Imagine Reference Manual Presented by Neuromancer - Leader of the Neuronet Note - page references are sections, not physical pages Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 REFERENCE SECTION 3 Project Menu 3 Project Editor 3 Detail Editor 3 Forms Editor 3 Cycle Editor 3 Stage Editor 3 Quit 3 Undo 3 Display Menu 3 Coordinates 3 Interlace 3 Grid On/Off 4 Grid Size 4 Redraw 4 Zoom In 4 Zoom Out 4 Set Zoom 4 Re-Center 4 Wireframe 4 Solid 5 Shaded 5 PROJECT EDITOR 7 Project Menu 7 New 7 Open 7 Close 7 Rendering Screen 7 Rendering Subproject 7 New 7 Rendering Method 7 Picture & Pixel Sizes 7 Path for Stills 8 File Format 8 Amiga Viewmodes 8 Path for Movie 9 Movie File Format 9 Open 9 Delete 9 Modify 9 Stills 10 Generate 10 Show 10 Delete 10 Range 10 Info 11 Cleanup N/A Generate New Cells Only 11 Auto Dither 11 Use Firecracker24 11 Movie 11 Load 11 Play Once 12 Play Loop 12 Drop 12 Edit 12 Make 13 FORMS EDITOR 15 Object Menu 15 New 15 # of Points 15 # of Slices 15 X-Y Cross Section 15 X-Z Cross Section 16 Load 16 Save 16 Snap to Grid 16 Mode Menu 16 Edit 16 Add 16 Delete 16 Symmetry Menu 16 Off 16 Front 16 Right 17 Both 17 90 Degrees 17 Select Menu 17 Click 17 Drag Box 17 Lasso 17 Lock 17 DETAIL EDITOR 19 Object Menu 19 Load 19 Save 19 Convert IFF/ILBM 19 Group 19 UnGroup 19 Cut 19 Copy 19 Paste 20 Attributes 20 Object Name 20 Fastdraw 20 Phong 20 Color 20 Reflect 21 Filter 21 Specular 21 Dithering 22 Hardness 22 Roughness 22 Shininess 22 Index of Refraction 22 Texture 23 Brush 24 Color Map 24 Reflect Map 24 Altitude Map 25 Filter Map 25 Internal Genlock 26 Load/Save Attributes 26 Transformation 26 Rotate 27 Scale 27 Translate 27 Alignment 27 Size 27 Position 27 World 27 Local 28 Transform Axis Only 28 Mold 28 Extrude 28 To Length 29 Length 29 Along Path 29 Path 29 Align Y to Path 29 Keep X Horizontal 29 Y Rotation 29 X and Z Scaling 29 X and Z Translate 29 Sections 30 Spin 30 Spin Angle 30 # of Sections 30 Sweep 31 Sweep Angle 31 # of Sections 31 Conform to Sphere 31 Sphere Radius 31 Object Radius 32 Conform to Cylinder 32 Cylinder Radius 32 Object Width 32 Skin 32 Make Path 32 Make Closed Path 33 Slice 33 Mode Menu 33 Pick Group 33 Pick Objects 33 Pick Faces 33 Pick Edges 33 Pick Points 34 Add Faces 34 Add Edges 34 Add Points 34 Add Lines 34 Drag Points 34 Hide Points 35 Magnetism 35 On/Off 35 Setup 35 Radius of Influence 35 Minimum Radius 35 Percent at Radius 36 Magnetism Types 36 Functions Menu 36 Delete 36 Join 36 Snap to Grid 36 Add Axis 36 Add Sphere 37 Add Ground 37 Add Primitive 37 Sphere 37 Radius 37 Circle Sections 38 Vertical Sections 38 Stagger Points 38 Tube 38 Radius 38 Height 38 Circle Sections 38 Vertical Sections 39 Stagger Points 39 Close Bottom/Top 39 Cone 39 Radius 39 Height 39 Circle Sections 39 Vertical Sections 39 Stagger Points 40 Close Bottom 40 Torus 40 Ring Radius 40 Tube Radius 40 Ring Sections 40 Tube Sections 40 Stagger Points 40 Disk 41 Radius 41 Sections 41 Plane 41 Width 41 Height 41 Horizontal Sections 41 Vertical Sections 41 Pick/Select Menu 42 Home 42 Select Next 42 Select Prev 42 Pick Select 42 UnPick Select 42 Unpick Last 42 Find by Name 42 Find by Requester 42 Interactive Transformations 43 Rotate 43 Move 43 Scale 43 x,y,z 43 X,Y,Z 43 Spacebar 43 Escape 43 CYCLE EDITOR 45 Object Menu 45 New 45 Load 45 Save 45 Pick menu 45 Group 45 Object 45 Move Menu 45 Pivot 45 Twist 45 Move 45 Add 45 Delete 46 Assign 46 DeAssign 46 Cell Menu 46 First 46 Last 46 Next Key 46 Prev Key 46 Goto 46 Next 47 Prev 47 Make Key 47 Unmake Key 47 Copy From 47 Remove 47 Snapshot 47 Animate Menu 47 Make 47 Free RAM 47 Play Once 47 Play Loop 47 Play Big 48 Animation Controller 48 Status Line 48 STAGE EDITOR 49 Object Menu 49 Load 49 Add Axis 49 Add Light 49 Add Open Path 49 Add Closed Path 49 Rename 49 Delete 49 Action 50 Add 51 Delete 51 Rename 52 Info 52 Cancel 52 Undo 52 Done 52 Highest Frame # 52 Actor 52 Normal Object 53 Start/End Frame 53 Filename 54 Number of cycles to perform 54 Initial cycle phase 54 Reverse cycle motion 54 Transition Frame count 55 Light Source 55 Start/End Frame 56 Spherical 56 Cylindrical 56 Conical 56 Cast Shadows 56 Diminish Intensity 56 Red/Green/Blue Intensity 57 Transition Frame Count 57 Camera 57 Globals 57 Start/End Frame 58 Brush Name 58 Ambient R,G,B 58 Horizon R,G,B 58 +Zenith R,G,B 59 -Zenith R,G,B 59 Sky Blending 59 Genlock Sky 59 Star Field Density 59 Transition Frame Count 59 Posn. 60 Tween Position 60 Start/End Frame 60 End Frame Position Values 60 Follow Path 61 Start/End Frame 62 Path Name 62 Children follow parent object 62 Align 62 Tween Alignment 62 Start/End Frame 63 End Frame Position Values 63 Align to Path 63 Start/End Frame 63 Keep Y Horizontal 63 Track to Object 64 Start/End Frame 64 Object Name 64 Initial/Final Y Rotation 64 Size 64 Start/End Frame 65 End Frame Size Values 65 Hinge 65 Start/End Frame 65 Hinge Object 65 F/X 65 Transformation 66 Rotate 66 Scale 66 Translate 66 Alignment 66 Size 67 Position 67 World 67 Local 67 Transform Axis Only 67 Snapshot 67 Mode Menu 68 Pick Groups 68 Edit Path 68 Pick/Select Menu 68 Home 68 Select Next 68 Select Prev 68 Pick Select 68 UnPick Select 68 UnPick Last 68 Find by Name 68 Find by Requester 69 Path Menu 69 Save Path 69 Split Segment 69 Delete Point 69 Frame Menu 69 First 69 Last 69 Next 69 Prev 69 Goto 69 Animate Menu 70 Make 70 Free RAM 70 Play Once 70 Play Loop 70 Play Big 70 THE CONFIGURATION FILE 71 KEYBOARD EQUIVALENTS 75 INTRODUCTION  PAGE 1 The information contained in this document details every menu and requester item in each of Imagine's program modules. Every effort has been made to describe each command as clearly and succinctly as possible so that the user may refer to this manual whenever in need of a refresher. It is worth noting, however, that few commands in Imagine work independently. Acheiving any desired effect may take verious steps that involve items in several different menus. Likewise, all projects will require familiarity with at least three of Imagine's modules. For this reason, Imagine's User Manual was designed as a tutorial guide. If you are unclear on any particular function, refer to the tutorial in the User's Manual which covers that particular command. In any case, with a program as complete as Imagine, it is impossible to cover every aspect of the software in the limited space available. Once the user has achieved some familiarity with a specific tool, experimentation is the best method of gaining complete understanding. REFERENCE SECTION  PAGE 3 Commonalities The Project and Display menus are the same in all four modules of Imagine. Project Menu Project Editor - This menu selection calls up Imagine's Renderinf Screen, where the user will define, load or close all projects and render all images and animations. Detail Editor - Selecting this launches the Detail Editor, the primary module for creating or modifying objects. Forms Editor - This module is used for creating organic primitive shapes which are refined in the Detail Editor or can be imported into the Cycle Editor. Cycle Editor - This starts up the Cycle Editor, Imagine's cycle animation generator. Stage Editor - This menu selection takes the user to the animation design and scripting module. Quit - Exits the program. Undo - This item undoes the last action taken. Undo operates on a first in-first out basis. Display Menu  Coordinates - Selecting this menu item turns on a dynamic coordinates display in the title bar. Use this feature to precisely position points or objects in all three views. Interlace - Toggles the editor between 640 x 200 PAGE 4 (non-interlace) and 640 x 400 resolutions. The latter resolution is recommended for finer detail, but produces jitter which may be distracting. Interlace flicker may be eliminated on Amiga 3000 models and higher with a multisync monitor and productivity mode. Owners of earlier model Amigas can purchase a Flicker Fixer, which also requires a multisync monitor. Altering the colors of the editing screen can also significantly diminish flicker. See the section on Imagine's config file for more information. Grid On/Off - This command toggles the grid on or off. The default setting for Imagine is Grid On. Grid Size - Selecting this item presents a requester which enables the user to customize the widths of the grid. The default size is 20. Redraw - After extensive editing, it may ne necessary to refresh your screen display. The Redraw command refreshes all screen views. Zoom In - Selecting this item zooms in the display by a magnitude of two. Zoom Out - This item zooms out the display by a magnitude of two. Set Zoom - The default setting for the zoom is 1. Selecting this item allows the user to define a specific zoom value. Re-Center - After selecting this command. the program will await the next mouse click. Clicking in any of the three orthogonal views will center the view around the position of the cursor. To center an object precisely, it may be necessary to use the Re-center command consecutively in two views. Wireframe - This is the default setting for the PAGE 5 perspective window. Solid - Selecting this item displays the prespective view with hidden line removal on. Shaded - Selecting this item activates a full-screen, 16-level gray, flat shaded mode for the prespective view. To view this shaded perspective, click once on the Perspective label to the left of the view window. THE PROJECT EDITOR PAGE 6 Project Menu  New - Select this command to launch a new project. A file requester will appear. Enter your new file destination and name. Imagine creates a directory called FILENAME.IMP on your destination disk. Within this .IMP directory is a sub-directory named OBJECTS and a file named STAGING. Imagine does not require you to use this default location for the objects you create within this project, but it is advisable to use the objects sub-directory for simplicity's sake. Imagine's pictures and animation output may be redirected at any time in the Sub-project window. The file named Staging stores all information from the Stage module. Once a new project has been created, the user is presented with the Rendering Screen. Open - When you wish to return to a project that has already been created, select this menu option. Select the destination disk and file you wish to access. Close - Select this item to cease working on a project without exiting Imagine. Rendering Screen  Rendering Subproject - As a project is developed, it may be desirable to render that scene or animation in various screen resolutions or display modes. The rendering subproject allows the user to quickly change rendering parameters and choose alternate paths so that various versions of the same project may be saved. New - Selecting this item displays a file requester. PAGE 7 Enter the desired disk path in which you wish to create files and give your new sub-project an appropriate name. Because sub-projects are useful in rendering files using different resolutions, ie wireframe vs 24-bit