randy@uokmax.UUCP (Longshot) (05/08/89)
Well, the last few weeks, between studying for exams, I sat down and took a set
of files I got thru ftp some time back that describe a VW, and decided to make
them into an MTV-readable format. I noted that all the files were a sequence of
points in the form "PNT %d, %f, %f, %f" followed by polygons of the form,
"POLY %d, {%d, }+ %d". That is to say, a list of numbered points for future
reference, followed by a list of polygons of 3+ sides, referencing said points.
Quite pleased with myself, I hacked out a neat little yacc/lex combo to filter
this stuff into NFF. Adding a prolog for scene description and color, I fed it
to my ray-tracer. Someone either didn't measure those babies too well, or we're
missing a few polygons. It was easily recognizable as a VW body, but it looked
like it had taken a nasty fall from the assembly-line hook. But overall, rather
satisfactory. Up until now, all I had to show when trying to explain to others
what was possible with computers these days graphics-wise, was the teapot and
the gears demo. I also have a description of the space shuttle, but it is not
so elegantly designed. No labels at all, you have to dynamically recognize
when you are no longer reading fp data, and are now using it. Also, it has a
sequence of vectors, followed by polygonal definitions that actually give a
list of vectors to be placed end-to-end. It will be a bit harder. I have been
looking into some OFF files, but noticed that our system does not have
/usr/lib/liboff.a, nor /usr/include/off.h. Is there a (relatively) elegant
way to read this data without the library? Again, I will be translating it
to NFF for the time being, until I find another tool to use. The only good
modelling/rendering software we have to my knowledge is MTV's _ray_ and
movie.byu on another machine.
Randy
--
Randy J. Ray University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma (405)/325-5370
!texsun!uokmax!randy randy@uokmax.uucp randy@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu
"Quick to judge, Quick to anger, slow to understand; Ignorance, prejudice, and
fear go hand in hand..." - Neil Peart