INTRODUCTION Welcome to Volume 1 of VRS Media's Master Designers' Objects Series. We're very proud of the objects included on this disk and hope they will help make your life easier as you fashion your virtual realities. Future volumes of the Master Designers' Series will include Living Spaces, Kitchen, Street Life, Commerce and many more. If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to write or call. We'd also love to see samples of the renderings and animations you create with these objects. Call or write to the address listed below. DISK CONTENTS What you will find on the disk named VRS_VOLUME1: root directory are five files--this readme, VRS_Bedroom.JPG, VRS_Bathroom.JPG, VRS_Volume1.lha and Install. The two JPEG files are 24-bit 768x482 Imagine raytraced renderings and may be viewed with any JPEG compatible program, such as Art Department Professional. When the VRS_Volume1.lha file is decompressed, it will create three directories named Bathroom, Bedroom and Maps. The contents of these directories will require approximately 1.5 megabytes of hard disk space. INSTALLATION To use your VRS Master Designers objects, double click on the icon named Install. This will decompress the directories and objects and place them into your RAM disk. Once the files are decompressed, drag the directories and their icons to the drive on which you wish to install them. The Bathroom, Bedroom and Maps directories will be copied onto your drive. Make sure to delete the directories from RAM: when installation is completed. Because Imagine is finicky about transferring objects from one system to another, we have used the logical assignments TEXTURES: and MAPS: for all our object attributes. Assuming you placed the Maps directory in the volume named WORK:, you must make a logical assignment which tells Imagine where it may find your images. In order to do this, you would type the following in a Shell: Assign MAPS: WORK:Maps The contents of the Maps directory can be placed anywhere on your hard drive, so long as you make a logical assignment prior to using the object in Imagine. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that all the images contained in the Maps directory remain together. If you already have a directory where you keep your image maps, just copy the contents of the Maps directory and type the following: Assign MAPS: MYDRIVE:MyDirectory/MySubDirectory As an example, if you wanted to place the maps in a sub-directory named MyPictures within your Imagine directory on DH1:, you would type: Assign MAPS: DH1:Imagine/MyPictures Any textures in the objects' attributes will look for the logical device named TEXTURES:. Determine the location of your Imagine textures and type the following: Assign TEXTURES: DRIVENAME:ImagineDirectoryName/TextureDirectoryName Assuming your Imagine textures are located in the Im_Textures subdirectory of the Imagine drawer on drive named PROG:, you would type: Assign TEXTURES: PROG:Imagine/Im_Textures These logical assignments are forgotten once the computer is turned off, so remember to type them whenever you wish to use the Bed & Bath objects with our pre-assigned attributes. If you wish, you may make the assignments part of your system's startup-sequence, then the assignments will be made automatically. USING THE OBJECTS Each object within the Bedroom and Bathroom directories is actually a group of many sub-objects which make up the particular item. When putting this disk together, we contemplated placing all the objects into their own projects to match the scenes in our renderings. Unfortunately, these scenes are very memory-intensive. We knew that users with limited computing resources would be upset to find that their system blew up at the first attempt to render a scene! Therefore, each object is grouped logically -- the pillows, comforter, headboard, mattress, etc. are grouped as "Bed"-- and saved in the same location in which you'll find it in our images. So those of you who have memory to spare (10 megs will do) can load up all the objects into the Stage Editor and render away, while those of you with one(?) meg can load and render one object at a time. We honestly don't know if Imagine will even work on a one megabyte system and don't recommend that you try to find out. However, there are things which you can do to reduce the memory consumption of the objects. Of all the effects which eat up RAM with Imagine, none come close to Altitude Maps. This is particularly the case with older versions of the software. We have done everything possible to keep the size of our maps to the bare minimum. But, if you find that a scene or object still won't render, we recommend you try to eliminate altitude maps first. The rocking chair object in the Bedroom scene and the tiles in the Bath scene use altitude maps. Our included color maps are generally small, but if you must eke out a few kilobytes of RAM, you might wish to drop one at a time. The one map which eats up a lot of RAM in the bedroom scene is the Wood image. Although it's only about 40K, it's mapped several times onto the armoire, blanket chest and night table. This was done in order to change the orientation of the grain for the different sides of the furniture. In order to preserve this look and save memory, you may wish to explore joining parts of the objects which are currently grouped, then re-mapping the newly joined object. In most instances, this will clear up at least two occurrences of the wood map within the scene. WARNING: joining objects throws out attribute