S,
E, and W) to quickly set one of four standard lighting
positions. These buttons are positioned so that you can
easily see from which direction the sun is shining. When
using one of these positions, the sun is 45 above the
horizon. Using these pre-programmed directions speeds up the
shading phase of rendering when shadows are enabled. After
clicking on one of these buttons, the Sun Vector (the line
radiating from the center of the "bullseye") changes to
indicate the new direction.

                         Custom

The Custom button allows you to have complete control over
the direction and angle of the light source. Selecting this
button causes the sun vector to follow the mouse pointer as
you move it around the screen. This represents the position
of the sun in the sky. Think of the line as a stick pointing
at the sun from the center of the landscape. Since you are
looking down onto the landscape from above, the longer the
stick is, the closer the sun is to the horizon, and the
shorter the stick is, the closer the sun is to being
directly overhead. The stick points in the direction of the
sun. When you have located the desired direction and angle,
a single click with the left mouse button locks it in place.
Using a custom light source may increase the amount of time
required to complete the shading phase of the rendering
process when shadows are enabled.

                         Exager

The Exager (Exaggeration) button enables exaggerated
shading. Imagine a ball with a light shining on it from
above. The top of the ball faces the light and appears very
bright. Points farther down the sides of the ball reflect
less light and appear darker. Halfway down the side, the
light no longer shines on the surface and it is in shadow.
Exaggerated shading increases the rate at which the shades
darken around the sides of the ball. This technique can add
detail to the image by exaggerating small irregularities on
the landscape. You will probably want to disable this
function when setting the sun at low declinations, since the
exaggeration makes flat areas appear very dark.

                         Azimth

Use the Azimth gadget to set the direction of the sun (in
degrees from South). Zero degrees is due south, 90 is due
west, 180 is due north and 270 is due east. Note that this
differs from the heading, which is measured from due north,
as is common in navigation.

                         Declin

Use the Declin gadget to set the declination, the angle from
the horizon, from which the sun shines. Zero degrees of
declination puts the sun right on the horizon, while 90 puts
the sun directly overhead. This is similar to the way Pitch
is measured for the camera.

In astronomy, this value is usually called altitude
(measured in degrees from the horizon) rather than
declination. It was decided that the term altitude might be
confusing since it is also used to describe the altitude of
the camera (measured in meters). Be aware that the usage of
the word declination here is not technically correct.

                         Rough

The Rough gadget sets the apparent roughness of the
landscape when it is rendered. Vistapro accomplishes this by
adding a scaled random number to the shade of each polygon,
so that some of the polygons are darker than normal and some
are lighter. By doing this, large flat areas appear to have
a little more detail than they otherwise might. To set this
value, click the mouse pointer on the Rough string gadget.
Change the number from the keyboard and press Return. Useful
values range from 0 to 300, with higher values giving
rougher appearing landscapes. Very large roughness values
result in unnatural shading. This is used in conjunction
with the Textur function.

                           Shadow

Vistapro has the ability to render landscapes with shadows.
True shadows are very difficult and time consuming to
render, so Vistapro uses a quick, less precise method. Only
the landscape itself casts shadows; trees do not cast
shadows. Shadows are not cast outside the area of the
topographic data. Shadows are enabled when the Shadow button
is depressed. The shading phase requires more time when
shadows are enabled.

                    BOTTOM CONTROL PANEL

                           Render

Clicking on the Render button starts the generation of a new
picture using the current settings in the control panels.
Vistapro performs several functions while rendering. It
displays its progress at the bottom of the screen in the
status window. For most functions, there is a continuously
updated status count so that you can monitor Vistapro's
progress. (See Vista Status Window for more information.)
You can abort the rendering process by pressing the Abort
button.

                           Redraw

The Redraw button redraws the image onto the View screen in
the current resolution/mode set by the GrModes menu. This
only works for the image last rendered or 24 bit image you
loaded with the Load IFF 24 menu item.

Vistapro uses two different algorithms for drawing in HAM
mode. If the polygon size is set to either 4 or 8, it
employs a crude but fast algorithm. When using HAM mode,
more HAM artifacting is noticeable at these polygon sizes.
HAM artifacting is the colored spikes that can appear in a
HAM image at sharp contrast transition boundaries. If the
polygon size is set to 1 or 2, Vistapro uses a more precise
method which results in less HAM artifacting.

                            View

When the rendering is complete, Vistapro automatically
displays the image. If you have returned to the Control
Panel, you can redisplay the image with the View button.

                          Abort

Use the Abort button to stop the rendering process and River
and Lake generation. With Lake generation, Vistapro removes
the lake from the landscape, which may result in the erasure
of River data that it overlaid when generating the lake.
When generating a river, Abort simply stops flowing the
river. It will remove the river if you press the No button
in the Accept River? requestor which appears when you press
the Abort button. The Abort button may not appear to be
pressed when you press the mouse button, but it will still
be active and will abort the current function.

                    TREE CONTROL PANELS

                GENERAL TREE CONTROL PANEL

The Tree Control Panel gives you to control over random
generation and rendering of trees (as opposed to trees
placed individually using the Place Middle Control Panel).
The Tree Control Panel has two modes, a General mode, which
gives you control over the tree's general appearance, and an
Expert mode, which gives you more precise control over trees
at different elevation levels.

The central portion of the panel is divided into five
subpanels, one for each type of tree that Vistapro can draw
and one for grass. The settings in each of these sections
determine whether the given type of tree or grass will be
rendered within each Tree color elevation zone and their
size and density. The bottom portion of the Tree Control
Panel is divided into four subpanels, one for each type of
tree. These subpanels control the amount of detail with
which each type of tree is drawn within each Tree color
elevation zone.

                EXPERT TREE CONTROL PANEL

                           OK

When you press the OK button, Vistapro accepts and saves any
changes that you have made in the Tree Control Panel and
returns you to the main control panels.

                            Off

The Off button disables rendering of trees without changing
the settings in the Tree Control Panel and returns you to
the main control panels. This function can be used to reduce
the time needed to make test renderings before turning trees
back on for a final rendering.

                           Expert

The Expert button opens the Expert portion of the Tree
Control Panel.

                           Txture

The Txture button enables fractal texturing in the branches
and leaves of all trees and grass.

                            2-D

The 2-D button causes two dimensional trees (as in Vistapro
2.0) to be rendered. Grass is not affected by this function.

                            3-D

The 3-D button causes three dimensional trees to be
rendered.

                    Tree Type Subpanels

The subpanels controlling pine, oak, palm and cactus are
organized identically to each other. Each has five rows of
gadgets (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and All) which control
generation of the given type of tree within the
corresponding Tree color elevation zones (Tree 1 Tree 4).
Settings in the top (All) row affect all trees of the given
type, regardless of elevation.  There are four columns of
gadgets relating to different aspects of rendering trees.

                         Tree Type

The leftmost column consists of four buttons labelled for
the type of tree the subpanel controls and an All button.
When one of the Tree Type buttons (Pine, Oak, Palm or
Cactus) is depressed, Vistapro renders that type of tree in
that Tree color elevation zone. For example, if you depress
the Pine button in row 1 of the pine subpanel, Vistapro will
generate and render random pine trees in all areas of the
landscape which have the color Tree 1. Depressing the All
button causes trees of the given type to be rendered in all
Tree colored elevation zones.

Generation of trees of a given type in a given elevation
zone is independent of generation trees of the same type in
other elevation zones. Also, more than one type of tree can
be rendered within a given elevation zone.

                           Size

The numeric gadgets in the Size column determine the
approximate size (in meters) of trees of the given type
within the given elevation zone. Fifty meters may seem quite
large for most trees, but, with thirty meters between
landscape data points (as in most Vistapro DEMs), fifty
meter tall trees will seem consistent with the surrounding
landscape. To change a tree size, click in the appropriate
Size gadget, change the value from the keyboard. The top
value in the column controls the tree Size at all
elevations. For example, if you set it to 50, it changes the
size of all trees of the given type to 50 at all elevations.
Changing the Size value in one of the other rows affects the
trees at the given elevation only, the top value then
represents the average size of the given tree type.

                          Density

The numeric gadgets in the Density Column determine what
proportion of data points that could contain a tree of the
given type actually do contain a tree. This value is out of
a possible maximum of 256. That is, a density of 128 means
that 50% of the possible data points will actually contain
trees. The actual effect of this is a bit tricky to
describe, as it depends on the number of tree types being
rendered in a given elevation zone. For example, the actual
density of pine trees at elevation 4 is the value in the
Pine Density 4 gadget times the probability that a pine
tree, rather than an oak, palm or cactus, will be drawn at
any given point. To change a tree density, click in the
appropriate Density gadget, change the value from the
keyboard. The top value in the column controls the tree
Density at all elevations in a similar manner to the top
value in the Size column.

                          Leaves

The buttons in the Leaves column determine whether or not
leaves are rendered on trees of the given type in the given
elevation zone. For autumn or winter scenes, you may wish to
have some trees which are devoid of leaves. The All button
turns leaves on for trees of the given type at all
elevations.

                      Grass Subpanel

The Grass subpanel is laid out a little differently than the
Tree Type subpanels, but the first three columns (Grass,
Size, and Density) serve the same functions as the
corresponding columns in the Tree Type subpanels.

The Spread column determines the amount of grass in each
individual clump. Spread values range from 0 to 256. Lower
Spread values result in just a few blades of grass at a
given point, while higher values can result in hundreds of
blades at a single point. The blades are randomly
distributed to nearby points so that grass is spread about
the polygon rather than being concentrated in a single spot.
The top value in the Spread column controls the grass Spread
at all elevations in a similar manner to the top value in
the Size and Density columns.

                  3-D Detail Subpanels

The four 3-D Detail subpanels, one for each tree type, at
the bottom of the Tree Control Panel are organized
identically to each other. As in the Tree Type subpanels,
there is a row for each of the four Tree color elevation
zones and one for all of the zones. There are two columns of
buttons which control the detail with which trees are
rendered. The settings in these subpanels only apply if the
3-D button is depressed. By varying both the Density and
Crown settings, you have ultimate control over tree
rendering.

                    Detail - L M H U

The L(ow), M(edium), H(igh) and U(ltra) buttons in the
column below the Detail label determine the level of three
dimensional detail, i.e. how many levels of branches and
leaves, with which trees of the given type in the given
elevation zone are rendered. A setting of L results in trees
with relatively sparse foliage while a setting of U results
in trees with dense foliage.

As an example, to get pine trees with heavy foliage in the
lower elevations and light foliage in the higher elevations,
you might depress the H buttons in rows 1 and 2 of the Pine
3-D Detail subpanel, and the L buttons in rows 3 and 4. For
trees with the same level of detail regardless of elevation,
use the buttons in the row labelled All.

                    Crown - L M H U

The L(ow), M(edium), H(igh) and U(ltra) buttons in the
column below the Crown label determine the "crown level" of
trees of the given type in the given elevation zone. Crown
level is the likelihood that an individual branch will be
rendered. A setting of L results in a 50% probability that
any given branch will continue. The probability is 75% at M,
87.5% at H and 93.75% at U.

                  CLOUD CONTROL PANEL

The Cloud Control Panel allows you to determine how Vistapro
renders clouds. It is accessed by pressing the Clouds button
on the Main Middle Control Panel. All other control panels
are inactive while the Cloud Control Panel is displayed.

                         OK

The OK button accepts your cloud settings and returns you to
the main control panels.

                       Enable Clouds

When the Enable Clouds button is depressed, Vistapro renders
clouds above the landscape. If it is not depressed, clouds
are not rendered.

                      Fractal Detail

The Fractal Detail button adds fractal detail to the clouds.
This results in more realistic looking clouds.

                     Cloud Parameters

The four items in the Cloud Parameters subpanel determine
the appearance of rendered clouds.

                         Density

The cloud Density value determines the amount of clouds that
are generated. Density values range from 0 to 100. Low
Density values result in few clouds, high values result in a
larger cloud mass. Change this value by clicking in the
numeric gadget, typing a new value and pressing Return.

                         Hardness

Cloud Hardness determines the "fluffiness" of the clouds.
Low Hardness values result in softer, puffier clouds, high
values result in clouds with sharper edges. Change this
value by clicking in the numeric gadget and typing a new
value.

                         Altitude

The cloud Altitude value determines the altitude of the
cloud mass. It is adjusted if the camera is too near to or
above the clouds. You cannot place the camera above the
clouds. Change this value by clicking in the numeric gadget
and typing a new value.

                  Cloud Size - 1 2 3 4

The Cloud Size buttons determine the size of clouds
generated by the Random Clouds function. A setting of 1
results in a few large cloud masses, while a setting of 8
results in a large number of small cloud masses.

                      Cloud Source

The two buttons in the Cloud Source subpanel determine what
Vistapro uses for a cloud map (think of this as a kind of
topographic map for clouds) when rendering clouds. Cloud
maps generated with either of these functions can be saved
with the Save Clouds menu item and used with any landscape.

                     Random Clouds

The Random Clouds function generates a random cloud map. The
sizes of the random clouds are determined by the Cloud Size
setting.

