### # # # ##### # #### # # # ###### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #### # # # ##### # # # ##### # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # # # # # ## ## ### # # # #### # # ###### # # # # ### # # #### ###### ##### ### #### # # # # # # # # # # #### ##### # # # #### # # # # ##### # # # # # # # # # # ##### #### ###### # # #### ##### # # # # # ##### ###### # # # # # # # # #### # # # # # ##### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ##### #### # ##### ###### Version: 2.39 Table of Contents: Chapter 1. Introduction. Chapter 2. Installing the Software. Input Devices. Mouse Buttons. Loading IRISVIEW. Environment variables. File-type Rules. Chapter 3. Using IRISVIEW. The Command Palettes. Loading a Drawing: The File Palette. Manipulating a Drawing. Reset. Pan. Zoom. Rotate. Tilt. Walk. Constrain. Display Options: The Display Palette. Background Colors. Mouse Sensitivity. Viewing Projection. Rendering Mode. Best Display. Lighting a Drawing: The Light Palette. Individual Light Sources. Ambient Light Source. Drawing Layers: The Layer Palette. Scripting: The Script Palette. Creating a Recording. Playing Back a Recording. Saving a Recording. Loading a Recording. Editing a Recording. Erasing a Recording. Creating an Output File: The Output Palette. To save an output file Features and Limitations Appendix A. Preparing Drawings for Use with IRISVIEW. AutoCAD Drawing Layers. AutoCAD DXFOUT Command. AutoCAD Font Files. Autodesk's AME Package. CADKEY Drawings. Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts. Appendix C: Command Line Syntax. Appendix D: Known problems. Chapter 1. Introduction. IRISVIEW allows you to render and manipulate 3D images, in real-time, from drawings created in AutoCAD or other CAD programs. With IRISVIEW's special scripting feature, you can even record your work for later playback. IRISVIEW features include: - Display of 3D images with smooth (Phong and Gouraud) shading, flat shading, hidden line, and wireframe modes. - Eight individual colored light sources. - An ambient light source. - Intensity controls for both the ambient and individual light sources. - Orthographics and perspective views of your drawing. - Viewing controls allowing you to pan, zoom, rotate, tilt and walk through your drawing. - Recording and playback of anything occurring within the display area of IRISVIEW. - Output files in PostScript (including Encapsulated) and HPGL vector formats as well as PICT and RGB image formats. A drawing must be in Autodesk DXF format in order to be used with IRISVIEW. If the drawing is in any other format, you must first use your CAD software or utility to convert it to DXF format. For example, if you're using AutoCAD, open your drawing with AutoCAD and then issue the DXFOUT command. It may then be used with IRISVIEW. NOTE: Do not export the drawing as "ENTITIES-only" (DXFOUT E option) when using AutoCAD's DXFOUT command or IRISVIEW will not be able to display the drawing properly. For additional information on preparing drawings for use with IRISVIEW, please consult the Appendix to this guide. Chapter 2. Installing the Software. In addition to the application software, the installation media contain a number of 3D DXF files for you to experiment with. If you wish to create additional drawings to use with IRISVIEW, you'll also need a CAD program, such as AutoCAD, that can create DXF files. To install IRISVIEW: Select the IRISVIEW item in the installation menu. Input Devices. IRISVIEW uses the system pointing device for input. If this device has more than one button, all buttons perform the same function in IRISVIEW with one exception: the Walk functions uses a second mouse button (if present) for greater precision and control. Loading IRISVIEW. Within the directory where you installed IRISVIEW, type: irisview and press . After a moment IRISVIEW appears on the screen. IRISVIEW will accept a number of command line options. Invoking IRISVIEW by: irisview -h will display a a help screen. This help screen will contain information on all options available. A few more common options are listed below. Invoking IRISVIEW by: irisview -f filename.dxf will start IRISVIEW with the specified drawing already loaded. Invoking IRISVIEW by: irisview -g 640,480 will start IRISVIEW with the specified graphics window size. This is useful if you want a specific size for image output, for example. Invoking IRISVIEW by: irisview -d 0 will start IRISVIEW with the hardware dithering disabled, which is useful if you are going out to video. Hardware dithering is used to simulate additional colors and shades, especially in double-buffer mode. Often the dithering pattern in parts of the scene will create undesired noise in the video signal. Invoking IRISVIEW by: irisview -u 5000 will start IRISVIEW so that it updates the screen every 5000 drawing entities while reading the drawing. This is useful when loading very large drawings. The default setting is 250 entities. With large drawings (many thousands of entities) you'll noticed the load time getting slower, as first 250 entities are drawn, then 500 and so on. Invoking IRISVIEW by: irisview -v 63 will start IRISVIEW in a verbose mode where it will print many informative messages. If you run into a drawing that does not read properly, enabling the verbose mode may help in diagnosing the problem. Chapter 3. Using IRISVIEW. After you've loaded IRISVIEW into your computer, the main screen appears with a display area, a row of buttons along the top, and a column of buttons along the right side of the screen. Figure 3-1. IRISVIEW main screen. Clicking one of the buttons along the top of the screen displays a command