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Ray3d-Pro supports context sensitive help when this help reader application is loaded. To receive help on a specific option or tool in !Ray3d-Pro, hold down CONTROL and click on the option with the mouse. If there is no help available you will hear a beep. How to register Why should I register? The Public Domain release of Ray3d-Pro has been limited in the number of objects that may be used to create a scene. This number depends on what objects you use, but it is around the 20 mark. Registration will remove this limit, allowing Ray3d-Pro to be used to it's full potential - scenes with over 7000 objects have been created and raytraced (this depends on the amount of memory in your system). Many of the options in the PD release are unavailable because of this restriction, such as scaling spheres, cylinders and cones, creating fractal shapes, complex CSG shapes, etc. All of these functions are fully operational in the full release. There are also some support applications that accompany the full release which allow you to import scenes from other applications in different file formats. Also included is a utility which will take a !Draw file and import it into Ray3d-Pro - thus allowing you to use text in your images. How do I register? To register and receive the full version of Ray3d-Pro, send a cheque (or eurocheque) for 10 UK pounds made payable to "Robert Taylor" to the address below. If you live outside Europe, then contact me at this address and I will discuss other means of payment. Send the cheque to: Robert Taylor Wyvern Software 5 Mayfield Grove Skegness Lincolnshire UNITED KINGDOM PE25 3RY remembering to include a return address! Further versions Registration allows you to receive program updates for free, by sending your registration disk to the above address and enclosing a stamped addressed envelope. IF there is sufficient interest in Ray3d-Pro, I will continue to work on it. Planned updates include image mapping, full script language support, libraries and animation support. Introduction to raytracing Raytracing is the technique used for generating realistic pictures from a 3d scene. Each ray of light is traced from where it ‘hits’ the scene, back to the light source it came from. This process then ensures that the scene generated is close to real life because it follows the same physical laws. Ray3d-Pro does not actually do the raytracing, it simply defines the scene and passes this information to the selected PD raytracer, which then raytraces the scene. Introduction to Ray3d-Pro This document describes !Ray3d-Pro, a cheaper alternative to other commercial raytracing packages, but which still has lots of features. !Ray3d-Pro allows the user to create a scene in 3 dimensions by using a graphical editing system, which can then transformed into the textual data needed to raytrace a scene by Public Domain raytracing packages. Loading and Running To run the application, double click on the !Ray3d-Pro icon in the normal way. The Ray3d-Pro world Scenes generated in the Ray3d-Pro world consist of a number of objects called primitives. These can be of a number of pre-defined shapes such as cone, sphere, box etc. In order for an object to be seen, it must have a surface associated with it. Surfaces specify the colour of the object, whether it is mirror-like, transparent and other such factors. Objects may also have a texture applied to them, which may be of a number of types. There is wood, marble, bumps, checker, gloss and blotch. The user also sets the position of the observer within the scene and the direction that they are looking in. It is possible for the observer to be placed within a transparent object, such as a goldfish bowl, or from any distance. Finally, in order to be able to draw the scene, there must be light, and Ray3d-Pro allows two different forms of lighting. Using the editor The 3d editor has been designed to be as easy to use as possible, although some people may find the system difficult to work with. In this case, it is possible to switch to a single view which is similar to that used by other packages (eg: Euclid). When !Ray3d-Pro has been loaded, clicking on the icon on the icon bar brings up five windows. Three of these windows show views onto the Ray3d-Pro world, while the fourth and fifth are a toolbox and object list. All of the objects within a scene are listed within the object list window. Groups of objects are listed at the top in red, with single objects listed below in black. Clicking on an object with the SELECT mouse button will select the object and deselect everything else, while clicking with ADJUST will cause the object to be added to those already selected. It is possible to move into a group by clicking on the arrow on the right hand side of the group name. In this manner you can create and use groups within groups within groups, etc. All of the most used operations can be found on the tools window. Bugs, Features and Cautions Unforeseen errors are sometimes reported as “Internal error” and a message. If you get one of these, let me know what happened with as much information as possible, namely: Machine type, OS version and memory available Version of !Ray3d-Pro What was being done at the time Error message or other symptoms Is the problem repeatable? Is the problem confined to just one scene? Tri-view Tri-view is the name given to the form of 3d representation that !Ray3d-Pro uses in order to make 3d editing possible. !Ray3d-Pro opens three windows, each of which looks at the world from a different direction. By using all three of these windows it is possible to represent the 3 dimensional world. If you imagine a cube, then the plan view is what you see if looking from above straight downwards. The front and side views represent what you would see if looking from the front and side respectively. When you are designing your scene, I suggest you First click in the Front or Side view windows to set the height of the object. Then click in the plan window to decide where the object will be placed. Installation The !Ray3d-Pro package consists of the following directories: * !Ray3d-Pro * !Help+ * !Shade4 * !RayShade * Rayfiles (a directory of example files) Hard Disc It is a simple matter to install !Ray3d-Pro onto a hard disc. Simply copy all of the supplied applications into the required directory on your hard disc in the normal RISC OS way. Floppy Disc To set !Ray3d-Pro up on a floppy based system I recommend that you split these directories over two discs. The first disc, which you should use to design your scenes and save them to will need the following directories: * !Help * !Ray3d-Pro * RayFiles Note that !Help is included on this disc, as you might need to refer to it while creating a scene. The second disc should be used when you wish to raytrace a scene, and should contain: * !RayShade * !Shade4 Using Ray3d-Pro The object list All of the objects within a scene are listed within the object list window. Groups of objects are listed at the top in red, with single objects listed below in black. Clicking on an object with the SELECT mouse button will select the object and deselect everything