information, including mapping and smoothing. Make sure to make a copy of your objects BEFORE attempting to join them. Most of the objects utilize sub-groups to define areas to map and smooth. Fortunately, Imagine retains sub-group names MOST OF THE TIME. Therefore, by studying the original, you should be able to retrieve the proper attributes and assign them to the appropriate sub-groups. Because we envisioned the Master Designers' Series as the ultimate virtual environment toolkit, we designed one feature which may confuse novices. Both the bedroom and bathroom are entirely enclosed by walls, floors and ceilings. Navigating through these rooms within the Detail Editor can be tricky as all of the exciting stuff is actually happening inside a box! Although we recommend that you work on one object at a time in the Detail Editor and then use the camera view in Stage to actually work inside your room, there may be a time when you need to edit the rooms (perhaps to change the wallpaper or floor covering). To do so, you must zoom your view past the wall so that the Perspective window will then reveal the inside of the room. Once past the wall, don't simply use Zoom In/Out, because this doubles or halves the view. Use the Set Zoom command to move in finer increments, while adjusting the pan and tilt in the Perspective window to look around. It will take some getting used to, but it does work. If you never intend to see the wall behind the camera, you can always eliminate its faces to make life simplest. DETAILS WE'RE PROUDEST OF... We hope you'll agree that these are some of the best-looking Amiga objects you've ever seen. Although they may not have the point precision of scanned objects like those available from Viewpoint Engineering, we have taken the time to optimize each element so that they render very realistically. Most of the larger objects, such as the furniture, are based on real-world pieces and built entirely to scale. Every 320 Imagine units equals one foot. Unlike those found in much more expensive packages, the enclosed wood, floor, tiles, wallpaper, comforter and altitude maps are 100% seamless. Even if you don't utilize the specific object, check out the filter map for the shag rug. We're sure you'll be able to apply the concept to future projects which call for ragged edges. Similarly, take a look at the Weave.alt map on the rocking chair. It's a great device for simulating wicker. CREDITS The VRS Media Master Designers for Volume 1 were: Ron Soussan and Rick Rodriguez. Hansel Escobal also contributed to this volume. Special thanks to Creative Equipment Int'l and John Foust at Syndesis. Products used in the creation of this volume: Art Department Professional, Deluxe Paint, ToasterPaint, Light 24 and, of course, Imagine 2.0. Products we would have liked to use: Professional Page 4.0, which, despite the ads, DOES NOT support 256 greyscale. TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you have any questions or suggestions, we welcome your call. Please fill in the enclosed registration card, so we can let you know about future volumes in the Master Designers Series, including special offers for registered users. Direct your correspondence to: VRS Media, 7116 SW 47 Street, Miami, Florida 33155. Or call (305) 667-5005, Monday-Friday, 1 p.m.- 3p.m. EST. Dealer inquiries: call Creative Equipment Int'l., (305) 266-2800. COPYRIGHTS The objects and image maps included in VRS Media's Master Designers' Object Series Volume 1: Bed & Bath are copyright 1993 VRS Media. Purchasers of this product may use the enclosed objects in commercial renderings and/or animations. Re-distribution of these objects and image maps is strictly prohibited. Remember, casual piracy has wreaked havoc with the Amiga development community. Each day, less quality software is being developed for this promising platform. Help stem the tide. Pass the word, not the disk! LIMITED WARRANTY This program is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantibility and fitness for a particular purpose, with the sole exception of the defective diskette(s), described below. The entire risk as to the quality and performance is assumed by you. If the program proves defective, you (and not VRS Media or its dealers) assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction. VRS Media warrants to the original licensee that the diskette(s) on which the program is recorded shall be free from defects in material and workmanship only for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of original purchase. If a defect covered by this warranty occurs during this period, and is returned to the dealer from whom it was purchased, not later than five (5) days after the end of such period, the dealer shall, at its option, either repair or replace the diskette. This warranty is in lieu of all other expressed or statutory warranties, and the duration of any implied warranty, included, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantibility of fitness for a particular purpose, is hereby limited to said thirty (30) day period. VRS Media's liability is limited solely to the repair or replacement of the enclosed diskette(s), as set out above and shall not in any event include damages for loss of use, or loss of anticipated profits, savings, costs, expenses, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the program, including without limitation any damages arising from data or information lost or rendered inaccurate, even if VRS Media or its dealers has been advised of the possibility of such damages.