Virtual Reality Homebrewer's Handbook/vr.iso/vscope/revision.txt

Text File | 1996-03-19 | 6KB | 138 lines

Revision History     V 0.99  ->  V 1.1

Feature Changes

The executable file can now load with as little as 466K free memory instead of  518K.

Layer Control has been changed to allow layers to be turned off interactively. Line colour
is now associated with the face which allows for immediate changes in layer colour.

The 4-VIEW is now interactive in that each window can be independently zoomed. The
principle views now show the camera path and key frame locations if they have been
specified.

You can use WALKTHRU in the 4-View mode to learn how to move through the model.
The lights can be dragged, and the 4 views can be re-sized interactively.

There is a new system variable "THICK" which can be specified on start-up by the user. If
non-zero, this value allows DXF drawing entities which have no thickness (lines, circles,
arcs or zero-width polylines) to be read from DXF files as having a default thickness thus
making them faces which can be used by VeriScope.

You can now store and recall Key frame paths and change or delete individual key frames
from the KEY FRAME option.

Shadow Casting
Light #1 can be made to cast shadows. Switch on the fourth dot column on the Lighting
menu. This is under the *symbol. If the Infinity dot * is not on (meaning the light is a
point light source) then the light will cast a beam towards the viewing target. This beam is
outlined in red on the 4-View screen. If  light #1 is at infinity the shadows will be casted at
all areas of the model. The shadow casting works only with the Phong shading option. Be
aware that shadow casted shading can generate temporary files of up to 6 Megabytes in
high resolution full screen shading.

Floating Horizon
A false horizon can be selected as background for shading and Movies. This is available in
the Background command under the movie menu.

Stereo Shading and movies.
The control for this is in the SHADESTYLE command and is one of the Custom options.

DXF files can be read from the DOS command line.
Enter VSCOPE FILENAME.DXF and Veriscope will read the DXF file if it is in the
current directory.


Script Files
VeriScope can run a script of commands. These files have the .SCR extension and can be
run from the DOS command prompt.
An example script file 'DEMO.SCR is included.
Note: the script file can be used to change the two system variables which have been
purposely made difficult to access. These are THICK and INTOC.
A script file with the commands:
   INTOC
   10
   Quit
would make the INTOC variable 10 and then put you in control normally. The QUIT
command ends the script file control but the
END command ends VeriScope.

HELP facility.
There are 7 help files which pop up when the F1 key is pressed, according to the last menu
pulled.

Smoother Interactive drawing modes.
Double buffering is implemented on all 320x200 modes and in the 3d-WALK modes for
800x600x16. This is in addittion to the previous implementaion in 640x480x16.

The vertigo instability has been eliminated. Now you can rotate
around the vertigo point in a controled manner.

Hot Keys.
When the menu is accessible, the S key will shade, the W key will start WALKTHRU and
the 3 Key will start 3D-WALK. As always, the space bar will abort most time consuming
tasks. (shading, playing or generating movies)

How to make a 256 colour movie

256 colour movies are made in the .FLC file format. This format is used by Autodesk
Animator Pro and is a standard file format for movies.
There is an option in the CUSTOM command under the SET menu. If you set the 'FLC
for all movies' option the movie will be made in the FLC format. If your shading mode is
not a 256 colour mode then VeriScope will produce the movie in the 320x200 resolution.
If you have specified a background for the movie make sure that it is a 256 colour PCX
file.

Veriscope can play FLC or FLI files from the GET MOVIES option.


Saving Movie Paths

In the Key Frames option under the movie menu is an option to save the current path to a
file. This is straightforward. You can edit a key frame by choosing 'Change Key Frame'
option. The Key Frame number is activated by clicking it with the mouse. Type in the
number of the Frame that you want to edit and  click 'OK'. The view will jump to the view
of that frame and then the new Frame is specified by pressing the period key in
WALKTHRU or 3D WALK

Using the 4-view screen

Use the WALKTHRU option while the perspective window is highlighted. The viewing
fulcrum is visible in the other views. Specifying Key frames can be done in this way. Use
the ZOOM AUTO option to re-shade the perspective window after moving lights or
changing lighting options.
The commands which change back to full screen mode are 3D-walk, shade and zoom all

The CUSTOM option

Draw all faces   means that the face edges that are specified as invisible edges are drawn
anyway.

3rd Angle Projections   4_view uses US standard engineering format for projections

Select Contiguous Faces   the TEST command will pick all edgewise contiguous faces
which have the same colour and layer. The colour or layer of these faces can be changed in
the menu that pops down after a face has been picked.

S/F key Zoom on Walk   enables the alternative motion control as described in the manual.

Enable Large DXF Faces   This option is used when reading DXF files which have been
generated in FastCAD or other programs that use Faces of more than 4 sides and translate
these into closed 3d polylines in DXF format. VeriScope will read all closed polylines of
up to 30 segments as a single face. Co-planarity is not tested.

STEREO Shading   All shading and movies are made for viewing with the stereo glasses.
VeriScope uses the White background if your last 3D-Walk also used the white
background. Most people will find the black background preferable

Enforce Layer Colours   This option will override individual face colours with the layer
colour.

FLC. for all Movies   Movies will be generated in FLC 256 colour format.