LSD Docs/LSD Docs.iso/FILEZ/lsdspr16.dms/lsdspr16.adf/TurboSilver.AddendumSV.pp/TurboSilver.AddendumSV

Text File | 1978-01-09 | 18KB | 329 lines

Once again we meet, here in the depths of the computer through the magic of
ASCII data.  Before you go any further please make sure that the disk that
you are reading this document from has been backed up.  There are no silly
protection schemes on this disk so a simple diskbackup will do.  Also you
will have by now found out that there is no system supplied with this disk.
In other words it won't boot.  If you are using a hard drive simply copy
the New TurboSilver.SV (there are two versions, integer and Floating Point.
The floating point version has the suffix of .FP.  If you have any of the
various accelerators that are now on the market, you will want to run the
.FP version of TurboSilver.SV.FP.  Also make sure that the file
Silver.Config is in the same directory as the TurboSilver program.  If you
forget to copy it over Silver will still run but you will not be able to
alter the colors, backgrounds, etc.

You already knew that didn't you.!

There are a host of new features in Silver, most of them are very straight
forward.  This document is rather lengthy so it might be wise to just print
the whole thing out and read it at you leisure.  Or if you like looking
into the world of flicker, please be out guest and read on.

For those of you who have learned Turbo 3.0 the changes that we have made
are very straight forward.  Many of the changes that have been implemented
are from your suggestions.  We really do listen to what you have told us.

For those of you who are just getting started with Turbo and have not yet
gotten the "hang" of things, it might be wise to continue on with 3.0 until
you feel real comfortable about the software.   Although the changes that
have been made are not that severe it's a good idea to get the basics down
before you decide to become the ray tracing king of the earth.

With the upgrade you will notice that there is a new player, this player
will play your old animations and will also play the new ones that you
create with  the SV version of Silver.  The player that you are now using
will not play the animations that you will create with this newest version
of Turbo Silver.  So throw the old one away and start with the NewPlayer.

There is another directory called Textures.  In this directory you will
find several new textures.  These textures are not IFF pictures they are
the mathematical version of an IFF picture and should be used with the
Texture function.  The new textures are explained further on, in this
document.

Also in the directory called "Texture.KIT" are the programming routines for
creating your own textures.  Be advised however, that creating textures
REQUIRES C PROGRAMMING knowledge.

Also included on the disk are 2 utility programs.  "DISPLAY" will play
"ANIM" format animations.  Simply run the display program from CLI and a
requester will pop up allowing you to select the anim you would like to
play.  You can also you ShowAnim version 5.3 or greater to play your Turbo
Silver ANIM format Animations if you like.

"IVIEW" is a general purpose picture viewer.  It will display IFF, RGBN, as
well as Stereo 3D pictures.  The syntax from CLI is:

    IVIEW <filename> <filename> <filename>
Iview is capable of displaying an entire directory full of pictures of
mixed formats.

SO WHAT DID I SPEND MY MONEY ON AND WHAT'S NEW.
There are several changes that don't require any effort on your part to
use.   The first change is real simple, Turbo Silver SV is about 25% faster
than the  older version 3.0.  To get the advantage of the speed all you
have to do is  run the new software.  Simple enough, right.

The second feature or enhancement is the Solid Model or Scan Line rendering
feature.  This has always been faster than true Ray-Tracing because we
don't  computer shadows, reflections and true refraction.  Thus the time to
compute a picture is much less than a full Trace.  However in the past the
Solid Model  render was "dirty".  The edges of the objects were very
"jaggie" and the colors didn't blend very well.  Not any more.  With the
exception of the features that Solid Model can not do the pictures will
look just about as good as a full trace.  No longer are those pesky
"jaggies" going to ruin a perfectly good trace.

Here at Impulse we all trace our pics in Solid Model before we allow the
machine to chunk away at a full trace.  If you aren't going to use shadows
and reflection or don't need true refraction use the Solid Model Mode, the
results may be just what you wanted.  The time that it takes to do solid
model is worth the effort to use it.  Instead of traces that take a couple
of hours they will most likely take a few minutes.

These are the two passive improvements that we have added.  Now for the
more interactive.  The first and most obvious is the inclusion of "3D".
You must have a pair of LCD shuttered glasses and a interface that allows
the glasses to function with the computer.  We supply an interface and the
Sega Glasses, You can also use the Haitex glasses and interface.  Both sets
of glasses and interfaces work just the same.  The interface plugs into the
joystick port.  The use of the glasses will become obvious once you have
traced a "3D" picture.

The only factor that is important to know about "3D" generation is the
addition of some new items in the Camera requester that relate to  VIEW
POINT. View Point in fact takes over the majority of the camera operations,
with the exception of the focusing.  Otherwise this new requester will
handle all of your needs.  The View Point menu item is found inside the
object editor under the Settings menu.  It has the following functions:

Screen Width----------
Eye Separation--------
Track Object X---------
Track Object Y---------
View X----------------
View Y----------------
View Z----------------

The use of each of these features is as follows.

