****************************************************************************** * * * ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** ** ***** * ***** * ***** ***** *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***** ***** ***** * * * ***** * * * * 3D Modeler Version 1.2 * * * ****************************************************************************** Instructions ------------ These have got to be as brief as possible as I hate writing instructions. What are you doing reading them anyway ? No one reads instructions. Ok. Here is a brief tutorial for the 3D modeler : What is a DEM file and what the hells a Colourmap ? --------------------------------------------------- A DEM file stands for Digital Elevation Model, and is a file containing survey style information about the formation of a landscape. DEMs can be artifically generated using clever maths, or can be of real landscapes, from satelite surveys etc. A Contour display of a DEM is available in the modeler. When this is displayed, the user can use this to point and click at locations for the camera and target etc. If the landscape is bigger than can fit on the screen, the arrow keys can be used to scroll around the landscape. A Colourmap is a file that Fracscape generates to provide colouring for the landscape. The colourmap is generated from heights specified by the user eg. Tree Height, Snow height, Water Height etc. and information on how the scene is illuminated by the sun. This Image is then used mapped onto the surface of the DEM when rendered. The colourmap is not calculated at Render-Time so that the same maths is not repeated when doing animations or several views of the same landscape, speeding up rendering times. The Colourmap can be displayed and used in the same way as a Contour display. Virtual & Installed Landscapes ------------------------------ The modeler has the capability of doing all its calculations using just the file on a disk, hard-drive, ramdisk etc. allowing the user to generate landscapes larger than can fit in ram. Unfortunately, even in the ramdisk, the rendering is slow. When rendering images with the camera facing some directions, the device must fly around the file, instead of accessing it in a device buffer. This causes a massive speed decrease, and makes hard drives etc. do an impression of an AK-47. To eleviate this to some extent, use the `addbuffers` program in the C directory. The larger the landscape, the larger the buffer has to be to stop this happening. Alternatively, for people with memory, a memory installation facility is provided allowing Fracscape to internally allocate a memory space to load the file into. This allows relatively faster rendering by about X 3. Rendering Times --------------- As an example, a 257x257 landscape of roughly Vista size will take on average, about 45 minutes. I am well aware that the 3D modeler is SLOW. However, don`t look at other fractal landscape program`s rendering times in comparison. Most of them don`t have to worry about rotations ect. and certainly not messing around with virtual access. About Memory Requirements ------------------------- The original spec. for Fracscape meant that Floatpoints had to be used to store the landscape data. This means that landscapes take up twice as much memory as itegers would (which is what everyone else uses to do landscapes with). The memory requirements are as follows, for each recursion level : Rec. Level | Memory DEM (Bytes) | Memory C map (Bytes) | Total -----------------------------------|--------------------------------- | | | 1 | 46 | 18 | 64 2 | 110 | 50 | 160 3 | 334 | 162 | 496 4 | 1166 | 578 | 1744 5 | 4366 | 2178 | 6544 6 | 16910 | 8450 | 25360 7 | 66574 | 33282 | 99856 8 | 264206 | 132098 | 396304 9 | 1052686 | 526338 | 1579024 + SBM The modeler is around 190k, and the super bitmap is ~163k, so that has to be added on. (The super bitmap is only brought into play when needed. Thus, I expect Recursion levels 1-7 will work on a 512k machine, 1-8 on a 1MB machine, and 1-9 on a 2MB machine. In any future versions, I may increase the maximum recursion level to cater for the big machine users. oo-er. Super Bitmaps are only used when the landscape is larger than can fit on a normal display. The 3D Modeler will try to access CHIP memory to use for an appropriately sized bitmap. When the display is cleared, or a Generation is canceled, the super bitmap is freed, giving memory back to the system. Users with the Enhanced Chip Set should have more use for this. REMEMBER : If you can't fit it on the display, you can still render it. Just set up the camera configurations etc. manually, and render it. An overview of the Menu Options : --------------------------------- Project Menu: Display DEM This option allows the user to display a DEM file or installed DEM as a contour display. If a DEM is installed, a requestor will appear, asking if it is this DEM to be displayed. If the DEM is larger than the screen, use the arrow keys to scroll around it, even while the display is calculated. Once a contour map is displayed, the Set Camera and Set Target etc. options are avilable. Press left mouse button to quit displaying at any time. The requestor to enter a value for height colour optimization, allows