else, while clicking with ADJUST will cause the object to be added to those already selected. Once objects and groups have been selected, many operations can be done with them such as grouping, hiding, rotating, scaling, etc. It is possible to move into a group by clicking on the arrow on the right hand side of the group name. In this manner you can create and use groups within groups within groups, etc. Leaving a group Clicking on the parent icon situated below the list returns you to the group above the one you are in now. Select All Clicking on the select all icon, or choosing the ‘Select all’ option from the ‘select’ sub-menu on the main program menu will cause all the objects in the currently displayed group to become selected (that is the objects currently displayed in the object list). Clear selection Clicking on the clear selection icon in the toolbox, or choosing the ‘Clear’ option from the select sub-menu will deselect any objects which are currently selected. Grouping It is often desirable to group several objects together so that they may be moved, scaled, rotated, etc. as if they were one object. Another benefit of grouping objects together is that it reduces the number of objects in the main object list, and thus locating an object is easier. A side effect of grouping objects that are close together is that it can speed up the rendering time for a scene. Bearing this in mind it is a good idea to group items together with a little thought. Grouping objects together To group the selected objects together, first enter a new unique name in the writable icon at the bottom of the Toolbox. Now click on the group icon, or select group from the select sub- menu which can be found on the main program menu. Removing objects from a group To remove the selected objects from a group simply click on the ungroup icon in the toolbox, or select ungroup from the select sub-menu in the main program menu. The objects will not be deleted, but will instead be placed in the parent group to the one they were in before. Any groups which become empty after this operation are deleted. Moving objects between groups To move objects from within one group to within another, select the objects you wish to move, and then enter the group that you wish to move them into. Now click on the move icon. Rename It is possible in !Ray3d-Pro to rename any selected objects after you have already created them. This also applies when you select multiple objects, because each will be renamed to the new name specified, with an additional number at the end. To rename objects once they have been created, type in the new name into the writable icon at the foot of the toolbox, and then click on the rename icon. Copying objects To copy objects, lights or groups simply select them and then click on the copy icon. Copied items will appear in the same group as the original object, group or whatever. Hiding. Sometimes, when creating a large scene it becomes impossible to see exactly where points are being positioned due to other objects getting in the way. !Ray3d-Pro allows you to ‘hide’ objects so that they are not shown in the view windows. They will however be present if the scene is raytraced. To hide objects, simply select them on the Object list and then choose the hide option off the select sub-menu on the main program menu, or click on the hide/show icon in the toolbox. So that you can tell that an object has been hidden, the name of it will appear in blue on the object list. Showing hidden objects To re-display hidden objects in the view windows, select the desired objects on the object list and then choose the show option from the select sub-menu on the main program menu, or click on the show icon. The Basics What needs to be done to create a scene. To create a scene, you must first define the objects that will be raytraced. Each of these objects must then be given a surface which determines the colour, reflectivity, etc. of the objects, and optionally a texture to apply such as marble. The observer must be placed at a point in the scene, as well as another target point which is what the observer will look at. Finally, light must be present to raytrace a scene, so up to ten light sources may be defined. Saving To save your scene, you do it in the normal RISC OS manner, using the save option which is located in the Project sub-menu on the main program menu. If your scene has already been saved, you may save again using the same name by clicking on the save icon in the toolbox. Moving around the !Ray3d-Pro world To view a different part of the scene simply use the scroll bars on the view windows. To locate a point in three dimensions it is necessary to click the mouse in two of the three view windows. This is because in 3d a point has three coordinates (x,y,z) and clicking in one window only sets two of the coordinates. Clicking in the second window will set the third coordinate. Selecting points When this icon is selected, clicking in the view windows will set the position of the cursor which is shown as a blue cross. If you experiment moving the cursor around you will get the hang of the tri-view system. Zooming These two icons located in the toolbox zoom in or out of the scene. Clicking on one will cause the scene to be redrawn at a different zoom factor. After zooming the window, the scene is always positioned so that the cursor appears in the centre of the window. So to zoom in on a specific point, position the cursor on the point of interest and click on the zoom in icon. It is also possible to set the zoom by selecting the desired zoom factor from the zoom sub-menu on the main program menu. Note: The minimum zoom is 100% and the maximum zoom is 800% Tutorial This tutorial takes you through the steps of creating a scene ready for raytracing. The scene can then be loaded into !RayShade which will produce the finished raytraced picture. If you are a complete beginner to raytracing I suggest you read the introductions The scene we are going to raytrace is not going to be anything spectacular - just a sphere suspended in mid air. This should however get you used to using !Ray3d-Pro and lead you on to experimenting. Loading !Ray3d-Pro To load !Ray3d-Pro, simply double click on it's icon in the directory viewer, and it will install on the icon bar. The views Clicking on the !Ray3d-Pro icon on the icon bar will bring up three view windows and the toolbox. The view windows show a wireframe view onto the scene you are designing from three different positions. This gives you a plan, side and front view of your scene. All of the objects in the current scene are listed in another window, and any object may be selected by clicking on it's name. Clicking with SELECT will select the object you clicked on and nothing else, while clicking with ADJUST will select the object in addition to any others already selected. Another window will have opened which contains a number of tool icons. These may seem confusing at first, but you will soon learn what they mean. The currently selected tool is shown with a shaded background. It should be the select icon at the moment. Creating a sphere Clicking anywhere within the view windows