AZOR: File Formats - ArtFile (ART)

(1997R1 art file format, prepared in cooperation with Modern Cartoons.)

Basics:

An ART file consists of a series of entries that define a scene. Each entry begins with a header line, followed by a block of attribute lines. Header and attribute line formats are different for each type of entry.

Entry Header Line

Attribute 1

Attribute 2

Attribute 3

. . .

The attribute block is indented under the header to improve readability. The following example shows a sample entry of type, 'SETUP':

setup
	adapt 3
	depth 1
	active camera1
	image aa*01.tga tga32-10
	ambient 0.3 0.2 0.1
	filter box 1

ART Entries:

The ART file supports the following entries:

	Views	Camera views.
	Setup	Render preferences.
	Lights	Point-source lights.
	Beams	Directional lights.
	Spots	Spot lights.
	Objects	Rendered objects.
	Materials	Surfaces and textures.
	World	Visible object list.

Views:

Each view entry defines parameters for one camera; multiple views may be defined.


`'VIEW'`camera_name	View header.
`'SIZE'`width height	Dimensions of render window, in pixels.
`'ASPECT'`width height	Image aspect ratio.
`'WINDOW'` l b r t	Specify rectangle edges: left, bottom, right, top.
`'WIDEVIEW'`	Apply field-of-view horizontally (vertical is default).
`'MOTION POSITION'`	Motion header: position.
`'&'` x y z	Coordinates of camera.
`'MOTION TARGET`	Motion header: target.
`'&'` x y z	Coordinates of camera's lookat target.
`'MOTION FOV`	Motion header: field-of-view.
`'&'` angle	Field-of-view angle, in degrees.

Example View:

view	camera1
	size 720 326
	aspect 4   3
	window 300 200 460 320
	wideview
	motion position
		& 100. 100. 100.
		& 95. 100. 100.
		& 90. 95. 100.
	motion target
		& 0. 0. 0.
		& 1. 0. 0.
		& 0. 1. 0.
	motion up+fov
		& 0. 0. 0. 4
		& 1. 0. 0. 3
		& 0. 1. 0. 2

ART Entries

Setup:

The setup entry defines important render preferences; one setup may be defined.


`SETUP`	Setup header.
`ADAPT` level	Adaptive sampling: level.
`DEPTH` reflective transparent	Recursive limits for reflection and transparency.
`ACTIVE` CameraName	Current active camera.
`IMAGE` filename format *	Output image: file name and image format. * The optional attribute 'flip' at the end of this declaration will indicate that the image is to be flipped horizontally before output.
`AMBIENT` r g b	Scene ambient color: red, green, blue.
`FILTER` type size	Filter type and filter window size.

Filter types include: BOX, TRIANGLE, GAUSSIAN, LANZCOS.

Example Setup:

setup
	adapt 3
	depth 1
	active camera1
	image aa*01.tga tga32-10
	ambient 0.3 0.2 0.1
	filter box 0

ART Entries

Lights:

A light entry defines one point-light source. Multiple lights may be defined.


`'LIGHT'` light_name	Light header.
`'BRIGHT'` level	Brightness level.
`'SHADOW'`	Enables ray-traced shadows.
`'SAFE'` distance	Limit of shadow distance.
`'MOTION COLOR`	Motion header: color.
`'&'` r g b	Light color: red, green, blue.
`'MOTION POSITION`	Motion header: position.
`'&'` x y z	Coordinates of light.

Example Light:

light	lite1
	bright 1.0
	shadow
	motion position+color
		& 100. 140. 90. 1. 1. 1.

ART Entries

Beams:

A beam entry defines one directional light. Multiple beams may be defined.


`'BEAM'` beam_name	Beam header.
`'BRIGHT'` level	Brightness level.
`'SHADOW'`	Enables ray-traced shadows.
`'BUFFER'` xdim ydim	Creates shadow buffer of given dimensions.
`'BUFFERTOL'` margin	Shadow buffer safety margin.
`'SAFE'` distance	Limit of shadow distance.
`'SOFT'` size falloff	Soft shadow: size and falloff.
`'MOTION COLOR'`	Motion header: color.
`'&'` r g b	Beam color: red, green, blue.
`'MOTION TARGET'`	Motion header: target.
`'&'` x y z	Beam's direction vector.

