uRay

Also Known As: DBW_uRay, Microray

Type Scene description

Colors NA

Compression Uncompressed

Maximum Image Size NA

Multiple Images Per File NA

Numerical Format NA

Originator David B. Wecker

Platform All

Supporting Applications uRay ray tracing application

See Also
NFF, POV, PRT, QRT, Radiance

Usage
Description of 3D scenes for ray tracing or other rendering applications.

Comments
A simple scene description format useful for specifying 3D objects. This is a good format to look at if you are considering building your own ray-trace format or application.

Vendor specifications are available for this format.

Code fragments are available for this format.

uRay is the format created by David B. Wecker for use by the uRay (Microray) ray tracer. It provides a simple way of specifying a small number of 3D objects.

Contents:
File Organization
File Details
For Further Information

File Organization

Like those of many other ray-trace formats, uRay files consist of a number of ASCII lines implementing a proprietary command language, in this case the uRay scene description language.

File Details

Commands used in writing uRay files may consist of the following:

DEPTH Recursion depth

COLS Columns in an image

ROWS Rows in an image

START Row number at which to begin rendering operations

END Row number at which to end rendering operations

BPP Bits per pixel in output image (12 or 24)

AOV View angle

ASPECT Image aspect ratio

NEAR Background color for "sky" near eye

FAR Background color for "sky" far from eye

GROUND Background color below horizon

BASE Blackness of shadows

WAVES n

where n is the number of lines following the WAVES keyword. Each line consists of the following:

x y z Wave center

amp Starting amplitude of the wave

phase Starting phase shift

length Wave length

damp Damping between successive waves

ATTRIBUTES n

where n is the number of lines following the ATTRIBUTES keyword. Each line consists of the following:

r g b

Diffuse color

Kd

Diffuse coloring

Ks

Reflection

Kt

Transmission

Ir

Index of refraction

Kl

Self lighting

dist

Inverse square law distance

Kf

Fuzz

Wave

Wave number

tex

Texture; may be one of the following:

0

No texture

l r g b x y z

Checks in color (r g b) at scale (x y z)

2 r g b

Random mottling

3 r g b a b c

Blend in x direction

4 r g b a b c

Blend in y direction

5 r g b a b c

Blend in z direction

The following objects are predefined:

SPHERE Sphere

QUAD Rectangle

TRIANGLE Triangle

RING Ring

See the uRay documentation for detailed information about parameters.

For Further Information

For further information about the uRay format, see the uRay documentation included on the CD-ROM accompanying this book. You can also contact the author:

David B. Wecker
Digital Equipment Corporation
Cambridge Research Lab
One Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA 02139
Voice: 617-621-6699
FAX: 617-621-6650
Email: wecker@crl.dec.com

Type	Scene description
Colors	NA
Compression	Uncompressed
Maximum Image Size	NA
Multiple Images Per File	NA
Numerical Format	NA
Originator	David B. Wecker
Platform	All
Supporting Applications	uRay ray tracing application
See Also	NFF, POV, PRT, QRT, Radiance

DEPTH	Recursion depth
COLS	Columns in an image
ROWS	Rows in an image
START	Row number at which to begin rendering operations
END	Row number at which to end rendering operations
BPP	Bits per pixel in output image (12 or 24)
AOV	View angle
ASPECT	Image aspect ratio
NEAR	Background color for "sky" near eye
FAR	Background color for "sky" far from eye
GROUND	Background color below horizon
BASE	Blackness of shadows

x y z	Wave center
amp	Starting amplitude of the wave
phase	Starting phase shift
length	Wave length
damp	Damping between successive waves

r g b	Diffuse color
Kd	Diffuse coloring
Ks	Reflection
Kt	Transmission
Ir	Index of refraction
Kl	Self lighting
dist	Inverse square law distance
Kf	Fuzz
Wave	Wave number
tex	Texture; may be one of the following:
	0	No texture
	l r g b x y z	Checks in color (r g b) at scale (x y z)
	2 r g b	Random mottling
	3 r g b a b c	Blend in x direction
	4 r g b a b c	Blend in y direction
	5 r g b a b c	Blend in z direction