will position the cursor which is used to determine where the centre of the sphere will be. By clicking in the windows, move the cursor to any position you wish, and then click on the sphere icon in the toolbox. The sphere tool should now be shaded to indicate that it is the tool currently being used, and clicking in the view windows will alter the size of the sphere. When the size of the sphere is satisfactory, click on the ADJUST button while the mouse pointer is over a !Ray3d-Pro window or click on the set icon in the toolbox. The sphere will then become part of the current scene, and it's name appear will be added to the list of objects. If at any time you wish to abandon creating a sphere, click on the select icon. Setting up a target and observer To set up the target (what the observer will look at), click on the target icon in the toolbox . Now click anywhere in the view windows and a red cross will appear to indicate the position of the target. By clicking in the centre of the sphere in two windows, position the target at the centre of the sphere. To set the position of the observer (where to look from), click on the observer icon in the toolbox. Now clicking anywhere in the view windows will set the observer's position (a red circle). When both the target and observer are set correctly, choose the select tool from the toolbox so that clicking will move the cursor. Colouring the spheres In the toolbox, there is an icon that resembles a paint pot. Click on this and a new window should appear. (alternatively choose 'World ⇨ Link' from the menu.) Within this window is two lists - one shows all the surfaces defined, while the other shows all the objects within a scene. Also, on the right of the window can be seen the current object, it's associated surfaces and texture information. Choose the sphere you have created (by clicking on it's name in the list) and then choose a surface to apply to it (by clicking on a surface in the list). The chosen surface should become highlighted. If you wish to change the surface of an object again - click on the current surface to deselect it, and then click on the desired new surface. When you have finished close the window. Saving the scene To save the current scene to disc, select the save option in the normal way from the 'Project' sub-menu of the main menu. Raytracing Load the !Shade4 application, and drag the file that you have just saved from the directory viewer onto the Shade4 icon on the icon bar. You will be prompted to save a text file, which you can now raytrace using the Public Domain raytracer !Rayshade. (you will probably have been supplied with this). Customizing !Ray3d-Pro There are two ways of customizing !Ray3d-Pro to suit your particular needs and styles. Firstly, certain settings in !Ray3d-Pro may be saved so that they become the default, by choosing from the icon bar menu. Secondly, !Ray3d-Pro loads default 3d file when it is first run. This file may contain anything that makes up a scene, including objects, lights, surfaces, etc. Saving the default file To save the default file, create all the objects, lights etc. which you require to be loaded when !Ray3d-Pro is first run. Now choose the ‘save default’ option from the ‘project’ sub-menu on the main program menu. Whenever !Ray3d-Pro is run, it will start up with the scene you just saved already loaded. Loading in the default file The default file is loaded when !Ray3d-Pro is first run, but it is possible to re-load it later. To do this select the ‘load default’ option from the ‘project’ sub-menu on the main program menu. Help on menu entries The following pages follow the same layout as the menus. By moving through these options as if they were a menu, you will get help on each menu option. The Icon Bar Menu Info This option leads to a sub-menu displaying information about !Ray3d-Pro such as the version you have. Quit Selecting this menu option quits !Ray3d-Pro. If you have an unsaved scene, !Ray3d-Pro will prompt you to either save or discard it. The Main Program Menu Project About... Selecting this option will open up a window with information about the current scene. The information shown includes: * How many objects have been created * How many groups have been created * How many surfaces have been defined * How many lights are in the scene * How many objects are currently selected * The name of the group currently displayed in the object list. Select Group World The Grid The grid options are located on the ‘Grid’ sub-menu which is accessible from the main program menu. !Ray3d-Pro can superimpose a rectangular grid on the scene. This is often useful for lining up objects and for checking their size. The grid is shown as horizontal and vertical lines which intersect at ‘grid points’. You can use the grid either just as a general guide for creating objects or you can lock points to it, so that they always align with points in the grid. When you are creating objects with snap to grid on, you will see them attach to the nearest grid point to the mouse position. Show Grid Selecting this option toggles whether the grid should be displayed. Snap To grid This switches snap to grid on or off. The grid does not need to be visible for this option to function. Variable grid This option is the same as auto-resize grid on the window. When on, this option ensures that the grid size remains constant while you are zooming in and out of an image. If this option is off, then zooming into an image will cause the grid size to increase, and vice versa for zooming out. Grid Options This sub-menu leads to a window which allows you to set the colour and spacing on the grid. To change the grid colour, simply select a new colour from this window. To change the grid size, alter the number in the writable icon. Clicking on OK sets the new colour and grid size. Zoom This option leads to a sub-menu where you may select a zoom factor ranging from 100% to 800%. The current zoom factor is indicated by a tick. After zooming, the scene is always positioned so that the cursor appears in the centre of the window. Tools... Selecting this option brings up the Toolbox window. Co-ords... Selecting this option opens the Coordinates window which shows the coordinates of the mouse pointer as it is moved over the view windows. The co-ordinates are in internal world units and can be used to correspond to cms, inches, metres or whatever is necessary. The textures menu Options When "Options..." is selected from the icon bar menu, a window is opened which allows you to customise many of Ray3d-Pro's features. There are three buttons at the foot of the window: Save - will save your settings to disk Cancel - will close the window without making any changes OK - will close the window, and make the changes you have made. When you click on Save, Ray3d-Pro also saves the position of the view windows, toolbox, object list and coordinates window so that they appear in the same locations when you restart the program. Also included is the grid size, and colour. Toolbox Size: By using this option, you may choose the shape of the toolbox window. Toolbox icons It is possible to remove icons from the toolbox by clicking on them in this