                      DEM->Clouds

The DEM->Clouds function turns the currently loaded
landscape into a cloud pattern. The peaks in the landscape
become clouds and the valleys become holes in the clouds.
You can create a cloud map based on one landscape, save it
using the Save Clouds menu item and then use it with a
different landscape. Or, you can use the cloud map with the
landscape that generated it, giving you a sort of mirror
image of the landscapes in the clouds above it.

One interesting use for the DEM->Clouds function is sky
writing. Create an IFF file containing text, then load it
into Vistapro as a landscape using the IFF->Alt menu item in
the ImpExp menu. Now use this landscape to generate a cloud
map using DEM->Clouds and the text becomes clouds (or holes
in the clouds, depending on the colors used in your IFF
file). See IFF->Alt for information about creating
landscapes in this manner.

                  COLOR CONTROL PANEL

The Color Control Panel controls palette selection and a
variety of other functions. This panel is accessed by
pressing the CMap button on the Middle Control Panel. Both
the R(ed), G(reen) and B(lue) sliders and the H(ue),
S(aturation) and B(rightness) sliders on the left part of
the Color Control Panel allow you to select and mix colors.
The center part of the panel is devoted to those aspects of
landscape coloration which are under your control. The OK
button loads your selections and returns you to the main
Vistapro Control Panels. The various features of the Color
Control Panel are described below.

                         Colors

The Color Palette is used to change the color ranges for
Sky, Cliffs, Snow, Bare Earth, Vegetation (Trees and Grass)
and Water. These are the colors of the polygons that make up
the landscape. Each of the colors are shaded and faded by
Vistapro as it renders the landscape.

For example, an apple may be a uniform shade of red, but the
side that faces the light is brighter than the side that
faces away from the light. The apple fades toward haze color
as you move it farther into the haze. Even though there are
only a few different object colors in Vistapro, each of the
colors may produce hundreds of shades.

Vistapro maps Bare, Tree and Snow colors to the landscape
fundamentally by elevation. Vistapro gives the lowest
elevations Tree colors, middle elevations Bare colors and
high elevations Snow colors. The same is true for each of
the four colors within each segment. The lowest elevations
are assigned the color Tree 1, slightly higher elevations
Tree 2, and so forth. The designation of colors as Tree,
Bare and Snow is arbitrary.

You can, for instance, make them all different shades of red
for a Martian landscape, or any colors desired for an
especially bizarre picture. The boundary between the
different zones is fuzzy. For instance, setting the tree
line at 1000 meters does not mean that everything below 1000
meters will be Tree and everything above it will be set to
Bare or Snow. The local shape of the landscape and some
random dithering affect all the colors.

Vistapro uses Cliff colors for portions of the landscape
where the terrain is very steep. The color Cliff 1 is used
for slightly steep regions, Cliff 2 for steeper portions and
so on through the range of cliff colors. Beach color is used
for the boundary (if any) between the sea and the land.
Vistapro uses Water colors for rivers and lakes. Water
colors 1 and 2 are assigned to flat bodies of water. Water
colors 3 and 4 indicate rapids on rivers. Waterfalls are
Water 5. Horizon color is the color of the region
surrounding the Elevation Model Data. This color need not be
the color of the sea or of water at all. Depending upon the
effect desired, it might be green to match the lowest
landscape colors.

Sky color is simply the color of the sky. You can obtain an
interesting effect by making Sky and Horizon colors black
and by setting the Haze value to 0. This creates landscapes
that appear to be floating in space. Sky Haze is the color
that the sky fades to in the distance. Haze is the color
that land and water fade to in the distance. Keep in mind
that the thickness of the haze (or magnitude of the haze
effect) is set by the HazeDn setting on the Middle Control
Panel. You can produce another interesting effect by setting
Haze and Sky Haze to black and the HazeDn value to a high
number like 300. This makes the landscape look like a night
scene lit by a light behind the camera.

Exposure and contrast are set with the Exposure and Contrast
controls. Higher Exposure settings lead to brighter
pictures. Higher Contrast settings lead to more contrast in
the images. Only the R(ed) slider is used to control
Exposure and Contrast settings.

                             OK

The OK button returns you to the main Vistapro Control
Panels using the changes you have made.

                           Spread

The Spread function provides for a smooth series of color
changes from one color to another. To use the Spread
function, click on the upper color, click on Spread and then
click on the lower color. As an example, suppose you want
the lowest elevation of brush to be a dark green and the
highest to be a light green. You would set the Brush 1 color
to a light green, the Brush 4 color to a dark green and use
Spread to fill in the colors for Brush 2 and Brush 3.

                          Quit

The Quit button returns you to the main Vista Control Panel,
resetting the colors back to what they were before you
entered the Color Control Panel.

                          Copy

The Copy button copies a color from one palette segment to
another. Click on the color you want to copy, then click on
Copy and, finally, click on the color you want to change.
The second color is changed to be the same as the first.

                          Swap

The Swap button swaps two colors. Click on one of the colors
you want to swap, then click on the Swap button and,
finally, click on the color with which you want to swap. The
colors swap places.

                          Sound

Fractal music generated by Vistapro is a musical rendering
of the values of the polygons that Vistapro uses to generate
the final image before display. It is the sound of fractal
mathematics in action.
                 GRAPHICS CONTROL PANEL

                            OK

Pressing the OK button accepts your settings for your next
display and returns you to the main control panels.

                 DISPLAY MODES SUBPANEL

                           LoRes

The LoRes button tells Vistapro to display the next image in
LoRes mode. It does not change the width of your image,
although it changes the display width. This can result in
displaying only a portion of your image if the Image Width
and Display Width differ greatly.

                           HiRes

The HiRes button tells Vistapro to display the next image in
HiRes mode. Under AmigaDOS 1.3, this is typically 640 to 768
pixels, depending on the amount of overscan that you
request. Under AmigaDOS 3.0, it varies depending on the
overscan and monitor mode that you select. The HiRes button
is selected automatically when Super HiRes is selected,
since inside AmigaDOS, the SuperHiRes flag contains the
HiRes flag.

                            HAM

The HAM button tells Vistapro to display the next image in
4096 color HAM mode. The exception to this is that under
AmigaDOS 3.0 on an AGA Amiga, if HAM-8 is selected, HAM is
also selected because the HAM flag is part of the flags that
designate HAM8. Under AmigaDOS 1.3, HAM is always LoRes in
width but, under AmigaDOS 3.0, that restriction does not
exist.

                            EHB

The EHB button tells Vistapro to display the next image as
an ExtraHalfBrite image. This gives you 32 colors plus 32
shades of those colors, for an apparent 64 colors. Under
AmigaDOS 1.3, EHB can only be used in LoRes mode.

                         Interlace

The Interlace button tells Vistapro to display the next
image in Interlace mode. Interlace works nicely for images.
The flicker that is noticeable with text on some Amiga
screens is not apparent when displaying rendered images.

                   AmigaDOS 3.0 Buttons

The following buttons require AmigaDOS 3.0 Version 39 of the
Graphics.library to operate. Vistapro looks at the version
number of your Graphics.library in order to decide whether
or not to attach these buttons to the Graphics Control
Panel. If you do not see them, it is probably because you
are running a pre-AGA Amiga. If you upgrade your Amiga, you
will find that these buttons automatically become available
to you.

                        Super HiRes

If you do not yet have AmigaDOS 3.0, you will not see the
Super HiRes button. This button tells AGA Amigas to display
the next image in SuperHiRes mode. This can be as many as
1448 pixels wide, depending on the mode. Vistapro
automatically looks at the version of AmigaDOS on your
machine to decide whether or not to install this button.

                           256-C

The 256-C button tells Vistapro to render the next image in
the new AGA 256 color mode. This mode cannot be used at the
same time as HAM, HAM-8, EHB or Productivity. Vistapro
automatically deselects those modes which are not compatible
with it. 256-C requires AmigaDOS 3.0 or higher.

                           HAM-8

The HAM-8 button tells Vistapro to render the next image in
the new 256,000 color HAM8 mode. This mode cannot be used at
the same time as the 256 color mode, EHB or Productivity.
Vistapro automatically deselects those modes that are not
compatible with it. HAM-8 requires AmigaDOS 3.0 or higher.

                       Productivity

The Productivity button tells Vistapro to render the next
image in Productivity mode. This mode requires one of two
monitor settings, Multiscan or Euro72. None of the other
monitor types support it. Productivity mode is 640 pixels
wide with no horizontal overscan.

                AmigaDOS 3.0 Monitor Modes

Under AmigaDOS 3.0, Vistapro recognizes which monitor mode
you are using and opens screens for display which are
appropriate to that monitor mode. Under releases of AmigaDOS
prior to 3.0, Vistapro uses only NTSC or PAL screens, as
appropriate.

            IMAGE AND DISPLAY SIZE SUBPANEL

                       Image Width

The Image Width integer gadget contains the current width of
the next image to be rendered. You can enter a value here or
have it filled in automatically by clicking on any of the
numbered Overscan Width & Height buttons. This is the actual
image width, not the width that is displayed. Vistapro
renders images up to 4096 pixels wide, providing that it can
find enough memory. Typically, the memory required for the
24 bit image buffer is image Width x Height x 3. This does
not count Vistapro's normal overhead or the memory needed
for a Large or Huge DEM.

                       Image Height

The Image Height integer gadget contains the current height
of the next image to be rendered. You can enter a value here
or have it filled in automatically by depressing any of the
numbered OverScan Width & Height buttons.

                      Display Width

The Display Width integer gadget contains the current width
of the screen that the next image will be displayed on. It
is typically rounded to the nearest 16 bits.

                      Display Height

The Display Height integer gadget contains the current
height of the screen that the next image will be displayed
on.

             OverScan Width & Height Buttons

The OverScan Width & Height buttons are organized in two
rows of four buttons each. The text on the buttons changes
depending on the other settings on the Graphics Control
Panel. The first row contains width settings, with the
leftmost button being the default setting (no overscan) and
the rightmost button being the maximum overscan setting for
the current mode settings. The middle two buttons represent
compromise settings. These buttons set both the Image Width
and the Display Width and are offered as a shortcut to
filling out the image and display sizes manually. The second
row, similarly, contains height settings. When Vistapro
first starts up, it is in LoRes, non-interlace mode and the
buttons are as follows:

   320 352 368 384
   200 216 241 242

                 SPECIAL HARDWARE SUBPANEL

                           DCTV

                           Off

Turns off DCTV modes. Each special hardware mode is locked
into place. You cannot choose Firecracker24, for example, if
you have already chosen DCTV. You must turn DCTV off first.
This is also true of the specifically Amiga modes, such as
HAM, HAM8, EHB, Productivity and SuperHiRes.

                          3 Bit

Turns on DCTV 3 bit plane mode for display.

                          4 Bit

Turns on DCTV 4 bit plane mode for display.

                      Firecracker24

                           Off

Turns off the Firecracker24 display mode.

                          1 Mon

Turns on the Firecracker24 display for use on a system with
a single monitor. Image and display sizes are set to
768x482.

                          2 Mon

Turns on the Firecracker24 display for use on a system with
a separate monitor for the Firecracker24. Image and display
sizes are set to 768x482.

                             HAM-E

                              Off

Turns the HAM-E display mode off.

                              On

Turns the HAM-E display mode on.

                            COLORS

                              Sky

Sky is the primary color that Vistapro uses in generating
the sky. Haze and Sky Haze alter this color when
appropriate.

                           Cliff 1-4

Cliff 1-4 are the primary colors that Vistapro uses in
generating cliff regions in a landscape. Cliff 4 is used for
the steepest cliffs and Cliff 1 the least steep. Vistapro
uses shades of these colors when these areas are in shadow.

                           Snow 1-4

Snow 1-4 are the primary colors that Vistapro uses in
generating regions of the landscape that are above the snow
line. Snow 4 is the highest elevation above the snow line
and Snow 1 is the lowest. Vistapro uses shades of these
colors when these areas are in shadow.

                           Bare 1-4

Bare 1-4 are the primary colors that Vistapro uses in
generating regions of the landscape that lie between the
tree line and the snow line, and that are not as steep as
cliffs. Bare 4 is the highest such elevation and Bare 1 the
lowest. Vistapro uses shades of these colors when these
areas are in shadow.

                         Tree 1-4

Tree 1-4 are the primary colors that Vistapro uses when
drawing trees. As with Snow, Tree 4 is used for trees at the
highest elevation and Tree 1 for the lowest. Vistapro uses
shades of these colors when these areas are in shadow.

                          Beach

Beach is the primary color that Vistapro uses to separate
the bottom of the brush area from any sea that has been
generated. Vistapro uses shades of this color when these
areas are in shadow.

                         Horizon

Horizon is the primary color of the area that is at sea
level surrounding the topographic data.

                        Water 1-5

Water 1-5 are the primary colors that Vistapro uses for
rivers and lakes. Water 5 is used for the fastest water and
Water 1 the most placid. Vistapro uses shades of these
colors when these areas are in shadow.

                         SkyHaze

Vistapro adds Sky Haze color to the sky near the surface,
depending upon the amount of haze selected. There is a
smooth transition from Sky color to Sky Haze color as the
sky approaches the horizon in the distance.