hi-res, it is advisable to make your sub-project name descriptive. For example, a HAM, 100x100 sub-project might be called "TinyHAM," so that it will be easier to identify the format of the images contained within that sub-project. After a name has been entered, the Rendering Subproject Parameters requester appears. Rendering Method - Imagine offers six methods for rendering a project. The following list is arranged in order of complexity. B/W Wire creates single bitplane picture or animation with hidden line removal, comparible to Solid wireframe perspective mode used throughout the program. B/W Shade creates a flat shaded representation of the scene in either 16- or 32-levels of gray. Color Wire creates a 16-color wireframe with hidden line removal. Color Shade creates a 16- or 32-color flat shaded image or animation. Textures, brush maps and object attributes are not active in this mode. Scanline offers smooth shading in any resolution. All attributes except shadows and reflection are represented. Trace offers full raytrace rendering with shadows and reflections. Raytracing exacts the highest penalty in rendering speed. Picture & Pixel Sizes - Imagine allows the user to select custom screen sizes and aspect ratios for finished images up to 8000x8000. This is useful for those interested in taking their work to film recorders or high resolution display boards (Note: at present, there is no way to view images which exceed standard Amiga resolutions on the Amiga). Enter the desired screen width and height in terms of screen pixels. For some high PAGE 8 resolution displays such as Truevision's Targa and Vista boards, the X and Y aspect ratios must be adjusted to be displayed properly. Adjust these only if you are certain of the aspect ratio of your output board. As new output boards are released for the Amiga, Impulse will publish a list of aspect ratio conversions. Selecting Presets will call up a requester with pixel sizes and aspect ratios for eight commonly used formats. You may wish to alter thse presets to your own liking by editing the Imagine.config file locaed on your disk. Path for Stills - The default location for images created by Imagine is a sub-directory of the current project's .IMP directory named SUB-PROJECT.PIX. If you wish, you may type in a new location for your output. The output directory must already exist. File Format - Imagine supports five different file formats. All image files will be the prefix PIC and a four digit extension that represent its frame number, ie PIC.0001 or PIC.1001. RGBN and ILBM 12 bit formats will display images in up to 4096 colors in HAM mode. RGBN is Impulse's proprietary image file format. Images created in RGBN may be edited in Diamond and Light, Impulse's 24-bit paint program for the Firecracker24. ILBM 12-bit files are compatible with all IFF paint and animation programs which support HAM mode. RGB8 and ILBM 24-bit files contain all the necessary data to display up to 16.7 million colors with the appropriate display card, like Impulse's Firecracker24. File sizes of 24-bit images can exceed one megabyte, so make sure to have plenty of storage space available before rendering! Imagine will also permit creation of Separate Red, Green and Blue files for color separation and use with certain external devices. Each file contains 8 bits of color information and will be indicated by the .R, .G or .B extension. Amiga ViewModes - RGBN and ILBM PAGE 9 12-bit files may be viewed in any Amiga resolution. Selecting HAM displays up to 4096 colors with a minimum horizontal resolution of 320 pixels. Selecting HIRES will display files in up to 16 colors with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels. LACE doubled vertical resolution to 400 pixels with screen interlacing. For overscan pictures, adjust the width and height for Picture and Pixel Sizes (see above). Path for Movie - The default location for animation files is the ANIM sub-directory in the current sub-project's .PIX directory. To change this location, enter the destination in this requester. The destination directory must already exist. Movie File Format - Animations may be saved in two formats: ANIM OP5 and Impulse's proprietary Imagine format. ANIM files are compatible with most Amiga animation programs. Imagine animations are compatible with Turbo Silver SV animations and may be edited using Movie commands (see below). Open - Selecting this command presents a file requester. The user must select a previously created sub-project. Delete - When a sub-project is no longer necessary, select this command to delete it. Modify - If the user wishes to alter rendering parameters without creating a new sub-project, select this command to display and modify the sub-project rendering parameters. PAGE 10 Stills - This area of the Rendering Screen displays commands related to rendering individual scenes which make up a project. Directly below Stills is a dynamic slider bar which allows the user to scroll beyond the 70 frames visible in the frame counter. This slider resizes itself to correspond to its relative position within the project. The frame counter represents each individual still in the project and is set up in groups of ten. An individual frame may be selected by clicking directly upon that frame number. Multiple frames may be selected by holding down the shift key while clicking on the desired frames. Generate - Select the frame(s) you wish to generate and then click upon this command to render the still(s) based upon the parameters defined in the sub-project rendering parameters screen. Show - Select the still(s) you wish to display and Imagine will automatically lad and display them. Click once on the screen to view the next image or return to the Rendering Screen. Delete - Select the still(s) you wish to remove from the disk and click in this item to delete them. Range - Selecting this item will produce a requester which asks for the beginning and ending frames of a range and the number of steps in between. If you enter one for the number of steps, all frames between these two numbers will be selected PAGE 11 automatically. Entering three for the number of steps would select every third frame. Info - The info command will provide information relevant to the current selected frame. Cleanup - This item renumbers the frames to eliminate gaps created by the Delete command [Note: This command is automatic in v1.0] Generate New Cells Only - This command skips any frames which have stills residing in the current Stills directory. De-selecting this command will overwrite all existing stills. Auto Dither - When Imagine generates a 24-bit image, all dithering is turned of automatically. Users without 24-bit display cards may still get a sense of that their image looks like by selecting Auto Dither and the Showing the file. The format of the Amiga Viewmode is selected in the Rendering Sub-Project requester. Use Firecracker24 - The Firecracker24 is Impulse's 24-bit high resolution display card, available in configurations of 512x4824 and 1024x482. Imagine will output 24-bit images directly to the board for ease of use. To animate images created in 24-bit, Imagine currently supports the BCD 5000 frame edit controller. Movie - This set of commands controls playback of animations created by Imagine. Load - Once an animation has been created, you must first load it with this item before being able to view it. PAGE 12 Play Once - This command plays back the loaded animation once and then returns to the Rendering Screen. Play Loop - This command plays the current animation in an endless loop. Press the Escape key to exit the animation. Drop - When you no longer wish to view an animation, select this command to drop it from RAM. Edit - By default, Imagine will only create simple looping animations. Edit allows users to create more complex scripts from the same frame data. After an animation has been generated, selecting this command opens a simple text editor where the user edits the current project's Movie script. Movie is a simple command language which should be familiar to Turbo Silver users. The Movie for a 12-frame animation would read as follows: MOVIE PLAY 1-12 FOREVER If you wanted the animation to play backwards, the Movie would read as follows: MOVIE PLAY 12-1 FOREVER To play the frames forwards and then backwards endlessly, you would first create a sub-routine or scene and then follow it with the movie play command. SCENE ABC PLAY 1-12 PAGE 13 PLAY 12-1 MOVIE PLAY ABC FOREVER Movie also supports playing back individual frames or scenes for a specified number of times. MOVIE PLAY 1-12 4 TIMES After editing the Movie script as desired, exit the text editor and select Make. Make - This command generates an animation from the currently selected frames in the frame counter. If stills have already been generated for any frames and Generate New Cells Only is selected, Imagine will compile the animation without re-rendering those frames. If a Movie file has been edited (see Edit), Make will generate an animation based on that script file. The Movie file is located in the ANIM sub-directory of the current sub-project's .PIX directory. THE FORMS EDITOR PAGE 15 Object Menu  New - Selecting this command presents the user with a requester for number of points and slices and x-y or x-z cross section. # of Points - This determines the number of points in the object's circumference. # of Slices - This allows the user to specify the number of cross-sections in the new object. X-Y Cross Section - Select this to create slices along PAGE 16 the Z axis X-Z Cross Section - Select this for slices in the Y direction. Load - Presents a requester allowing you to load a previously created Forms object. Objects created in the Detail editor or Turbo Silver may not be loaded into Forms. Save - Saves the current object as a Forms object. This object can be loaded into Forms later for more modification or can be imported into the Detail editor. Snap the Grid - Selecting this item will cause all currently selected points to snap to the nearest grid intersection. This command will have no effect if points are not selected. To use snap to grid interactively, use the Lock mode in the Select menu. Mode Menu  Edit - This mode allows you to move points in any of the three views. Add - To add points to your cross-section, select this mode, then click on a point. To points will be added symmetrically to your cross section. Delete - Select this mode and click on the point you wish to be deleted. Symmetry Menu  Off - This is the default setting. Front - This allows you to move points in the front view while manipulating their corresponding siblings simultaneously. PAGE 17 Right - This allows you to move points in the right view while simultaneously affecting their siblings. Both - To move points symmetrically in both the front and right views, select this mode. 90 Degrees - This mode allows movement of points in either the front or right views