you to enter the heighest approximate height in the landscape, to allow the contour routine to display, using colour palette across the whole range of heights. Note that Negative heights are NOT contoured, and are displayed in the colour used for the lowest height. Display Colourmap This option allows the user to display a colourmap file or installed colourmap. Once the colourmap is displayed, it can be used by the Set Camera & Set Target options etc. Press left mouse button to quit at any time. Don't try a Vista DEM because they're not compatible. Display IFF Pic Allows the user to show a 32 colour IFF image as generated by fracscape. Clear Clears the current 3d modeler display. Install DEM Allows installation of a DEM file. Any current DEM installation will be erased. Don't try loading A Vista landscape, they're not compatible ! Install Colourmap Allows installation of a pre-generated colourmap. Any currently installation will be erased. Remove Inst. Erases current DEM & Colourmap installations freeing memory for background tasks. Save DEM Fracscape Saves a currently installed DEM in Fracscape DEM form. Save DEM Vista Saves a currently installed DEM in Vista DEM form. Save Colourmap Saves a currently installed colourmap. Eg. most useful when a colourmap is generated to an installation but not a disk. Install Info Displays any currently installed DEM & colourmap showing dimensions and memory usage. About The best bit. Shows the credits. Quit Quits the program. Any installed DEMs will be lost, and the memory given back to the system. a key short cut is CTRL-C. General Menu : Set Band Levels Activates a screen allowing the user to set the band heights ie. Tree Base (below is 100% trees) Tree Line (above is 100% bare ) Snow Line (above is 100% snow ) Sea Level (below is 100% water) All must be set before the Generate Colourmap option is used. The Sea Level must be set before rendering an image as it is not recorded in the colourmap. Write it down on a piece of paper or something. Set Phys. Scales Simply allows the distance between sample points to be set. Eg. try 30 for 257x257 landscape. Must be set before generating a colourmap so that light sourcing is accurate. Must also be set before a landscape is rendered. If the camera or target has been specified before this parameter is set, the program will optionally re-map these to preserve the correct camera view. Config Camera Activates a screen allowing direct editing of the camera's coordinates and rotation values. If a Target has been set and the coordinates or height of the camera is altered, the camera's rotation values will automatically be recalculated to track the target location. The camera's focal length can also be adjusted. This must be used with caution, as wierd results can be the result of a wierd value. I use 300. Set Camera If a DEM contour or colourmap is displayed, this provides camera configuration by pointing at the desired location. The height at this point will be retrieved from the DEM file / installation and automatically adjusted to raise the camera off the landscape surface a little (~30 feet). If a target location has been set already, the camera's rotation values are recalculated. Set Camera can be used on partially displayed Contour displays or Colourmap displays ie. when the display has been quitted, even on areas that are not displayed. Set Target If a DEM contour or colourmap is displayed, this provides target location configuration by pointing at the desired location on the map for the target. This is the point that the camera will look at. It can only be set if the camera has been set. Set Target can be used on partially displayed Contour displays or Colourmap displays ie. when the display has been quitted, even on areas that are not displayed. Set Lightsource Activates a screen allowing the setting of light source information. A series of circles is displayed with some icons. A line is displayed, indicating the direction of the light source. The length of the line indicates the angle of attack. These two values can be set directly by pointing to a location in the circles, or alternatively, click on the icons to allow direct editing. Some preset directions are at the bottom, ie. North South East West. The Lightsource must be set before the Generate Colourmap option is selected. However, it need not be set before rendering an image. Cols Menu : Set 3D Palette Activates a screen allowing palette mixing for the 3D image. To edit a colour, click on it, and use the RBG icons to edit it. A range of each shade must be created for each band and other details. Set the darkest shade at the top of each bands range, set the lightest shade at the bottom, and use the Spread function to create a smoothish transition. Dont worry too much if it does not look too smooth, as this can often create good looking texturing in final images. The default colourmap can be altered by remixing the palette and saving it over the old one in the FS_Data directory using the Save 3D Palette option. Load 3D Palette Loads a pre saved 3D palette file. Save 3D Palette Saves the current palette to a named file. Effect Display Once a new palette has been remixed, Effect Display can be selected to change the main screen's