palette. These palettes are used to: - Bring drawings on the screen. - Determine how the drawings are displayed. - Create recordings of your work. - Create output files for printing. The buttons along the right side of the screen are used to move and manipulate an on-screen drawing. There is also an EXIT button in this column that allows you to leave IRISVIEW. A small indicator light appears on the left side of each button on the main screen, except the EXIT button. When a button is clicked, the indicator light "turns on" to indicate that the button is selected. Figure 3-2. Button indicator light. This type of button also appears in many of the IRISVIEW command palettes. While IRSIVIEW is processing, a "wait cursor", in the shape of an hourglass, is displayed. You'll need to wait a moment until this cursor disappears before making another selection. The Command Palettes. A command palette appears when you click one of the buttons along the top of the screen. The button indicator light remains on while the palette is displayed, and only one palette may be on screen at any one time. The palettes all have two important control features as illustrated in Figure 3-3. Figure 3-3. Palette control features. Window Title Bar. Pressing and dragging on the window title bar allows you to move the palette around the screen. Initally, all palettes appear centered in the display area. The next time the palette is displayed, it will "remember" the position it was in the time before. Close Box. Clicking the close box (upper left hand corner of palette) closes the palette window, removing it from the screen. In order to display a new palette, you must first close the one you are currently using. You must also close any on-screen palette before using one of the buttons along the right side of the screen. Loading a Drawing: The File Palette: IRISVIEW displays both 2D and 3D DXF files; of course your view of the file is limited to the dimensional information it contains. You can't see a 2D file in three dimensions. Files are loaded into IRISVIEW using the File palette. The palette appears when you click the File button on the row of buttons across the top of the main screen. Figure 3-4. File palette. IRISVIEW currently allows you to display one DXF file at a time. Loading a new drawing automatically closes the one currently open. You may use the File palette to change directories, as well as to open and close drawing files. Note: The File palette will already be on the screen when IRISVIEW first appears. To load a file: 1. Click the file button to display the File palette. 2. Click to select a DXF file from the list on the palette. 3. Click Open or double-click on the filename. After a moment the selected file appears in the display area, and the File palette automatically closes. Notice that the display area is refreshed after about every 250 entities are read from the DXF file. To change directories: Directory names are followed by a "/". To open a directory, click the directory name and then click Open. The File palette will then list the files contained in that directory. If you wish to re-read a directory's contents, simply click the Open button, being sure that no item is selected in the file list. To go up a directory, click "../" at the top of the list (unless you are in the root directory) and then click Open or double-click on the directory. To close a file: 1. Click the File button to display the File palette. The name of the file currently loaded appears highlighted in the file list. 2. Click Close. You are now free to open another file. Camera Lens Control: The LENS slider bar in the lower right hand corner of the File Dialog allows you to adjust the "camera lens" that is applied while in the Perspective View mode (selected in the Display Dialog). This setting must be made prior to reading in a drawing and has no affect after the drawing has been read. The default setting is designed to approximate the view that was in affect when the DXF file was written. The "Macro" setting allows you to widen the field of view and is useful for "walking" by buildings, etc. The "Zoom" setting is useful in cases where the default view is too close to the object. Manipulating a Drawing: Drawings are manipulated using the control buttons along the right side of the screen, just below the Exit button. You'll need to close any palette that might be open on the screen before using any of the control buttons. Figure 3-5. Control Buttons. Reset: Clicking Reset resets your drawing to the state it was in when you first opened the drawing in IRISVIEW. This is very useful if your drawing disappears from IRISVIEW's display area while you're using the control buttons. Pan: The Pan control allows you to move the drawing across the screen. Drag the pointer in the direction of the desired movement within the display area as illustrated in Figures 3-6 and 3-7. You may also select Pan mode by pressing the F7 key on your keyboard. Note: To "drag the pointer", hold down the mouse button while moving the mouse to reposition the on-screen pointer. A crosshair appears on the screen whenever you press the mouse button while the pointer is in IRISVIEW's display area. Figure 3-6. Pan left and right. Figure 3-7. Pan up and down. Zoom: The Zoom control allows you to move your point-of-view closer to the object (zoom in) or farther from the object (zoom out). Drag the pointer upward to zoom in, downward to zoom out. You may also select the Zoom mode by pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. Note: The concept of zooming has no meaning in an orthographic view, so the Zoom control scales the object bigger and smaller, instead. Rotate: The Rotate control allows you to rotate your drawing horizontally (around the Y-axis) and vertically (around the X-axis). Drag the pointer in the direction of the desired rotation as illustrated in Figures 3-8 and 3-9. You may also select the Rotate mode by pressing the F9 key on your keyboard. Figure 3-8. Rotate vertically. Figure 3-9. Rotate horizontally. Tilt: The Tilt control allows you to turn the drawing around the X and Z axes. Tilting around the Z-axis "pinwheels" the drawing. Drag the pointer up and down to turn your drawing around the X axis. You may also select the Tilt mode by pressing the F10 key on your keyboard. Figure 3-10. Tilt around the X-axis. Drag the pointer left and right to turn your drawing around the Z-axis. Figure 3-11. Tilt around the Z-axis. Walk: The Walk control allows you to walk around and through your drawing. In order to achieve this flexibility, Walk works somewhat differently than the other controls. You may also select the Walk mode by pressing the F11 key on your keyboard. Walk uses a second mouse button, if your mouse has more than one. The second mouse button referred to here can be any button in addition to the left one. If you press a second mouse button at the same time as the left mouse button, the action initiated by the second button takes precedence. If you're using a one-button mouse, you'll need to use IRISVIEW's other controls to achieve the same functionality as the second mouse button. Walk displays a view of your drawing as seen through an imaginary camera. The "camera view" is controlled by positioning the screen pointer. This powerful feature allows you to approach an object in your drawing, and then tilt the camera view up and down. Some aspects of Walk may take some getting used to. For example, when you move the camera view to the right, the drawing seems to move to the left because the camera is "walking by the drawing". Although dragging the pointer is the best way to move through your drawing, the Walk control is sensitive to your pointer's position within IRISVIEW's display area any time you're pressing the mouse button, whether or not you're dragging the pointer. The crosshair can be used as a reference for positioning the pointer, as it visually divides the display area into four quadrants. With only the left mouse button pressed down, positioning the pointer does: - In the lower half of the screen, tilt the camera down. - In the upper half of the screen, tilt the camera up. - In the right half of the screen, pan the camera to the right. - In the left half of the screen, pan the camera to the left. With a second mouse button pressed down, positioning the pointer does: - In the lower half of the screen, walk away from the object. - In the upper half of the screen, walk towards the object. - In the right half of the screen, pan the camera to the right. - In the left half of the screen, pan the camera to the left. Constrain: The Constrain button that appears below the five control buttons allows you to restrict the effect of a control button to either the left/right or the up/down pointer movement. Clicking Constrain toggles the button on and off. You may also select the Constrain mode by pressing the F12 key on your keyboard. For example, with Rotate selected, click the Constrain button to toggle it on. Now drag the pointer in the direction of the desired rotation, and the Constrain feature restricts the movement to that axis. The Constrain feature remains in effect until you click the button again to toggle it off. Also, in determining the axis to constrain motion to, Constrain detects, from your initial pointer motion, the direction of of greatest motion. You should take care to move the pointer approximately horizontal or vertical initially, so that this determination can be made correctly. If the wrong axis is selected, simply release and re-press the mouse button to start again. Constrain does not work with Zoom, since there is only one axis to begin with. Therefore the button does not appear if Zoom is selected. Centering your drawing about an arbitrary point: If you would like to change the point in space about which your drawing rotates or tilts, you can use the following technique. Make sure you are far enough away (Walk backwards) from your drawing to see it all. Then, with Constrain mode enabled, Rotate about the Y axis until you reach the point of maximum displacement along the X axis, then Pan the model along the X axis until the center crosshair is over the desired center point. Now, repeat this process by Rotating about the X axis until maximum displacement is reached, then Pan back to recenter the model. Finally, use the Tilt command about the Z axis, followed by a Pan to recenter the object. You may need to fine tune the center by moving closer to the object and repeating one or more of the above steps. Hint: To save this center position, simply press and release the Record button in the Script menu, followed by Save File. In the future, simple select this same file with the Load File dialog in the Script menu. For more information on scripting, consult the section on the Script Palette later in this document. Display Options: The Display Palette. IRISVIEW gives you the following options for displaying a DXF file: - Orthographic or perspective view. - Wireframe, hidden line, flat-shade, Gouraud shade, Phong shade. The Display Palette is used to control these settings. This palette is also used to: - Change the background color of the display area. - Adjust the mouse sensitivity. - Adjust the Best Display percentage. - Select single or double buffer mode. Figure 3-12. Display palette. Background