                          Haze

Vistapro adds Haze color to land areas based upon the
distance from the camera and the amount of haze selected
with the HazeDn value.

                        Grass 1-4

The colors Grass 1-4 are used to draw the ground underneath
trees whether or not trees are enabled. We find that brown
or dark green shades look most natural. As with trees, Grass
1 is used at the lower elevations and Grass 4 at the higher
elevations. Blades of grass are drawn with a combination of
Grass and Tree color.

                        Bark 1-4

Bark 1-4 are used to draw tree trunks and larger branches.
They are usually set to dark brown but you might also select
whites (Birch trees) or other colors.

                       House 1-4

Vistapro can draw rectangular buildings (sorry, no doors or
windows!) where House 1-4 colors are placed on the
landscape. The house colors are selected using these colors.
Vistapro uses shades of these colors when these areas are in
shadow.

Note: houses can be placed on the landscape using either the
Place Middle Control Panel or the Col->IFF and IFF->Col
functions.

                    Under House 1-4

Vistapro uses House 1-4 to draw the ground underneath
houses. You might use black to simulate asphalt, white to
simulate concrete or green to simulate grass. The under
house colors are also used to color roads.

                       Exposure

Exposure is similar to the F-stop and shutter speed on a
camera lens. The higher the exposure, the lighter the final
image.

                       Contrast

Contrast regulates the contrast of the final image. High
contrast makes the darker areas very dark and the lighter
areas very light. Low contrast lessens the difference
between the dark and light areas.

               THE VISTAPRO STATUS WINDOW

The Status Window is the area just below the topographic
map. Vistapro uses this area to give you messages about what
it is doing while rendering. It also indicates the mouse
position while in the Camera/Target placement modes. The
following sections describe the messages that are displayed
in the Status Window.

                        X, Y, Z :

The X, Y, and Z values displayed in the status window while
you are moving the mouse pointer over the landscape are the
X, Y, and Z coordinates of the landscape under the pointer.
If you think of north as the top of the screen, the X
coordinate represents the distance in meters east of the
left edge of the topographic map. The Y coordinate
represents the distance in meters north of the bottom edge
of the topographic map. The Z coordinate represents the
elevation above sea level in meters of that point on the
topographic map.

                       Generate:

Vistapro is generating a new fractal landscape.

                        Color

Vistapro is calculating the colors of the polygons which
comprise the landscape based on their altitude and the
topography of the terrain. Vistapro does coloring whenever
you modify the snow line, tree line or sea level, or if you
render an image at a smaller polygon size than before.

                       Cliffs

Vistapro is placing cliff colors on the steep areas.
Recalculating cliffs takes place whenever you change snow or
tree lines, or if you render an image at a smaller polygon
size than before.

                        Shade

The Shade function is calculating the amount of light
reflected by each polygon. Vistapro recalculates shade when
you draw a river or lake, select a smaller polygon size,
smooth the landscape or vary the light position.

                            Tree

During the Tree function, Vistapro calculates the location
of trees and grass for inclusion during the Render function.

                           Grass

When trees or grass are locked out during coloring, Vistapro
uses the Grass  function to place trees and grass.

                            Sky

During the Sky function, Vistapro is drawing the sky,
including sky haze effects. This may take several seconds
and Vistapro does not display a counter.

                          Horizon

During the Horizon function, Vistapro draws the ground,
ocean or space that surrounds the DEM portion of the view.
Because of the haze effect, this requires several seconds.

                          Render:

Vistapro is drawing DEM polygons. The image cannot be seen
as it is being drawn, unless you select Show Render from the
GrModes menu, because it is drawn to a virtual screen. We
designed Vistapro in this manner to increase its rendering
speed and the flexibility of its output. The virtual screen
format makes drawing polygons very fast, especially since
the final display may be in any of the Amiga's display
modes. In the final step, Vistapro converts the image from
the virtual screen to display on the real screen. The image
is transferred to the Amiga's screen in several bands from
the top to the bottom of the screen. Vistapro draws the
virtual image with 24 bits of color information (16 million
colors). Vistapro does its best to convert the 16 million
possible colors in the virtual screen to the limited number
of colors on the real screen.

In HAM mode Vistapro uses two different algorithms for
drawing the real screen. If the polygon size is set to
either 4 or 8, Vistapro uses a crude but fast algorithm. If
the polygon size is set to 1 or 2, it uses a more precise
but slower method.

Vistapro calculates steps like coloring and shading only to
the level of detail required for the current polygon size.
Vistapro saves the results of these calculations in memory,
so that it will not have to recalculate them later. The
program does not recalculate these tables when switching
from a small polygon size to a larger polygon size. It uses
the data from the small polygons to draw the larger
polygons. Therefore, Vistapro does not have to recalculate
tables if you re-select the smaller size polygons. Once
Vistapro has made the calculations for small polygons, it
will not color or shade renderings with large polygons
exactly right. However, this is preferable to recalculation
because it saves time. Large polygon sizes are usually used
for previewing, so it doesn't matter if the image generated
is not precise. You can force Vistapro to recalculate the
color tables for large polygons by changing the tree line or
snow line. Even entering the same value again forces
recalculation. To force reshading, change or reset any of
the Light Control Panel functions.

                         VIEWER

Viewer is a proprietary animation player written by
Hypercube Engineering and distributed by Virtual Reality
Laboratories, Inc. It allows you to play VANIM files at up
to 13 frames per second from your hard disk. It has a very
simple straightforward interface and is quite easy to use.
To use Viewer, simply type Viewer. Select the animation you
wish to view from Viewer's Load menu.

You can control the speed with which Viewer plays your
animation by pressing the number keys on your main keyboard.
(Not the numeric keypad!!!) The number 1 is slowest and the
number 0 is fastest. The numbers between 1 and 0 represent
increments of speed change.

You can use the numeric keypad to control the direction that
your animation plays, as well as single frame, skip ten
frames, go to beginning and go to end.

Exit from the Viewer program by pressing the ESC key.

When viewing a large animation, it helps to have a lot of
disk buffers. Use the AmigaDOS AddBuffers command to add
disk buffers. We recommend about two buffers for each frame
of the animation. For example, a 500 frame VANIM file (24
megabytes in HAM, no interlace or overscan), on drive DH0:
should have about 1,000 disk buffers. This can be
accomplished by typing AddBuffers DH0: 1000 at the AmigaDOS
Shell or CLI prompt. You only need to do this once each time
you re-boot your Amiga. A thousand buffers consumes about
half a megabyte of memory.

                        APPENDIX A

What are Fractals and Fractal Geometry?

by Daniel Wolf Ph.D.(Author and Publisher of Fractal Pro,
President of MegageM.)

The concept of fractal geometry is the basis of Vistapro's
capacity to generate imaginary scenes. Many computer
graphics enthusiasts, especially in the Amiga community,
have become interested in fractal graphics through programs
such as Vistapro, FractalPro, and public domain Mandelbrot
and scenery programs. The popularity of fractal graphics
using personal computers traces back to the appearance of
stunning images of the Mandelbrot Set (a type of fractal
object) on the cover of Scientific American in August of
1985. That widespread exposure of these strangely beautiful
abstract objects led many amateur and professional
programmers to the original source book on fractals: The
Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit Mandelbrot. While
fractals and fractal geometry have become hot buzz words in
the computer graphics field, it is not exactly obvious what
they are. The following description is simplified, and
interested students and readers should read Mandelbrot's
book on the subject.

We owe the word "fractal" to Mr. Mandelbrot, a mathematician
and Fellow at IBM's Watson research organization in New
York. Fractal refers to objects with fractional dimensions.
That is, objects which don't really fit into the ordinary
world of things like lines (one dimensional), surfaces (two
dimensional) and solids (three dimensional). Fractals are
objects which fit in between these normal dimensional
objects. Mandelbrot took an interest in a long-neglected
area of mathematics which originated at the turn of this
century. Some devotees of geometry at that time began to
study lines which didn't behave like ordinary lines.

If you read Mandelbrot's book you'll become familiar with
some of the mathematical history of things like Peano
curves, Hilbert curves, and Koch snowflakes. What makes
these objects so strange, and what led Mandelbrot to look
deeper, are two properties: these lines tend to fill up a
two dimensional surface (they act as if they are something
between lines and planes) and their appearance seems to be
identical no matter how much they are magnified. Magnified
small portions of these fractal lines tend to look like the
whole unmagnified line. Odd indeed! Mathematicians at the
turn of the century tended to call such objects pathological
and didn't have a good way of integrating them into the rest
of mathematics, especially geometry. Geometry was mostly
dominated by the study of well behaved, smooth, simple forms
like lines, planes and solids. Mandelbrot made a systematic
study of these weird fractional dimension geometric forms
and helped bring them into the mathematical fold. Mandelbrot
also showed how these objects are models of many things
found in the natural world, like surface textures of
mountains, coastlines of islands and branching designs of
plants, trees, blood vessels and lung tubes (bronchi).

If you want a mental picture of how Vistapro exploits
fractal geometry to generate natural looking land surface
textures, take the following mental journey into the process
of crumpling a sheet of paper:

1. Imagine a flat triangular sheet of paper.

2. Divide the sheet into a small number of sub-triangles.

3. Randomly select some of the intersection points and raise
or lower them (by a large amount) above the original plane
of the flat sheet.

4. Now divide the sub-triangles into smaller sub-triangles.

5. Randomly raise and lower some of the newly created corner
points like you did in step 3, but by a smaller amount than
in step 3.

6. Keep repeating steps 4 and 5, making smaller and smaller
sub-triangles, and raising and lowering corner points
randomly by smaller and smaller amounts at each step.

7. Stop when you've reached a point where each smaller
division into sub-triangles can't make any more difference
in appearance on a limited resolution display like a
computer monitor.

8. Now color all the little sub-triangles by a method which
makes the highest corner points white (snow on the mountain
tops), lower ones brown and green (mountain sides with
trees) and the lowest ones blue (a lake at the bottom of the
mountain valley).

If we perform steps 4 and 5 using some regular (non-random)
technique, in the end the highly crumpled surface would be a
lot like the first fractals explored by Mandelbrot; they
would look similar at any degree of magnification at which
they are viewed. The introduction of randomness to the
process makes them look similarly random at different
degrees of magnification.

If you are interested in further exploring fractal geometry,
here are some great books:

The Fractal Geometry of Nature (by B. Mandelbrot), The
Beauty of Fractals (by H. Peitgen and P. Richter) and The
Science of Fractal Images (by H. Peitgen and D. Saupe).

                        APPENDIX B

                      THE LANDSCAPES

Most of the landscape DEM files were obtained from the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) and are accurate to within 30
meters. Some of the files were assembled to fit into
Vistapro and therefore may not be perfect where they are
joined. The following is a partial listing of the DEMs
included with your Vistapro package.

ElCap.dem

ElCap is a section of Yosemite Valley in California out of
which rises El Capitan, a very large (about 1000 meters)
granite cliff formation at coordinate 2520,5760 (X, Y) in
the DEM data. This landscape was created by joining together
two USGS DEM files and then clipping out the section of
interest. A small "scar" that runs North/South where the
USGS data did not quite line up can be seen. The joining
scar is most apparent in the Valley with the sun shining
from the east or west at approximately 3400,4980. This DEM
file is as accurate as the original USGS data.

HalfDome.dem

The HalfDome section of Yosemite Valley contains the famous
granite formation know as Half Dome at location 5100,7260.
The method used by the USGS to digitize the terrain led to
some distortion at the top and edges of Half Dome. The jaggy
bump at the top of Half Dome is a USGS artifact. This DEM
file is as accurate as the original USGS data since it was
simply clipped out of a DEM file.

CraterLake.dem

Crater Lake is the caldera of an ancient volcano in Oregon.
The walls of the caldera rise approximately 1250 meters from
the bottom of the lake to the top of the caldera. The DEM
data includes the underwater elevations. The lake fills the
caldera to a level about half way up the walls. The mound
near the west edge of the caldera is Wizard Island. It is
separated from the edge by the lake. The circular mound near
the top of the caldera is completely submerged. The lake can
be filled with water using the Lake function of Vistapro.
Clicking the mouse button about halfway from Wizard Island
to the edge of the caldera gives approximately the right
water level. In order to include the entire lake in the
file, everything was adjusted down by a factor of 0.6.
Therefore, to convert elevations or distances into actual
meters, take the values given by Vistapro and divide them by
0.6.

MSHB.dem & MSHA.dem

Mt. St. Helens is the volcano in Washington that blew its
top on May 18, 1980. The explosive eruption was preceded by
amounts of intense earthquake activity. A 150 meter bulge
started to grow in April at a rate of five meters per day. A
magnitude 5.1 earthquake set into motion the collapse of the
bulge and the following explosion. Winds from the blast were
calculated at 670 miles per hour. Almost everything within
eight miles of the blast was obliterated. Virtually all
trees were flattened at distances up to nineteen miles from
the volcano. Significant amounts of volcanic ash fell as far
as one thousand miles away. The new crater is about three
kilometers wide and 700 meters deep. The "before" data was
generated from stereo photographs taken in 1979. The "after"
data comes from photographs taken late in 1980.