section of the Options window. Tools which will not appear on the toolbox are shown in grey, while those that will appear are in colour. To add icons back onto the toolbox, simply click on them again. You can use this option to reduce the size of the toolbox window, or remove icons that you never use. Colours You might not like the colour system I have designed, and so you can change it. To change a colour click on the colour bar with the mouse pointer. Clicking withe SELECT or ADJUST cycles through the available colours. View Type Some people prefer the tri-view method of display (like me), but other people like to work with only one window on the screen in a similar manner to Euclid. Selecting single view will replace the tri-view system with a single view onto the Ray3d-Pro world. Along the bottom of this single view is three icons. Clicking on them changes the view between front side and plan views. Auto-save This option causes Ray3d-Pro to automatically save your work after a specified amount of time ranging from 1 to 99 minutes. When the time comes for an auto-save you will be prompted on the screen to confirm that you want to save the file. Preview The three dimensional wireframe preview has a couple of options associated with it to provide more control over a scene. The first is draw the outline of each object in the nearest colour available in the current mode to the colour the object will appear when raytraced. When this option is off, all objects are shown in white. The second option is to preview only the objects that are selected. This is useful to check that a single part of the scene is turning out as you expected, and it also speeds up the preview. Auto open Co-ords If this option is selected, Ray3d-Pro will open the coordinates window when Ray3d-Pro is loaded, or the icon on the icon bar is clicked on, or a new file is loaded. Auto-resize Grid When selected, this option ensures that the grid size remains constant while you are zooming in and out of an image. If this option is off, then zooming into an image will cause the grid size to increase, and vice versa for zooming out. Copy: offset objects If this option is off when an object is copied, then the new object will be created in exactly the same position of the old object. If this option is on, then the copied object will appear one grid square away from the original object. Interactive help Please note that interactive help does not mean that this program supports the Acorn !Help application, but rather the application you are using right now to read this. Ray3d-Pro supports context sensitive help when this help reader application is loaded. To receive help on a specific option or tool in !Ray3d-Pro, hold down CONTROL and click on the option with the mouse. If there is no help available you will hear a beep. Thus if you clicked on the move icon with CONTROL held down, then the help section on moving objects would be displayed. Synchronised windows While this option is on, moving the scroll bar in one of the view windows causes the other view windows to move thus providing a view onto the same part of the scene. When this option is off, you may move each window's scrollbars indepandantly. Auto-scroll windows When this option is on, pressing a mouse button near the edge of a view window will cause it to scroll in that direction in relation to how near the edge you are. This is not recommended for slow machines (such as my humble A3000). Select distance. It is possible to select objects in the world without clicking on their names in the object list, but by clicking on them in the view window while holding down SHIFT. When you do this, all objects within the "select distance" of your click and the cursor will be selected. Creating Objects !Ray3d-Pro allows you to create many different types of objects, which can then have surfaces and textures applied to them to create a realistic scene. To create a shape, you must first enter the name you wish to give your shape into the icon at the foot of the toolbox. If you do not do this, !Ray3d-Pro will choose an appropriate name for you. Clicking on the select icon at any time while creating a shape will cancel the operation. Creating Spheres Firstly, position the cursor (the blue cross) where the centre of the sphere should be located, and click on the sphere icon in the toolbox. Clicking in the view windows now will allow you to select the radius for your sphere, and when this is satisfactory, click on the ADJUST mouse button or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Cones Position the cursor at the centre of one end of the cone, and then click on the ‘cone’ icon. Now using the view windows, click where the centre of the far end of the cone should be. Use the ADJUST button to set this point or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Clicking in the view windows will now indicate how wide the first end of the cone should be, and when this is correct click on ADJUST or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Do the same thing to set the size of the other end of the cone, clicking on ADJUST or the set icon when this is done. Cylinders Position the cursor at the centre of one end of the cylinder, and then click on the ‘cylinder’ icon. Now using the view windows, click where the centre of the far end of the cylinder should be. Use the ADJUST button to set this point or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Clicking in the view windows will now indicate how wide the cylinder should be, and when this is correct click on ADJUST or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Boxes Position the cursor at the centre of where the box should be located, and then click on the ‘Box’ icon. Clicking in the view windows will now set the size of the box, and when this is correct click on the ADJUST button or click on the set icon in the toolbox NOTE: To make boxes which are tilted, or stand on one end, etc. You should create a box, and then rotate it. Rounded boxes !Ray3d-Pro allows you to define boxes which have slightly rounded edges, so that it is possible to do such things as cushions. To create a rounded box, perform the same operation as for , but click on the ‘Rounded box’ icon instead. NOTE: Rounded boxes appear on the view windows as normal boxes, the only difference appears when the scene is raytraced. Pyramids To create a pyramid, first position the cursor where a corner of the base is to be located, and then click on the ‘Pyramid’ icon. Now, clicking in the view windows will allow you to set the opposite corner of the pyramid base. Click on ADJUST when this is correctly positioned or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Clicking in the view windows again will set the point of the pyramid. Click on ADJUST when this is done or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Rectangles Position the cursor at one corner of the rectangle, and then click on the ‘Rectangle’ icon. Clicking anywhere in the view windows will position the opposite corner of the rectangle, and when this is done click on ADJUST or click on the set icon in the toolbox. As rectangles are 2 dimensional objects, they may only be defined