Colors: You may select a background color for the display area by clicking on the Background Color button. This will bring up a palette of the standard AutoCAD colors. AutoCAD Color Index 0 is in the lower left corner. Clicking on any color cell will cause that color to become the background color. Mouse Sensitivity: You may adjust the sensitivity of your mouse by dragging the Mouse Sensitivity slider bar. The sensitivity of the mouse is used to change the relative motion of the drawing to that of the mouse. This adjustment only applies to non-rotational motions. Rotation is always linear, with a movement from screen center to edge corresponding to 90 degrees. This adjustment is primarily intended for the Walk control, where the speed of approach is related to the offset from screen center. Dragging the slider bar to the left makes the mouse less sensitive. Dragging to the right makes it more sensitive. View: Click on either Orthographic or Perspective to determine your view of the drawing. Rendering Mode: Click on the appropriate rendering mode button to determine how your DXF file is displayed: - Wireframe displays your drawing as lines only. Keyboard shortcut is the W key. - Hidden line utilizes hardware-assisted hidden line removal. Keyboard shortcut is the H key. - Flat shaded renders polygon faces with constant shading. Keyboard shortcut is the F key. - Gouraud shading renders polygon meshes with smooth shading. Keyboard shortcut is the G key. - Phong shading uses a software technique to increase highlights. Keyboard shortcut is the P key. Note: Only entities created as 3D Polygon Meshes support the smooth shading options. IRISVIEW needs the information contained in these entities in order to properly render them with Gouraud or Phong shading. AutoCAD users should consult the section on 3D Polygon Meshes within their AutoCAD Reference Manual for further information on this topic. Best Display: The Best Display button toggles on and off when you click on it. When the Best Display feature is enables, shaded drawings are automatically displayed in wireframe while the drawing is being moved. This allows IRISVIEW to display movement as smoothly as possible. The drawing automatically reverts to the selected rendering mode when the movement ceases. You may also toggle the Best Display mode by pressing the D key on your keyboard. Best Display Slider Bar: The slider bar appearing alongside the Best Display button allows you to adjust the percentage of vectors that are drawn when Best Display is operating. The fewer vectors displayed, the faster and smoother the action. The "0%" and "100%" marking the opposite ends of the slider bar represent 0% to 100% of the total vectors in the drawing. When the slider bar first appears, its relative position reflects the display of about 500 wireframe vectors during best Display operation. On drawings that contain a geometry in frozen or hidden layers, Best Display settings close to 0% may result in nothing being displayed. If this happens, simply increase the Best Display percentage until part of the drawing is visible. This is very common with AME-generated drawings. The Best Display algorithm chooses vectors to display based on the rule of details first, then larger entities next. Buffer Mode: IRISVIEW allows you to render in either double-buffer mode, for smooth motion, or in single-buffer mode, for a higher quality image. You may toggle the buffer mode state by pressing the B key on the keyboard. Lighting a Drawing: The Light palette. IRISVIEW provides both an ambient light and eight individual infinite light sources to illuminate your 3D drawing. There are controls to adjust their intensity and direction in 3D space. The light Palette is used to control these features. The palette appears when you click on the Light button at the top of the screen. Figure 3-13. Light Palette. Individual Light Sources. The eight individual light sources appear as a column of buttons along the left side of the palette. An On/Off button appears to the right of each light source button. The first five light sources are white light and the last three are colored red, green, and blue. The intensities of each light may be adjusted in five linear steps. The globe in the upper right corner of the Light Palette represents 3D space and is used to position the eight light sources. Your drawing can be thought of as residing inside the globe, positioned at the center. When the Light Palette is first brought on the screen, the eight lights are positioned at equal intervals around the globe. The first light is turned on; the other seven lights are turned off. Lights that are on appear appear as dots, of the same color as the light source, on the surface of the globe. Lights that are turned off do not appear. One light will always be selected, thus it is the current light. The LED button for the selected light will be lit, and the selected light source dot on the globe will be larger than the other dots. Several light source intensity bars appear int he lower right hand corner of the palette. Light Source Intensity is used to control the intensity of the currently selected light source. Ambient Light Intensity is used to control the brightness of the ambient light source, which shines equally in all directions. The Overall Brightness control only comes into effect when more than one light is on. It is used to control the brightness of the scene without having to adjust each light individually. Turning Lights On and Off. To turn individual lights on and off, click the On/Off button located to the right of the desired light source. You will observe the light dots change on the globe as well as observe the change in illumination of your drawing. Positioning Lights. Think of our drawing as being in the center of the lighting globe and that you are positioning the lights around it. The north pole of the globe is the world-coordinate Z axis (up) and the equator is the world-coordinate X-Y plane. This coordinate system remains fixed as you move either the drawing or your viewing position in space. To move a light source: 1. Click on the light source button you wish to move. 2. Move the screen pointer into the frame surrounding the globe. 