Mons.dem

Olympus Mons is a huge volcano on the surface of Mars that
is roughly twice as tall as Mt. Everest on earth! It is
about 500 kilometers in diameter and rises approximately
eighteen kilometers above the surrounding landscape. The
original DEM file which contains the entire volcano is over
four megabytes! The DEM file included here contains only the
interesting caldera portion of the volcano. The technique
used by the USGS to generate this kind of extra-terrestrial
data creates extensive artifacting which results in raked
lines in the landscape. One or two smoothing passes will
remove these artifacts. The data on the vertical axis is
exaggerated by four times to make the landscape more
dramatic. Elevations are measured from an arbitrary
reference, since there is no sea level on Mars.

Julia.dem & Mandelbrot.dem

Julia and Mandelbrot landscapes are artificially generated
by a mathematical algorithm. You may have seen Julia sets
and Mandelbrot sets displayed as colors on a two dimensional
screen. If you have a Mandelbrot generation program that
handles Julia sets, or a Julia generation program, the
locations are as follows: The Mandelbrot is 1.255525 real
0.381060 imaginary, with a diameter of approximately 0.007;
the location of the Julia set is 0.75 real 0.11 imaginary,
relative to the Mandelbrot set.

Vantage.dem

This is a portion of the Columbia River in the state of
Washington that forms the north portion of Wanapum Lake. It
is located in Ginkgo State Park near Vantage, Washington.

Arrowhead.dem

This is the Lake Arrowhead region of the San Bernardino
Mountains in Southern California. The low lying region forms
a lake in the shape of an arrowhead, hence its name. The
lake was formed by the addition of a man-made dam, which is
not part of the DEM data, so it is impossible to fill the
lake without flooding the landscape below.

SanLuisObispo.dem

This is the area that we see when we look out our windows.
Virtual Reality Laboratories is located toward the southeast
portion of the topographic map. The mountains are not of
spectacular height, but they form quite a pleasing
landscape.

SanGorgonio.dem

This is south of the Big Bear Lake region of the San
Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. It contains Mt.
San Gorgonio, a 3500 meter peak in an area known as the San
Gabriel Wilderness.

BigSur.dem

This is the Big Sur area along the coast of north central
California, just south of the Monterey Peninsula. It
contains Pfeiffer Big Sur National Park. It is one of the
more beautiful camping areas in California and contains one
of the southernmost groves of redwoods.

MorroBay.dem

This is the data set for Morro Bay, one of our local tourist
attractions on the central coast of California. There is a
large rock that juts up into the fog called Morro Rock. It
is visible as a mound in the northwest corner of the
topographic map.

MtBaldy.dem

Contrary to popular belief there is no such mountain as Mt.
Baldy in southern California. That is the name of the
village on the slopes of Mt. San Antonio. This DEM is
located in the San Gabriel mountains south of Wrightwood.

MtAdams.dem

This contains Mt. Adams, in the southern portion of
Washington state. It is part of the Mt. Adams Wilderness and
is a good example of a volcano, reaching from a height of
over 3700 meters at its peak.

                          APPENDIX C

                      GLOSSARY OF TERMS

AI

Artificial Intelligence. The ability of a program to
incorporate expert judgement enabling it to imitate
intelligent decision making.

Aliasing Artifacts

Objects which appear in a landscape which are not derived
from mapping data. They may reside in the data or they may
be formed as a result of the program.

Caldera

The crater at the top of a volcano.

Deluxe Paint

A paint program published by Electronic Arts.

DEM

A Digital Elevation Model or DEM is a model of a landscape
reduced to three dimensional digital coordinates.

Digi Paint

A paint program published by NewTek and used to display or
modify IFF picture files created by Vista.

Digital Elevation Model

A Digital Elevation Model or DEM is a model of a landscape
reduced to three dimensional digital coordinates. It is
commonly abbreviated as DEM.

Dithering

Dithering is a program function which blurs the boundaries
between polygons in order to more closely simulate realism
in landscape creation.

Pixel dithering is a technique used at the pixel level to
create the illusion of more colors than can actually be
displayed. This is done by intermixing, or dithering, pixels
of different colors.
Fat Polys

Foreground polygons which are relatively larger than the
polygons in distant scenes are called Fat Polys. Fat Polys
are a function of perspective and the accuracy of the data
being rendered.

Fractal

Fractional dimension. Most math deals with whole numbered
dimensions. One dimension is a line. Two dimensions are a
surface. Three dimensions are a solid. Four dimensions are a
space-time solid and so on. Fractals deal with non-whole
numbered dimensions and fractal geometry is capable of
producing pictures which are remarkably similar to natural
phenomena, particularly geological shapes.

Fractal Pro

A professional level fractal program published by MegageM.

HAM

Hold and Modify. A technique used to display more colors
than the 4096 that the Amiga normally handles.

Haze

Haze is the atmospheric occlusion that increases with the
distance between the eye and the target.

IFF

IFF is the standard graphic file format used on the Amiga.

Jaggies

Partial polygons which produce jagged lines often at the
ridge line of a landscape and sometimes in the foreground.
Jaggies distort the realism of a scene.

Olympus Mons

A volcano on Mars. Olympus Mons is an extremely vast
feature. The base of the volcano covers an area the size of
Nebraska. Olympus Mons also has a feature which is unique
within the solar system. The base of the volcano is well
within the thin atmosphere of Mars. The peak of the volcano
is virtually above the Martian atmosphere, allowing launch
to orbit by magnetic acceleration. A tramway could be
constructed from the base of Mons Olympus to the top of Mons
Olympus. Liquefied carbon dioxide, water, hydrogen and
oxygen (condensed from the atmosphere) could then be
transported for magnetic rail launch into orbit at the top.
A return from space could be accomplished with aero-braking.
Therefore, Mons Olympus could become the basis for a Martian
space transportation system which would not require rockets.

Polygons

The basic geometric units with which Vistapro renders
landscapes. A polygon is a two dimensional shape having at
least three linear sides.

Ray Tracing

A method of image generation in which a hypothetical ray of
light is projected, reflecting off the target and ultimately
colliding with the camera.

Topography

The science of drawing maps representing the surface
features of a region.

Topology

The study of shapes.

Turbo Silver

Turbo Silver is an art program published by Impulse. It
allows display and manipulation of three dimensional objects
including landscapes exported by Vistapro.

USGS

United States Geological Survey. The USGS has created three
dimensional maps of much of the United States, some undersea
landscapes and some extra terrestrial landscapes. Much of
the work done by USGS is in the public domain and can be
adapted for use with Vistapro.

                         APPENDIX D

                 VISTAPRO SCRIPT LANGUAGE

The use of Vistapro can be nearly completely automated,
internally through Vistapro animation scripts and externally
through ARexx. Command syntax is identical for both Vistapro
script commands and Vistapro ARexx commands.

                     VISTAPRO SCRIPTS

All Vistapro scripts must start with the line

   Vista Script File

This tells Vistapro that the following ASCII text is in
Vistapro script format. If this line is missing, Vistapro
will complain that the file is Not a Valid Vistapro Script
File! and will not attempt to run the script. After the
first line, Vistapro script commands are listed, one command
per line. Vistapro 3.0 accepts both Vistapro script commands
and the old Vista (the original version of Vistapro)
commands. The one exception to this is the original Vista
script command containing Camera X, Y and Z locations and
Bank, Heading and Pitch values. Vistapro and Vista script
commands can be mixed within a single script. Several
example scripts are included on your Vistapro disk in the
Script drawer.

Note that you cannot Preview a script with the new extended
commands.

                 VISTAPRO SCRIPT COMMANDS

                          Legend

   <filename> Replace with a complete path name (e.g.
DF1:x.dem)

   <pattern>  Replace with a pattern for matching. Use #?
and ? for matching if you are using the ASL file
requester.(e.g. #?.DEM). Use * for matching if you are using
the Vistapro file requester (e.g. *.DEM)

   <n>        Replace with a number representing a Tree
elevation (1..4).

   Example when the command shows Grass<n>On, and you want
to turn the Grass on at elevation 2, then you would use
Grass2On.

   <#arg1>    Enter a numeric argument here. (e.g. 123)

Altitude2IFF <filename>

Save the current topographic region as an IFF image with the
colors of the image directly related to the elevation of the
landscape. See the description of the Alt->IFF menu command
in the Vistapro Menus chapter of the user manual.

AnimSaveIFF

Save the images rendered while running a script as a series
of numbered IFF images. The actual filename is entered as
the Base Picture Name, either as another script command, or
when script execution is initiated by the Execute menu item.

AnimSaveIFF24

Save the images rendered while running a script as a series
of numbered IFF 24 bit images. The actual filename is
entered as the Base Picture Name, either as another script
command, or when script execution is initiated by the
Execute menu item.

AnimSaveRGB

Save the images rendered while running a script as a series
of numbered RGB images. The actual filename is entered as
the Base Picture Name, either as another script command, or
when script execution is initiated by the Execute menu item.

AnimSaveVANIM

Save the images rendered while running a script as parts of
a single VANIM animation file. The actual filename is
entered as the Base Picture Name, either as another script
command, or when script execution is initiated by the
Execute menu item.

BackFaceCullingOff

Render all polygons regardless of whether or not they are
visible. This slows down rendering considerably and is
usually not desirable.

BackFaceCullingOn

Do not render polygons which are determined to be on the
back side of hill and will be hidden by other polygons
closer to the camera. This is the default mode for Vistapro.

BackgroundFile <filename>

Load a 24 bit IFF file as a background prior to rendering an
image. You must be sure to turn off the Sky (and possibly
the Horizon) before rendering, or the sky will overwrite the
loaded image. This is used for composite rendering of images
such as the moon rising behind Mt. St. Helens.

Bank <#arg1>

Sets the camera bank angle, which in turn affects the Target
X, Y and Z location. If you want to turn the camera upside
down, point it due east and down at an angle of 30 degrees,
use the following script commands:

   Bank -180.0
   Heading 90.0
   Pitch -30.0

BlendOff
BlendOn

Turn blending off or on. The BlendOn and BlendOff commands
determine how much color blending is done between adjacent
polygons.

BuildingsOff
BuildingsOn

Turn off or on rendering of buildings placed with the Place
Middle Control Panel.

Cactus<n>CrownHigh
Cactus<n>CrownLow
Cactus<n>CrownMedium
Cactus<n>CrownUltra

Set the Crown density for cactus at elevation Tree <n> to
High, Low, Medium or Ultra.

Cactus<n>Density <#arg1>

Sets the Density of cactus at elevation Tree <n> to <#arg1>.

Cactus<n>DetailHigh
Cactus<n>DetailLow
Cactus<n>DetailMedium
Cactus<n>DetailUltra

Set the Detail for Cactus at elevation Tree <n> to High,
Low, Medium or Ultra.

Cactus<n>LeavesOff
Cactus<n>LeavesOn

Turns Leaves off or on for Cactus at elevation Tree <n>.

Cactus<n>Size <#arg1>

Sets the size of Cactus at elevation Tree <n> to <#arg1>.

CameraX <#arg1>
CameraY <#arg1>
CameraZ <#arg1>

The Camera commands set the Camera X, Y and Z locations.
These commands also adjust the Bank, Heading and Pitch. The
following example sets the Camera at (1234,1234) at
elevation 1000:

   CameraX 1234
   CameraY 1234
   CameraZ 1000

ClearPlace

ClearPlace clears the tables used by the Place commands.
This has the effect of removing all previously placed
objects.

CliffThreshold <#arg1>

The Cliff Threshold is the minimum angle of the slope of
terrain to be colored with the Cliff colors. An <#arg1>
value of -1 disables the drawing of cliffs.

CloudAltitude <#arg1>

The CloudAltitude is the altitude above sea level at which
clouds are drawn. The location of the camera also affects
cloud altitude.

CloudDensity <#arg1>

The CloudDensity command determines the amount of the
landscape that will be converted to clouds. A high density
results in a very overcast sky and a low density results in
a few small clouds. The cloud density range is 0 - 100.

CloudHardness <#arg1>

The CloudHardness command determines how "puffy" or "fluffy"
clouds appear. A low value results in more texture in the
clouds and a high value results in flatter looking clouds.

CloudLoad

CloudLoad tells Vistapro to use the currently loaded
landscape as the pattern for generating clouds. Typically,
you would use LoadDEM or GenerateFractal to load a DEM into
the topographic map, and then use CloudLoad to generate a
cloud map using that landscape.

CloudOff
CloudOn

Disable or enable rendering of clouds. CloudOn and CloudOff
determine whether or not clouds are rendered in the sky.

CloudRandom

CloudRandom generates a random cloud pattern.

CloudTextureOff
CloudTextureOn

Turn off or on texture in clouds.

Color2IFF <filename>

Color2IFF saves the current color table as an IFF image
which is as wide in pixels as the current topographic map is
in data points, and as high in lines as the current
topographic map is in lines.

