Light ROM 3/Light ROM 3.iso/wcs.txt

Text File | 1995-10-06 | 8.9 KB | 173 lines

What Is World Construction Set? -

WCS is a 3D terrain modeling and animation program. It is a stand-alone
product that does not require LightWave but will work with LightWave to
create very realistic background images. WCS is available in two versions
for the Amiga and the most recent version (V2) is also scheduled for release
(under Windows NT) for the PC/Alpha late in 1995 and SGI in mid '96.

Version 1 WCS features:

Animation - Almost everything that defines the look and mood of a scene can
be animated: Motion, color, ecosystems, snow line, sea level, haze, fog,
lighting, and more. WCS uses the same key-frame system used by LightWave
so the motions are compatible.

Ecosystems - WCS lets the user have complete control over what covers the
terrain. There are a lot of sophisticated features that let you recreate
almost any type of landscape from desert to forest. There are textures to
simulate conifer and deciduous trees or shrubs, grass, rock and ground.

Color Maps - To tint the landscape a particular color or to precisely define
where certain ecosystems exist you can use bitmapped images called Color Maps.

Terrain - Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are used to create the terrain.
We can use any US Geological Survey model or you can create your own
in a paint program and import it into WCS. DEM data is available for the
entire United States at high resolution and for most of the world at medium
resolution. Low res data is available for the entire globe so you can actually
zoom in from out in space to a detailed area of the planet in one sweep.
WCS can also load all VistaPro(TM) DEM files as well as convert any type of
array data into a DEM.

Global Rendering - WCS treats the world as if it were actually round! What
a revolutionary idea. Most terrain modeling software operates on only a small
geographic area and pretends that the earth is flat. With WCS and global data
you can have a full view of the earth rotating in space. You will get a true
horizon line and realistic curvaturewhen you zoom in close. Combined with
the haze effect this provides a sense of enormous space and depth.

On-Demand Loading - WCS can render an unlimited scene size in about 6 megs
of RAM since only a small portion of the terrain is operated on at any given
time during the rendering process. Data is loaded only as needed.

LightWave 3D Motion Files - WCS can both import and export LightWave 3D motion
files. These can be used to establish a consistent camera motion so that when
a WCS image sequence is used as a LightWave background the motions are
synchronized.

2D Mapping - WCS is actually a 3D geographic Information System (GIS) and

Version 2 WCS features:

LightWave 3D Tie-ins - In addition to importing and exporting LW motion files,
WCS can now export an entire scene complete with the DEM data. Plug-ins
are provided for LightWave to retrieve or provide a Z-buffer. The Z-buffer
is used as a compositing mask either during WCS rendering or LightWave
rendering to combine a WCS background with LightWave objects.

3D Clouds - All types of clouds can be created from whispy cirrus to billowy,
ominous thunderheads. you can animate cloud density, thickness and coverage.
Clouds are shaded and look strikingly realistic. Clouds can move across
the sky and at the same time change shape or density to create time-lapse
effects of building storms.

Waves - Finally a terrain modeler that makes waves that really look like
water. They are animated of course. You control how large the swells and
how fast they travel. Very complex wave patterns are possible. Waves develop
whitecaps and break on the shore. They can build in strength (perhaps in
synchrony with clouds above) to create the effect of changing weather or
rising tides. Two different slope-based ecosystems allow you to have
sandy beaches and rocky cliffs washed by the waves.

Reflections - Any water body can reflect the terrain and sky with breathtaking
realism. The amount of reflection can be controlled (and animated). You could
go from a calm glassy sea to an angry boiling froth as the clouds churn
overhead. Reflections are especially awesome when combined with small waves.
They wiggle and dance just like the real thing. Add a moon to the picture
(see below) and you get that glowing-path-across-the-water effect.

Rock Strata - Sedimentary rock strata can be created with no effort at all.
They can slope or for really cool effects their structure can be controlled
with a map that defines the highs and lows (We've even included the map
builder).

Colored Strata - For the ultimate rock effect, strata can be colored by
layer to represent different rock types. Very dramatic or subtle effects
are possible.

Heavenly Bodies - The sun and moon can now be rendered, complete with haloes.
And yes, of course they can be animated so they can rise and set or even
change size and color. The moon in particular is very impressive since it
is a highly detailed bitmap image. It looks great rising over a rippled,
reflective body of water.

Fractal Displacement Mapping - Great rock textures can be had by perturbing
the DEM surface using fractal mathematics. For animation, this is the
only way to go. Older (Version 1) texturing methods for rock surfaces were
somewhat unstable when animated and caused flicker in the picture. Using
fractal displacement mapping, all surfaces are "rock" solid.

Fractal Depth Maps - To gain the best rendering performance and highest
quality there must be a way to render each portion of an image at a fractal
level that is appropriate. Too low gives a polygonal appearance and too high
consumes rendering time needlessly. Fractal Depth Maps solve the problem
of finding the right balance. They are generated automatically so are
simple to use and can speed up rendering by an order of magnitude.

DEM Builder - Many users have requested tools for building and editing Digital
Elevation Models (DEMs). We have built a very sophisticated terrain generator
into WCS. Far beyond the usual fractal terrain capabilities offered
by other programs, WCS allows you to define the shape of the terrain in
any level of detail. You can define one part of the model where you need
closeup detail very explicitly while other parts may be only roughly sketched.
You can import .XYZ files of control points (such as a land survey),
digitize contours from a map or enter control points, contours and elevation
gradients directly into the DEM Builder with the mouse. This promises to
be a popular feature with the Sci-Fi crowd.

Color Maps - Previous versions of WCS required a separate Color Map for any
DEM that was to have features delineated in this way. New for V2 is the
ability to have one Master Color Map that covers the area of the features.
It can be any size image and any resolution. It can overlap multiple DEMs
or cover only a part of a DEM. It lets you define very detailed features
over small areas or more general features over large areas.
See the Version 1 description of Color Maps above for more explanation of
their uses.

Tree Height and Density - These variables, present in version 1, can now be
animated. You can grow a forest or re-populate a clearcut.

Antialiasing - A much improved antialiasing algorithm is now in use providing
very solid animated imagery.

For WCS Info Contact:
Gary Huber
Questar Productions
1058 Weld County Road 23.5
Brighton, CO 80601
[phone]
[e-mail]

WCS Version 1 features continued...

2D Mapping - WCS is actually a 3D geographic Information System (GIS) and
as such provides extensive 2D mapping capabilities including the ability to
digitize vector objects and interactively adjust the Camera, Sun, and
haze positions in a 2D map view. Vector objects can be used to represent
roads, streams, boundaries and lots of other things in rendered images.

Camera View and Preview Rendering - A wire frame preview window is available
for setting up your scenes. It is fully interactive and integrated with other
modules such as Map View to give you the finest control possible over the
view. Previews can be rendered quickly to evaluate the motion, lighting
and ecosystems.

Non-modal GUI - WCS uses MagicUserInterface (by Stefan Stuntz) to create
its windows, screens and gadgets. This allows us to make the entire program
non-modal. You can have any of the editing controls open at once giving you
instant access to all of the features and parameters that create a scene.
What's more the windows all talk to each other so as you change the display
in one window others will update simultaneously.

Recommended Configuration - WCS requires v1.04 or greater of the Amiga
operating system. Minimum memory requirement is 4 megs with 8 megs or more
recommended. Both 68040 and 68030 versions of the program are supplied.

Data Included - WCS ships with two large set of terrain data for the
Rocky Mountains and the Grand Canyon. Additional data is available from
Questar at nominal fees or over the Internet free of charge. A free low-res
global data set is sent to users when they register the program.