3. Press and hold down the mouse button while dragging the pointer across the globe. When you drag the pointer, it acts like a joystick control, causing the selected light to follow along as you change directions. The light orbits all the way around the globe, as well as across the face of the globe, depending on how you drag the pointer. You may speed up the movement by dragging the pointer away from the center of the globe. The direction of travel and velocity is determined from the relative offset form the globe's center. The illumination of the drawing will change when you release the mouse button. Modifying Light Intensity. To modify the intensity of the individual light sources: 1. Click the light source button to select it. 2. Click the desired intensity from the Light Source Intensity control bar. Ambient Light Source. IRISVIEW supplies a single ambient light source so that areas of your drawing not directly lit by individual light sources will have some background illumination. Modifying Ambient Light Intensity. To modify the intensity of the ambient light source, select the desired intensity from the Ambient Light Intensity control bar. Note: If your drawing appears "washed-out", try reducing the ambient light intensity. Modifying Overall Brightness. The overall brightness of the scene may be adjusted with the Overall Brightness control bar. This adjustment only applies when more than one individual light source is on. If you find areas of your drawing that are lit so brightly that the detail is not visible, you can reduce the brightness so that the detail becomes visible. Due the the way the lighting model is calculated, it is not possible to keep adding light to a surface and have it get increasingly brighter. At some point, the maximum intensity of the display hardware is reached and the surface is saturated. The maximum brightness setting just lets each light source add up freely, while the minimum setting divides each source intensity be the number of light sources that are on. Drawing Layers: The Layer Palette. IRISVIEW recognizes the layers you defined for your drawing within AutoCAD, and gives you two ways to control them: - Layer visibility may be turned on and off. - A color or "material property" may be applied to a layer. The Layer Palette is used to control the drawing layers. The palette appears when you click on the Layer button at the top of the main screen. Figure 3-14. The Layer Palette. A scrolling list box on the left side of the Palette lists all the layer (if any) in your drawing. Each layer in the list is marked to show whether it is on or off. A scrolling list box on the right side of the palette lists the colors and materials that may be applied to a layer. A material is similar to a color, with the additional properties such as reflectivity. To turn a drawing layer on or off: 1. Select the layer name in the list, by clicking on it. 2. Click the Layer On/Off button, or double-click on the layer name to toggle the layer on and off. A layer that is turned off is not displayed. To apply a color or material property to a drawing layer: 1. Select the layer from the list. The current color or material of the selected layer is indicated with a sample color patch and name directly below the layer list box. 2. Select a color or material from the list on the right by clicking on the color name. The color or material you've selected is indicated with a sample color patch and name directly below the color list box. 3. Click on the Set Material button or double-click the color name. Figure 3-15. Layer Palette example. Scripting: The Script Palette. IRISVIEW allows you to record your interactions with a drawing, save the recording, and play it back at any time. When the recording is played back, it will take over the full window, for a more elegant presentation. Recordings may also be reopened and edited. The Script palette is used to control the recording feature. The palette appears when you click on the Script button at the top of the main screen. Figure 3-16. Script Palette. Creating a Recording. To create a recording of your work: 1. Click Record on the Script Palette. The palette closes automatically, and a Pause button appears with a frame counter on the right side of the main screen. Figure 3-17. Pause button and Frame Counter. 2. Manipulate your drawing using any of IRISVIEW's control buttons. If you wish to reposition the drawing without recording the movement, click the Pause button on the right side of the screen. When you have finished repositioning the drawing, click Pause again to toggle out of Pause mode and resume recording. 3. Bring up the Script Palette by clicking on the Script button. 