Screen Width, The default setting for Screen Width is 320.  That's because
the normal screen setting for most traces or renderings that you will do is
320 Pixels from left to right.  You can adjust this feature to have any
size screen that you want, it will however not increase what can't be
increased, that is the resolution of the Amiga.  This feature simulates for
your eye a wider of narrower field of view.  To use this feature simply
type the size of the screen that you want to emulate in the open requester
to the right of the  label.

Eye Sep, Track X & Y, View Z are all in units of screen width.

Eye Separation - How far apart your eyes are.  The .25 default value is
correct for a standard Amiga monitor.  For a larger screen size monitor,
use a smaller value.

NOTE!!!
=======
By reducing the Eye separation, you can reduce the 3D depth range of your
screen, while still keeping object sizes & perspective intact.  It is
useful if you want ot be able to look at the whole scene at once, without
having to adjust your eyes for the parts of the screen that are different
depths.

View X, Y, Z -  Is related your viewing distance in respect to the monitor
screen.
View Z is how far apart away from the screen (in screen units.)
View X - is how far right of the center of the screen you should view.
View Y - is how far above the center of the screen you should view.

Track Object X, Y is another fine camera adjustment to help in "Tracking"
This will allow objects to be positioned in the relative middle of the
screen even if your tracked object is offset.

CELLS
In the cells menu are four new items.  Similar to the last feature of
range, we have found that from time to time we have included an object in a
series of cells that just doesn't fit into the scheme of things.  If there
are only a couple of cells with the offending object in them it is not a
real problem to eliminate the object by entering the cell and deleting it.

However once you have made a couple of hundred cells and find out that the
object that is a stinker should be removed, it can take some time to get
rid of it.  Not any more.  Use the new.......  Delete Obj. requester.

To use this menu item you must have at least one cell selected, or as many
as you want.  Once you have asked for the Delete Obj. requester to appear
all you must do is type in the name of the offending object as it appears
in the cell or cells.  After you have done so, close the requester and Zap,
Biff, Boff the object is gone.  Only one word of caution.  If you are not
in the habit of naming your objects with unique names, it might be wise to
start doing so.  The reason for doing so is simple, if you leave all of
your objects with a default name of AXIS and tell the system to Delete Obj.
"Axis", that's right you guessed it, all those objects with the name axis
are going to go bye bye. So name your objects and think a time or two
before you use the requester.

USE CAMERA...
If you select this feature you can join the camera into a series of cells.
As it stands now if you make some cells and create a story with the Key
cell then decide to go back and add some items but want to the camera to be
in a different position, well you couldn't do it.  Now with Use Camera you
can move the position of the camera in a series of cells without making any
changes on the other objects.  If you have made an animation, checked it
out with wire frame and then decide that you want the camera in some other
position, go to the key cell and move the camera, rejoin the key cell to
the other cells and you have now made a global camera move. The same is
true of the Global menu items, if there are items that you want changes, ie
a different Horizon or more ambient light, make the changes in the key
cell, select the Use Globals option and rejoin the options to the cells
that you desire the changes to be made to. To reiterate, using the camera
and globals menu items will make it quite simple for you to globally change
different aspects of your anims or cells in what will seem to be an
instant.  If you are rusty using the join command you might want to go back
and review the use of Join in the Silver Users Guide.

MAKE ANIM.........

Many of you have asked, OK now that I have this great, Ray Traced, spiffy
animation, I want to use it with other programs that will read and support
anim files but not the Silver anim files.  OK we heard ya !

To use the Make Anim feature choose the cells that you want to use, one
that have been generated, choose them in the order that you want them
animated.  ie 1 - 50 or 50 -1.  Choose the Make Anim feature found in the
Scene Menu.  You will be give a requester asking you where to store the
Anim.  You make the decision as to where you want the anim stored, give it
name and say OK by closing the requester.  The anim will be made in
whatever time it takes it to make the anim or write it to the disk.  It has
been our experience that the anim file format is smaller, yet more limited
in use than the Silver anim format, the reason for this is that to the best
of our knowledge there is no way to do internal looping and loopback.  So
there is a trade off, you get smaller anim files that are simple loops.
The real power of anim lies in the fact that you can use these new anims on
other programs like the Director and Several products from Martin Hash
Enterprises.  There are probably others that we just forgot about, such is
life.

Well that does it for the animator screen, to see the next set of changes
you must venture into the cell editor.

On the outside or the Animator Screen there are several new changes.   The
first is found in the "Modes Menu".  The new items that have been added
are:

World Size
Wire Frame
Stereo 3D
OverScan 20

The first item, World Size it as simple as it's name applies.  Most of you
have come to the realization that the Silver world is 1024 pixels by 1024
pixels in all three axis directions both negative and positive.  With this
new feature you can increase the size of the default world in doubling or
halving steps.  The world can be as small as 256 by 256 or as large as
16384 by 16384 pixels.  Pull down the modes menu and take a look.