Example Beam:

beam	backsun
	bright 0.4
	shadow
	buffer 600 600
	buffertol 1.23
	soft 3 2.1
	motion target+color
		& 5. 200. -30. 1. 1. 0.6

ART Entries

Spots:

A spot entry defines a directional light that radiates from a point source. Multiple spots may be defined.


`'SPOT'` spot_name	Spot header.
`'BRIGHT'` level	Brightness level.
`'SHADOW'`	Enables ray-traced shadows.
`'BUFFER'` xdim ydim	Creates shadow buffer of given dimensions.
`'BUFFERTOL'` margin	Shadow buffer safety margin.
`'SAFE'` distance	Limit of shadow distance.
`'SOFT'` size falloff	Soft shadow: size and falloff.
`'CONE'` angle	Angle for soft edge transition.
`'MOTION COLOR'`	Motion header: color.
`'&'` r g b	Spot color: red, green, blue.
`'MOTION POSITION'`	Motion header: position.
`'&'` x y z	Coordinates of spot.
`'MOTION TARGET'`	Motion header: target.
`'&'` x y z	Coordinates of spot's lookat target.

Example Spot:

spot spotRed2B
	bright 0.4
	shadow
	safe 0.5
	cone 0.3 
	buffer 600 600
	buffertol 1.23
	motion color+position+target+fov
		& 1.0 5.0 1.0 5. 200. -30. 1. 1. 0.6 0.25

ART Entries

OBJECTS

An object entry defines one geometrical object. Multiple objects may be defined. A parent object must be defined before it is referenced by a child object.

OBJECT Name Object header.

PARENT ParentName Name of parent object.

USE geometryfile Object's geometry file source.

ROOT geometryfile Object core geometry file for merging with character skins.

SERV serv-program portnumber argument1 argument2 Launch an external program to create geometry, connect to port portnumber and retrieve geometry. arg1 & arg2 are passed to serv-program along with the portnumber.

MOTION * Supported motion tracks:
POSITION, translation
SCALE, scale
Q, object orientation

Example Objects:

object square parent floor use square.bf motion position+scale+q & 10. 10. 20. 1. 1. 1. 1. 0. 0. 0. object body use body*0001.bf root body0000.bf_ serv /usr/local/bin/geochar 3100 /mq/no-lips/skel.cf /mq/no-lips/take6/take.wvm motion position+scale+q & 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 1. 1. 0. 0. 0.

ART Entries

Materials:

The material header is followed by a block of surface entries. Multiple surface entries may be defined in the material block.


`'MATERIAL`	Material header.
`SURFACE` surface_name	Surface header.
`COLOR` r g b	Surface color: red, green, blue.
property	Property color or scale.
modifier	see attributes below.
`TEXTURE ...`	Texture header.
`MAP` `[MIX]` property filename	Texture map declaration.

Properties

KA Ambient base object lighting (combined with scene ambient)

KL Luminant glow color

KD Diffuse flat lighting color

KS Specular hilight color

KR Reflect reflectivity

KT Glass transparency

Attributes
These attributes modify the surface properies or create custom effects:

gloss value Hilight size (0-1)

index value refraction index of transparent material (1 - inf)

alpha value compositing transparency in final image (0-1)

invis disables the surface from casting shadows

Specifying properties:
Six properties associated with a surface can be assigned independents color using their property attribute, or can be a percentage of the object color. The choice is made by using the attribute's full name, or use the k-description.
For example, these two methods define a surface's diffuse color to be 50% red. The first uses an independant color, the second links diffuse to the object color and scales it to 50%.

	diffuse 0.5 0.0 0.0

	color	1 0 0
	kd      0.5

If no attribute declaration is made, the property is off.

Example Materials:

material
	surface matte_white
		color 1.0 1.0 1.0
		ka 0.3
		kd 0.8
		reflect 0.4 0.35 0.3
		texture
			map mix color ivory.tga
	surface red_glow_fog
		ambient 1.0 0.5 0.0
		diffuse 0.0 0.4 0.2
		specular 1.0 0.2 0.0
		gloss 0.3
		alpha 0.5

ART Entries

World:

The world entry specifies which objects are to be rendered.

'WORLD'

'OB' object_name

Example World:

world
	ob floor
	ob square

ART Entries