4. Click the Record button to exit the record mode. Playing Back a Recording. To play back an on-screen recording: 1. Press the fast rewind button "<<" or press and hold the frame rewind button "<" on the Script Palette until the frame indicator reads "frame 1". You may also click the frame rewind button "<" to rewind a frame at a time. 2. Click Play. The recording plays back inside a white frame that fills the entire window. Note: If you want the recording to play continuously, let the recording play all the way through one time, and then press the "R" key on your keyboard to replay the script. Saving a Recording. To save a recording you've made: 1. After recording a script and while the current drawing is still loaded, click Save File on the Script Palette. The Script Save Palette appears. Figure 3-18. Script Save Palette. The script filename and directory appears at the top of the palette with a file extension of ".wlk" indicating an IRISVIEW script (or walk) file. The filename also contains a unique numeric number that reflects the number of script files you have made of that file. The script filename can't be altered within IRISVIEW. 2. Click Write File. The script file is created. The Script Save Palette remains on screen with the filename altered to reflect a new identifying number. You may make as many copies of the script file as you wish at this point. 3. Click the close box the the Script Save Palette when you have finished. Note: If you only wish to save your IRISVIEW settings (viewpoint, lights, materials, etc.) without creating an animated script, simple record a single frame of the desired setup and save it. Loading a Recording. To load a recording you've previously saved: 1. Click Load File on the Script Palette. The Script Load Palette appears. Figure 3-19. Script Load palette. 2. Select the desired script file from the scrolling list. 3. Click the Open File button, or double-click the file name. Editing a Recording. IRISVIEW allows you to break into a recording at any frame, record one or more new steps, and then continue with the rest of the original recording. This is referred to as "insert" editing. To do insert editing: 1. Load an existing recording or create a new one. 2. Use the frame advance/rewind buttons ">" and "<" to position the to the fproper edit point. 3. Click the Record button. 4. Manipulate the drawing in the desired manner. 5. Click the Script button to bring the Script Palette back on screen. 6. Click Record to exit the leave edit mode. The recording now includes the new sequence. Note: When you save an edited script, a new script file is created. The original script file remains unaltered. To delete a single frame of a recording: 1. Locate the appropriate frame. 2. Click the Delete Frame button. Erasing a Recording. A recording may be erased while it is still on screen by clicking the Clear Script button. Note: To erase a script file that has already been save, you'll have to erase it by hand outside of IRISVIEW. Making a Movie. IRISVIEW now supports the Digital Media Mosaic software. The core of this software is the combination of Movie Maker and Movie Player. Basically, this software lets you combine a series of images and sound into a movie loop which can be played back at high speed. The playback speed is adjustable and most importantly, is independent of model complexity. The Movie button controls this feature. By selecting the Movie button prior to playing back a recording, causes sequentially numbered image frames to be written to disk. For best results, you should make sure to be in single-buffer mode before creating the images. Also, you should start IRISVIEW with a width and height parameter (-g option) so that the image size may be exactly specified. We find that 320x200 produces satisfactory results, and is the same size as the famous Animator FLI files. You should also select a high quality rendering mode, like Phong, to produce a good image. While the images are being generated, don't resize, move, or obscure IRISVIEW's window. After writing the images, you will need to run Movie Maker as follows: IRIX 4.0.5: moviemaker -o file.movie [sound.aiff] `/bin/ls file*.rgb` IRIX 5.x: makemovie -o file.movie [-c mvc1] `/bin/ls file*.rgb` where file is the base filename of the DXF file, sound is an optional sound file (it may be added later) and the `/bin/ls ...` command generates a list of rgb filenames in numerical sequence. Note that the quote marks around the /bin/ls command are backward single quotes "`" not "'". This is very important. Once the movie is created, you may delete the rgb files to recover disk space. For a description of RGB files, consult the following section about the Output Palette. Creating an Output File: The File Palette. Output files can be created in a variety of formats: Format Extension ------------------------- --------- PostScript .ps Encapsulated PostScript .eps HPGL .hp SGI's RGB image format .rgb Hoops Metafile Format .hmf CGM, ANSI binary encoding .ans CGM, Clear text encoding .txt Macintosh PICT image format .pict The Output Palette is used to control this feature. The palette appears when you click the Output button at the top of the main screen. Figure 3-20. Output Palette. The drawing directory and filename appears at the top of the palette with the file extension chosen to match the format of the output selected. The base filename is appended with a unique identifying number that reflects the number of copies you've made of that file. You may also choose to print in Landscape or Portrait modes. This option applies only to the PostScript and HPGL formats. The PICT and RGB formats produce bit-mapped images of exactly the size and orientation of the display window. Also, if writing an RGB image, be sure that you do not move or obscure any part of the display area while the file is being written. The HPGL format only supports wireframe output for plotters. To save an output file: 1. Click on the format desired. - The output filename changes to match the format. 2. Select the orientaion, Lanscape or Portrait as desired. - Note that the image and metafile formats ignore this option. 