DefaultDirAlt2IFF <pathname>

DefaultDirAlt2IFF <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Alt2IFF function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF:, DH0:IFF/, or
DH0:IFF)

DefaultDirBasePic <pathname>

DefaultDirBasePic <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when saving animations. It can end
in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. PIC:, DH0:PIC/, or DH0:PIC)

DefaultDirCol2IFF <pathname>

DefaultDirCol2IFF <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Col2IFF function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF:, DH0:IFF/, or
DH0:IFF)

DefaultDirIff2Alt <pathname>

DefaultDirIff2Alt <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the IFF2Alt function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF:, DH0:IFF/, or
DH0:IFF)

DefaultDirIff2Col <pathname>

DefaultDirIff2Col <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the IFF2Col function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF:, DH0:IFF/, or
DH0:IFF)

DefaultDirLoadBinary <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadBinary <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the LoadBinaryDEM
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. DEM:,
DH0:DEM/, or DH0:DEM)

DefaultDirLoadCloudMap <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadCloudMap <pathname> sets the directory that
you want Vistapro to point to when using the LoadCloudMap
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. CLOUDS:,
DH0:CLOUDS/, or DH0:CLOUDS)

DefaultDirLoadCMap <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadCMap <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the LoadCMap function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. DEM:, DH0:DEM/, or
DH0:DEM)

DefaultDirLoadDEM <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadDEM <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Load Vistapro DEM
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. DEM:,
DH0:DEM/, or DH0:DEM)

DefaultDirLoadIff <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadIff <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Load IFF function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF:, DH0:IFF/, or
DH0:IFF)

DefaultDirLoadIff24 <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadIff24 <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Load IFF24
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF24:,
DH0:IFF24/, or DH0:IFF24)

DefaultDirLoadRegion <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadRegion <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Load Region
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. DEM:,
DH0:DEM/, or DH0:DEM)

DefaultDirLoadUSGSDEM <pathname>

DefaultDirLoadUSGSDEM <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the LoadUSGSDEM
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. USGS:,
DH0:USGS/, or DH0:USGS)

DefaultDirSaveCloudMap <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveCloudMap <pathname> sets the directory that
you want Vistapro to point to when using the Save Cloud Map
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. CLOUDS:,
DH0:CLOUDS/, or DH0:CLOUDS)

DefaultDirSaveCMap <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveCMap <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save CMap function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. DEM:, DH0:DEM/, or
DH0:DEM)

DefaultDirSaveDEM <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveDEM <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save Vistapro DEM
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. DEM:,
DH0:DEM/, or DH0:DEM)

DefaultDirSaveExtDEM <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveExtDEM <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save Ext DEM
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. DEM:,
DH0:DEM/, or DH0:DEM)

DefaultDirSaveIff <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveIff <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save IFF function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF:, DH0:IFF/, or
DH0:IFF)

DefaultDirSaveIff24 <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveIff24 <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save IFF24
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. IFF24:,
DH0:IFF24/, or DH0:IFF24)

DefaultDirSaveRGB <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveRGB <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save RGB function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. RGB:, DH0:RGB/, or
DH0:RGB)

DefaultDirSaveTurboS <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveTurboS <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save TurboS
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. TURBOS:,
DH0:TURBOS/, or DH0:TURBOS)

DefaultDirSaveVANIM <pathname>

DefaultDirSaveVANIM <pathname> sets the directory that you
want Vistapro to point to when using the Save VANIM
function. It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. PIC:,
DH0:PIC/, or DH0:PIC)

DefaultDirScript <pathname>

DefaultDirScript <pathname> sets the directory that you want
Vistapro to point to when using the Script Execute function.
It can end in ":", "/" or "". (i.e. SCRIPTS:, DH0:SCRIPTS/,
or DH0:SCRIPTS)

Dither <#arg1>

The Dither setting determines how much the elevation colors
overlap each other in the landscape. A value of 0 gives
sharp transitions from Tree to Bare, and Bare to Snow. This
looks very unnatural. A value of 100 causes the elevation
colors to intermix somewhat, generating a more natural
looking scene.

Enlarge <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

The Enlarge command takes a piece of the landscape (one
fourth of the total landscape) with the lower left corner at
X=<#arg1>, Y=<#arg2> and enlarges it to fill the entire
landscape. If <#arg3>=0, Vistapro fills in the intermediate
data points by interpolating (averaging) elevation points.
If <#arg3>=1, Vistapro fills in the intermediate data points
by duplicating them, resulting in "fat" data points.

ExagerationOff
ExagerationOn

Disable or enable exaggerated shading. Exaggeration lightens
the light areas and darkens the shadows in a landscape.

Exec <cli command line>

Exec <cli command line> executes the AmigaDOS <cli command
line> and returns to Vistapro.

FieldofView <#arg1>

The FieldofView command sets the Fld OV value in the Lens
Lower Control Panel to <#arg1> (in degrees). A 90 degree
field of view is the default, which corresponds to a focal
length of 16. Changing the field of view makes a corresponding
change in the focal length.

FocalLength <#arg1>

The FocalLength command sets the Fcl Ln value in the Lens
Lower Control Panel to <#arg1>. The default setting is 16,
which is equivalent to a 90 degree field of view. At 32, the
field of view is 45 degrees. Smaller numbers set a wider field
of view and larger numbers set a narrower field of view. This
is similar to a zoom lens on a camera.

ForegroundFile <filename>

The ForegroundFile command loads a 24 bit IFF file of the
same dimensions that the current display mode is set to.
This image overlays the rendered image, with black portions
of the foreground image being transparent.

FractalDimension <#arg1>

The FractalDimension command sets the roughness of fractal
mountains for landscapes created with GenerateFractal and
for the Fractalize function.

FractalDivisor1
FractalDivisor2
FractalDivisor4
FractalDivisor8

Sets the fractal divisor to 1, 2, 4 or 8.

Fractalize

The Fractalize command adds roughness to the landscape. The
amount ofroughness is determined by the fractal dimension
and the fractal divisor.

GenerateFractal <#arg1>

The GenerateFractal command generates the fractal landscape
which corresponds to the seed value <#arg1>. The same seed
value, with all other fractal settings also the same, always
produces the same landscape.

Grass<n>Density <#arg1>

Sets the Density of Grass at elevation Tree <n> to <#arg1>.

Grass<n>Off
Grass<n>On

Turn rendering of Grass off or on at elevation Tree <n>.

Grass<n>Size <#arg1>

Sets the Size of Grass at elevation Tree <n> to <#arg1>.

Grass<n>Spread <#arg1>

Sets the Spread of Grass at elevation Tree <n> to <#arg1>.

GShadeOff
GShadeOn

Turn Gouraud shading off or on. The GShadeOn and GShadeOff
commands determine whether or not Gouraud shading is used
when the landscape is rendered.Gouraud shading is
particularly effective when used with the Shading type of
texture.

Haze <#arg1>

Sets the amount of haze between the target and the camera to
<#arg1>.

Heading <#arg1>

The Heading command sets the camera heading angle, which in
turn affects the target X, Y and Z location. To turn the
camera upside down, point it due east and down at an angle
of 30 degrees, use the following script commands:

Bank -180.0
Heading 90.0
Pitch -30.0

HorizonOff
HorizonOn

Turn rendering of the horizon off or on. HorizonOff is
useful when using the Load Background function.

IFF2Altitude <filename>

IFF2Altitude loads the IFF image <filename> as an elevation
map. The file have the same dimensions as the current
topographic map.

IFF2Color <filename>

IFF2Color loads the IFF image <filename> into the ColorMap
that Vistapro uses to decide what elevations areas of the
landscape are at.

IslandModeOff
IslandModeOn

Disable or enable island mode for generating fractal
landscapes. When island mode is off, the generated landscape
is similar to one clipped out of a regular landscape. When
island mode is on, the generated landscape typically lies
both above and below the sea level, creating islands when
the sea level is set to 0.

LandscapeAuto

LandscapeAuto postpones setting the topographic map size
until the header of a DEM file is read. Vistapro then sets
the size of the topographic map to the size of the DEM being
loaded.

LandscapeHuge

LandscapeHuge changes the topographic map size to Huge. You
can still load Small and Large landscapes, but they will
only fill part of the topographic map area.

LandscapeLarge

LandscapeLarge changes the topographic map size to Large.
You can still load Small landscapes, but they will only fill
part of the topographic map. You cannot load Huge
landscapes.

LandscapeSmall

LandscapeSmall changes the topographic map size to Small.
You cannot load Large or Huge landscapes.
LensForward

LensForward points the camera point at the target. This is
the default mode.

LensPort

LensPort points the camera to the left of the target just
enough that images rendered with Port and Forward just match
at the edges.

LensStarboard

LensStarboard points the camera to the right of the target
just enough that images rendered with Forward and Starboard
just match at the edges.

LightingRoughness <#arg1>

LightingRoughness sets the value in the Rough gadget in the
Light Lower Control Panel to <#arg1>.

LoadBinaryDEM <filename>

LoadBinaryDEM loads the binary file <filename> as a DEM
file.

LoadCMap <filename>

LoadCMap loads the file <filename> as the palette used to
determine how to color polygons based on elevation.

LoadDEM <filename>

The LoadDEM command requires a path name as well as a
filename, unless the file is contained in the current
directory. If you are running from the Vistapro drawer and
wish to load the DEM file ElCap.DEM, the following command
would be used:

LoadDEM Landscapes/ElCap.DEM

LoadRegion <filename>

LoadRegion loads a DEM region using the file <filename> as
the lower left hand corner DEM.

LoadUSGSDEM <filename>

LoadUSGSDEM loads a the file <filename> as a USGS ASCII DEM.

LockGrass

LockGrass turns off random generation of grass. This is
useful when placing clumps of grass by hand.

LockPalette

LockPalette locks the view screen's color palette. The
LockPalette and LockUnPalette commands determine whether or
not Vistapro generates a new palette for each image, or uses
the same palette as for the last image it rendered.

LockTrees

LockTrees turns off random generation of trees. This is
useful when placing trees by hand.

LockUnPalette

LockUnPalette unlocks the view screen's palette. The
LockPalette and LockUnPalette commands determine whether or
not Vistapro generates a new palette for each image, or uses
the same palette as for the last image it rendered.

MakeLake <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

The MakeLake command starts filling a lake at the point
X=<#arg1>, Y=<#arg2> on the landscape and attempts to fill
the lake to elevation Z=<#arg3>.

MakeRiver <#arg1> <#arg2>

The MakeRiver command starts water flowing at the point
X=<#arg1>, Y=<#arg2> on the landscape. The river follows the
terrain until it reaches sea level or the edge of the
landscape.

NoASLRequester

NoASLRequester sets Vistapro to use its own file requestor
rather than the standard ASL file requestor. This is
effective only under AmigaDOS 2.0 or higher.

Oak<n>CrownHigh
Oak<n>CrownLow
Oak<n>CrownMedium
Oak<n>CrownUltra

Set the Crown density for Oak trees at elevation Tree <n> to
High, Low, Medium or Ultra.

Oak<n>Density <#arg1>

Sets the Density of Oak trees at elevation Tree <n> to
<#arg1>.

Oak<n>DetailHigh
Oak<n>DetailLow
Oak<n>DetailMedium
Oak<n>DetailUltra

Set the Detail for Oak trees at elevation Tree <n> to High,
Low, Medium or Ultra.

Oak<n>LeavesOff
Oak<n>LeavesOn

Turns Leaves off or on for Oak trees at elevation Tree <n>.

Oak<n>Size <#arg1>

Sets the Size of Oak trees at elevation Tree <n> to <#arg1>.

Palm<n>CrownHigh
Palm<n>CrownLow
Palm<n>CrownMedium
Palm<n>CrownUltra

Set the Crown density for Palm trees at elevation Tree <n>
to High, Low, Medium or Ultra.


Palm<n>Density <#arg1>

Sets the Density of Palm trees at elevation Tree <n> to
<#arg1>.

Palm<n>DetailHigh
Palm<n>DetailLow
Palm<n>DetailMedium
Palm<n>DetailUltra

Set the Detail for Palm trees at elevation Tree <n> to High,
Low, Medium or Ultra.

Palm<n>LeavesOff
Palm<n>LeavesOn

Turns Leaves off or on for Palm trees at elevation Tree <n>.

Palm<n>Size <#arg1>

Sets the Size of Palm trees at elevation Tree <n> to
<#arg1>.

PatternAlt2Iff <pattern>

PatternAlt2Iff selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Alt2IFF function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PatternBasePic <pattern>

PatternBasePic selects the pattern used in the file
requestor when saving an animation sequence. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.

PatternCol2Iff <pattern>

PatternCol2Iff selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Col2IFF function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PatternIff2Alt <pattern>

PatternIff2Alt selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the IFF2Alt function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PatternIff2Col <pattern>

PatternIff2Col selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the IFF2Col function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PatternLoadBinary <pattern>

PatternLoadBinary selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load Binary DEM function. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.

PatternLoadCloudMap <pattern>

PatternLoadCloudMap selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load Cloud Map function. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.

PatternLoadCMap <pattern>

PatternLoadCMap selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load CMap function. If the ASL requestor
is active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where
EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If
the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of
the form *.EXT.

