FishMarket 1.0/FishMarket v1.0.iso/fishies/351-375/disk_361/brush_4d/brush_4d.docs

Text File | 1992-05-06 | 18KB | 389 lines

July 1990                       BRUSH_4D v. 1.0
                                ---------------

Contents of archive:
           Brush_4D Program.
           This doc file.
           Help picture.

                  Copyright © 1990 by Bruce Thomson

                           S H A R E W A R E

    Brush_4D is ShareWare.  No guarantee is made, expressed or implied as
to Brush_4D's suitability for any application.  No responsibility will be
taken by the author for the results of its use or misuse.


        First things first.  This is Shareware.  It is also not the best
        version of this program available.  For most people this version
        will be more than adequate.  It coverts brushes with a maximum
        of around 190 square pixels and will create objects with a maximum
        of around 1900 faces.  It has all the features of the larger
        version except for this size restriction.  If you like this program
        then please send $US 10 to the address below.  If you want the
        unlimited version send $US 30 to register.  If you think you might
        want the unrestricted version at a later date send $10 now and
        $20 later - I will keep a record.  Paying users will be kept
        informed of updates.



1.      What Does It Do?

    Brush_4D converts IFF brushes (e.g. DPaint pictures) into Sculpt
objects.  The program will convert standard brushes, Extra Halfbrite
brushes and HAM brushes in full colour.  It is very fast.
    In addition to converting your brush into a flat object, pixel for
pixel Brush_4D has some extra features.

    - Optimise the brush so that areas of the same colour become one large
      square as opposed to many small ones.
    - Make any colours transparent.
    - Wrap brush around a tube or part of tube.
    - Wrap brush onto a sphere.
    - Wrap brush with some special effects.
    - With HAM images allow optimisation through a HAM colour closeness
       setting.

2.      How Do I Use It?

    Brush_4D runs from CLI, and is easy to use.  It takes about 200K as
    well as the screen memory for your picture.

    There are two modes of use:

    a.
 BRUSH_4D -auto brush_name scene_name

    The brush called "brush_name" will be displayed and converted  with
    optimisation and palette colour 0 transparent into a flat Sculpt object
    called "scene_name".

    b.
 BRUSH_4D brush_name scene_name

    You will be prompted for more input.  In this mode you can choose
    wrapping, transparent colours, different brush sizes etc.


3.      How Does It Work?

    Brush_4D loads in the brush as a picture and displays it on a custom
screen.  It then brings the Workbench screen forward for input and output.
    Based on your input (or the default settings if you use the "-auto"
option) any colours you have specified to be transparent (and thus not
converted as part of the object) will be blocked out on the picture.  You
will be told what proportion of the brush was made transparent.
    Brush_4D will then proceed to analyse the picture and convert the
pixels into pairs of sculpt faces making up squares with that pixel's
colour.
    If the optimise option has been selected rectangular areas of the
same colour will be converted into one large block as opposed to many
smaller blocks of the same colour.  Depending on the brush, optimisation of
up to around 90% can be achieved, giving a great saving in memory and
faces.
    When the whole brush has been converted the points will be wrapped
around the selected shape if one has been chosen. The data will be written out,
ready to be loaded into Sculpt Animate/4D/3D etc. as an object.
    Alternatively the scene file can be changed into Turbo Silver or other
formats using conversion programs like InterChange.


4.      Wraps.

    Apart from just converting your brush into a flat, 2D rectangular plane
Brush_4D can wrap your image onto certain 3D shapes.  These are a tube, a
sphere and a variable sinusoidal wave.  For example you can wrap a picture
of a face onto a sphere and get a reasonable 3D head.
    The sphere and sine wave are based on the wrap to tube.  With wrap to
tube you get an upright tube with the X values of the pixels wrapped around
a circle and the Y values making up the height of the tube.
    Spheres are made by adjusting the diameter of the tube at each height
level so that it is squashed in at the top and bottom and stretched out in
the middle.
    Sine waves are made by modifying the diameter of the tube to match a
sine wave with several parameters (see below).

5.      The Inputs.

    If you select the "-auto" option when you enter the command in CLI then
you will get this conversion.

    Flat.
    Optimisation in X and Y.
    Full brush size.
    No allowance for closeness of colours with HAM images.
    Palette colour 0 (the background colour) transparent.

 and the brush will be converted automatically with no further input.

    If you have not selected the "-auto" option you will be prompted for
several values at the beginning of the program.
    When the picture is loaded you will be told its width and height, along
with the number of colours or if it is a HAM picture.

At the prompt "Input wrap type 0=Flat 1=Tube 2=Sphere 3=Sine" enter the
number corresponding to the wrap type.
These are:
            Flat    - The picture will be converted to a flat, 2D object.

