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CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
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picfld10.zip
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PICFIELD.DOC
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Picfield - Copyright (c) 1994, Loyd L Towe - All rights reserved.
Picfield works along the same lines as a POV-RAY height_field, but goes
further.
Picfield takes as input a 320x200x256 color picture in either GIF or PCX
format. It translates the pictures Y coordinates into POV-RAY Z coordinates,
with the top of the screen being away from you (ie: in the positive Z). The
pictures X coordinates are converted to POV-RAY X coordinates. The POV-RAY
Y coordinates are derived from the pictures color index. Pixels with a
color index of 0 are ignored and no object is created for the location.
Included in the archive are test files. The PCX is set up to have 256 shades
of gray of ascending value, which I find to be the most convenent way to work
out surfaces.
The utility has the following command line syntax:
(note: parameter order is important)
picfield <infile> <outfile> <data format> <scale> [object name]
the infile is a 320x200x256 GIF or PCX picture file. Pixel 159,99 translates
into X=0 and Z=0. Pixel 0,0 is X=-159 and Z=99. In otherwords, the center
of the screen is the center of POV-RAY world space.
the outfile can be named anything you desire. Using .inc as the suffix seems
logical.
the data formats are as follows:
T = Generate the object array as triangles (standard height_field method)
S = Generate output as unit sized spheres
R = Generate output as RAW data for futher processing
L = Make blob components (strength 1.0 radius 1.0)
W = Generate cylindrical wire mesh
B = Make box columns (from <x,0,y> to <x,index,y>
X = Make unit sized boxes
C = Generate cylinder columns
I = Generate unit sized cylinders
O = Use supplied object name
The scale factor is a integer value of 1 or greater (default value is 1).
The useable range is 1..255 although values larger are allowed and can
sometimes be useful. The scaling is done by taking the color value and
dividing it by 255, and the multiplying it by the scale factor. Example:
pixel 100,100 has a color index value of 127, the height for a scale factor
of 1 would be 0.5, for a scale factor of 2 it would be 1.0, etc..
object name is the name of a declared object or an object from shapes.inc,
and need only be added as a parameter if the 'O' option is used.
A word about size. This program can generate data to choke a horse. Care
should be taken when creating a Picfield object set. Create your pictures
so that when the X size is multiplied by the Y size, the number is less than
about 10,000 (or you'll be sorry :). I have yet to use more than say 30x30
and found that plenty of room to work. Of course you make the picture
larger if the pixels are sparse, and it contains lots of black.
That's it. Have fun. Picfield is being released as donation-ware. You
may use it freely to create object data to your hearts content. I reserve
all rights to the program, and its functionality. If you would like to make
a donation to the cause and support/encourage the development of additional
toys and utilities, send whatever (cash, check, scenes you have made with
Picfield, etc.) to:
Loyd L Towe
c/o Data Wave
13500 SW Pacific Hwy #457
Portland, Oregon 97223
I can be reached at:
Compuserve: 70614,1721
internet: towel@elcsci.com
plans for improvement:
add scaling for X and Z values
add Y value offset factor
auto palette generator
built in drawing tools
whatever anyone else comes up with.