PatternLoadDEM <pattern>

PatternLoadDEM selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load Vistapro DEM function. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.

PatternLoadIff <pattern>

PatternLoadIff selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load IFF function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PatternLoadIff24 <pattern>

PatternLoadIff24 selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load IFF24 function. If the ASL requestor
is active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where
EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If
the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of
the form *.EXT.

PatternLoadRegion <pattern>

PatternLoadRegion selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load Region function. If the ASL requestor
is active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where
EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If
the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of
the form *.EXT.

PatternLoadUSGSDEM <pattern>

PatternLoadUSGSDEM selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Load USGS DEM function. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.

PatternSaveCloudMap <pattern>

PatternSaveCloudMap selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save Cloud Map function. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.

PatternSaveCMap <pattern>

PatternSaveCMap selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save CMap function. If the ASL requestor
is active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where
EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If
the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of
the form *.EXT.

PatternSaveDEM <pattern>

PatternSaveDEM selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save Vistapro DEM function. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.
PatternSaveExtDEM <pattern>

PatternSaveExtDEM selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save Ext DEM function. If the ASL
requestor is active, the pattern should be of the form
#?.EXT, where EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for
landscapes) If the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern
should be of the form *.EXT.

PatternSaveIff <pattern>

PatternSaveIff selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save IFF function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PatternSaveIff24 <pattern>

PatternSaveIff24 selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save IFF24 function. If the ASL requestor
is active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where
EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If
the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of
the form *.EXT.

PatternSaveRGB <pattern>

PatternSaveRGB selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save RGB function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PatternSaveTurboS <pattern>

PatternSaveTurboS selects the pattern used in the file
requestor for the Save TurboS function. If the ASL requestor
is active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where
EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If
the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of
the form *.EXT.

PatternSaveVANIM <pattern>

PatternSaveVANIM selects the pattern used in the file
requester for saving VANIM animations. If the ASL requestor
is active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where
EXT is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If
the Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of
the form *.EXT.

PatternScript <pattern>

PatternScript selects the pattern used in the file requestor
for the Execute Script function. If the ASL requestor is
active, the pattern should be of the form #?.EXT, where EXT
is the file extension. (e.g. #?.DEM for landscapes) If the
Vistapro requestor is active, the pattern should be of the
form *.EXT.

PictureFile <filename>

PictureFile sets the Base Picture Name. The PictureFile
command requires a path name as well as a filename, unless
the files are to be created in the current directory. If you
are running from the Vistapro drawer and wish to set the
base picture name to MyPic, use the following command:

PictureFile Anims/MyPic

Pine<n>CrownHigh
Pine<n>CrownLow
Pine<n>CrownMedium
Pine<n>CrownUltra

Set the Crown density for Pine trees at elevation Tree <n>
to High, Low, Medium or Ultra.


Pine<n>Density <#arg1>

Sets the Density of Pine trees at elevation Tree <n> to
<#arg1>.

Pine<n>DetailHigh
Pine<n>DetailLow
Pine<n>DetailMedium
Pine<n>DetailUltra

Set the Detail for Pine trees at elevation Tree <n> to High,
Low, Medium or Ultra.

Pine<n>LeavesOff
Pine<n>LeavesOn

Turns Leaves off or on for Pine trees at elevation Tree <n>.

Pine<n>Size <#arg1>

Sets the Size of Pine trees at elevation Tree <n> to
<#arg1>.

Pitch <#arg1>

The Pitch command sets the camera's pitch angle, which in
turn affects the target X, Y and Z location. To turn the
camera upside down, point it due east and down at an angle
of 30 degrees, use the following script commands:

Bank -180.0
Heading 90.0
Pitch -30.0

PixelDither <#arg1>

The PixelDither command determines how much dithering is
used at the pixel level when rendering an image.

PlaceBuilding<n> <#arg1> <#arg2>

This places a building of elevation type House <n> at
X=<#arg1>, Y=<#arg2>.

PlaceGrass<n> <#arg1> <#arg2>

Place a clump of grass of elevation type Grass <n> at
X=<#arg1>, Y=<#arg2>. Make sure to Lock grass (in the Place
Middle Control Panel or with the LockGrass command) so that
random grass generation doesn't overwrite your work.

PlaceRemove <#arg1> <#arg2>

PlaceRemove removes any object placed at X=<arg1>,
Y=<#arg2>.

PlaceRoad<n> <#arg1> <#arg2>

Place a road segment of elevation type <n> at X=<#arg1>,
Y=<#arg2>.

PlaceTree<n> <#arg1> <#arg2>

This places a tree of elevation type Tree <n> at X=<#arg1>,
Y=<#arg2>. The variety of tree is undefined, as there may be
more than one variety at any given elevation. If you want a
specific variety of tree, then set one variety at each
elevation and place by elevation type. Elevation is
arbitrary and is only used to calculate random tree types.
Make sure to Lock trees (in the Place Middle Control Panel
or with the LockTrees command) prior to rendering if you are
placing trees by hand into your landscape, so that random
tree generation does not overwrite your work.

PolygonSize1
PolygonSize2
PolygonSize4
PolygonSize8

Sets polygon size to 1, 2, 4 or 8. The PolygonSize commands
set the rendering density for polygons. The smaller the
number, the more (and smaller) polygons are used in building
the image.

Rem <comment>

The <comment> is ignored and treated as a comment.

Render

Render, redraw and save picture. The Render command does not
take any arguments. The original Vista script command
contains an implicit render. The original script line

   1234, 1234, 1000, 70.0, 55.0, 40.0

is equivalent to the following extended script commands:

   CameraX 1234
   CameraY 1234
   CameraZ 1000
   Bank 70.0
   Heading 55.0
   Pitch 40.0
   Render

RewriteImage

The RewriteImage command duplicates the last image rendered
without going through the process of rendering it again.
This is useful in making animations pause at a particular
location, or in making "in place" animations as we did with
the Lightning.script anim.

RoadsOff
RoadsOn

Turns off or on rendering of placed roads.

SaveClouds <filename>

Saves the current Cloud Map into <filename>.

SaveCMap <filename>

Saves the current ColorMap into <filename>.

SaveDEM <filename>

Saves the current topographic map into <filename> as a
Vistapro DEM file.


SaveExtDEM <filename>

Saves the current topographic map, ColorMap, Color Table,
Shade Table, Cloud Map and other pertinent info into
<filename> as an Extended Vistapro DEM file.

SaveTurboSilver <filename>

Saves the current topographic map into <filename> as a
series of Turbo Silver 3-d objects.

SeaLevel <#arg1>

The SeaLevel command sets the sea level to elevation
<#arg1>. If <#arg1> is below the current sea level, the
landscape is lifted out of the sea. If <#arg1> is above the
current sea level, the landscape is flooded to that level
and the resulting landscape elevations are lowered.

SetAltitude <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

The SetAltitude command changes the elevation at the point
X=<#arg1>, Y=<#arg2> to the value Z=<#arg3>. This command
does not exist in the control panels or menus. It is a very
powerful command, which allows you to actually modify the
features in a landscape or even create one from ARexx or a
Vistapro script.

SetColorBare<n>  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Bare <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorBark<n>  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Bark <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorBeach  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Beach to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorCliff<n>  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Cliff <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorClouds  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Clouds to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorContrast <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set Contrast to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and <#arg3>
(only Red is used)

SetColorExposure <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set Exposure to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and <#arg3>
(only Red is used)

SetColorHaze  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Haze to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorHorizon  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Horizon to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.
SetColorHouse<n>  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color House <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorSky  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Sky to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorSkyHaze  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Sky Haze to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorSnow<n>  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Snow <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorTree<n>  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Tree <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorUnderHouse<n> <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color -House <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorUnderTree<n> <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color -Tree <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

SetColorWater<n>  <#arg1> <#arg2> <#arg3>

Set color Water <n> to the RGB values <#arg1>, <#arg2> and
<#arg3>.

ShadowsOff
ShadowsOn

Turn shadows off or on. When you turn shadows on, objects
like large rocks or pillars cast shadows based on the
location of the sun. Trees never cast shadows.

ShowRenderOff
ShowRenderOn

Turns the display while rendering mode off or on. This is
the same as the Show Render item in the GrModes menu.

SkyOff
SkyOn

Turns the rendering of the sky off or on. Clouds and/or
stars are rendered in the sky if the sky is selected and
turned on. Clouds and stars are not rendered if the sky is
off. CloudOff is used in conjunction with the Load
Background command.

Smooth

The Smooth command averages the area around each data point,
smoothing out fat data points and steps.

SnowLine <#arg1>

SnowLine sets the lowest elevation (approximately, see
Dither) to which snow will be allowed to fall to <#arg1>.

Stretch

The Stretch command exaggerates features of the landscape,
making low points lower and peaks higher.

SunAzimuth <#arg1>

The SunAzimuth command sets the direction from which the sun
is shining to <#arg1> (in degrees). An azimuth of 0 degrees
is due north, 90 degrees is due west, 180 degrees is due
south and -90 degrees is due east.

SunDeclination <#arg1>

The SunDeclination command sets the angle at which the sun
is shining to <#arg1> (in degrees from directly overhead).
An angle of 30 degrees is high in the sky, 45 degrees is
halfway up the sky, 60 degrees is a morning or evening sun,
and 90 degrees is sunrise or sunset.

TargetX <#arg1>
TargetY <#arg1>
TargetZ <#arg1>

The Target commands set the target X, Y and Z locations.
These commands also adjust the bank, heading and pitch. The
following example sets the Target to (4567,4567) at
elevation 0:

   TargetX 4567
   TargetY 4567
   TargetZ 0

TextureHigh <type>
TextureLow <type>
TextureMedium <type>

The Texture commands set the texture to <type>, where <type>
is either Shading or Altitude, with the given amount of
texturizing (High, Low or Medium). Shading texture modifies
the shading between polygons to provide a smooth transition.
This works well with Gouraud shading to provide an artistic
rendering of the landscape. With Altitude texturing,
polygons are further fractalized into smaller segments with
an apparent increase in detail. This detail looks quite
realistic, but is not "true" detail, just Vistapro trying to
guess what the area between data points might look like if
the data were actually available. This can produce near
photographic renderings.

TextureOff

Turns texturization off.

Tree<n>CactusOff
Tree<n>CactusOn

Turn Cactus off or on at elevation Tree <n>.

Tree<n>None

Don't render trees of any type at elevation Tree <n>.

Tree<n>OakOff
Tree<n>OakOn

Turn Oak trees off or on at elevation Tree <n>.

Tree<n>PalmOff
Tree<n>PalmOn

Turn Palm trees off or on at elevation Tree <n>.

Tree<n>PineOff
Tree<n>PineOn

Turn Pine trees off or on at elevation Tree <n>.

Tree2d

Render two dimensional trees.

Tree3d

Render three dimensional trees.

TreeCactusAll

Turn on Cactus at all elevations and turn off all other tree
types.

TreeCactusOff
TreeCactusOn

Turns Cactus off or on at all elevations. Does not affect
any other trees.

TreeDensity <#arg1>

The TreeDensity command sets the tree density to <#arg1>.
The higher the number, the more trees are rendered. This
affects all trees. To set the density of individual tree
types at specific elevations, use the specific command for
that tree type. (e.g. Pine3Density <#arg1>)

TreeLeavesOff
TreeLeavesOn

Turn tree leaves on at all elevations for all tree types.

TreeLine <#arg1>

Treeline sets the highest elevation (approximately, see
Dither) to which trees will be allowed to grow to <#arg1>.

TreeNone

Turn off all tree types at all elevations.

TreeOakAll

Turn on Oak trees at all elevations. Turn off all other tree
types at all elevations.

TreeOakOff
TreeOakOn

Turn Oak trees at all elevations off or on. Other tree types
are not affected.

TreePalmAll

Turn on Palm trees at all elevations. Turn off all other
tree types.

TreePalmOff
TreePalmOn

Turn Palm trees at all elevations off or on. Does not affect
any other tree types.

TreePineAll

Turn on Pine trees at all elevations. Turns off all other
tree types.

TreePineOff
TreePineOn

Turn Pine trees at all elevations off or on. Does not affect
any other tree types.

TreeSize <#arg1>

TreeSize  sets the average size of rendered trees in meters.
This can be used to set all of the tree sizes at the same
time. Tree types at different levels can be sized
independently of each other using the specific type and
elevation commands. (e.g. Pine2Size <#arg1>)

TreeTextureOff
TreeTextureOn

Turns texture off or on for rendering all trees at all
elevations.

UnLockGrass

Permits the random generation of Grass while rendering,
provided that Grass is turned on at one or more elevation
zones.

UnLockTrees

Permits the random generation of Trees while rendering,
provided that Trees are turned on for one or more tree types
at one or more elevation zones.

VerticalScale <#arg1>

The VerticalScale command multiplies each elevation point by
the scale value<#arg1>. If the result is greater than 32767,
the elevation point becomes negative, going below sea level.

VideoAGA256

Sets the video mode to 256 color using the AGA chipset.
Requires an Amiga with an AGA chipset and version 39 or
newer of graphics.library.