while also affecting their corresponding points in the form. Select Menu  Click - In this mode, each point must be selected individually by clicking once upon it with the left mouse button. To select more than one point in click mode, hold down the shift key while selecting the points. Drag Box - To facilitate the selection of multiple points, enter Drag Box selection mode. Holding down the left mouse button, drag a rectangular box around the points which you wish to select. Lasso - Sometimes, you may wish to select points which are not contiguous. Selecting Lasso enables you to encircle only those points which you wish to select. You must complete your lasso by closing your two ends for a selection to take effect. Lock - Selecting this mode will enable the Snap to Grid function. All points manipulated while lock is selected will snap to the nearest grid intersection. The Detail Editor PAGE 19 Object Menu  Load - Presents a requester for loading previously constructed objects from Imagine's Detail or Forms Editors or Turbo Silver versions 3.0 and above. Save - Saves the currently selected objects or groups in the Detail editor format. Objects saved in Detail may not be loaded in the Forms editor. Convert IFF/ILBM - Imagine will convert graphics created in IFF paint programs into 3D objects. For best results, pictures should be single bitplane, high resolution (640x400). The user must select whether the program will only create the outline of the object or whether the program should attempt to automatically fill the imported object with faces. Group - This command creates a group consisting of at least two objects. To create a group, click on the axis of the object which will be the parent of the group, hold down the shift key and click on the remaining objects to be included in the group. Select this command and an orange line will be drawn from the parent to its offspring. UnGroup - This command will split the selected group into its component objects. Cut - Removes the currently selected object or group from the worksurface and places it into the copy buffer. The object will remain in the copy buffer until another object is copied or cut. Copy - Makes a copy of the selected object or group and places it into the copy buffer. The object will remain in the copy buffer until another object is copied or cut. PAGE 20 Paste - Copies the contents of the copy buffer onto the worksurface. Because Paste places the new object in the exact same location from which it was copied, you must move the original in order to reveal the duplicate. Attributes - In order to define an object's appropriate color and material values, pick it and select this item. The Attributes Requester contains all the information necessary to define the final appearance of an object. Object Name - Each object in Imagine may have a unique name. If two axes or other similar primitives are created during the same session, Imagine automatically numbers them, ie SPHERE and SPHERE.1. It is highly recommended that you rename each object descriptively, ie NOSE or RT_FOREARM instead of AXIS.27. Fastdraw - Selecting this switch replaces your object with a bounding box. This is helpful when working with complex groups or when refresh speed is critical. Phong - this tells Imagine's shader whether the current object is to be smooth or faceted. Default is faceted. Color - To se the current object's surface color, se- PAGE 21 lect this switch and then enter a value for Red, Green and Blue. Values may be typed or selected interactively with the color sliders. Because Imagine calculates images at up to 24 bits per pixel, the program allows the user to select from 256 values per color. A dithered representation of the color is shown at the right of the requester. Note: in true raytrace mode, the rendered surface color is highly dependant on reflectance, filter and other surface information. Reflect - Select this switch to define your object's reflectance values. Imagine allows the user to set independant values for Red, Green and Blue reflectance. This feature allows an object to reflect only certain portions of the color spectrum. Setting the RGB values too high (above 150) may result in objects which are too reflective and therefore nearly invisible. True reflectance is available only in Trace mode. Imagine also enables reflectance of more than on color value with the Reflect map. See Brush for more details. For solid model rendering, Imagine offers environment mapping to simulate reflection. See Globals in the Stage Editor. Note: in raytracing, an object's reflection has greater influence over its rendered color that the object's surface color setting. Filter - Objects in Imagine may be transparent for all or part of the color spectrum. Select Filter and set the appropriate values for Red, Green and Blue. True transparency is available only in Raytrace mode, although Scanline will approximate transparency with less precision. It is also possible for objects to filter more than one color. For more information, see Filter Map under Brush. Specular - This setting determines the intensity and color of hot spots on an object's surface. Specularity is the degree to which light in a certain part of the color spectrum is reflected off the object without being absorbed. Settings of 255 on the Red, Green and Blue sliders would result in a very de- PAGE 22 fined, white highlight as most computer graphics users have come to expect. Selecting a specularity setting which is closer to the object's surface color will result in a more natural highlight. Dithering - For objects rendered at Amiga resolutions, dithering is an extremely useful blending technique which simulates many more colors than are actually present. Selecting this switch activates the value slider. The higher the setting, the greater the dithering. Generally, most objects should be highly dithered. Metallic surfaces, however, are more convincing with much lower dithering values. Note: objects intended for 24-bit output should have NO dithering. Hardness - This value interacts with the specular setting described above. An object's hardness describes how light is spread out across its surface. Hard objects with high specularity will have small, very bright highlights. Lowering the hardness value spreads that specular highlight out over a larger portion of the surface. Roughness - An object's roughness also affects its appearance by spreading out surface highlights and giving objects a rough, textured appearance. Roughness is useful for creating rock-like surfaces. Shininess - A high shininess setting gives objects a glossy, plastic appearance. Index of Refraction - Light bends or refracts when it passes from one material to another. Each material has a specific index of refraction. The default setting is 1, the index of refraction of air. Below are some common materials and their indices: Glass: 1.66 Crystal: 2.00 Water: 1.33 Salt: 1.54 PAGE 23 Quartz: 1.55 Emerald: 1.57 Diamond: 2.42 Generally, the higher the index of refraction the longer the trace time. Note: index of refraction is only applicable when raytracing objects with some filter value. Texture - A texture map is an algorithmic pattern that is applied evenly across an object's surface. Imagine includes various types of textures, including wood, checks, disturbed, etc. Each object can have up to four texture maps applied to its surface. To apply a texture, click on one of the four texture boxes in the attributes requester. This calls up a file requester. Load the texture you ish to apply. The Texture Info Requester appears. The name of the currently selected texture appears in the Name box. Selecting Apply to children will apply texture attributes to all objects in the group. Below this are 16 entry areas for specific texture information. Enter only the areas which apply to your currently selected texture. To determine exactly how the texture is applied to your object, select Edit Axes or Transform Axes. With Edit Axes, you will be returned to the editor surface, where you can interactively rotate, move or scale the axis which represents the texture. Transform Axes presents the Transformation Requester, PAGE 24 allowing changes to be entered numerically. Selecting OK saves the settings, while Drop strips the Texture from the object. Cancel forgets all changes and returns to the Attributes Requester. Brush - Brush mapping is a powerful technique for describing every aspect of a surface except its basic shape. Each object may have up to four brush maps applied simultaneously. Applying a brush map is similar to Texture mapping (see above). All brush maps begin with an IFF or ILBM picture. Imagine supports the following kinds of brush maps. Color Map - Graphics created in any IFF or ILBM paint program may be imported and decaled onto an object's surface. The color map replaces all color, reflectance and filter information entered in the attributes requester. Specularity and dithering settings will affect the appearance of the mapped object. Generally, low dithering settings will maintain the integrity of the original brush. Reflect Map - Multi-colored objects reflect light from different portions of the color spectrum. The reflect map allows Imagine's raytracer to reproduce this phenomenon by overriding the single color reflectance values set in the attributes requester. For example, a red, green and blue striped Christmas ornament would reflect red light from its red stripes, and blue from its blue strips, etc. When a multi-colored IFF brush is applied as a reflect map, the colors in the brush each reflect light within their color spectrum. With reflect maps, it is a good idea PAGE 25 to set the object's surface color to 0, so that the surface ans reflectance values don't mix to create a third unpredictable value. (Note: reflect maps will have no effect in scanline mode.) Altitude Map - Creating regular, pitted surfaces is very difficult in a polygonal object modeler like Imagine. The altitude map enables the user to design a contoured surface with an IFF paint program and causes the triangles of the mapped object to conform to the map's gradations. To create an altitude map, design an IFF picture with a grey palette. Areas of the picture which are white will not affect the mapped object. The darker the area, the more pronounced the effect on the object. Scaling the map axis on Y determines the extent of the map's impression. As an example, assume your map's Y axis is set to 20. Those areas of the map which are black will force the surface polygons they contact to indent for 20 units. A middle gray tone would result in an impression of 10 units. For the altitude map to work properly, color transitions in the IFF picture should be as smooth as possible. Therefore, several middle tones should always separate black and white areas. Filter Map - The filter map is similar to the reflect map, because it replaces the single colored filter value of the