in one of the view windows at a time. Planes Planes are a special sort of rectangle which is infinitely large. That is, that it will go on forever. This is useful for creating such things as walls, floors and ceilings. To create a plane, do it in the same manner as for , only click on the ‘Plane’ icon instead. Planes can be easily distinguished on the view windows as they are drawn with a dotted line. Triangles To create a triangle, position the cursor at one point on the triangle, and then click on the ‘Triangle’ icon. Clicking in the view windows will position the second point in the triangle, and pressing the ADJUST button will set this point. Clicking again in the view window will position the third point in the triangle. Click on ADJUST when this is correct. Discs Discs are 2 dimensional objects, and as such can only be defined in one view window at a time. Firstly, position the cursor where the centre of the disc is to be, and click on the ‘Disc’ icon. Clicking in a view window will now select the radius of the disc, and clicking on ADJUST will create the object. Polygons A polygon is a 2 dimensional shape that may have any number of sides. To create a polygon follow these steps: 1: Position the cursor at one point of the shape. 2: Click on the ‘polygon’ icon 3: Click in the view windows to position the next point 4: Click on the ADJUST button to set this point when it is correctly positioned or click on the set icon. 5: Repeat steps (3) and (4) until all the points on the polygon have been defined. 6: Click ADJUST twice to create the object. Creating Lights. First, position the cursor at the point where the light source is to be, and click on the ‘light’ icon. When you do, a short menu will appear with the listed on it. Select the type of light you want to create. Clicking anywhere in the view windows will allow you to set the size of the light. The larger the light is, the more light is cast upon the scene.When the light is of the required size, click the ADJUST button to create it or click on the set icon in the toolbox. Beware: Lights that are too large will make everything in the scene appear white and over-exposed. To change the colour of a light, simply link a surface to the light and the light will cast the same colour light as the surface colour. Light types Currently there are two types of light sources, although more will be added in the future.. Point light sources Point light sources are the default light type used by !Ray3d-Pro. They cast very sharp shadows, which can give the scene a distinctly computer drawn look. The advantage of them is that they are the quickest form of lights to raytrace. Extended light sources. Extended light sources cast a ‘soft’ shadow on the world. This means that shadows fade from dark to light, giving a more realistic effect. NOTE: Using extended light sources will dramatically increase the time taken to raytrace the scene. Linking objects, surfaces and textures. Up to now, we have created the objects which are to be included in the scene, and we have created some surfaces, which define the colours and materials such as glass, metal, etc. What we haven’t done however, is to tell !Ray3d-Pro which objects should be made up from which surfaces, and everything in the scene starts off with a default colour of white. To associate surfaces and textures with the objects in the scene, select the ‘Link’ option from the ‘World’ sub-menu which can be found on the main program menu, or alternatively click on the paint pot icon in the toolbox. The link window On the left hand side of the link window are two lists, of which the top one displays the objects in the scene, and the bottom one displays the surfaces available. On the left hand side of the window are icons which allow you to specify which will be applied to an object. Clicking on an object in the top list will choose it for linking with a surface and . Whole groups can be selected by clicking on their names next to them, but you may enter a group by clicking on the arrow next to it's name if you want to individually link surfaces to each part of the group. On the top of the right hand side, there are four icons: Object: Shows the currently selected object Surface 1: Shows the main surface associated with the selected object. Surface 2: Shows the secondary surface associated with the selected object. Texture: Shows the texture that will be applied to the object. To set the surfaces click on the desired surface names. The first name clicked on will become the main surface, and the second surface will become the secondary surface. Clicking again on a surface de- selects it. The secondary surface associated with an object will specify what other colours and attributes are used for textures that require two surfaces. The texture for an object can be changed by clicking on the menu icon next to the texture name. This will bring up a small menu with the available texture types on it. See the relevant section for more about textures. The surface editor. The editor is brought up by clicking on the ‘surfaces’ icon in the toolbox, or by choosing the ‘Surfaces’ option from the ‘World’ sub-menu on the main program menu. Under the list of defined surfaces is a writable icon which contains the name of the surface being edited / defined which will need to be altered if you are defining a new surface. Editing a surface First choose the surface for editing, or create a new one, and then to alter the colour of the object use the red, green and blue slider bars. The nearest colour available in the mode you are in will be used to show the surface colour. The other characteristics which may be altered by clicking on the appropriate up / down arrows are: If the "no shadow" option is on, then when the scene is raytraced no shadows will be cast onto any objects with this surface. Editing a different surface To edit a different surface, click on it's name in the surface list at the top of the window. Note: Any changes made to the current surface will not be saved unless you click on "Set" first. Creating a new surface To create a new surface, choose the surface it will be most like and alter the surface name and any other characteristics required. Now click on the ‘Define’ icon Deleting a surface Choose the surface to be deleted and click on the ‘delete’ icon. Reflectivity This option determines how reflective a surface is. 100% = a perfect mirror which reflects everything. 