            Tube    - The picture will be wrapped around a tube.  You will
                      be prompted for two additional values at this point.
                      "Bend level for tube ..."
                        Enter a number in the range 0 to 1.  This will be
                        the proportion of a circle that is turned through.
                        0 will make a flat object.  1 will wrap completely
                        around a tube.  .5 will wrap to a half tube.
                        See help picture for more enlightenment.
                      "Bend forwards or backwards..."
                        If you are wrapping to part of a tube you should
                        decide whether the picture will be pushed
                        "forwards" or "backwards"
                        See help picture.

            Sphere  - You will be prompted for the values as in the Tube
                        option.  Wrap to sphere works by wrapping to a
                        tube and then altering the diameter of the tube
                        at each point to match a sphere.  By doing this
                        the picture will look a little stretched towards
                        the top and bottom of the sphere.

            Sine    - You need to enter the values for wrap to tube and
                        then you will be asked for start and end angles
                        for the sine wave.  These values are in degrees.
                        Wrapping to sine works by running a wriggle down
                        the side of the points mapped to a tube so you
                        can get effects like the look of the old style
                        Coke drink bottles.  The start and end angles give
                        the range of values through which your wriggle
                        will run as it travels down the side of the tube.
                        You will then be asked for "radius offset".
                        This will control how pronounced the wriggle is.
                        Values range from 0 upwards.  A value of 1 is
                        equal to the amplitude of the sine wave and higher
                        values will increase the diameter of the tube
                        prior to adding the wave thereby  lessening the
                        effect of the sine wave.  A value of zero will
                        give shapes like an hour glass that converge in
                        the middle.
                        See help picture.

    If you have chosen any of the wrap options you will be given the option
to select how the wrapping will be done.  If you select "Ignore
transparent..." as YES then the wrap will start at the top left corner and
proceed to the height and width values you will enter (see below).
If you say NO then the wrap will be based on only non-transparent colours in
the brush.  With this option you can choose a tight wrap or a loose wrap.


    On "Optimise x pixels..." and "Optimise y pixels..." enter 0 or 1
corresponding to your choice.  If you select optimised for both then
rectangles of one colour will be found and converted to one large block.
If you are going to wrap to a tube then it might be best to not optimise x
and optimise y so that you will have a good number of points for the tube
to turn through, but as the y values will be running straight down
optimisation will not affect the look, and save memory.
With wrapping to sine or sphere you should probably turn off optimising for
both so you get smooth curves.

    The brush width and height are now printed along with the number of
colours.  You can enter new width and height values here.
On "Wid" and "Hei" prompts enter a value up to or including the maximum
shown or a value of zero which means the maximum (it saves you a little
typing.)  If your values are not equal to the maximum then a border will be
drawn around the area you have selected so you can see what you have taken.

    You are now prompted for any colours that you would like to make
transparent.  If you have a HAM screen you have only the option of making
palette colour 0 transparent.  This is usually the background colour.
If the picture is a non-HAM picture then you will be asked for a list of
colours you want to be made transparent.  These numbers correspond to the
palette colour in the picture.  Enter "99" to show you have reached the end
of the list.  If you don't want any transparent colours then enter "99" as
your first number.

The picture will then be scanned and pixels that are to be transparent will
be coloured in on non-HAM displays.  On HAM displays the background colour
will be made transparent but not shown on screen.  You will be shown what
proportion of the pixels in the brush were made transparent.

With HAM pictures you will be able to enter a value that allows colours
that are close to each other to be treated as the same colour.  This gives
extra optimisation as you get more large blocks of one colour rather than
say two different blocks of almost the same colour.
At the prompt "Enter HAM Threshhold..." enter a value of 0 to 15.  Each HAM
pixel has a red, green and blue component and this is the level that they
are allowed to vary from the surrounding pixels before they are considered
to be a different colour.
A value of 0 means any difference at all between pixel colours will be
detected.
A value of 5 will allow for example any colours between dull orange and
bright orange to be treated as one colour.
A value of 15 will make the program think that all the colours are the
same.
Higher values result in less detailed colouring of the object but fewer
faces.


6.      While it Runs.

    Once you have entered these values sit back and depending on the size
of the brush around 5 to 20 seconds later the conversion will be done.
    As the picture is processed, in non-HAM screens the points converted
will be blocked out as it goes so you can watch the progress.
    In HAM screens because writing to the screen would change the colours
and mess it up you can get an idea of where it is up to by choosing a new
height value of a couple of pixels less than the maximum and you will see a
line run across the bottom.

    When all the processing is done you will be shown the exact number of
vertices, edges and faces used in the object and the file size. You will
also be told the level of compression of the non-transparent colours if
you had any optimisation on.  When the program finishes it flashes the
screen to alert you.


7.      Tips.

    Don't click the hidden forward/back gadgets on the custom screen as
they leave an outline that will turn up in your object.

    Don't RUN this program unless you are using the "-auto" option as it
needs interactive CLI.
    Use the "-auto" mode in scripts to convert a whole lot over at once.

