
VERSION

     03-01-2007 (1)

CONTENTS

     -CHANGES
     -SGZ MAX TOOLS
         Description
         Installation
         Usage
         Panel options
         Supported stuff
     -SGZ DEMO EDITOR
         Description
         Installation
         Usage
         Panel options
         Resources
         Effects
     -SGZ DEMO PLAYER
         Description
         Usage
     -FAQ
     -TO DO list
     -Contact


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-CHANGES: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 [03-01-2007]
      -Added viewport rendering using FBO (eliminates visual artifacts with effects using
       copy to texture when the viewport is smaller than the texture).

 [23-04-2006]
      -Fixed some library bugs.
      -Added shadowing support to the editor and max tools.
      -Added new effects.

 [30-11-2005]
      -Fixed some bugs
         -Paste feature didn't allow pasting if there was no effect selected.
         -Closing a floating render window now reattaches it instead of closing the whole editor.
         -Alt+1 y Alt+2 now don't leave small errors when alternating between them.
      -Added some TO-DO things.

 [24-11-2005]
      -2.0 versions of the SGZ DemoEditor and SGZ DemoPlayer porting from Borland Builder to .NET
       and adding new features like effects+curves cut&paste, shortcuts etc.

 [09-05-2004]
      -Fixed the "Scene Speed" bug when using modifiers.
      -Added loop feature to all effects from the "scenes" group.
       If Loop Length < 1 no loop.
       If Loop Length = 0 loops when scene ends
       If Loop Length > 0 loops when specified.
      -Added Scene With Glow to avoid needing Standard Scene + Render Glow Hilights +
       Standard Scene + Standard Bitmap.
      -Added FTT modifier.
      -Added sub (subtract) to modifiers.

 [06-03-2004]
      -Fixed radial blurs
      -Fixed water effect

 [28-02-2004]
      -Redisigned effect parameters architecture.
      -Added help support (still no help written).
      -Coded "Scene Construction" effect.

 [27-02-2004]
      -Fixed some details (snap to grid and cpu usage when creating effects).

 [26-02-2004]
      -Added SGZ Demo Player.
      -Added .rar support.
      -Added requirements support for each demo.
      -Added -nodestalpha command line option.
      -Added new dialog allowing to specify the # of layers used by the editor.

 [22-02-2004]
      -Editor now uses less CPU power.
      -Fixed sine modifier bug.
      -Fixed vertical FOV bug.

 [21-02-2004]
      -Added Character Studio (Physique) support.
      -Added Billboard Scene effect.
      -Editor now saves and restores its layout configuration between executions.
      -Fixed some resources issues.

 [06-10-2003]
      -Added curve editor.

 [12-06-2003]
      -First functional version done using Borland Builder.


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-SGZ MAX TOOLS: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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     -DESCRIPTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Plugin for 3dsMAX (currently 8) allowing previsualization and export.

     -INSTALATION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         With MAX closed:

             Copy sgzmaxtools.dlu to \plugins
             Copy freeimage.dll to Max's root folder

         When running MAX after that:

             Go to the "utilities" panel.
             Click on the 3rd button ("Configure button sets").
             Add 1 to "Total Buttons".
             Drag the Stravaganza Max Tools plugin from the list on the left to the new button.

         The program creates a logfile in Max's root folder (log.txt)

     -USAGE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Go to the "utilities" panel and click on "Stravaganza Max Tools".

     -PANEL OPTIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         NOTE          : If you change between scene files, add/remove cameras or change time
                         settings, it's recommended to refresh the Stravaganza panel simply
                         by closing it and opening it again (for example clicking on the "Create"
                         panel and then clicking back again on the utilities panel).

         Load defaults : Loads default parameters.

         Common options: Both preview and export options

               - Preprocess meshes : Of no use since smoothing groups have been implemented.

               - Use lights        : Enables/Disables lights if any.
                                     Useful when creating scenes with lightmaps, where you need
                                     the lights to compute lightmaps but not when doing a preview
                                     or export.

               - Interval          : Preview/export time interval in seconds.

               - Anim check step   : Number of frames to jump when checking for animated nodes.
                                     8 should be more than enough, 1 means it would check frame
                                     by frame (starting from 0).
                                     With really big scenes and a lot of static objects a
                                     higher value would speed up the preview/export process.

               - Anim sampling     : Animation samples per second exported. Higher values mean
                                     animation closer to the original.
                                     Allows adjusting the file size when not many samples are
                                     needed.