50% = some reflections can be seen in the object eg: a snooker ball 0% = a matt surface, which reflects nothing. NOTE: It is possible to create coloured mirrors, by altering the colour of the surface. To create a perfect mirror, each red, green and blue component of the surface should be set to an equal amount such as 2% Transparency This option determines how Transparent a surface is. 100% = Light will pass completely through the object 50% = The object appears coloured, and other objects can be seen dimly through it. 0% = Nothing can be seen through the object NOTE: It is possible to make coloured transparent objects by altering the colour of the surface. Translucency Translucency is similar to transparency but has a slightly different effect. It describes how ‘murky’ or ‘cloudy’ an object appears 100% = Very cloudy 50% = The object appears slightly cloudy. Eg: If the object was also a transparent sphere, it would resemble a crystal ball. 0% = No effect at all NOTE: It is possible to make coloured transparent objects by altering the colour of the surface. Speed of light. When light passes through a transparent object, it can be ‘bent’, which is due to the speed of light altering slightly. For example: If you stick your finger into some water, it appears to bend where your finger enters the water. !Ray3d-Pro allows you to alter the amount by which the light bends, so that you may create surfaces such as water, glass, crystal, etc. 100% = the light does not bend at all. 58% = the light bends as much as it does for GLASS. 50% = the light bends as much as it does for WATER. 40% the light bends as much as it does for DIAMOND. Specularity This value controls how large the highlights on an object will appear when a light shines on them. Eg: The spot of light on a sphere. Larger values of specularity result in smaller highlights, but you should find the pre-set value of 25% suitable for most things. Setting the observer and target point In order for a scene to be raytraced, you must have first positioned the observer, and the point at which the observer is looking at. The toolbox provides two icons which allow you to set these points: The observer When this icon is selected, clicking anywhere in the view windows will set the position of the observer which is indicated by a small red circle. The target point When this icon is selected, clicking anywhere in the view windows will set the position of the point that the observer is looking at, which is indicated by a small red cross. Using the 3d view When you bring up the 3d view of the scene using the 3d icon in the toolbox, there is a pane attatched to the window which allows you to alter the observer's location interactively. Clicking on the zoom icons, or the arrows in the pane will move the observer point. Clicking with ADJUST moves the observer point in larger increments. Special functions _______________________________________________________ Printing The Print option can be found on the ‘Project’ sub-menu, on the main program menu. Moving over the ‘print’ option opens a window which shows you the current printer driver, and which view will be printed.. Choose which view you wish to print by clicking on the radio icons, and then click on OK to start printing. NOTE: To print, you must have a RISC OS printer driver loaded. The Background. The basis of raytracing is that every ray of light that the observer can see is traced back through the scene, hitting, passing through or reflecting off each object. If the ray of light does not hit any objects then it is given the background colour. eg: A scene consisting of only a sphere will have many rays that do not hit the sphere, and so are coloured black (the default background colour). !Ray3d-Pro allows you to alter the background colour to any other colour that you wish. To do this choose the ‘Background’ option from the ‘World’ sub-menu on the main program menu. This will open a window with three slider bars which can be dragged to set the required colour. Advanced users When using this option you may notice that the background colour is constant throughout the scene, which is not always desirable. To make the sky fade from light to dark blue in the distance, the background colour should be left as black, and a created where the sky / ceiling should be, which you give a blue colour. Editing functions Scaling objects. To scale the selected objects, bring up the scaling window by clicking on the scale icon, or by selecting it from the "Select" menu. In the window, you will see three writeable icons, one for each of the directions you can scale an object in. So that you can remember which direction X, Y or Z is, you will find that in the title bar of each view window it tells you. To scale an object simply type in the values and click on OK. NOTE: objects will be scaled from the cursor, as in the diagram below. Scaling objects by different amounts in each direction Some objects (sphere, cone and cylinder) cannot be scaled by different amounts in each direction without them being split up into polygons. The side effect of this is that the object will loose it's curved surface, and will appear made up of small sections. This can be limited by increasing the Resolution value (the higher it is, the smoother the shape), but this also increases the number of objects in the scene. It is possible to stop curved shapes from getting changed into polygons by turning off the "Convert to polygons" option. If you do this, then the objects are scaled by the same amount in all directions. Moving Objects To move the currently selected objects, first move the cursor onto the point you wish to move from. Now click on the move icon, and click in the view windows to indicate where you wish to move the point to. While you are doing this you will see a line being drawn from the first point to this new point. When you have chosen where to move the point to, press ADJUST or click on the set icon in the toolbox to move the objects. NOTE: clicking on the select icon at any time, will cancel the move operation. Rotate There are two methods of rotating the selected objects. The first is to use the rotate icon on the toolbox, while the second in to use the menu option ‘Rotate’ on the ‘select’ sub-menu which can be found on the main program menu. The rotate icon To use the rotate icon, select the objects that you wish to rotate, and then place the cursor (the blue cross) at the point you wish to rotate around. Now follow these steps. 1 - Click on the rotate icon 2 - Click on one of the points in the objects you wish to rotate Press the ADJUST button to set this point 3 - Click where you want the point in (2) to end up. Press ADJUST to set it. While you are setting the points in (2) and (3), you will see a line being drawn from the centre of rotation to the point. Using the menu to rotate Using the menu is more tricky, but allows you to accurately set the amount of rotation. Before using the menu, you must select the objects you wish to rotate and place the cursor at the point you want to rotate around. Moving over the ‘Rotate’ option will open a window where three angles may be entered for rotation in any of the view windows. These angles can be entered by typing them into the icons, or altered by clicking on the arrows. Deleting Objects and groups To delete the selected objects and groups, click on the delete icon or choose the ‘delete’ option from the ‘select’ sub-menu on the main program menu. As it is very easy to click on the icon by accident, the mouse pointer will change shape. Clicking on the left mouse button or pressing ‘Y’ on the keyboard will perform the delete operation, while anything else will abort the operation. If you wish to delete all of the objects within a scene then use the option Clearing a scene of objects or surfaces The clear option is located on the "Project" sub-menu from the main program menu. It provides a sub-menu which has three