    Fewer colours will result in higher compression levels but you should
balance the memory saving against the look of the object.

    If you want smaller objects then reduce the brush before conversion or
cut out some colours.

    Name your objects when they are loaded in as when you have transparent
colours the various parts will not be connected so you will want an easy
way of selecting the whole object.

    When wrapping to a sphere you can get quite a bit of distortion at the
top and bottom.  This can be controlled by using the "Ignore Transparent
for Bend" setting on NO.  On your paint program cut your brush, clear the
screen, and stamp the brush in the middle of the screen.  Then cut the
brush with a large border which can be made transparent.  The transparent
colours will not show up as part of your object but will be included in
calculation for how much to bend the tube.
With this you will not get a sphere but more of a sphere with the top and
bottom cut off.  This can be a good effect.
The same works for sine wave but there is not often the same level of
distortion with this.

    Use the HAM threshhold setting around 2 or 3 for good looking results
with increased optimisation.

    If you want more than the 64 colours in EHB and don't like the fringing
associated with HAM colours (which will be faithfully converted over) then
you can go to a little trouble and create your objects in parts.  These can
be quite easy to assemble.
Draw your brush using all available colours.  Use the coordinates and cut
it out and save it.
Change the palette and by using Stencil (in Dpaint) select the background
colour, invert the stencil then return to painting.  Use one colour to
paint over the pixels in the old brush.
Then change the stencil so that colour is protected and the background
colour free.  Draw around the old picture with your new colours and when
you have finished go back to stencil and protect everything but the colour
you used to write over the first pictures pixels.  Now rub over them with
the background colour.
Now cut the new brush with exactly the same size and start point and save.
Convert both into objects and layer one over the other (they should start
that way when you load them in as scenes).

    As well as just converting everyday brushes into objects you can use
Brush_4D as a simple object creator.  One use I find for it is as a
replacement for the checkered floor.  Make your own checkered floor with
something like a pattern fill and then convert it.  You now have control
over the size of your ground and can have more than two colours and don't
have to put it at level 0.  It can also have a texture.

    For stripey tubes make a row of colours with something like the shaded
fill and wrap it to a tube.

    Convert your favourite (colour) fonts over.  Make them 3D by wrapping
them around part of a tube, both forwards and backwards bent and put
together - no longer flat and boring.

    Do nice keyframe animations with pictures fading into one another, sine
saves squirming as you alter the start and end angles etc.  - just make
sure you don't optimise and have no transparents and have exactly the same
size in your start and end brushes.

8.      Errors.

    You will be told throughout if anything goes wrong like not being able
to open the screen (lack of chip memory) etc.
    You might get the "Exceeded maximum vertices" or "Exceeded maximum
faces" message.  If this happens you should send off the cash for the
version without limits.  Alternatively reduce your image (but lose detail).
    If you call the programs but it returns to CLI immediately then you
probably don't have the "mathtrans.library" in your  LIBS: directory.

9.      The Competition.
    Because of my geographical isolation I am quite uninformed.
    I know practically nothing about competing products.  I did read a
review of DigiWorks 3D ($US 130/160) - I see it as a complementary product
as it does only flat conversions (extrusions don't really count) and
doesn't handle colour at all.  It is nice though in finding edges etc. for
you.  With my program you will get jaggies on diagonal edges, with
DigiWorks you would get one diagonal line.


10.      The Address!

I a poor student, and will need to start saving for 'Imagine'.  Future
upgrades depend on your generosity.

Send your money to:
                    Bruce Thomson
                    PO Box 33116
                    Takapuna
                    Auckland
                    NEW ZEALAND

Make that $US cash or cheques drawn on NZ banks or money orders etc.
If you're in a kindly mood send all you've got, copies of any other
shareware/PD ray tracing utilities, comments, suggestions etc.
$NZ acceptable also.  Multiply amounts by 1.8.

11.     Other Important Stuff.

This program is to be distributed with these docs intact and unaltered.  The
help picture is to accompany it.

Distribution of restricted version. (ie this package)

             - This restricted version is freely uploadable to BBS's etc.

             - Fred Fish can include it in his library.

             - Other PD/Shareware libraries can distribute it if they are
               not price gougers, ie they charge no more than 150%
               of Fred Fish's charges.

             - Free User Group disk magazines, etc. may distribute it.

             - Ask me if you want to distribute it packaged in any form
               that is not covered above, that you will be charging any money
               for - e.g. a disk that accompanies a magazine

    The unrestricted version is for your private use only if you decide to
buy it.  It is not to be copied.


12.     Future Versions.

    There may be future versions based on the financial response to this
release.  I am considering fractal landscapes, math contour surfaces etc.
mapped onto flat objects using the brush colours.
    Suggestions from (even non-paying) users are welcome.


______________________________________________________________________________