The WireFrame option has two variables, One is Black and White or B/W and
the other is color.  You have already guessed, if you choose B/W you will
get the type of wire frames that you have gotten in the past.  If on the
other hand you choose Color, the wire frames that you create and show in
the editor will be in sixteen colors.  If you have an object that has a
light blue color it will default to a primary blue, and so it goes will all
colors except Black, Black will default to Red.  This feature will become
real handy when you are trying to get a better look at objects and how the
interact with the other objects around them.  We are presently using the
color wireframe to create some amazing effects.  If you are like us at all
you probably will never go back to the ole B/W.

STEREO 3D
If you wish to make and create objects that are going to be viewed with the
3D or stereo option, then you must select this option by moving the mouse
to Stereo 3D and releasing the left mouse button over this option.  If you
have done as requested you will see a check mark after Stereo 3D.  Remember
you must always check this variable if you intend to make the pictures jump
out of the screen.

OVERSCAN 20
If you check this option you will get two things, first your trace times
will be about 12 to 14% slower and your picture will have the Severe
Overscan feature applied to the picture.  This is most useful when you
intend to use the stills or anims that you create in professional video
work.  Overscan 20 forces the screen to bleed into that special area that
you really don't pay much attention to, you know that area that is outside
the picture frame of the monitor.  Use this option only if you need a
larger picture that you intend to use when moving stills and anims to video
tape.

So far so good, see these new additions are really easy to understand.  The
power of each will be decided by you as you use them.  Our favorite feature
so far is the color wire frame and the 3D Stereo image factor.

MORE AND MORE

In the edit menu you will find a new feature.

Range

Range.... several times, it sometimes seems like thousands of times, many
of  you have said, Hey guys, I don't want to hold down the left shift key
and mess around selecting the cells that I want to highlight, why don't you
put in a little requester that allows me to select the first cell and the
last cell of a range of cells.  Ok so we paid attention, with range you get
a requester that allows you to place the number of the first cell you want
and the place a comma, or any separator after the comma then place the
number of the last cell that you want and those cells and only those cells
will be selected.

This means that if you have a 100 cell animation and you want to add
something to only a few cells all you have to do is decide of the first and
last cell, use the Range requester to choose the first and last (10,30)
cells and zap the cells you choose will be white ion a flash.  With this
feature you can quickly make shorter animations out of longer animations or
join something in a smaller portion of the cells.

Well as the saying goes YOU ASKED FOR IT ! NOW YOU GOT IT.
If for some reason you weren't one of those who asked for it please feel
free to take advantage of this wonderful feature.

EDITOR CHANGES..... (catchy name right)

In the editor under the EDIT menu, submenu ADD you will find a new feature
called Add Line.  You can use this feature when you have added an axis to
work on, make sure that it is selected or blue and either pick the add line
item from the Edit/ADD menu or use the Hot Key system, Right Amiga 9.
Nothing to amazing happens except that the menu bar says add line and the
cursor just sits there like some lazy blob of bits.

The magic happens when you depress the left mouse button, at first only a
point appears, but when you move to the next spot that looks like it needs
a point you get a line between the two points.  We know this line to be an
edge. Add line is a subset of add point, we just felt that in certain cases
it would be much easier if the lines were drawn for you instead of having
to go back and add lines or edges after you have added a couple of thousand
points. Of course the add line feature works only on one object at a time,
and does not work on points that already exist.  To add lines to points
that do exist one must still use the old tried and true Right Amiga 7 or
Add Edge. You can also go into point mode, pick a point and then go
directly to add line mode.  Then the 1st click will connect the the point
that you picked in point mode.

SPECIAL Menu Changes
Under the Special menu are two new items, one is Grid Size and the other is
Grid On/Off.  For those of you might be watering at the mouth, you are
correct we have added a snap to grid function.  You must first decide on
the size of the grid that you want to work with the default under the
Special/Grid Size is 5 units or pixels.  You can change this to about any
size you want, remember however that the screen has only so many dots.
Attention, you might have noticed by now that the screen of the editor is
in Hi Res.  And the Objects that you add to the work surface have no
points.  We have removed the points until you enter point mode, Right Amiga
3.  This passive feature we trust will be a real boon in the creation of
objects.  Back to Grid.  Now you have set the Grid to your choice, the next
step is to tell Silver that you want the Grid to be active, to do so simply
select the grid on option by releasing on the menu item with the left mouse
button.  A check mark will appear to the right of the Grid On/Off option.
To turn it off simply release the left mouse button on the Grid On/Off
option the check will disappear and the grid will be off.  Combine this
feature will Add Line and you will find making a square box a real snap.
Making letters or fonts is also much easier using this  feature.