options on it which operate in the following manner: Surfaces - Clears all the defined surfaces Objects - Deletes all the objects and groups in a scene All - Does both of the above NB: There is no "are you sure?" message to these options, so be careful. Fractals Sometimes, it is desirable to create objects which are not uniform, like when we are trying to imitate nature. (mountains, rocks, etc.) !Ray3d-Pro allows you to take a triangle, and randomly break it up into number of smaller triangles each of which ‘sticks out’ from the original. (this option only works on Triangles.) To fractalise a triangle, select it in the normal manner, and then move over the ‘Fractal’ option from the ‘Select’ sub-menu on the main program menu. On the window that appears, you may set the number of triangles that !Ray3d-Pro will split each selected triangle into, and the roughness of he resulting shape. The roughness value may range from 0 to 9. Mirror To mirror the selected objects about an axis, first select the objects that you wish to mirror. Next move the mouse over the mirror option on the "select" sub-menu from the main program menu. This brings up a window listing all the possible ways that objects can be mirrored. Simply select the direction to mirror, and click on the OK icon. The Toolbox 3d Preview Choosing this option by clicking on the icon in the toolbox will present you with a wireframe perspective view of what the scene will look like when it is raytraced. The window allows you to alter the way in which the preview works. using one of the options it is possible to get !Ray3d-Pro to only preview selected objects, while another causes the outline of each objects to be drawn in the colour it will appear when raytraced. Note: The colour chosen is the nearest one in the current mode. I advise changing into a 256 colour mode (or higher if you're lucky enough to have a Risc PC). The 3d view saves a great deal of time because it is no longer necessary to spend hours raytracing a scene, only to find you haven’t selected a very good view, or an item of interest is obscured by another object. The 3d preview does not show CSG shapes as they will appear in the raytrace. It will just display the objects that make up the CSG shape. Converting curved shapes to polygons Sometimes you may wish to break curved shape such as a cone down into polygons so that you can get a faceted appearance. For instance you may be creating a glass which appears faceted instead of smooth. The following shapes can be broken down into polygons: * Spheres * Cones * Cylinders To break a selected object down into polygons, click on the scale icon in the toolbox, and enter a scale value of 100% for all three directions. Ensure that the "convert to polygons" option is on and click on OK. Set point This icon can be used as an alternative to clicking ADJUST while creating objects. When this icon is clicked on, it sets fixes the current point for operations such as creating objects, moving and rotating. Notes for !Ray3d v1.xx users For those of you that have been using versions of !Ray3d which have been supplied by Archimedes World on their cover discs (versions 1.xx) there is a supplied tool called !v1->v2 which will convert your scene files to !Ray3d-Pro files. For more information on this tool, see the relevant help file. Using Textures To apply a texture to an object, first bring up the window by clicking on the link icon, or selecting "link..." from the "World" sub-menu on the main program menu. Now select the object (or group of objects) that you wish to apply the texture to by clicking on it. On the right hand side of the screen in the "texture" box you will see what the current texture is. To change the texture, click on the menu icon to the right of the texture option and a short menu will be displayed showing all the available textures. Simply select a texture from this menu. Some textures have a type field which can be anything from 1 to 4. This allows you to select different types of that texture, eg: four different woods, four marbles, etc. All of the textures can be scaled by altering the "scale" field. Thus you could choose a small wood grain, or a huge one. None When this icon is selected, no texture will be applied to the object, which will appear the colour specified by the main surface associated with it. This is the default. Wood Selecting this icon will cause a wood like texture to be applied to the object. The colour of the texture is set by the colour of the main surface associated with the object. Marble Selecting this icon will cause a marble like texture to be applied to the object. The colour of the marble is set by the colour of the main surface associated with the object. Checkered This texture will cause the object to become checkered, with the two surfaces associated with the object controlling the appearance of each square. The size of each square may be set by altering the scale. Blotch This texture will give a blotchy effect where the two surfaces appear to fade between each other randomly. The mix % controls how much the main Surface dominates the secondary surface. For example, a value of 50% means a 50/50 mix, anything less means that there is more of the main surface. Bump Map This applies a random bump map to the object selected. The value it takes controls how large the bumps should be. Gloss This texture makes a mirrored object glossy. A value of 0% gives perfect mirror like reflections, while 100% gives fuzzy reflections. fbm fbm stands for fractional brownian motion and causes the object to become lighter and darker in a similar way to the blotch function but without creating a second surface. The extra value controls how much darker or lighter the blotches appear. Simple Script Language For all of you out there who would like to be able to write BASIC or C programs which generate shapes (such as fractal trees) which could be loaded into Ray3d-Pro there is a simple script language. At the moment, only three object types are supported, but if there is enough interest I will implement more. Scripts are simply text files which the user drops onto a Ray3d-Pro window to merge the contents of the script with the current scene. The script files have there own specific language, which has it's own rules, listed below. The language The script file MUST have the word '!Ray3d-Pro' on the first line or Ray3d-Pro will not recognise it as a script file. Any line beginning with a # are considered comments and are ignored. The file has two distinct sections, a DELARE section and a CODE section, and the script is terminated by an ENDCODE statement, so a script file looks like this... # !Ray3d-Pro DECLARE ... CODE ... ENDCODE The DECLARE section Within the DECLARE section there must be two commands, min and max which are followed by a colon (:) and a value. These values represent the maximum and minimum size of the objects you are describing and therefore no objects should reference points outside this range. min : <n> max : <n> So now a script file looks like... (for example) # !Ray3d-Pro DECLARE min : -1000 max : 5000 CODE ... ENDCODE The CODE section This is where you define the objects that you want to