Atari CAD-3D to RAW Triangles

cad3d2raw is a simple filter for converting Atari CAD-3D files (created by CAD-3D 2.x, CyberSculpt, and various tools from Lexicor and others) to the RAW triangle format supported by raw2pov. This is intended as a method of getting CAD-3D objects into your POV-Ray scenes for raytracing; a nice side-effect is that raw2pov can output Vivid and Polyray scene files as well, so users of those raytracers will be able to use CAD-3D objects in their scenes as easily as POV-Ray users.

cad3d2raw was written from scratch by Chris Herborth (cherborth@semprini.waterloo-rdp.on.ca), who retains all rights to the program and its source code; the source code and cad3d2raw binaries created from the source code may be freely distributed. You can use the source code in your own programs as long as I am given credit, and you can compile and use the cad3d2raw program for whatever purposes you'd like. If you sell cad3d2raw to anyone, you're a jerk. Contact me if you'd like to include cad3d2raw in something like a CD-ROM collection or a shareware/Public Domain collection.

If you use cad3d2raw for any commercial purposes, or if you use it to create any nice scenes, I would appreciate it if you'd send me a copy of the image you've rendered, preferably in JPEG format.

Compiling cad3d2raw

To compile cad3d2raw:

1. Edit the Makefile. You will probably have to change CC and possibly CFLAGS to match what your compiler expects; things like Microsoft C and Borland C seem to go out of their way to have incompatible command-line switches.
2. If you are compiling for a little-endian CPU (ie, Intel, some MIPS, VAX, probably one or two blasphemous others), add -DLITTLE_ENDIAN to CFLAGS; the code already takes care of converting the big-endian CAD-3D files into little-endedness for you.
3. If you are compiling for an operating system that insists on having a file's extension decide what an executable is, you'll need to change PROGRAM. DOS and OS/2 need .exe, Atari TOS needs .ttp (unless you use the Minix filesystem under MiNT).
4. Type make and hit return. If you don't have a make program, get one.
5. In a short time, you should have a cad3d2raw executable to fondle and love... enjoy!

Using cad3d2raw

cad3d2raw is fairly easy to use, and has only a few options. Usage is:

where the options and the output filename are optional.

The available options include:

-c

Use the colours from the CAD-3D file (makes a Fractint RAW file); this will preserve the object colours. Remember to add -fc to the raw2pov command line if you use this!

-b

Use the colour base from the CAD-3D file (makes a Fractint RAW file); contrary to the usage message in cad3d2raw, this doesn't really work better... it seems to produce about the same effect as using -c. This is a bug/feature and will probably go away in the next version, if there is one. Remember to add -fc to the raw2pov command line if you use this!

-v

Produce verbose output. This is good if you've got a slow manchine and want some sort of indication that cad3d2raw is actually doing some sort of work.

-d

Produce debugging output (ie, extra-verbose). This isn't too useful unless you think you've got a corrupt CAD-3D file.

Less useful options include:

-h

Print the usage message.

-?

Same as -h.

-V

Prints version info. On a some systems, ident cad3d2raw will give you the same information.

Sources of CAD-3D Objects

Lots of great CAD-3D objects can be found on these Internet FTP sites:

• atari.archive.umich.edu

This is the official FTP site for the Atari community; unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be too many CAD-3D objects here. Try connecting to msdos.archive.umich.edu if atari.archive.umich.edu is busy.

• avalon.chinalake.navy.mil

This site has lots of different objects in lots of different formats, as well as documentation for the formats and converters. If you can't get on here, there is a mirror at wuarchive.wustl.edu. The avalon.chinalake.navy.mil directory path may be wrong, I've never been able to connect there.

• ftp.std.com

This is the official FTP site for Lexicor Graphics; there are lots of objects and animations available here, but mostly in Atari formats. Lexicor is the NuTek of the Atari community. This is also Kibo's home site.

There are also a tonne of CAD-3D objects available on GEnie, and probably on CompuServ as well.

If you run a BBS that has CAD-3D objects available, let me know, and I'll include it here in future releases.

Other Stuff

Another great source of utilities for POV-Ray is Marius Watz's POV-Ray Utilities page.