3. Click the Write File button to generate the file. - The output filename increments to the next unique name when finished. Features and Limitations: PostScript and Encapsulated PostScript support the Adobe EPSF version 2 format. It supports 24-bit True Color output, although the output files will print on a black and white printer with dithered gray scale. Geometry is positioned with 300 dpi resolution. There is not bit-map screen representation included in the EPS file, so most applications will just show the image's bounding box. You may also use the Irix utility, "xpsview" to preview the image in color before printing it. The background color is ignored. The HPGL driver does not support hidden surface removal. Also, it is restricted to the expected pen colors below. The 256 AutoCAD colors will be mapped into this color set as best as it can. White geometry will be mapped to black. The background color is ignored. Pen # Expected Color ----- -------------- 1 Black 2 Blue 3 Green 4 Cyan 5 Red 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 8 Digitizing sight If you would like to size your output for a particular page size, you may do so by setting an environment variable before starting IRISVIEW. The syntax is as follows: setenv HOOPS_HARDCOPY_OPTIONS "physical size=(width,height)" where the width and height are expressed in centimeters (cm). The width and height are relative the the orientation, so that a landscape print is wider than tall. The following table lists common page sizes in metric units. Paper Size Width(cm) Height(cm) ------------------------------------------ A 20.32 26.67 B 25.40 40.64 C 40.64 53.34 D 53.34 83.82 E 83.82 109.22 F 71.12 101.60 G 27.94 228.60 H 71.12 363.22 J 86.36 447.04 K 101.60 363.22 A4 19.80 28.50 A3 27.30 39.60 A2 39.60 57.00 A1 57.00 81.70 A0 81.70 116.50 You may also override the default pen speed of 80 cm/s by adding to the this variable as follows: setenv HOOPS_HARDCOPY_OPTIONS "pen speed=fff" where "fff" is a number less than 1.0 representing the fraction of the maximum speed to use. The RGB file format is native to SGI machines. It is a full 24-bit true color format. Any number of SGI utilities can make use of this image format. Also, there are a number of utilities for converting this format to other formats, including GIF, TIFF, TARGA, etc. Consult the man pages for togif, totarga, etc. for more information. The RGB file is generated from the frame buffer, so you should probably select single-buffer mode to get the best image quality. The Hoops Metafile Format is compatible with other applications built with Ithaca Software's Hoops library. It is an ASCII format file that complies with the HMF version 1.2 Text Format. The CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) formats comply with version 1 of the ANSI/CGM specification. Currently, only the ANSI binary (CGM-B) and clear text (CGM-A) encoding standards are supported. Colors in the CGM file are specified with "direct color specification". In addition, the geometry is output in "Virtual Device Coordinates" ranging from (0,0) up to as large as (32766,32766). The PICT file is generated in Extended Format Version 2, which is readable by many Macintosh programs as well as Showcase. It is generated at 72 dpi, in direct RGB (32-bit color). Since the driver writes the resolution data in the file, you will get an accurate display, no matter what the target device's resolution or aspect ratio is. The PICT2 format written is largely incompatible with the older and obsolete version 1 PICT format. Appendix A. Preparing Drawings for Use with IRISVIEW. AutoCAD Drawing Layers. IRISVIEW allows you to assign color and material properties to individual drawing layers so long as the layer information is accessible to the program. When creating layers within AutoCAD, you should FREEZE or HIDE layers you do not wish to view before doing the DXFOUT. This way, the initial state of the drawing in IRISVIEW will be correct. Otherwise, you will have to manually change the layers every time you load the drawing for viewing. The information in the hidden layers is always there if you do subsequently turn on the given layer. Unless the Color Bylayer override is on, entities in layer 0 will always be visible, but unchangeable. Also, you will only be able to change colors of entities in a layer that inherit their color from the layer, that is their color is BYLAYER. External References. External References (XREF ATTACH) will display as a text string describing the file name containing the external referenced data. If you would like the geometry contained in the external file to be displayed, you need to issue the AutoCAD command "XREF BIND *" prior to performing the "DXFOUT" command. Note however, that this will permanently insert all the external references into your drawing as blocks. If you wish to be able to update the external references in the future, you should not save this drawing after writing the DXF file. Initial View. IRISVIEW processes the view information contained in the DXF file in order to present an image similar to the on the AutoCAD Drawing Editor screen when the file was written. In order to do this, you'll need to make sure the drawing limits are appropriate for your drawing. A quick way to see where the limits are set is to turn on the grid in AutoCAD. You may also use the LIMITS command in AutoCAD to check and change the values. If you experience problems with the initial view, indicated by the drawing disappearing once it is read into IRISVIEW, you can try zooming out before writing the DXF file. If this does not produce