Rvu
generates RADIANCE images using
octree.
(The octree may be given as the output of a command enclosed in quotes
and preceded by a `!'.)
Options specify the viewing parameters as well as
giving some control over the calculation.
Options may be given on the command line and/or read from the
environment and/or read from a file.
A command argument beginning with a dollar sign ('$') is immediately
replaced by the contents of the given environment variable.
A command argument beginning with an at sign ('@') is immediately
replaced by the contents of the given file.
The options are the same as for rpict(1), with a few notable exceptions.
The
-r, -z, -S, -P, -PP
and
-t
options are not supported, and
-o
specifies which output device is being used instead of the output
file.
The
-x, -y
and
-pa
options are unnecessary, since
rvu
scales the display image to the specified output device.
Additionally, the
-b
option improves the display on greyscale monitors, and
-pe
may be used to set an initial exposure value.
The
-n
option may be used to specify multiple processes,
to accelerate rendering.
In the second form, the default values
for the options are printed with a brief explanation.
In the third form, the list of supported output devices
is displayed.
rvu
starts rendering the image from the selected viewpoint and
gradually improves the resolution of the display until
interrupted by keyboard input.
rvu
then issues a prompt (usually ':') and accepts a command
line from the user.
rvu
may also stop its calculation and wait for command input if
the resolution of the display has reached the resolution of the
graphics device.
At this point, it will give the 'done:' prompt and await further
instructions.
If
rvu
runs out of memory due to lack of resources to store its computed
image, it will give the 'out of memory:' prompt.
At this prompt, the user can save the image, quit, or even restart
a new image, although this is not generally recommended
on virtual memory machines for efficiency reasons.
rvu
is not meant to be a rendering program, and we strongly recommend that
rpict(1)
be used instead for that purpose.
Since
rpict(1)
does not store its image in memory or update any display of its output,
it is much faster and less wasteful of its resources than
rvu.rvu
is intended as a quick interactive program for deciding viewpoints
and debugging scene descriptions and is not suited for producing
polished images.
COMMANDS
Once the program starts, a number of commands can be used
to control it.
A command is given by its name, which can be abbreviated,
followed by its arguments.
aim [ mag [ x y z ] ]
Zoom in by
mag
on point
x y z.
The view point is held constant;
only the view direction and size are changed.
If
x y z
is missing, the cursor is used to select the view center.
A negative magnification factor means zoom out.
The default factor is one.
^C
Interrupt.
Go to the command line.
exposure [ spec ]
Adjust exposure.
The number
spec
is a multiplier used to compensate the average exposure.
A value of 1 renormalizes the image to the computed average, which
is usually done immediately after startup.
If
spec
begins with a '+' or '-',
the compensation is interpreted in f-stops (ie. the power of two).
If
spec
begins with an '=', an absolute setting is performed.
An '=' by itself permits interactive display and setting of the exposure.
If
spec
begins with an '@', the exposure is adjusted to present similar
visibility to what would be experienced in the real environment.
If
spec
is absent, or an '@' is followed by nothing, then
the cursor is used to pick a specific image
location for normalization.
focus [distance]
Set focus distance for depth-of-field sampling.
If a distance in world coordinates is absent, then the cursor
is used to choose a point in the scene on which to focus.
(The focus distance setting does not affect rendering in
rview,
but can be used in
rpict
with the
-pd
option to simulate depth-of-field on views saved from
rview.)
frame [ xmin ymin xmax ymax ]
Set frame for refinement.
If coordinates are absent, the cursor is used to
pick frame boundaries.
If ``all'' is specified, the frame is reset to the entire image.
free
Free cached object structures and associated data.
This command may be useful when memory is low and a completely
different view is being generated from the one previous.
last [ file ]
Restore the previous view.
If a view or picture
file
is specified, the parameters are taken from the last view entry
in the file.
L [ vw [ rfile ] ]
Load parameters for view
vw
from the
rad(1)
input file,
rfile.
Both
vw
and
rfile
must be given the first call, but subsequent calls will use the last
rfile
as a default, and "1" as the default view (ie. the first view
appearing in
rfile).
If
rvu
was started by
rad,
then the
rfile
parameter will initially default to the rad input file used.
move [ mag [ x y z ] ]
Move camera
mag
times closer to point
x y z.
For a perspective projection (or fisheye view),
only the view point is changed;
the view direction and size remain constant.
The view size must be modified in a parallel projection since
it determines magnification.
If
x y z
is missing, the cursor is used to select the view center.
A negative magnification factor decreases the object size.
The default factor is one.
Care must be taken to avoid moving behind or inside other objects.
new [ nproc ]
Restart the image, using the specified number of rendering processes.
Usually used after the "set" command.
pivot angle [ elev [ mag [ x y z ] ] ]
Similar to the "move" command, but pivots the view about a selected point.
The
angle
is measured in degrees around the view up vector using the right hand rule.
The optional
elev
is the elevation in degrees from the pivot point; positive raises the view point
to look downward and negative lowers the view point to look upward.
quit
Quit the program.
^R
Redraw the image.
Use when the display gets corrupted.
On some displays, occassionally forcing a redraw can improve appearance,
as more color information is available and the driver can make a better
color table selection.
rotate angle [ elev [ mag ] ]
Rotate the camera horizontally by
angle
degrees.
If an elevation is specified, the camera looks upward
elev
degrees.
(Negative means look downward.)
set [ var [ val ] ]
Check/change program variable.
If
var
is absent, the list of available variables is displayed.
If
val
is absent, the current value of the variable is displayed
and changed interactively.
Otherwise, the variable
var
assumes the value
val.
Variables include:
ambient value (av),
ambient value weight (aw),
ambient bounces (ab),
ambient accuracy (aa),
ambient divisions (ad),
ambient radius (ar),
ambient samples (as),
black&white (b),
back face visibility (bv),
direct jitter (dj),
direct sampling (ds),
direct threshold (dt),
direct visibility (dv),
irradiance (i),
limit weight (lw),
limit recursion (lr),
medium extinction (me),
medium albedo (ma),
medium eccentricity (mg),
medium sampling (ms),
pixel sample (ps),
pixel threshold (pt),
specular jitter (sj),
specular threshold (st), and
uncorrelated sampling (u).
Once a variable has been changed, the "new" command can be used
to recompute the image with the new parameters.
If a program variable is not available here, it may show up under
some other command or it may be impossible to change
once the program is running.
trace [ xbeg ybeg zbeg xdir ydir zdir ]
Trace a ray.
If the ray origin and direction are absent, the cursor is used
to pick a location in the image to trace.
The object intersected and its material, location and value are displayed.
view [ file [ comments ] ]
Check/change view parameters.
If
file
is present, the view parameters are appended to a file, followed by
comments
if any.
Alternatively, view options may be given directly on the command line
instead of an output view file.
Otherwise, view parameters are displayed and changed interactively.
V [ vw [ rfile ] ]
Append the current view as view
vw
in the rad file
rfile.
Compliment to
L
command.
Note that the view is simply appended to the file, and previous
views with the same name should be removed before using the file
with
rad.
write [ file ]
Write picture to
file.
If argument is missing, the current file name is used.
^Z
Stop the program.
The screen will be redrawn when the program resumes.
ENVIRONMENT
RAYPATHthe directories to check for auxiliary files.
DISPLAY_GAMMAthe value to use for monitor gamma correction.