RTRAY(BRL)

NAME
rtray - raytrace an mged model, writing a VLD rayfile

SYNOPSIS
rtray [ options ... ] model.g objects ... > model.ray

DESCRIPTION
Rtray operates on the indicated objects in the input model.g and produces a VLD standard ray(5V) format ray file on standard output. The orientation of the rays to be fired may be specified by the -a and -e options, in which case the model will be autosized, and the grid will be centered on the centroid of the model, with ray spacing chosen to span the entire set of objects. Alternatively, with the -M option, a transformation matrix may be provided on standard input which maps model-space to view-space. In this case, the grid ranges from -1.0 <= X,Y <= +1.0 in view space, with the size of the grid (number of rays fired) specified with -f This option is most useful when rtray is being invoked from a shell script created by an mged(1) saveview command.

The following options are recognized.

-f# Number of rays to fire in X and Y directions (square grid). Default is 512 (512x512), maximum is 1024 (1024x1024).

-a# Select azimuth in degrees. Used with -e and conflicts With -M

-e# Select elevation in degrees. Used with -a and conflicts with -M

-M  Read model2view matrix from standard input. Conflicts with -a and -e

-x# Set debug flags to (hexadecimal) number. Not generally useful.

The rtray program is a simple front-end to rtlib(3) which is most useful when used with mged(1) and the VLD ray filters. In order to convert a ray file into a minimal monochrome UNIX-plot image for viewing, run
  /vld/bin/rayvect -mMM < file.ray > file.vect
  /vld/bin/vectplot -mMM < file.vect > file.plot
  tplot -Tmeg file.plot    # or equivalent UNIX-plot filter

SEE ALSO
gift(1V), mged(1), rt(1), rayplot(1), rayvect(1), rtray(1), rtpp(1), rtlib(3), ray(5V)

DIAGNOSTICS
Numerous error conditions are possible. Descriptive messages are printed on standard error (file descriptor 2).

AUTHOR
Michael John Muuss

SOURCE
 SECAD/VLD Computing Consortium, Bldg 394
 The U. S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory
 Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21005

COPYRIGHT
This software is Copyright (C) 1985 by the United States Army. All rights reserved.

BUGS
The upper limit of 1024x1024 is pointless, and should be removed.

Most deficiencies observed while using the rtray program are usually with the rtlib(3) package instead.

BUG REPORTS
Reports of bugs or problems should be submitted via electronic mail to <GED@BRL.ARPA> or ...!decvax!brl-bmd!ged