#Release 2 Raytracing?
7 messages in this thread
Hm.. 3DS files to direct ray tracing in Big D? Would this do animation?
With only DXF input now, it seems to me that the entire program might have
to be changed to support the keyframer info from the 3ds file. Otherwise,
would you have to make a 3ds file with a different starting position for
each object? That would seem rather tiresome and almost impossible. But
it sounds like a good idea if it would do animation.
Aaron
Aaron,
I'm just beginning to look into a 3DS link, so I'm not sure yet what kind
info about the keyframer is available through either the 3DS file format or
through IPAS.
Maybe someone else could jump in here with an answer (hello, Gary?).
Dennis Bragg
I don't really know much about release 2 yet, so I could be just guessing
here, but maybe an IPAS (I believe that's what the 3ds language is called)
program could be written to write each frame in an animation out to
multiple dxf files. Then, Big D could be used to raytrace the animation.
By the way, what format does big d output to? Targa would be my guess, but
it's just a guess.
Aaron
Aaron,
From what I've heard, IPAS is probably the only way we can ray trace an
animation. I have some research to do.
BIG D outputs to 8 bit PCX and GIF, and 16/24/32 bit TARGA formats.
Dennis Bragg
Thatnks for the info. I've been thinking a little about Big D, and I don't
quite understand how it works. Is it just a command line renderer that you
just pass the dxf file to? The DXF format doesn't contain any info at all
about materials. Does it have it's own material editor, or something like
it?
Aaron
Aaron,
BIG D includes a Motif-based graphical interface which lets you set up
views in wire-frame mode and locate light sources. Materials are assigned
to layers in the DXF file. Material properties and other rendering options
are controlled through dialog boxes.
The renderer can also be run in batch mode through a script files. BIG D
also supports the Animation Took Kit, a set of AutoCAD lisp routines for
simple walk-through and kenetic animations.
Dennis Bragg
Thanks for clearing it all up. Can't wait to get my demo copy.
Aaron