attribute requester with multiple filter values. Begin with an IFF picture, wrap it to an object as a filter map and each different color in the picture will filter that light. For example, create a stained glass pattern in a paint program and map it onto a plane to create easily the effect of a stained glass window. (Note: filter maps are most effective in trace mode, but will work to some extent in scanline mode.) To apply a brush map to an object or group, select Brush from the Attributes requester. A file requester will appear. Load the appropriate IFF or ILBM file. From the Brush Info requester, select the Type of brush map and the Method of wrapping. Flat X and Flat Z apply the brush to the respective PAGE 26 axes without attempting to conform it to the object's shape. Wrap X and Wrap Z attempt to mold the brush around the object's respective axes. Any combination of X and Z settings may be selected. Picking Apply to Child Objects will wrap other members of the group. Edit Axes and Transform Axes present interactive and numeric methods of positioning the brush relative to the object being wrapped. (Note: for an object to be wrapped properly, the brush axis must be scaled to the correct aspect ratio of the original and sized large enough to cover the entire surface of the mapped object.) Internal Genlock - Choosing this setting will render the object in the zero color so that genlocked video images will be visable behind it. Load/Save Attributes - Once a desirable set of attributes are created, they can be saved directly from the attributes requester. A file requester will appear asking for an appropriate directory and name and the program will record an axis with all the current attributes. This axis can be loaded at any time and its settings will be automatically entered into the attributes requester. Transformation - Selecting this command presents the user with the transformation requester. To use the requester, click in the action indicated tothe left and enter the appropriate numeric value in the x,y and z entries to the right. Select World to base the action on the world's fixed axis or Local to base the PAGE 27 action on the object's or group's variable axis. Selecting Transform Axis Only will not affect the object or group, except for its axis of rotation. Rotate - This revolves the group, object or axis by the amount indicated in each of the x,y and z entries. A value of 360 in any of the axes would indicate a complete revolution. Scale - This increses the group or object's size on any axis by the indicated amount. For example, a value of 2 on local x axis would double an object's width. Translate - This moves an object, group or axis be the indicated amount on any axis. For instance, entering -20 in the Z axis would move the object -20 units in the Z direction. Alignment - After a series of rotations, it is often difficult to tell how your object or group is oriented. Selecting alignment presents the current orientation of each of the axes. Selecting 0 for all three local axes would return an object to its original orientation. Size - This command only affects an object or group's axis. The default size is 32 on x,y and z. Resizing an object's axis is sometimes necessary if you wish to see its local orientation more clearly in the orthogonal views. Position - Select this to determine the exact location of your object. When a new axis is loaded, its default location is 0,0,0. Once an object is created, moved and saved, it is loaded at the position where it was saved. World - this setting bases rotation and alignment upon the world's fixed axis. In this manner, x can always be considered left to right, z up and down and y in and out in the PAGE 28 front view. Local - This setting bases rotations and alignment on the objevt or group's axis. Even though an object has been rotated, it may still be stretched by entering the desired value in the appropriate axis and selecting local. Transform Axis Only - All changes selected in the Transformation Requester may be applied only to the object or group's axis with this setting. Mold - This menu item is selected when you wish to extrude, spin or sweep an object or conform it to a sphere or cylinder. Extrude - To create a solid object from a two dimensional outline, select this item. Outlines may be extruded along the Y axis in a straight line for a given distance or may follow a three-dimensional path. To Length - This is the default setting, most useful for making "cookie cutout" shapes like letters, etc. Length - This value determines the depth of the extrude in Y. Along Path - Select this to have the outline extrude along an existing path. Path - Enter the name of the path which you wish your outline to follow. Align Y to Path - Select this if you wish your outline to turn naturally along the path. This creates rounded corners. Keep X Horizontal - Paths in Imagine can rotate along any axis. Select this setting if you wish to maintain the X orientation of your outline. Y Rotation - In extruding your object, you may wish to rotate it along the Y axis. Enter the degree of rotation in this requester. X and Z Scaling - Your extrusion may taper in either or both the X and Z directions. A value of 1 represents no scaling. X and Z Translate - The extruded object may be translated in either or both the X and Z directions to give a sheared appearance. Enter the amount of units, positive or nega- PAGE 30 tive, which the object offsets in each direction. Sections - This setting represents the number of slices in the extruded object. If you don't intend to individually color or manipulate the extruded portion of your object, you may wish to set this value to 1. Spin - Symmetrical objects which appear to be spun on a lathe are created with this tool. All spins are executed along the Z axis. Spin Angle - This setting determines the degrees of rotation about the Z axis. An amount of less than 360 degrees will result in an open object. # of Sections - This defines the number of segments in the spun object. The greater the number of sections, the smoother the finished appearance of the object. PAGE 31 Sweep - This tool is funtionally similar to spin. The main difference is that points along the Z axis are anchored as an object is swept. Sweep Angle - Determines the degree of rotation along the Z axis. # of Sections - Sets the number of line segments in the swept object. Conform to Sphere - This tool bends an object along its X and Z axes around a user-defined radius. Conform to sphere is a very handy tool for creating objects like globes with acurate map data. The principal behind conform to sphere is similar to taking a flat sheet of paper an stretching it around a ball. Although it is possible to wrap the ball completely, the back side of the sphere will not be as "tidy" as the front hemisphere. To verify this, try conforming a 100x100 plane around a sphere by setting the sphere and object radius to 100 and 25 repectively. This is the "perfect" conform, but notice that the four corners of the plane intersect behind the sphere. This will most likely be unaccepatable; therefore, we suggest conform to sphere is used with objects that don't have regular corners like a plane. Sphere Radius - Set the radius of the sphere around which you wish to bend your boject. Generally, the radius should be about twice the width of your object's radius. PAGE 32 Object Radius - Set this value to one half the object's overall width. Conform to Cylinder - This tool twists an object along its Z axis around a user-defined radius. This is very useful for creating effects like the Universal Studios logo, which stretches around the Earth. Unlike Conform to Sphere, Conform to Cylinder does not distort the object along its x axis. By rotating the axis of the object to be conformed along y, interesting effects may be achieved because the object conforms at an angle. Cylinder Radius - For the object to conform completely around the cylinder, set this to one-fourth the object width. Object Width - For the object to conform around the cylinder for 360 degrees, set this to one-half the object width. Skin - This command allows you to create objects based on a series of cross-sections. The cross-sections must be individual objects and must have the same number of points and no faces. Pick all the objects to be skinned and then select this command. Imagine will automatically connect the selected cross-section with faces. Make Path - Place a series of axes on the PAGE 33 worksurface. Rotate the axes on Z so that their Y axes travel in the desired direction of a path. Pick all the axes in the order in shich you wish the path to proceed and select Sort from the Pick/Select menu. With all the axes still picked, selecting Make Path will convert them into a unique path object. Make Closed Path - This command is used like Make Path, but it connects the first and last axes into a closed loop. Slice - To perform a boolean operation between two objects, place them in the proper alignment for the procedure, ie have a tube bisect a sphere. Pick the object being sliced, hold the shift key and then pick the object cutting the slice. Selecting this command will call up a Cancel requester. Note: this procedure may take some time, depending on the complexity of the objects! Once the operation is performed, the objects will be redrawn as a group consisting of the two original objects and the many components sliced by the operation. Ungroup this collection and delete the pieces you don't need. Occassionally, you will receive an error message concerning the intersection of points or edges. Move or scale one of the two objects to avoid overlapping edges or points in order to resolve this condition. Mode Menu  Pick Menu - A click on the parent object's axis will select all other objects in that group. Pick Objects - In this mode, clicking on any object will select it independently of any other objects in its group. Pick Faces - Once an object is selected, entering this mode allows you to cycle through the various feces which comprise the object. Pick Edges - With the object selected, enter this mode to PAGE 34 cycle through the object's edges. Pick Points - Individual points of the selected object may be picked in this mode. Add Faces - This mode allows you to create faces on the selected object. Click on any three points and they will be joined by edges to create a triangular face. Add Edges - After entering points, use this mode to connect them with line segments. After clicking on the first two points, the program will assume that the next point selected is attached to the first two. If you wish to select two unrelated points, enter pick objects mode and return to add edges mode. Add Points - After an axis or object is added to the worksurface, add points to it by selecting it and entering this mode. For each mouse click the program adds a point. In order to accurately place a point in three dimensional space, it