colours to show the new palette. This is for use when a colourmap is currently displayed. Generate Menu : Render 3D Activates a new screen allowing general information to be defined, eg. NTSC/PAL, Normal/Overscan etc. If trees are required in the image, these can be toggled. The trees dimensions cna also be set. Tree Height is the height of the tree from the top of the trunk. The tree rise is the height of the trunk. The width is the width of the green area of the tree. Trees will always appear rounded, so animations of flying through a valley will be fine. When OK is selected, rendering will commence. To stop rendering, press a mouse button to show a requestor. If a DEM is installed, the user has the option of using this DEM or a disk based DEM. Generate Colourmap Generates a colourmap of a DEM file using information provided in other menus. If a DEM is installed, the user has an option as to whether this one is used. A colourmap can be generated to an installation, to disk, or to both at the same time. I would recommend an installation if youve got the memory, as its faster. Once an Installation has been generated, it can be saved to disk using the Save Colourmap option. When the colourmap is being generated, it is displayed on the screen. If larger, the display can be scrolled around with the arrow keys, while the colourmap is being generated. If you want to quit generation, the mouse button produces a requestor. Once fully generated, the display can be used with Set Camera & Set Target etc. Fractal DEM This option allows the generation of a DEM to an installation. Parameters must first be set, and then the landscape is generated. The algorithm used is a traditional recursive type. The landscape is displayed as it is generated, as a contour display. If the final landscape is to be bigger than the screen, use the arrow keys to scroll around during generation. To quit generation, a mouse key produces a requestor. Fractal Dimension= Approx Maximum height of landscape Fractal Index = Amount the landscape diminishes Recursion Level = Alters ultimate size of DEM Peak Percentage = liklihood of peak or trough SEED = value used in maths to create a different landscape for each seed (+ or -). There's billions! Anim Menu : Open Sets up a script file ready for camera points. This must be done first. If the file alreay exists the new camera settings will be added onto the old settings. Add This adds the current camera settings to the script file. Add Auto Allows camera points to be pointed to and clicked in the usual fashion, in succession, to speed up script file creation. To exit, press the right mouse button. This option will recalculate rotation to provide target tracking, and calculates height to provide terrain hugging motion. Execute Executes a named script file. Height Filter Activates a page allowing you to specify how the Add Auto function deals with the camera's height. It allows you to toggle between Set Height, where the specified height is constant, or Ground Hugging, where the camera tracks the terrain, a specified height above it. This needs to be set before generating a script file. About the Recursion Level ------------------------- The level may be a value from 1-9, generating landscapes 3x3 to 513x513 respectively. The complete table is shown here : Recursion Level | DEM Dimensions ---------------------------------------- | 1 | 3 x 3 2 | 5 x 5 3 | 9 x 9 4 | 17 x 17 5 | 33 x 33 6 | 65 x 65 7 | 129 x 129 8 | 257 x 257 9 | 513 x 513 Remember : You can always render bigger DEMs virtually (if youve got the data or the full package). About Animations ---------------- To create an animation, do the following : 1) Have your landscape displayed, with the correct physical scale set. 2) Select Height Filter from the Anim Menu & Set it to the desired effect. 3) Select Open on the Anim menu to open a script file. 4) Set the target for the camera to track, if required. 5) Either : a) Set up the camera config for each frame, and select Add from the Anim menu. b) Select Add Auto from the Anim menu, and repeatedly click on locations for the camera. Press the right mouse button to exit this mode. 6) Select Execute from the Anim menu. Answer the questions and the animation rendering will start. The IFF files output will be named : Prefix.1, Prefix.2 Prefix.3, .... Prefix.n where Prefix is the specified Base name. Make sure there's enough room on the disk or Ramdisk for all the images ! If you want to take a break from the A590's Fan or you need the machine back for a while, press a mouse button during rendering and quit the animation render. SAVE THE IFF's somewhere safe before using the machine, if in RAM: To commence rendering, edit the script file in a text editor, and comment out all the frames already generated, using ; (colons) as the first letter on the left. You must comment out everything from the unwanted frames. Restart the Fracscape 3D modeler, set it up as it was before, remembering to set the Physical Scales and sea level. Select Execute from the Anim menu, and give it the edited script file. Quick Start Tutorial -------------------- Here's a quick start to render a single Fractal image : 1) Select Fractal DEM. Set the dimension to 2500 Set the index to .5 Set the Recursion level to 7 Set the Peak Percentage to 50 Set the Seed to any value A 129x129 fractal landscape will now be generated to an installation. 