               - Use MAX keys      : Will use MAX keys instead of animation sampling.
                                     Not supported yet.

         Export: Only export options.

               - Destination file  : Specifies the *.sgz file to export to.

               - Texture folder    : If checked, when exporting it will copy all textures referenced
                                     by the scene to the path specified.

               - Export            : Does the export
                                     Generates:
                                         -.sgz file in binary format with the scene data.
                                         -.sha fiel in ascii format with material information.
                                         -Textures copied to the texture folder path if specified.

         Preview: Only preview options.

               - Camera            : Cámara to use as preview POV.
               - Wire/Solid/FD     : Render mode.

               - Render Shadows    : Renders activating soft shadow maps for spot lights.

                  - Shadow map resolution : Internal depth texture resolution.
                                            More resolution means more shadow details.

                  - Blur map resolution   : In order to create soft shadows a blur process is needed.
                                            More blur resolution means prettier shadows.

                  - Blur radius           : Should be a power of two. Tells how much blur we want for
                                            the soft shadows.

                  - Lights near and far   : When processing shadows, renders from the lights point of
                                            view are needed. This means each light should have its
                                            frustum with its near and far values. Objects outside
                                            this frustum are not processed.
                                            Adjust the near and far values as much as possible.

               - Fullscreen        : When previewing it sets fullscreen mode. Quit using ESC.

               - Loop              : Loops the animation

               - Resolution        : Preview resolution.

               - Viewport          : Allows panoramic viewports (0-1).
                                     1.0 would be fullscreen and 0.5 a panoramic viewport with
                                     half the window height.

               - Show stats        : Shows some rendering stats.

               - Render to AVI     : Renders to an .avi file when previewing.

               - Preview           : Does the preview. Exit with ESC.
                                     
     -SUPPORTED STUFF ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               - Nodes : ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                         Objects: ------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   -Geometry :

                                                Vertices, smoothing groups, normals, texture mapping
                                                channels, vertex colors, edge visibility information.

                                   -Material:   See materials:

                                   -Object color:  Used for wireframe, solid render or objects with
                                                   no material (right button on node->properties).

                                   -User Defined (right button on node->properties)

                                    If we type this:
                                       dynamic:    Object will be exported with dynamic mesh.
                                       nolighting: Objeto won't have light computations.

                                   -Physique (Character Studio) modifier.

                         Lights: ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   -Omni: Color and Multiplier
                                   -Spot: Color, Multiplier, Falloff

                         Camera: ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   -Target and free: Near Range and Far Range
                                    IMPORTANT:  Near and far specify cameras visibility range.
                                                MAX renders everything, not just objects in this range.
                                                Adjust this values as much as possible, otherwise
                                                you'll loose z-buffer precision. 1-1000 would be nice.

                         Helpers: ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   -They are exported but not rendered. They can be used for
                                    hierarchy purposes but also to render lensflares (see lensflares)
                                    and maybe more things in the future.

                         Particle systems: -------------------------------------------------------------

                               Through Create->Particle Systems->Super Spray: 

                                   -Supported options:

                                         -Basic parameters:
                                              Particle formation
                                         -Particle generation:
                                              Everything except subframe sampling.
                                              Emit start/stop are nice to have short emit intervals
                                              (see euskal11 invitation).
                                              Grow for and fade work slightly different.
                                                  Grow for: Starting from 0, life frame at which the
                                                            particle ends growing.
                                                  Fade for: Life frame at which the particle starts
                                                            shrinking and fading away.
                                         -Bubble motion
                                              Everything

                                   -From the "User Defined" panel (right click on nodo->properties)
                                    you can specify some parameters MAX doesn't support by writing
                                    different custom commands (one at each line).

                                         -Billboard texture:
                                              f.e  #texture="c:\particle.tga".
                                                   Don't forget the quotes. Also, don't worry about
                                                   the path. It will be translated internally and
                                                   loaded properly.
                                         -Emission radius:
                                              f.e #radius=400
                                              Will create an emitter with particles being spawned
                                              in a radius instead from a single point.
                                              Useful when doing things like snow or rain.
                                         -Particle RGBA color
                                              Componentes range from 0.0 to 1.0
                                              f.e semitransparend red (r, g, b, a):
                                              #color=(0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.5)
                                         -Blending mode. The default one is additive (fire etc)
                                              If we want modulation (for black smoke for instance)
                                                #blendmult=TRUE
                                              and for additive (it's default though)
                                                #blendmult=FALSE
                                         -Acceleration (gravity) in xyz format:
                                              #acceleration=(0.0, -9.8, 0.0)
                                         -Particles affected or not by lighting (default = false)
                                              #affectlighting=TRUE or FALSE