the desired results, you can try writing the DXF file from a Plan View mode. AutoCAD DXFOUT Command. Do not select the "Entities-Only" (option E) when writing the DXF file with the "DXFOUT" command. IRISVIEW requires that the viewport and style table information be stored in the DXF file in order to properly read the geometry and set the initial drawing view. We have observed that it is best to export the drawing in Plan View. If only Entities are exported to the drawing, there is no initial view information, and you will likely get an error message stating that "Camera position is on top of the target". In order to reduce disk storage space and speed DXF file loading, you should choose the "Binary DXF" (option B) rather than selecting the ASCII mode by specifying a number of ASCII digits (6-16). The Binary DXF format is smaller than the 6-digit ASCII form as well as retaining the accuracy of the 16-digit ASCII form. This format is not to be confused with the DXB format exported by AutoShade. This is an entirely different format, and is not at all compatible. AutoCAD Font and Shape Files. If your drawing has AutoCAD text or shapes in it, we suggest that you turn off the text and shape layers (dimensions, notes, etc.) by freezing or hiding those layers before exporting the DXF file. AutoCAD text will display in IRISVIEW, but, unless it has thickness, it will not shade. Also, it generates many additional vectors that need to be drawn, slowing down the update rate. If you have text in the drawing, be sure that you have the required .SHX files someplace where IRISVIEW can find them. - In the same directory as the DXF file. - In the ACAD search path defined by the ACAD environment variable: - setenv ACAD "/usr/acad/acad;/usr/acad/acad/support;" IRISVIEW will attempt to handle converting DOS file names to Unix format, but if the DXF file references files with drive letters and absolute path names like: C:\ACAD\SUPPORT\TXT.SHX chances are it won't find the file. You will need to load the DXF file back into the creating application and edit the shape file specification. If you do not have a copy of the original shape file, you can copy one of the supplied SHX files into the name of the file that is called for. For example, if the file MISSING.SHX is referenced in the DXF file, you could: cp txt.shx MISSING.SHX Autodesk's AME Package. If you are creating a model with the Advanced Modeling Extensions (AME), make sure you run the SOLMESH command on the model before exporting it to IRISVIEW. This assures that AME will generate the polygon mesh geometry that is required by IRISVIEW in order to render the drawing as a solid image. Also, it will assure that AME properly hides the construction geometry which does not apply to the solid model. IRISVIEW correctly identifies the AME_FRZ layer and does not show it in the Layer selection list, unless Color Bylayer is turned off. This is so that the construction geometry remains hidden. Also, you should be sure to use have layer information present and a current layer defined prior to creating the AME geometry. It has been observed that in changing an AME object from Layer 0 to another layer may not work as reliably as creating the object in that layer to begin with. CADKEY Drawings. The ALCADMY CDL -> DXF file converter utility doesn't generate true polygons when processing polygons containing more than four sides. Instead, it converts them to polylines which may not be shaded in IRISVIEW. If you want your CADKEY drawings to shade in IRISVIEW, either restrict the polygons in your original drawing to no more than four sides, or consult the ALCADMY documentation on polygon handling options. Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts. KEY ACTION --- ---------------------------------- F7 Pan Mode F8 Zoom Mode F9 Rotate Mode F10 Tilt Mode F11 Walk Mode F12 Toggle Constrain Mode W Wire Frame Mode H Hidden Line Mode F Flat Shaded Mode G Gouraud Shaded Mode P Phong Shaded Mode D Toggle Best View (Degenerate) Mode B Toggle Single/Double Buffer Mode R Reset View Appendix C: Command Line Syntax. OPTION EFFECT ---------------- ------------------------------------ -c color BYLAYER color = 1, color BYLAYER. color = 0, color is fixed. -d dither dither = 1, enable color dithering. dither = 0, disable color dithering. -f file.dxf file.dxf is initial drawing file. -g x0,y0,{x1,y1} x0 = Width of window in pixels, y0 = Height of window in pixels. - or - x0,y0 = Lower left window coordinate, x1,y1 = Upper right window coordinate. -h Usage Print usage information. -u Update Update display every "Update" entities. -v Verbose The verbose parameter is a bit-coded field that can set various levels of verbosity, among the values are: 1 = General Information. 2 = Statistical information. 4 = Unknown entity warnings. 8 = Symbol table warnings. 16 = DXF Syntax warnings. 32 = Miscellaneous warnings. To obtain maximum debugging information, use the following option: -v 63 Appendix D: Known Problems. IRISVIEW will also not run on 8-bit graphics systems without z-buffer support, either hardware or software. This includes the 8-bit XS graphics without hardware z-buffer and possibly 8-bit G-graphics on the Personal Iris. To run on these systems, it will be necessary to aquire the hardware z-buffer upgrade. Note, that this doe NOT affect operation on Entry or XL graphics, as they provide z-buffer support in software. IRISVIEW will only work on systems running IRIX 4.0.5H (or the Indigo Only Patch) or earlier. It will not work on IRIX 5.1. This is because IRISVIEW is based on top of HOOPS from Ithaca Software, and at this time, there is no HOOPS release for the 5.1 operating system.