VideoDBLNTSC

Sets the monitor mode to DBLNTSC. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode. Also requires an Amiga with
an AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.

VideoDBLPAL

Sets the monitor mode to DBLPAL. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode. Also requires an Amiga with
an AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.

VideoDCTV

Sets the video mode to DCTV 4 bit plane mode. Requires the
presence of dctv.library in the LIBS: drawer to operate.
Also requires a DCTV video display device for display.

VideoDCTV3

Sets the video mode to DCTV 3 bit plane mode. Requires the
presence of dctv.library in the LIBS: drawer to operate.
Also requires a DCTV video display device for display.

VideoDCTV4

Sets the video mode to DCTV 4 bit plane mode. Requires the
presence of dctv.library in the LIBS: drawer to operate.
Also requires a DCTV video display device for display.

VideoDisplaySize <#arg1> <#arg2>

Sets the size of the current display to Width=<#arg1> and
Height=<#arg2>. The maximum display size varies, depending
on the monitor mode currently active. In no case will the
display size be allowed to be greater than the maximum
allowed for that monitor. This does not affect the image
size or mode.

VideoEHB

Sets the video mode to ExtraHalfBrite. The image and display
sizes are not affected.

VideoEuro36

Sets the monitor mode to Euro36. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode. Also requires an Amiga with
an AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.

VideoEuro72

Sets the monitor mode to Euro72. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode. Also requires an Amiga with
an AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.

VideoFirecrackerOff

Turns off the Firecracker24 display board. Requires a
Firecracker24 board to operate.

VideoFirecrackerOn1

Turns on the Firecracker24 display board to single monitor
mode. Requires a Firecracker24 board to operate.

VideoFirecrackerOn2

Turns on the Firecracker24 display board to dual monitor
mode. Requires a Firecracker24 board and a second monitor to
operate.

VideoHAM

Sets the video mode to HAM. Requires that HiRes be not set
unless you have the AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of
graphics.library.

VideoHAM8

Sets the video mode to HAM8. Requires an Amiga with an AGA
chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library. Does
not affect the image size or the display size.

VideoHamE

Sets the video mode to HAM-E. Requires that the Hame.library
be present in the LIBS: drawer for rendering, and that the
HAM-E display device be present for display.

VideoHiRes

Sets the video mode to HiRes. Requires the presence of the
AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library if
HAM mode is also set. Does not affect the image or display
size.

VideoImageSize <#arg1> <#arg2>

Sets the size of the current image to Width=<#arg1> and
Height=<#arg2>. The maximum image size is 4096x4096 or the
maximum that available memory will allow. This does not
affect the display size or mode.

VideoInterlaceOff
VideoInterlaceOn

Turns the Interlace video mode off or on. This does not
affect the image or display size.

VideoLoRes

Sets the video mode to LoRes. This does not affect the image
or display size.

VideoMultiscan

Sets the monitor mode to VGA. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode. Also requires an Amiga with
an AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.

VideoNTSC

Sets the monitor mode to NTSC. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode.

VideoOverscan <#arg1> <#arg2>

This is the same as VideoDisplaySize and is present for
compatibility with earlier scripts.

VideoPAL

Sets the monitor mode to PAL. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode.

VideoProductivity

Sets the video mode to Productivity. Requires an Amiga with
an AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.
Requires a monitor that can handle Productivity mode.

VideoSuper72

Sets the monitor mode to Super72. Requires a monitor that is
capable of handling this mode. Also requires an Amiga with
an AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.

VideoSuperHires

Sets the video mode to SuperHiRes. Requires an Amiga with an
AGA chipset and version 39 or newer of graphics.library.
Requires a monitor that can handle SuperHiRes mode. This
does not affect the image or display sizes.

View2Altitude

View2Altitude converts the current contents of the view
screen to an altitude map and places it in the topographic
map.

View2Color

View2Color converts the current contents of the view screen
to the ColorMap to be used for further rendering.

View2RGB

View2RGB converts the current contents of the view screen to
the 24 bit RGB frame buffer used by Vistapro.

                        APPENDIX E

                    VISTAPRO TUTORIALS

To use the following tutorials, Vistapro must be installed
on your hard drive or on floppies. If you have not already
done so, please refer to the installation instructions in
your Vistapro User's Manual.

These tutorials have been written with the idea that you
will start at the beginning and work your way to the end.
Descriptions are more extensive at the beginning  and become
less involved as the tutorials progress. The idea is that,
through using Vistapro, you will become increasingly
familiar with the program. If you skip sections and find
something to be unclear, you will likely find clarification
in an earlier section.

                TUTORIAL 1: THE BASICS

                   Running Vistapro

In order to run Vistapro, start at the WorkBench. Open the
Vistapro drawer and start Vistapro by double clicking on the
Vistapro icon. Vistapro is ready for you to start using it
when you see a screen with gray control panels on the right
and an empty green topographical map on the left.
A Quick Introduction

When Vistapro is first loaded, it starts with a flat
landscape. Although it's not very interesting, let's take a
quick look at it. Locate the Render button at the lower left
corner of the Bottom control Panel. Move the mouse pointer
to the Render button. Press and release the left mouse
button to activate the Render button.

You should now see a sequence of status messages on the
screen in the blue area immediately above the topographic
map. Exactly what these messages mean is described in the
Vistapro User's Manual. For now, simply note that Vistapro
needs to make some calculations before drawing the
landscape. After a few seconds, you should see the screen
switch to the View screen. At first you will see a black
screen and then Vistapro will begin to draw the rendered
image in "venetian blind" style. If you look closely, you
will see a small pyramid off in the distance. At Vistapro's
current settings (assuming that you haven't changed
anything), the pyramid will be barely discernable.

It's not much to look at, but you just rendered your first
Vistapro image. To switch back to the control panels and
topographic map, click on the left mouse button. Now let's
go on to something more interesting.

               Loading a DEM Landscape

To load a landscape, position the mouse pointer over the
Load menu at the top of the screen. Press and hold down the
right mouse button. The Load menu will drop down to reveal
several options. Move the mouse pointer (while still holding
the right button down) to the first option, Load VistaPro
DEM, and release the mouse button.

You should now see the Load DEM file requestor. The file
requestor is used whenever a file is to be loaded or saved.

The OK button is the file requestor's confirm button.
Clicking on the OK button or double clicking on a file name
tells Vistapro to go ahead and load the selected file.

The Cancel button is used to exit the file requestor without
taking any action. Clicking on it with the mouse tells
Vistapro not to load any file (or save one if the file
requestor was invoked by a save menu option).

The terms text gadget and numerical gadget are used
throughout this tutorial. A text gadget is a field that
accepts text entered using the keyboard and a numerical
gadget accepts numbers entered with the keyboard. To begin
entering information in a text or numerical gadget, click on
it with the left mouse button. To abort entry, click on the
Cancel button.

At the center of the file requestor, you will see the
filename window. It should be displaying a list of DEMs and
directories (the names with Drawer in the right column),
Vistapro and Vistapro.info files. If there are more files
than will fit in the window, you can use the drag gadget to
the right of the filename window to scroll up and down the
list.

You should be looking at a list of files whose names end
with .DEM. Find the file Tutorial.DEM and double click on
it. You could have typed the file name directly into the
filename text gadget, but for small lists it is much faster
to click on the name with the mouse.

The screen will now switch back to the topographic map and
control panels, and Vistapro will begin loading the
landscape. This could take several seconds.

Once Vistapro is finished loading the landscape, you see a
topographic view of the landscape in the rectangular area at
the left of the screen.

The topographic map is colored by elevation. Dark greens
represent the lowest elevations, browns represent the middle
elevations and gray-whites the highest. Move the mouse
pointer over the landscape. Notice that the X, Y and Z
values in the Status Window (located below the topographic
map) change as the mouse moves. The X and Y values represent
the location of the pointer on the map and the Z value
represents the elevation of the terrain directly under the
pointer.

               Setting Camera and Target

When you rendered the flat landscape at the beginning of
this tutorial, you used the default camera and target
positions. Let's take a look at how to move your viewpoint.

Look at the very top of the topographic map. You will see a
small black square. This is your camera position on the
landscape. At the very bottom of the map is a small black
cross (+). This is your target position (the point at which
the camera is aimed).

Look at the X, Y and Z gadgets located below the Camera
button on the Upper Control Panel. The values in these
gadgets represent the location of the camera on the
landscape.

To move the camera position, click on the Camera button.
Move the mouse pointer over the topographic map to a
position where you might like to stand if you were taking a
photograph of the landscape. When you have found this point,
click once with the left mouse button to set the camera
location. Notice that the black square is now at the
location that you selected.

If you would like to be above the surface, as if on a tall
ladder, click on the numerical gadget below the Camera
button and to the right of the Z button. Enter the altitude
(the height of the camera on the ladder). This raises you
off the surface of the landscape but leaves you at the same
location. Now you need to tell Vistapro which direction to
point the camera when it takes a picture. Do this by
clicking on the Target button with the left mouse button,
positioning the mouse at the point at which you want to aim
the camera, then clicking the left mouse button again. You
can change the vertical position of the target in the same
way you did for the camera position.

Let's pick a point to look at. If you have been following
this tutorial from the beginning, the landscape Tutorial.DEM
should already be loaded and displayed in the topographic
map area.

This landscape has five distinct features. Two at the top,
one in the center and two at the bottom. Most landscapes do
not look like this. This landscape was made especially for
this tutorial.

Click on the Camera button. Now click on the blue square in
the center of the landscape. Your camera X, Y and Z
positions are set. Look at Z value under the Camera button.
Notice that it is 30. When setting a camera position,
Vistapro sets the Z value to thirty meters above the
landscape. In this case, the landscape under the camera is
at 0 meters above sea level. Let's lift the camera a bit
higher. Click on the Z numerical gadget under the Camera
button and enter the number 5 from your keyboard. The Z
position of the camera should now be 530.

To set the target, click on the Target button and then click
on the oddly shaped object at the top left corner of the
topographic map.

               Viewing Your Camera Position

Immediately below the label Poly on the Main Lower Control
Panel, you will find four buttons which are labelled 1, 2, 4
and 8. These buttons are used to determine the size of the
polygons which Vistapro uses to draw the landscape. Only one
of these buttons can be selected at a time. If you simply
wish to get an idea of your camera position, click on the 8
button. This causes Vistapro to use large polygons and fewer
of them. The larger the Poly setting, the less detail the
resulting image has. The advantage of rendering an image
with less detail is that it takes less time to render.

Another way to decrease rendering time is to click on the
LockP button located on the Middle Control Panel. This
prevents Vistapro from calculating a new color palette
(which can be time consuming). Before rendering your final
image, you will want to unlock the color palette (click on
LockP again) so that Vistapro will calculate the best colors
to use for the image.

Let's take a quick look at the landscape. Click on the 8
button. Click on the LockP button just to speed things up.
Now click on the Render button and wait while Vistapro
renders the landscape.

As you can see, the landscape looks very blocky, but gives
you an idea of your camera position. Return to the
topographic map and the control panels by clicking on the
left mouse button. At this point, you can change your camera
and target positions as described above and re-render until
you have a camera position that you like. Once you are
satisfied with the camera position, select a smaller Poly
setting and click on the Render button.

Try rendering using each of the Poly settings. You will
notice that a Poly setting of 1 can take a bit of time to
render. This is why it's a good idea to use the larger and
faster settings to fine tune your camera position.

To abort a rendering in progress, simply click on the Abort
button with the left mouse button.

               Adjusting the Camera Lens

Your imaginary camera also has an imaginary lens. In order
to zoom it in or out, click on the Lens button on the Lower
Control Panel. The Lower Control Panel changes to become the
Lens Lower Control Panel. There are two buttons on the right
side of this panel labelled Wide and Zoom.

The Wide button is the default selection and has a "focal
length" similar to a wide angle lens on a real camera.

Click on the Zoom button. Now click on the Main button to
get the Main Lower Control Panel back. Click on the Render
button. The object (mound) that the camera is aimed at
should now be larger.

Click the left mouse button to return to the control panels.
Click on the Lens button again. At the right side of the
Lens Control Panel is a numeric gadget labelled Fcl Ln for
focal length.

               Making a Smoother Image

When rendering a landscape, even at Poly size 1, you will
often see small triangles in the portions of the image close
to the camera. This is because the USGS data used to make
the Vistapro DEM files is made up of elevation points that
are about thirty meters apart. When that distance is more
than one pixel wide, that part of the landscape is rendered
as a triangular block. There are several methods of hiding
these blocks when rendering.

                        Blend

Blending smooths the changes in color from polygon to
polygon, causing the small polygons to be less apparent,
especially in the distance. To use blending, click on the
Blend button on the Main Lower Control Panel before
rendering an image. The button will remain pushed in until
you click it again to disable it.

                   Gouraud Shading

Gouraud shading smooths the boundary between polygons,
making it a lot less apparent that they are even there. It
also eliminates sharp transitions from one color to another,
giving images more of the quality of an artist's rendition.
Enable Gouraud shading by pressing the GShade button on the
Main Lower Control Panel before rendering an image. The
button will remain pushed in until you click it again to
disable it.