is necessary to position it in more than one view. Position your cursor in the appropriate position in the top, right or front views, enter add point mode and click in the other corresponding view. Add Lines - This mode combines Add Points and Edges modes. Each point added to the surface is automatically connected by an edge. Drag Points - To manipulate points interactively, pick the object you wish to edit and select Drag Points from the Mode menu. The object will change color and all the points will be indicated by white squares. Click on the point you wish to move and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the point. The selected point will turn yellow and all the edges and faces attached to it will move with the cursor. To drag more than one point at a time, hold down the shift key and select the various points you wish to drag. Without releasing the shift key, move PAGE 35 the mouse to another location and press and hold the left mouse button. Release the shift key and the multiple points will spring to the cursor. The points will not be released until the left mouse button is released. Hide Points - While in Drag Points mode, select this command to reach points that might otherwise be obscured. Hide Points allows you to draw a box around the area which you wish to remove from your view. All those points within the area you defined will vanish and remain hidden until you return to Pick Object or Pick Group mode. Magnetism - While in Drag Points mode, you may affect the magnetic attraction of your pointer. On/Off - This sub-menu toggles the magnetic mode on and off. When magnetism is activated, the status bar will read "Drag Points, Magnetic." Setup - Select this sub-menu to enter magnetism parameters. Radius of Influence - This value indicates the maximum area which the magnetic mode will affect. Minimum Radius - This setting only takes PAGE 36 effect in Random Mode (see below). Percent at Radius - This value, from 0 to 100, represents the amount of magnetism at the furthermost point within the radius of influence. Magnetism Types - There are four magnetism types available: Cone creates a pronounced peak at its center; Dome creates a flat plateau at its center; Bell creates a typical bell curve; and Random Radius is used with any of the above settings to create random shapes based upon the setting for minimum radius. The latter is useful for making mountain-like forms out of a flat plane. Functions Menu  Delete - This command will delete the currently selected obect or group. Join - To combine several objects into one, pick the desired objects and select this command. The new object will retain the axis of rotation belonging to the first object selected. Joining objects will not affect their color information, but most other attributes will default to the parent object's. In order to have objects with various attributes of smoothin, etc., it is advisable to use the Group command. Snap to Grid - Selecting this command will cause any picked items to jump to the nearest grid intersection. The effect of Snap to Grid varies upon the current editing mode. Add Axis - Thi is the most basic object in Imagine. Each object must have an axis, which represents its center of rotation. PAGE 37 To create a new object, first add an axis, select it and then begin adding points, edges and faces. An axis may also serve as a light source and camera target. Add Sphere - The sphere is a primitive object which may not be edited. The sphere may be sized, but it may not be scaled in less than three directions at once. The sphere is very memory efficient and traces rapidly. If you need a globe in your scene which won't be needed for anything else, this primative is a good choice. Add Ground - The ground is a primative which stretches for "infinity" in the x and y axes. THe ground has no z value. Its default location on z is 0, but it may be placed anywhere in that axis. Add Primitive - Imagine will allow the user to create six editable primitive types. With primitives, as in all objects, the more points and faces, the better the rendering. Unfortunately, adding more points than necessary may slow down the rendering process and users with limited memory may be severely handicapped. The primitive objects are: Sphere - This sphere is entirely user definable and may be scaled at will. Radius - This is half the sphere's diameter. Default value is 50. PAGE 38 Circle Sections - This value is equal to the number of points in the sphere's circumference. The greater the number, the smoother the sphere. Vertical Sections - These represent the cross-sections or slices in the sphere. Stagger Points - This setting offsets the points in each vertical section and dramatically improves rendering. Tube - This primitive is a simple cylinder object. Radius - Set this to half the tube's diameter. Height - This is the tube's extent on the Z axis. Circle Sections - Adjusting this number determines the number of segments that make up the tube's shape. The greater the number PAGE 39 of sections, the smoother the tube. Vertical Sections - If you desire to break your tube into sections or color it in different strips, you may wish to alter the default number of vertical sections. Stagger Points - This setting alternates the points in each vertical section, enhancing rendering. Close Bottom/Top - The default setting for the tube is hollow. If you wish to close it, select either or both of these settings. Cone - A cone is a primative comprised of a group of points which converge at one location. Radius - This is half the diameter of the base of the cone. Height - This is the extent of the cone on the z axis. Circle Sections - the number of points in the cone's base. Vertical Sections - The cone may be bisectes any number of times to facilitate coloring PAGE 40 or editing. Stagger Points - This setting alternates the points in each vertical section, enhancing rendering. Close Bottom - By default, the base of the cone is open, choosing Close Bottom automatically triangulates the base. Torus - The torus is a donut-shaped primitive. Ring Radius - This value represents half the diameter of the torus' center ring. Tube Radius - This value is half the diameter of the rings which revolve around the torus' center. Ring Sections - This is the number of points in the center of the torus. Tube Sections - This is the number of points on the torus' surface. Stagger Points - This offsets the points on each subsequent tube section to enhance rendering. PAGE 41 Disk - A disk is a simple ring primitive with faces already defined. Radius - Half the disk's diameter. Sections - The number of points in the disk's circumference. Plane - A flat rectangular primitive useful as a surface of any kind. Width - The plane's size along x. Height - the plane's size on z. Horizontal Sections - THe number of points along x. Vertical Sections - The number of points along z. Pick/Select Menu PAGE 42 Pick All - Picks all the objects currently in the Detail Editor. Home - This command selects the first object loaded in the editor. Select Next - This command cycles through objects in the order they ere added to the editor. Select Next can also affect point, edges and faces in those appropriate editing modes. Select Prev - This command cycles through objects in reverse. Select Prev can also affect point, edges and faces in those appropriate editing modes. Pick Select - After an object is selected with one of the above commands, Pick Select allows it to be transformed. UnPick Select - This returns a picked object to be selected. UnPick Last - Particularly in multiple select mode, it is sometimes necessary to unpick the last object selected. Use this command to do so without affecting the other picked objects. Sort - When in multiple select mode, use this command to sort the objects, points, edges or faces in the order in which you just selected them. This command is especially significant in creating a path. See Make Path. Find by Name - This command presents a Name Requester. Enter the name of the object you wish to select. The views will center the object and the object will be selected and ready to be picked. Find by Requester - Selecting this command presents a PAGE 43 requester that lists all objects currently in the editor along with pertinent size information. Click on the group or object you wish to select and the orthogonal views will automatically center it on your screen. Interactive Transformations  The Detail editor has various interactive transformation commands available at any time with a single keystroke. These commands only affect selected objects or groups. After typing the appropriate keystroke, the object will become an orange bounding box until the spacebar is depressed to accept the change or the escape key is depressed to abort it. Rotate (r for object/group, R for axis) - Use the mouse to move the object in up to three axes in the appropriate view. Move (m for object/group, M for axis) - Use the mouse to move the object in up to three axes in the appropriate view. Scale (s for object/group, S for axis) - use the mouse to scale the object in any combination of axes. x,y,z - Typing these after r,m or s toggles the respective axes on and off. X,Y,Z - Typing these after r,m or s turns on the respective axis while automatically turning off the other two. Spacebar - Accepts the result of the transformation. The bounding box is replaced by the object in its new orientation. Escape - Aborts the transformation. The object is restores to its original status. THE CYCLE EDITOR PAGE 45 Object Menu  New - This command places a new axis on the worksurface and places you in Add mode. Load - Select this command to load a group previously created in the Cycle editor. Objects from Forms or Detail may not be loaded from this requester. Save - This requester saves a group with its cycle animation data so that it may then be loaded into the Stage editor. Pick Menu  Group - Selects the entire group. Object - Allows selection of an individual object within a group. Mode Menu  Pivot - Enter this mode and select an individual segment. Pivot allows left to right and up and down rotations of a segment in any of the three views. Twist - This mode rotates the segment selected along the vertical axis in any of the three views. Move - Use this setting to translate the group in any of the views. Selecting the control point of any segment with move allows you to scale the segment to any size. Add - To add segments to an axis or group, enter this mode. Each segment must connect to the axis or another segment in the group. To maintin the same x, y and z PAGE 46 orientation as in Detail and Forms, add segments top to bottom in the Front view, left to right in the Right view an bottom to top in the Top view. Delete - Enter this mode and select the control point of the segment you wish to delete. This deletes the segment and any offspring. Assign - Clicking on the control point while in this