2) Select Set Bands. Set the tree Base to 1000 Set the tree line to 1500 Set the snow line to 2200 Set the sea level to 300 Select EXIT. 3) Select Set Physical Scales. Set the scale to 20 to provide exagerated lighting. 4) Select Set Lightsource. Set the Angle to 90 (east) and set the attack to 5 degrees. (Low to the horizon from the east). 5) Select Generate Colourmap. Answer questions and generate to installation. 6) Select Set Physical Scales. Set the scale to a proper 60 to give correct looking dimensions. 7) Select Set Camera. 8) Select Set Target. 9) Select Config Camera. You can edit this as you want. I usually increase the height. Note if you select an area over water, you need to edit the height before rendering, or you`ll be going for a swim. 10) Select Render 3D. Answer the questions. Use the Installed DEM. Select Trees On. Set the tree height to 50 Set the tree rise to 2 Set the tree width to 20 Select OK. 11) Make the Tea. Do the washing. Go to bed with someone etc. 12) Name the image to be saved in IFF format. 13) Select Display IFF and look at your image ! About the Fractal Creasing Problem ---------------------------------- Fractal surfaces that are generated using a recursive algorithm of area subdivision, as alot of generators do (including Vista), suffer from a problem known as 'crasing'. It is not too aparant on contour map displays, but when looking at a colourmap, especially when a light source is at one of the 45 degree multiples, creasing can often look quite bad. Visually, they just look like horizontal and vertical lines in the landscape. There are ways of generating fractal landscapes without these, and any future version of the 3D modeler or full package will incorporate one of these methods. (The full package already has a virtual file generator that does not produce creases). Technically the problem us due to 'Frame' dependancy, a residue of the fractal geometry used to generate the landscape. However, when generating a 3D rendering, it is often not atall aparant. Top Tips from the techhead -------------------------- * I like a focal length of 300 * Use the following physical scales in relation to dimensions when rendering: 33x33 : 240 65x65 : 120 129x129 : 60 257x257 : 30 513x513 : 15 * Use a smaller physical scale before generating a colourmap, as it produces prettier colourmaps with exagerated lightsourcing. * Rendering is substantially faster if the camera Z rotation is zero, because of new optimization routines that come into play. * If you want to view the landscape externally from the left hand side or the top, your gonna have to set the coordinates using config camera. * Whenever you can, avoid rendering using virtual files, its very slow. * If rendering using a virtual file, use addbuffers to increase the device buffer, speeding things up, and reducing machine gunning. * If the machine crashes when generating a fractal landscape, it is probably because the stack size was not big enough and the recursion overflowed it. To stop this, use the 'Stack' command on the Shell to give it more space. Alternatively, generate a smaller landscape. * If you can, use real survey DEM files theyre much better. * To access the workbench screen, hold down Amiga-A keys. Hold down again, to get back to the 3D Modeler. * To quit at most points in the program, hold down CTRL-C. Animation --------- I know the script file system is not very easy to work with, or very versatile, but it was created with another program in mind ie. a flight path generator, which would output compatible scripts. I doubt very much if this will be written, but stuff like linear flight path generation may show up on any future versions of the 3D Modeler. I may even make the script file routines Vista compatible, allowing compatibility with MakePath published by Virtual Reality Labs. I have done some 70-80 frame animations using the modeler, and they have come out quite nice. If I can do it I am sure you can. Bugs ---- Yuk. Must admit there aren't really any bugs I know of, just lots of design problems !. Here are some don'ts : * When the program starts up, the screen will sometimes go black and do nothing. This is a bug in the Amos system. If you hold down Amiga-A to view the workbench screen, and then again, it usually starts ok. * Error trapping is pretty bad, so don't give it a file other than the type asked for, or it will not like it. Treat the program gently. * Don't give the icon editors silly values or the 'Redo from start' will appear. * Very occasionally (something like 1 in 500) the modeler will crash the machine completely. This is due to a bug in Amos's polygon routines. I have incorporated a routine that will trap most of the offending polygons, but some may still do the job. * Sumimasen to all NTSC users. If a future update arises, there will be a full NTSC version. **************************************************************************** Ok. Hope y'all like the program. Ive spent more time playing with it than programming it. Feel free to send any comments, bug reports or anything to the address in the Readme.DOC file