create. You may specify a name for the object if you wish ( in quotes) but it is not compulsory. The commands for creating objects are: sphere "name" ( x y z radius ) triangle "name" ( x1 y1 z1 x2 y2 z2 x3 y3 z3 ) polygon "name" ( n x1 y1 z1 .. .. .. xn yn zn ) NB: you do not need to specify the "name" if you don't want to. Note: the values placed between the brackets may be split over new lines to make the code more readable. This is OK so long as each value is separated by a space or a new line. You may also create groups by the use of a GROUP command which takes the form: GROUP "name" ENDGROUP Any objects (or other groups) that are defined between the GROUP and ENDGROUP statement are created within the group. In this manner you can nest groups, placing objects in each group as required. So now an example script looks like... # !Ray3d-Pro DECLARE min : -1000 max : 5000 CODE GROUP "shapes" triangle "tri_1" ( 100 100 0 200 100 0 150 2000 0 ) triangle "tri_2" ( 100 100 0 200 100 0 150 0 0 ) ENDGROUP ENDCODE Importers and tools There are a number of applications provided with !Ray3d-Pro (some of which are not present in the demo version) which provide extra features. Importing 3d files from other sources For importing 3 dimensional scenes from other sources, there are the following applications: !Imp_3ds - This will take a text file created using 3D Studio on the PC, and load it into !Ray3d-Pro. Such files are comprised of a number of lines, each of which has 9 numbers on them. !Imp_tpoly - This will take files in the 'tpoly' format, and load them into !Ray3d-Pro. These files describe models in polygons. These tools are only available to registered users. Importing text and !Draw files Another tool exists which allows you to draw a shape using !Draw, and import it into Ray3d-Pro as a three dimensional shape. This tools can also handle text if it has been converted to a path from within !Draw. This application is only available to registered users. Importing 3d scenes files from !Ray3d v1.xx For those of you that have been using versions of !Ray3d which have been supplied by Archimedes World on their cover discs (versions 1.xx) there is a supplied tool called !v1->v2 which will convert your scene files to !Ray3d-Pro files. Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) Constructive solid geometry allows use to take simple shapes such as cones, cylinders, boxes, etc. and combine them in such a way as to make much more complex shapes. There are three ways in which shapes can be combined, all described below. For information about how to create a CSG shape, click . Difference This is by far the most useful of the three CSG type. It allows you to remove (ie: drill) one shape from another. So if we had a cuboid as in the diagram below, and subtracted a cylinder we would get a box with a hole in the middle (as shown below). Union This CSG operation merges two shapes together as in the diagram below. Intersection This CSG operation creates a new shape where the first and second shapes overlap. So a cuboid intersected with a cylinder creates a small cylinder as below. Rendering Scenes Once you have created your scene, you will obviously want to raytrace it. To do this, you must run your saved Ray3d-Pro file through another program called !Shade4. !Shade4 takes a 3d file and converts it into the textual data that the PD raytracer Rayshade (v4.0.6) understands. For more information on !Shade4 and how to use it, click . A quick guide is to follow the steps below. 1) Save your file from Ray3d-Pro 2) Load !Shade4 (quitting !Ray3d-Pro if you are low on memory) 3) Drag the saved 3d file to the !Shade4 icon on the icon bar. 4) Save the text file by dragging the icon to a directory viewer. NB: Do not save over your original 3d file because Ray3d-Pro cannot load the text file for editing at a later date. 5) load !Rayshade 6) Drag the text file to the !Rayshade icon on the icon bar. 7) Start the raytrace. Adding Fog to a scene Ray3d-Pro allows you to add fog to your scene, to help create a better atmosphere for your pictures. You can create fog as thick as your require, and of any colour. To add fog, select the "fog..." option from the world sub-menu on the main program menu. This will bring up a window very similar to that used for changing the background colour. To change the colour of the fog, either drag the colour bars, or enter the amount of red, green and blue in the percentage fields. The nearest colour in the current mode to the one you have chosen is displayed below. To alter the thickness of the fog, alter the "fog thickness" percentage field below the colour bars. Selecting objects using a view window It is possible to select objects in the world without clicking on their names in the object list, but by clicking on them in the view window while holding down SHIFT. Because each view window only represents two of the three dimensions in the Ray3d-Pro world, the third co-ordinate is taken from the current cursor position. When you click in the window with SHIFT held down, you are specifying a point in the world, and all objects within the current select distance (from the window) from this point will be selected. Creating CSG objects It is quite a simple task to create a CSG object, but there are a few rules that have to be observed. All the objects that make up the CSG shape must be contained within their own group. There must not be any other objects in this group. If you were trying to create the bowl shape shown below, you would ceeate it by taking a sphere, chopping off the top with a box, and then cutting the inside away by using a slightly smaller sphere. The group structure would look like this: Bowl (CSG group) | ------------------------------------------- | | | big sphere box little sphere (key object) The key objects specifies which object you want to subtract the others away from (in the case of the difference operator). To form the CSG shape, you would create the objects and group them as shown above. Now you would click on the CSG icon in the toolbox, or choose "CSG" from the world sub-menu on the main program menu. This brings up a window with two lists. The list on the left indicates which group you want to make a CSG shape. The list on the right lists the objects in that group, and is used to select the key object. So to create the bowl above, you would click on the "bowl" group in the left hand window, and then select the "big sphere" as the key object in the right window. Now because we want to do a difference, click on the difference operator at the foot of the window. You have now created your shape. Nesting CSG shapes If you want to nest CSG shapes then each CSG shape must have it's own group (one would be within the other). eg: If you wanted to create a crescent shape by subtracting a cylinder from another cylinder, and then wanted to remove this crescent from another shape you would need two groups. One group would contain the shape, and also within that group would be a second group containing the cylinders. so, the group structure would look like. Cut-away (CSG group) | -------------------- | | Sphere crescent (CSG group) | ------------------- | | cylinder 1 cylinder 2