mode summons a requester which allows you to assign an existing object from Forms or Detail to a particular segment. The same object may be assigned to more than one segment. Imagine auto-scales the object according to the size of the segment. De-Assign - It is sometimes possible to inadvertently assign an object to a segment placed on the screen as a spacer. Selecting De-Assign allows you to delete the assigned objects from the segments you pick. Call Menu  First - This takes you to the first frame in the cycle. Last - Skips to the last frame in the cycle. Next Key - Jumps to the next frame identified as a key frame. Prev Key - Jumps to the previous key frame. Goto - Selecting this command allows the user to set the number of frames in the cycle. The current key frame is copied into all the newly created frames. PAGE 47 Next - Forwards to the next frame in the cycle. Prev - Steps to the prior frame in the cycle. Make Key - Select this command to make the current frame a key cell. Changes to this frame are recorded automatically each time one is made. Unmake Key - Use this command to delete a key frame from the middle of a cycle. Imagine will interpolate between the previous key frame and the next key frame to calculate a new position for the current frame. Copy From - Copies a key frame from one position in the cycle to another. Enter the number of the key frame you wish to copy. The current frame must have been declared a key frame for Copy From to work. Remove - This command deletes the first or last key frame from a cycle. Snapshot - Any frame in a cycle may be saved out as an individual object with this command. Goto the desired frame and select Snapshot. A file requester will ask for a disk destination and filename. Animate Menu  Make - This command creates a wireframe preview of your current cycle. Free RAM - Once you have viewed and animation, select this command to clear it from RAM. Play Once - Plays the cycle once. Play Loop - Plays the cycle various times and presents the PAGE 48 user with a timing requester. Play Big - Select this item prior to playing back your preview. The animation will be displayed full screen. To access the animation timing requester, drag down the animation screen with the left mouse button. Animation Controler - While your animation preview is playing back, this timing requester gives interactive control of speed of playback. Stop pauses playback at the current frame. Step advances the animation by one frame. Back rewinds the animation one frame at a time. Rewind takes the preview to the first frame. Status Line  The title bar in the Cycle Editor contains vauable information regarding your current cycle, including the current frame number, its status and the current mode. For instance, if your status line reads "Cell 0*, Add," it means your current frame is 0, it is a key frame and you are currently in Add mode. THE STAGE EDITOR PAGE 49 Object Menu  Load - To load an "actor" object onto the stage, select this command. Normally, actors will be loaded in the first frame of an animation; however, if you wish to have an object "pop" into your scene, go to the specific scene and then select Load. Objects may also be added as actors in the Action script (see Action). Add Axis - Virtually all objects used in the stage will have been created previously in the Detail, Forms or Cycle editors. An Axis is added when either a tracking or hinging object is needed (see Action for more information on these actors). Add Light - Places a light source in the current frame. It is advisable to add light sources from the Action script. Add Open Path - Selecting this command presents a file requester. Enter the destination and name you wish to assign to this new path. The path is first loaded as a straight line consisting of two points. To edit this path, enter Edit Path mode (see below). Add Closed Path - This command functions in the same manner as Add Open Path, btu the path added is a closed loop. Rename - For the purpose of clarity, any actor may be renamed with this command. Select the object or group, choose Rename and the New Name requester will appear. Clear out the name you wish to replace and type in the object's new name. Press Enter to accept your change. Objects may also be renamed within the Action script. Delete - This command deletes an object from the animation. Use caution with this command because no matter what frame the command is invoked, the object or group is PAGE 50 removed from the entire animation. Action - The core of the Stage editor's animation controls are located within the Action Script editor. Selecting this command loads the Action Script. The Action Script screen presents all the information necessary to create even the most complex of animations. Across the top of the screen are Action commands. Beneath these is a frame counter. Each block in the frame counter represents ten frames. In all, the counter may display 50 frames at a time. As the Highest Frame # is increased, frame numbers appear in the counter. A slider at the bottom of the screen allows the user to scroll the counter to access frames which are off the current screen. Along the left side of the screen are the Actors in the current animation. To the right are the six control channels available for each actor. As information is entered for specific actors in each of these control channels, a colored timeline extends for the number of frames in which the actor is affected. Much of the animation control of the Action Script is possible to duplicate interactively in the Stage editor. Some effects like point and attribute metamorphosis, for example, are PAGE 51 impossible without the Action Script. Add - With Add selected, Actors, Positions, Alignment, Size, Hinge and F/X timelines may be added to the current animation. As the mouse cursor moves around the screen, frame numbers and control channels are highlighted. Clicking once at the intersection of a particular frame with a given control channel adds a timeline at the specific frame. Bear in mid that control channels are somewhat hierachical. Position, alignment and size are irrelevant if an actor has not been added. To add and actor to the Action script, select add, move the cursor down to the first available actor position at frame one. Click once with the left mouse button. The title bar will read: "Starting frame is 1. Choose ending frame." If you have changed the Highest Frame #, click once on the last frame. If you haven't added any frames, click again on frame 1. The Specify Type requester will appear. Select Normal Object. Now select the object you wish to add from the file requester. The Object File info requester appears. Select OK. Timelines for actor, position, alignment and size are automatically added for the frames you declared. Delete - Control channel timelines may be deleted by selecting and clicking on the appropriate line. PAGE 52 This is necessary if you wish to change any of the default settings for action channels of fixed actors like the camera and globals. Rename - Selecting rename and clicking on the object name in the left column will bing up the New Name requester. Clear out the old name and type in the new one. Accept the changes by pressing Enter. Rename is very helpful when keeping track of the various elements of an animation. Try to use logical names like "Target" for the camera's tracking object. Info - This command returns the actor, position, alignment and sizing info requesters for the respective control channel. Each timeline may be shortened or lengthened by adjusting the start and end frame values. All changes made to the info requesters will be reflected in the final animation. Cancel - If you are unsure about the changes you have made to the animation within the Action Script, selecting Cancel exits the script without any changes to the existing animation. Undo - This command undoes your last operation. Done - Selecting this item returns the user to the Stage editor. All changes made in the Action Script will be reflected in the animation. Highest Frame # - Enter the number of frames in your animation in this requester. Entering a number lower than is currently displayed will automatically cut excess frames out of your animation and adjust all timelines accordingly. Actor - These are the objects or groups which make PAGE 53 up your animation. When you first enter the Action script, the camera and globals are already present. These are "fixed" actors. A fixed actor's various timelines do not need to extend beyond the first frame of an animation to exist throughout. But the various timelines are useful for these actors, and enable "morphing" effects like camera moves and zooms and global sky and horizon color changes. When an actor is added, the user is prompted to click on the last frame where the actor appears. In most instances, this is the last frame of the animation. Start and end frames may be changed at any time. Next, the Specify Type requester appears. Imagine distinguishes between two types of "variable" actors: normal objects and light source. These actors are only present in the frames indicated by their Position channels. Normal Object - Selecting this item from the Specify Type requester brings up a file requester. Once the user selects the object he wishes to load, the object file info requester appears. Start/End Frame - The start and end frames represent the frames the user selected when adding the actor. These may be changed at any time. Imagine will prompt you if the frame number you select is outside the number of frames declared for your animation. PAGE 54 Filename - The complete path and filename for your actor is listed in this space. Number of cycles to perform - This item is meaningful for cycle objects created with the Cycle Editor. For example, assume that you have an object with a ten- frame cycle. If you have a 30-frame animation, you could enter 3.0000 and your object would repeat its cycle three times. If you have an uneven frame count, like 27 frames, Imagine will re-tween the cycle so that it will play out three times over the 27 frames. If you enter only 1.0000, the cycle will be tweened once over 27 frames. If you leave this entry at 0.0000, the first frame of the cycle would be repeated over the entire animation. To force Imagine to play the cycle as you designed it, divide the number of frames in your animation by the cycle's frame count. In other words, for a 10 frame cycle to play out accurately over 27 frames, it would play 2.7 cycles. Initial cycle phase (0.0...1.0) - This entry allows a cycle to begin somewhere other than the first frame. For example, an entry of .5 would start a ten-frame cycle during its fifth frame. Reverse cycle motion - Selecting this switch will force the cycle to play backwards. Other cycle-related settings will still take effect. PAGE 55 Transition frame count - The setting represents one of the most powerful animation controls in