                       Dither

There are two methods of dithering available in Vistapro.
The first blends the elevation colors, reducing the
sharpness of the snow and tree lines. This is controlled by
clicking on the numerical gadget labelled Dither on the Main
Lower Control Panel and entering a new value. Large values
result in more dithering, small values result in less.

The second dithering method is pixel dithering, which mixes
slightly different colored pixels to simulate more colors
than the screen can actually display. Pixel dithering is
control by clicking on the numerical gadget labelled PixDth
on the Main Lower Control Panel and entering a new value.
Large values result in more dithering, small values result
in less. It is possible to add so much dithering as to make
the resulting image entirely unrecognizable.

                        Experiment

Spend some time experimenting with the Vistapro functions we
have discussed. Try changing the camera and target locations
and rendering at different Poly settings with different
blending functions. After you have a good feel for the
operation of the program, go on to the next tutorial.

           TUTORIAL 2: MAKING A PRETTIER PICTURE

Before you start this tutorial, you should have Vistapro
running and the DEM file Tutorial.DEM loaded. If you do not,
refer to Tutorial 1.

                    Loading an IFF Image

Before we further explore Vistapro's features, let's take a
look at a saved IFF image of the Tutorial.DEM landscape.

Select the Load IFF option from the Load menu (at the top of
the screen). You should now see a file requestor. If you are
unfamiliar with the file requestor, refer to the Loading a
DEM Landscape section of Tutorial 1.

Find the file Tutorial.IFF. Double click with the left mouse
button on this filename. Vistapro will load and display the
IFF image. The image that you are now looking at was created
using the Tutorial.DEM landscape and several of Vistapro's
options. Through the use of Vistapro's functions, this
relatively dull landscape has been prettied up a bit.

Let's examine some of the functions which were used to give
this image its look. To get back to the topographic map and
control panels, click the left mouse button.

                    Adding Texture

Artificial detail can be added to a landscape using the
Textur buttons. They are located on the Main Lower Control
Panel beneath the Textur label. There are four buttons, only
one of which can be active at a time. The buttons are
labelled O, L, M and H (Off, Low, Medium and High). When you
press the L, M or H button, Vistapro asks you if you wish to
use one of two texturing methods, Shading or Altitude.
Shading texture breaks the polygons in the image into
smaller polygons and shades each of them separately,
resulting in smoother transitions of shade and color and
reducing the visibility of larger polygons. This works well
with Gouraud shading to eliminate the computer generate look
and give a more artistic appearance. Altitude texture
fractalizes each polygon into smaller polygons to add
texture. This results in more realistic images.

The higher the Textur setting, the more Vistapro breaks up
the displayed polygons into smaller pieces. Try rendering
images using each of the Textur settings.

                Setting the Timber Line

Locate the TreeLn button on the Middle Control Panel.
Immediately below it is a numerical gadget. The number in
this gadget represents the timber line, which is the
elevation above which there are no trees. As in nature, the
timber line is a fuzzy value. Some trees will appear above
the timber line and some bare areas will appear below it.

An elevation can be entered into the numerical gadget, or
you can use the TreeLn button to set the timber line by
clicking on the TreeLn button and then clicking on the
topographic map at a point which has the desired elevation.

If none of the tree types (Oak, Pine, Palm or Cactus) are
selected in the Tree Control Panel, Vistapro does not
actually draw trees. Instead, it uses the Tree colors to
color the ground. Refer to the Vistapro User's Manual for
more information about trees.

Try rendering the current landscape with different values
for the timber line.

                     Drawing Trees

With the Tree functions, you can specify whether or not
Vistapro draws trees on the landscape. Trees can be drawn on
the landscape anywhere Tree colors are used (see Timber Line
above).

Trees are time consuming to draw and may take from two to
twenty times as long to render as the same scene without any
trees.

To draw trees and specify the types of trees to be drawn,
click on the Tree button on the Middle Control Panel. A full
screen control panel will appear which contains options for
controlling the use of trees.

                  Setting Tree Density

Click on the Tree button to bring up the Tree Control Panel.
Click on the button which is labelled All and which is
located above the column of buttons which are all labelled
Palm. Palm trees will now be drawn in all four of the Tree
colored elevation zones.

Click on the numeric gadget labelled Size, located
immediately to the right of the All button that you just
depressed, and enter 50 from your keyboard. This set the
height of the trees to fifty meters. Now click on the next
numeric to the right, labelled Density, and enter a number
between 0 and 256.

Click on the Leaves button in the Palm subpanel to have
Vistapro draw leaves on the trees. Click on the Txture
button in the upper right corner of the panel. Finally,
click on the OK button to accept your settings and close the
Tree Control Panel.

                Setting the Snow Level

The snow level is the lowest elevation at which Vistapro
covers the landscape with snow. As with the timber line,
this is a fuzzy value.

The snow level can be entered directly into the numerical
gadget beneath the SnowLn button, or you can click on the
SnowLn button and then click on the topographic map at a
point which has the desired elevation.

                      Adding a Lake

To add a lake to your landscape, first select a location for
the lake. It needs to be an area of the landscape which is
surrounded by terrain of higher elevation. Move the mouse
around until you find the lowest point in the surrounding
terrain. Click on the Lake button on the Middle Control
Panel and then click on the landscape at an elevation
slightly lower than that of the lowest point of the
surrounding terrain. If you select a higher point, the lake
would spill over into other areas of the landscape where you
might not want it to be. If you don't like the lake as
Vistapro has filled it, select the No button on the Accept
Lake requestor which appears after the lake has been filled.

                     Adding a River

The River button is used to create rivers that flow downhill
from the selected starting point, following the terrain.
Rivers continue to flow downhill until they reach the ocean,
the edge of the topographic map or until they run into
another river. Placing a river on top of an existing river
widens the existing river.

To select a river location, click on the River button on the
Middle Control Panel and then click on the landscape at the
point at which you wish the river to start. As with lakes,
if you don't like the generated river, select the No button
on the Accept River requestor which appears after the river
has been generated.

                 Changing the Haze Level

The haze level refers to the amount of haze that appears
between the camera, target and the horizon. With a haze
level of 0, the horizon is crystal clear, but you lose a
little of the three dimensional depth of the image. To set
or change the haze level, click on the HazeDn (haze density)
button on the Middle Control Panel. Vistapro generates a
haze density value based on the distance between the camera
and the target. You can also enter a value directly in the
numerical gadget immediately below the HazeDn button.

               Setting the Light Direction

To change the direction of the light source, click on the
Light button on the Lower Control Panel. A series of
concentric circles will be drawn on the topographic map.
Each circle represents the angular altitude of the light
source in degrees. Notice a line radiating out from the
center. This line represents the direction of the light
source.

You should also see a new panel in the place of the Lower
Control Panel. On the left side of the Light Lower Control
Panel are buttons labelled N, E, S and W for setting the
most simple light directions. They set the light source
direction to north, east, south or west at 45 degrees above
the horizon.

If you want the light to come from one of these directions,
click on the button which represents the appropriate
direction. However, if you want the light to come from
another direction, click on the Custom button. Move the
mouse pointer over the topographic map. Notice that the end
point of the light source direction/altitude line follows
the mouse pointer as you move it over the map. When you have
the line at the desired direction and altitude, click the
left mouse button. You can also enter values directly into
the Azimth (direction) and Declin (altitude above the
horizon) numeric gadgets.

                Shadows and Exaggeration

The other two buttons on the Light Lower Control Panel are
labelled Shadow and Exager.

When the Shadow button is selected, Vistapro takes the light
source direction into account and creates shadows on the
landscape.

The Exager button exaggerates the shading of the landscape.
When it is selected, the rate at which shadowed areas are
darkened is increased.

                      Changing Colors

Vistapro allows you to change its color map. This allows you
to fine tune your image to get that perfect look of realism.
It also allows you to tamper with nature. Imagine flaming
red snow or pink lakes and rivers. By altering the color
map, you can drastically change the look of a landscape.
Before changing colors, make sure that the LockP button is
not selected. If the button appears to be depressed, click
on it to raise it.

To change the colors, click on the CMap button in the Middle
Control Panel. This activates and displays the Color Control
Panel. It has two columns of buttons on its right side
labelled with the names of landscape features. To the left
are R(ed), G(reen) and B(lue) slider bars and H(ue),
S(aturation) and V(alue) slider bars. To change the color of
a landscape feature, click on the appropriately labelled
button and use the slider bars to change its color.

To accept the new colors and exit the Color Control Panel,
click on the OK button. If you don't wish to keep any of
your changes, click on the Quit button.

At this point, you might wish to read over the Color Control
Panel section of the Vistapro User's Manual. After you have
done so, experiment with different colors until you find a
set that you would like to save.

                     Saving a Color Map

The Vistapro color map can be saved using the Save CMap
option in the Save menu. When you select this menu item, a
file requestor is displayed with a list of CMap files in the
filename window.

Click in the File text gadget and enter the file name
TESTCMAP.DEM. This is the name that the current color map
will be saved under. Click on the OK button and Vistapro
will save your color map.

                     Loading a Color Map

Let's load a different color map. Select the Load CMap item
from the Load menu. A file requestor should appear. Click on
the file TUTCMAP.DEM and click on the OK button.

Set the camera and target positions and render an image. As
you can see, the landscape looks quite different.

Select Load CMap again and load the file that you previously
saved as TESTCMAP.DEM.

                   Saving a Rendered Image

Now that you know how to create beautiful and bizarre
images, the next step is saving your masterpiece for viewing
at a later date.

Using the techniques covered in earlier sections, render an
image that you would like to save. Select Save IFF from the
Save menu. In the resulting file requestor, click on the
File text gadget and enter MYPIC.IFF. Now click on the OK
button. Your picture will now be saved and can be viewed
using the Load IFF menu item or by using any any Amiga paint
or viewer program.

              Creating a DEM from an IFF File

Select IFF->Alt from the ImpExp menu. Load the file
TUTORIAL_ALT.IFF from the IFF directory. VistaPro will
perform some calculations and convert the IFF picture into a
DEM landscape. Since this IFF picture only has 32 colors in
it, there are only 32 possible elevations for this DEM. This
means that the differences in the colors are discrete and so
are the elevations. After converting an IFF to a landscape,
the landscape looks like a stack of pancakes offset from one
another. To alleviate this unnatural appearance, use the
Smooth button on the Middle Control Panel to eliminate the
stair-steps (you may have to do this a few times to make the
landscape more realistic).

You might have noticed that the IFF image that you loaded
was far too symmetrical to be real. In fact, this picture
was rendered with MathVision and altered with DeluxePaint
III. This was used to show that the IFF->Alt function can
use any valid IFF file, not limited to topographic maps.

                  Modifying the Landscape

Let's add a park to our newly converted landscape. In the
middle of the landscape, there is a slight depression next
to a flat area. Click on the Lake button, then click
anywhere within the depression where the Z value in the
status window reads around 50. VistaPro will fill in the
depression with a lake and ask you if you wish to accept it.
If you don't like the lake (perhaps it overflowed for
example), select No on the Accept Lake? requestor.

After accepting a suitable lake, we'll need to add some man
made features to the park. Click on the Place button to
replace the Middle Control Panel with the Place Control
Panel. Click on the Zoom button on the the Place Control
Panel. Drag the mouse over the topographic map. A magnify
box follows the mouse. Click the left mouse button in the
center of the map and Vistapro will zoom into that portion
of the map. Select the Road1 button on the Place Control
Panel and click the left mouse button at the point where you
want the road to start. Move the mouse and click the left
button again to select the road's end point. VistaPro will
now draws a line on the topographic map for your new road.
If you would like a park surrounded by roads, draw in other
roads to make a bounding polygon.

How about some buildings adjacent to your park? Select from
the various Bldg buttons to tell Vistapro that you wish to
place some buildings. Place buildings on the landscape by
clicking the left mouse button; each click places one
building where the mouse cursor is. Add some trees in the
middle of the polygon using the same technique with the Tree
buttons. If you would like the trees that you have "planted"
to be the only trees drawn on the landscape, select the Lock
button located directly above the column of Tree buttons.
This locks the current trees and keeps VistaPro from
randomly placing trees across your landscape.

When you are finished, click on the OK button on the Place
Control Panel to accept the place objects and return to the
Main Middle Control Panel.

Click on the Roads and Bldgs buttons on the Main Middle
Control Panel to depress them and enable the rendering of
the roads and buildings that you just placed.

Open the Tree Control Panel by clicking on the Tree button
and select tree types for the various Tree elevation zones.

To compare a rendered image to the same view in the tutorial
image, select User Configuration from the IQuality menu. If
you have already altered the IQuality user script, set
VistaPro to:

      Target          Camera
   X    3962            4080
   Y    3808            2460
   Z     611            6035

   Polygons: 1

Graphics Mode (in the Graphics Control Panel, accessed by
selecting Graphics Panel from the GrModes menu): LoRes, EHB,
Interlace, 384x484.

These are the settings used to render the image
TUTORIAL_2.IFF in the IFF drawer.

Note that the buildings and roads do not have any detail and
are for aesthetic value only.