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Amiga Plus Extra 1996 #6
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AmigaPlus-eXtra-6-96.iso.7z
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AmigaPlus-eXtra-6-96.iso
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programme
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a-render
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doc
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a-render.doc
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1987-03-22
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A-Render Instructions:
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Type 'render heart' to start the render program.
There are only a few menu choices in render, and one of those is quit, so
that only leaves 2 menu items of importance. The menu selection Save
Picture will save the current rendering to the current picture file as
named in the world file. The menu selection Next Picture will skip
rendering the rest of the current picture and move to the next line of the
world file. The menu selections can also be chosen by holding the 'A' key
to the right of the space bar, and typing 'N', 'S', or 'Q'.
Most of the different options of render are controlled by a file called the
world file. This file will have a .world suffix added to it (like
heart.world). The program Edworld was created to make the editing of the
world file as easy as possible, but you'll need to understand the function
of the options before you can use A-Render the best.
You enter Edworld by typing 'edworld heart' (or any .world filename).
If a world file is found, it is read and the frames are listed. If no
world file is found, the message 'Couldn't find world file' is displayed,
along with a listing of no frames, just the heading line.
If you have no frames defined, you'll have to add one before you can edit
it. For example, type '2' to add a frame, then '1' to add it as frame 1.
Then, to edit a frame, type '1 <RETURN>' followed by the frame number.
Here is a description of the options functions:
(with a general range of the options values)
1. Print level - Selects the print messages for the background screen.
Level 0 prints only minimal messages.
Level 1 also prints the R.G.B. value for each pixel.
Level 2 and beyond print debugging messages.
(Range: 0 - 2)
2. Render mode - Selects the render mode.
Mode 0 render's the picture to the HAM screen, and waits for the
user to select Next Picture in the menu.
Mode 1 duplicates mode 0, but automatically saves the HAM picture to
the specified picture file, and proceeds to the next picture.
Mode 2 renders the picture to disk in 3 files, (pic.r, .g, .b),
in an 8 bit per color mode.
(Range: 0 - 2)
3. Intensity multiplier - An overall intensity setting for a scene.
This will allow you to adjust the overall lighting in a world,
depending on the specific lighting conditions. The more light
sources you have, the lower this number should be.
(Range: .1 - 100)
4. Resolution multiplier - Sets the rendering resolution.
Since rendering takes so long, we have a method for making a rough
image in a short time. Render does this by calculating rays for a
lower resolution screen, and blowing the dots up when displayed.
For example, we can calculate an image in 1/4 the time by making
the calculated pixels equal 4 pixels on the screen. The ray traced
pixel in this case would be 2x2 screen pixels, and the value for
RESOLUTION MULTIPLIER would be 2. Try a few different values and
you'll understand what it does.
(Range: 1 to 40)
5. Shadows on - Sets the shadows to ON or OFF.
Calculating shadows takes a considerable amount of time. A picture
with one light source and shadows ON takes twice as long to calculate
than with shadows off. A picture with two light sources will take
three times longer, three lights would be four times longer.
Type in a '1' and shadows will be ON, '0' means OFF.
6. Start line - You set a pixel line as the top starting line for
rendering. This is feature that is useful in restarting picture
calculations. There are 400 lines in the display. If you set
RESOLUTION MULTIPLIER to 5, and START LINE to 10, it will start
rendering at screen line 50, skipping the top 1/8 of the picture.
7. Transparency - When no object is to displayed at a pixel, and this
is 0, then a black pixel is plotted. If this is a 1, then nothing
is plotted, leaving the pixel as it was, for a transparency to the
background.
8. Physical file name - This specifies the file that render will load
as the 3-D database for this frame. A name like heart.phys or
heart.phys.1 is appropriate.
9. View file name - Specifies the view pyramid to use for this frame.
The views are kept in the subdirectory /VIEWS and have names like
'front', 'top', 'left', 'angle'.
10. Lights file name - Specifies the light file to use for this frame.
11. Picture file name - Sets the Filename for the save of the IFF
picture. If render mode is 1, then the HAM image is saved in the
picture file.
This is a good place to take a break if you like. If you come back to
A-Render later, simply type
'cd HEART'
to change back to the HEART directory, where you left off.