Imagine. The transition frame count is the number of frames it will require to morph one object into another. To acheive a smooth object transition, assume you have created a 30 frame animation. Add an actor only in frame one. Then add the second actor on the same line in frame two through 30. Enter 28 in the transition frame count. The actors' points and color attributes will morph from frames two to 29. (Note: for morphing to be possible, the starting and ending objects must be comprised of the same number of points!) Smaller number in the transition frame count will result in a quicker morph. A transition of one would cause one object to "pop" to another. Light Source - The other variable actor which may be added to an animation is a light source. Imagine supports up to 32,000 light sources in a scene and these can be spherical, cylindrical or conical. Lights may or may not cast shadows. Light sources may also be morphed to different colors. A light PAGE 56 source must be present for Imagine to render a scene. Start/End Frame - The start and end frames represent the frames the user selected when added the actor. These may be changed at any time. Imagine will prompt you if the frame number you select is outside the number of frames declared for your animation. Spherical - A spherical light is an omni-directional light source, similar in effect to a light bulb. Cylindrical - A cylindrical light is defined by two mesurements: its length (y) and radius (x). The cylindrical light is similar to a spotlight. Only those objects which fall within its path are illuminated by a cylindrical light source. To set the size of a cylindrical light, select it's Size channel. The z parameter has no effect on the light source. Conical - A conical light source is also defined by its length and radius, but the light emanates from a single point at the light's origin. Cast Shadows - Not all light sources in Imagine cast shadows. To speed trace times, the default for light sources is no shadows. Selecting this item will cause any of the different light sources to cast shadows in full trace mode. Diminish Intensity - Light sources PAGE 57 may exhibit attributes of lamps or suns with this command. The default setting means that the light emanating from the source is equally bright no matter how far the target. Selecting Diminish Intensity means that the light will have reduced influence the further it is from an object. Red/Green/Blue Intensity - Light sources may be colored in any of 16.7 million shades. The default setting for light sources is white. Be careful of using colored light because it's effects are hard to predict. Transition frame count - Light sources may morph in color, intensity or shape. To understand how to morph an object, see Transition fram count under Normal object. Camera - The camera is treated as a "fixed" actor. Even if the Action Script shows the camera only in the first frame of an animation, the camera will continue in the same position for the entire length of the project. All other actor controls (position, align, size, hinge and f/x) may be applied to the camera. Globals - These settings define the world in which you place your animation or scene. Globals are also a "fixed" actor. Any global settings designated only in the first frame will continue for the entire length of the animation. Global settings may be "morphed" by placing a second set of global information later in the animation and setting an appropriate transition frame count. While in Add and Info mode, selecting the Globals actor produces the Globals Info Requester. PAGE 58 Start/End Frame - The default end frame for globals would be the last frame of the scene; however, setting an earlier number allows transition effects. If a second Global actor isn't added following the last frame, the first actor's settings will be applied through the end of the animation. Brush Name - In order to simulate reflection in scanline rendering mode, you may load an IFF/ILBM picture that serves as the sky, horizon and ground you wish to reflect. This brush will automatically be mapped onto the surface of objects with some amount of reflectivity in their attributes. This gives a convincing sense of reflection, but remember that the objects will only reflect the "environment," not one another. Ambient R,G,B - This setting allows you to create an ambient light of any color. Use ambient light sparingly, as it tends to wash out the image. In addition, colored light will affect the rendered appearance of your objects. Horizon R,G,B - Choose a color between 0 and 255 on the red, green and blue sliders to set PAGE 59 your horizon. +Zenith R,G,B - Assuming that you are looking at your fromt view, this setting allows you to choose the colors of the top-most portion of your scene. -Zenith R,G,B - From the front view, this setting selects the colors below the horizon. Sky Blending - Imagine takes the color settings for horizon and positive and negative zeniths and creates a color gradation. This value may be set between 0 and 255 for maximum dithering (blending). Users who wish to create 24-bit images should not use any blending. Genlock Sky - If you wish to superimpose your imagine images over live video, selecting this setting will make the zeniths and horizon black or Color 0. (Note: although they won't be visable, zenith and horizon settings will affect the appearance of reflective objects!) Star Field Density - See release update for details Transition Frame count - If you add a globals actor after frame one of your animation, use this setting to control the amount of frames between the two global settings. This feature makes it possible to create sunrises and sunsets, lightning and other natural phenomena. Bear in mind that color transitions can be unpredictable. Getting a smooth color shift may require creating intermediate settings with additional global actors. PAGE 60 Posn. - The position control channel is necessary for every actor on the stage except globals. Whenever an actor is added to the stage, a position timeline is added automatically. This position channel conveys the precise final location of the axtor's axis in the animation. If you wish to have an actor follow a path, you must Delete the default timeline and then Add a new position channel. This brings up the Specify Type requester. The user must then select Follow Path (see below for more information). For simpler movements, you may select Tween Position. Tween Position - Selecting tween position brings up the POsition Info requester. Start/End Frame - These numbers represent the first and last frames goverend by the position timeline. These may be edited at any time. End Frame Position Values - This is the location of the actor's axis in the last frame of the timeline. To translate an actor for a specified distance without creating a path, you must do the following: PAGE 61 Declare the highest frame #. Add the actor for frame 1. If necessary, modify the actor's position channel with the Info command (see Info). On the same Actor channel, Add the actor for frames 2 through the end of your animation. Make your transition number equal the total number of animation frames less two. Add a position channel for frames 2 through the end of your animation. Select Tween Position from the Specify Type requester. Enter the final position of the actor. When you render the animation, your actor will move smothly from his starting to stopping position. Follow Path - The process described above is effective when wishing to translate an object over a simple distance, but Follow Path represents a much more powerful method of assigning actors to complex motion paths. When selected, the user is presented with the Follow Path Info requester. PAGE 62 Start/End Frame - These entries represent the frames in which the actor will begin and end its travel along the path. Path Name - Enter the path name in this requester. The path must be added as an individual actor! Children follow parent object - Selecting this item will ensure that objects within a group will follow the path at an equal distance from the group's parent object. Align - This control governs all rotational alignment of your actors. This might be as simple as having an actor rotate on the z axis over the course of an animation of as complex as banking, pitching and yawing as it follows a path. The alignment channel also controls tracking objects. This type of alignment is selected in the Specify Type requester. Tween Alignment - This is the simplest method to set alignment. The degree of rotation entered will be immediately reflected on the Stage editor. If two alignment settings are entered, the pro PAGE 63 gram will "morph" those settings over the number of frames designated. Start/End Frame - These entries represent the number of frames in which the actor will be governed by the alignment settings. End Frame Position Values - Set the appropriate degree of rotation for the actor's x,y and z axes. Align to Path - If an actor is assigned to a path, this command will rotate the object along global z in order to keep the actor moving "forward." Without path alignment, a character whose path suddenly veers left will slide to the left instead of turning. If the path turns left again, the character will be travelling "backwards." Start/End Frame - This designates the first and last frames in which the actor aligns to a path. Keep Y horizontal - Most often, objects will rotate along x when following a path, like a car riding up a hill. However, some objects remain horizontal as they move alog, like helicopters. This command forces the actor to maintain its horizontal alignment. PAGE 64 Track to Object - This command will most often be used with the camera, where it is desirable to have it fixed on some specific target. Track to object is also valuable if you wish an objet to remain at some fixed position relative to another which is moving. Start/End Frame - These are the first and last frames in which the actor will be tracked. Object Name - This is the name of the object which is being tracked. The object must be unique and must exist in the script for tracking to take effect. Initial/Final Y Rotation - While an object is being tracked, the tracker (usually the camera) may rotate along its y axis. These values represent the degrees of rotation along that axis. Size - Actors may be scaled dynamically throughout an animation with this control. For the camera, size represents focal length, which may also be modified. PAGE 65 Start/End Frame - These are the first and last frames in which the actor will be sized. End Frame Size Values - These represent the axis at the end of sizing. For the camera, focal length si determined by the x and y settings. Y represents the distance from the focal point. A setting of half the Y value in X would return a normal focal length. Larger settings for X result in wider angle camera views. Smaller X values present telephoto camera views. Hinge - The hinge is an actor which constricts movement of the hinged object. For exampe, if a moving object is hinged to a stationary object, the moving actor will be constrained by the hinge and move in a parabolic arc about the hinge. The further the distance between the actor and hinge, the larger the arc. The smaller the distance, the tighter the arc. Start/End Frame - Select the beginning and ending frame of the hinge effect. Hinge Object - Designate the name of the actor which will serve as the hinge. The actor must exist as part of the current script for the hinge to take effect. F/X - These controls are separate, programmable routines which will be released peridically by Impulse. The first available F/X is Explade, which literally breaks an object apart PAGE 66 into its component triangles. Contact Impulse for more information on ordering F/X. NOTE: See the release update for more information on the three included F/X routines, Explode, Grow and Ripple. Selecting done in the Action Script will return you to the Stage Editor. Note that many of the position and alignment controls of the Action Script are possible interactively on the Stage. Bear in mind that interactive changes must take place at the last frame of any existing timelines. In other words, if your object is tweening from one position to the next over 30 frames, changes entered at the Stage in Frame 2 will be ignored. Changes to the final position will cause the entire animation to be re-tweened. Transformation - Selecting this command presents you with the transformation requester. To use the requester, click in the action indicated to the left and enter the appropriate numeric values in the x,y and z entries to the right. Select world to base the action on the world's axis or local to base the action on the group's axis. Selecting Transform Axis Only will only transform the group's axis of rotation. Rotate - This revolves the group or axis by the amount indicated in each of the x, y and z entries. A value of 360 in any of the axes would indicate a complete revolution. Scale - This increases the group's size on any axis by the indicated amount. A value of 2 on x would double a group's width. Translate - Moves a group or axis by the indicated amount in any axis. Entering -20 in the Z axis would move the group -20 units in the Z direction. Alignment - After a series of rotations, it is often difficult to tell how your group is orient- PAGE 67 ed. Selecting alignmnent returns the orientation of each of the axes. Selecting 0 for all three axes would return a group to it's original orientation. Size - This command only affects a group's axis. The default size is 32 on x,y and z. Position - Select this to determine the exact location of your group. When a new group is loaded, its default location is 0,0,0. Once an object is created, moved and saved, it is reloaded at it's last position. World - This setting bases rotation and alignment on the world's fixed axis. In this manner, x can always be considered left to right, z up and down and y in and out. Local - This setting bases rotations and alignemtns on the object or group's axis. Even though a group has been rotated, it may still be stretched by entering the desired value in the appropriate axis and selecting local. Transform Axis Only - All changes selected in the Transform Requester may be applied only to the group's axis of rotation with this setting. Snapshot - It is sometimes desirable to select a specific frame within an animation and save it to disk to be modified or rendered individually. Go to the desired frame and select Snapshot. A file requester will allow you to enter a destination and filename. PAGE 68 Mode Menu  Pick Groups - This is the default mode of operation for the Stage Editor. Children of groups may not be manipulated individually on the stage. Edit Path - With a path selected, entering Edit Path mode will allow you to interactively reposition or align the path's component axes. When paths are first loaded, they consist of two axes. In Edit Path mode, pick the axis you wish to transform and used the keyboard controls to move, rotate or scale the path as needed. Pick/Select Menu  Home - This command selects the first actor added to the stage. Select Next - This command cycles through actors in the order they were added to the stage. Select Prev - This sommand cycles through actors in reverse. Pick Select - After an object is selected with one of the above commands, Pick Select allows it to be transformed. UnPick Select - This returns a picked object to selected state. UnPick Last - Particularly in multiple select mode, it is sometimes necessary to unpick the last object selected. Use this command to do so without affecting the other picked objects. Find by Name - This command presents a Name Requester. Enter the name of the object you wish to select. The views will center the object and the actor will be selected and PAGE 69 ready to be picked. Find by Requester - Selecting this command presents a requester that lists all actors on the stage along with pertinent size information. Click on the group you wish to select and the orthogonal views will automatically center it on your screen. Path Menu  Save Path - In Path Edit mode, selecting this command will save the selected path to disk. Split Segment - Select this command and then click on one of the axes comprising your path. A new point will be added to the path midway between the two existing points. This new point may be modified using the keyboard commands to move, scale or rotate this segment of the path. Delete Point - Selecting this command will delete the next point you click upon in the path. A path must consist of at least two points; therefore, this command will not function on a path consisting of only two axes. Frame Menu  First - This command jumps directly to the first frame of the project. Last - This command jumps to the last frame of the project. Next - Select this command to advance to the next frame of the project. Prev - Choose this item to rewind one frame in the project. Goto - Selecting this item presents a frame number PAGE 70 requester. Enter the specific frame you wish to view. Animate Menu  Make - This command creates a wireframe preview of your current cycle. Free RAM - Once you have viewed an animation, select this command to clear it from RAM. Play Once - This plays the cycle once. Play Loop - Plays the cycle various times and presents the user with a timing requester. Play Big - Select this item prior to playing your animation preview in order to see a full screen playback. Slide down the preview screen in order to access the animation controller. THE CONFIGURATION FILE PAGE 71 Included on your Imagine program disk is a file called Imagine.config. This is the configuration file which allows you to customize the program's interface to your specific needs. To customize your configuration file, load it into a text editor, such as ED, which is located on your Workbench disk. The config file shipped with Imagine reads as follows: PPTH "" # path for Imagine.pic LOAD F # flag-load all modules LACE T # flag-interlace editors GRON T # flag-grid on/off BWLN T # flag-do lines in "B&W shade" COLN T # flag-do lines in "Color shade" BWLC fff # line color in "B&W shade" COLC fff # line color in "Color shade" BGRD 555 # background color FGRD ccc # edge color PNTS fff # point color SPNT 6f6 # selected point color SPPT ff6 # selected picked point PPNT f66 # picked point color SLCT f80 # selected edge color PICK 66f # picked edge color PRNT f6f # group lines color SPCK c6f # selected picked edge CUBE fc0 # cube color BAND fc0 # rubberband color GRID 666 # grid color NUMS 3 # number of screens to use in Make Movie FD01 650 # detail editor: function key 1 FD02 660 # detail editor: function key 2 FD03 670 # detail editor: function key 3 FD11 650 # detail editor: shifted function key 1 FD12 660 # detail editor: shifted function key 2 FD13 670 # detail editor: shifted function key 3 PAGE 72 FS01 540 # stage editor: function key 1 FS02 550 # stage editor: function key 2 FS03 560 # stage editor: function key 3 FS11 540 # stage editor: shifted function key 1 FS12 550 # stage editor: shifted function key 2 FS13 560 # stage editor: shifted function key 3 PSET HAM,320,200,6,7,HAM# preset PSET Overscan HAM,352,220,6,7,HAM# preset PSET Laced HAM,320,400,12,7,HAM|LACE# preset PSET Overscan-Laced HAM,352,440,12,7,HAM|LACE# preset PSET Firecracker 384,384,482,12,7,HAM|LACE# preset PSET Firecracker 768,768,482,6,7,HIRES|LACE# preset PSET Firecracker 512,512,482,9,7,HAM|LACE# preset PSET Firecracker 1024,1024,482,9,14,HIRES|LACE# preset preset(8 max) To change your configuration, simply modify the value to the right of the four letter command. Comments following a # symbol are disregarded by the program. PPTH currently defaults to the directory from which Imagine is launched. If you wished to place your Imagine.pic file in volume DH1: in the 3D directory, the command would read: PPTH "DH1:3D" LOAD, LACE and GRDN each expect true or false values. Enter T for true and F for false. The following settings all relate to Imagine's interface colors. Entries are written in hexadecimal notation. The first value represents the red component of the color, the second is green and the third value is blue. Each color has 16 levels, from 0 to f. PAGE 73 The configuration file also allows you to customize the function keys so that up to 20 additional commands may reside on the keyboard per editor module. Those lines in the config file which begin with F are function keymaps. The next letter is the editor name. The next two digits represent the function key number, 01 to 20. To assign a menu item to a function key, give the menu number, the number of the command within the menu and its position in any sub-menu. For example, to assign Function key 6 as the Attributes command from the Detail editor, the entry would read as follows: FD06 390 # detail editor: function key 6 The final set of items in the cinfiguration file is a series of eight presets for rendering modes. Additional presets may not be added. Modify the presets by giving a descriptive name, resolution and aspect ratio. KEYBOARED EQUIVALENTS PAGE 75  The following is a list of keyboard equivalents for each editing module. Use of these hotkey combinations is highly recommended, as it will greatly enhance your efficiency with the program. The time savings these equivalents represent easily offset the time to memorize them. For your convenience, each equivalent is listed alongside its command in the appropriate menu. SEE FILE HOTKEYS.TXT FOR HOTKEY LIST!! END OF MANUAL Well, that about wraps that up. Sore fingers at 3 in the morning again! Look for the Imagine 1.0 Tutorial Manual, coming soon! Also, for updates, check the Imagine_1.0_Updates file!! Some of the updates were incorporated in this file, but not all. Until next time!! NEUROMANCER LEADER OF THE NEURONET