                         Lensflares: -----------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   Every node can be a lensflare, but helpers are strongly recommended as
                                   they don't render any geometry which can be problematic sometimes.
                                   Right click on node->properties and write commands on the "User defined"
                                   text panel:

                                   Activate as lensflare:
                                       write #lensflare
                                   Do depth test:
                                       Hides a lensflare when some object is between it and the camera.
                                       Nice for sun effects hidden after walls and blablabla.
                                       #ztest=TRUE or FALSE
                                   Fade hide transition:
                                       Time in seconds it takes for the lensflare to hide completely
                                       when an object is in front of it, or to show when it needs
                                       to be shown again. (needs the depth test to be TRUE).
                                       Example: #fadeduration=0.15
                                   Lensflare components:
                                       Assigns different textures to the lensflare trail.
                                       A lensflare is a line going from 0.0 (the source of light) to
                                       1.0 (the other extreme of the imaginary line). You can place
                                       all textures you want in this segment:
                                       Posición ranges from 0.0 (source) a 1.0 (opposite)
                                       Size ranges from 0.0 (invisible point) to 1.0 (screen size) but it
                                       can be bigger if you want.
                                       Textura is also specified.

                                   Complete example:

                                       #lensflare
                                       #ztest=TRUE
                                       #fadeduration=0.15
                                       #texture="c:\lensflares\sparkle.jpg"  #pos=0.0 #size=0.8
                                       #texture="c:\lensflares\circle.jpg"   #pos=0.3 #size=0.1
                                       #texture="c:\lensflares\triangle.jpg" #pos=0.6 #size=0.2
                                       #texture="c:\lensflares\circle2.jpg"  #pos=1.0 #size=0.4

               - (Rendering -> Environment):  ------------------------------------------------------

                                              Background color (only for preview).
                                              Ambient light.
                                              Fog (atmosphere -> fog):
                                                 *If it's a standard one, it tells in MAX units
                                                  where it starts (everything is completely visible)
                                                  and where it ends (everything is fog).
                                                 *If it's a layered fog we use an exponential value
                                                  read from the density.

               - Materials: ------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       Standard and Shell Material supported.
                       Bitmap and Reflect/Refract slot types supported.

                       From materials we can get:

                            Shader Basic Parameteres:
                                   -Wire : Adds an additional wire layer to the object. Dezign?
                                           Color is taken from the object color (node->properties) and
                                           line thickness from Extended Params->Wire Size.
                                   -2Sided
                                   -Faceted
                            Blinn Basic Parameters:
                                   -Ambient, Diffuse and Specular.
                                   -Opacity (objeto transparency)
                                   -Specular Level, Glossiness.
                            Extended Parameters: 
                                   -Wire Size
                            Maps:

                                   -Lightmap     -> Self illumination slot.
                                   -Diffuse Map  -> Diffuse slot.
                                   -Normal map   -> Bump slot (needs normalmap format)
                                   -Reflexion    -> Reflection slot.
                                                    If there's a lightmap, it's ignored.
                                   -Postwireframe-> Adds a wireframe layer on top.

                                   Standard material is used commonly, whell material as a result of a
                                   Rendering->Render to Texture operation generating lightmaps and/or
                                   normalmaps.

                                   NOTA:
                                       If you use render to texture, a new shell material is created and
                                       from the baked the lightmap and bumpmap are taken.
                                       Diffuse is still taken from the standard original.

                       From maps:

                            If it's a bitmap type:

                                   -Coordinates:
                                       Texture, Environ, Mapping, Map Channel.
                                       Offset, Angle.
                                       You can specify an animated scroll or rotation editing
                                       the .sha exported ascii file.
                                   -Bitmap Parameters:
                                       Bitmap.

                             If it's reflect/refract:

                                   Cubemapping rules. MAX can render an object's environment and
                                   create+assign 6 textures faking a reflected environment.
                                   Pick objects and render maps rules :)


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-SGZ DEMO EDITOR------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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     -DESCRIPTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Effect sequencing program.
         Can create, open and file demos in an own .txt format.
         Completely WYSIWYG excepto por framerate and texture filtering issues.

         Main features:

                 -Expandable: works through plugins.
                 -Can render an .avi of the demo.
                 -Supports full animated variables through curve editors.
                 -Effects and curves cut&paste support.
                 -Supports realtime effects and also .avi clips.
                 -WYSIWYG
                 -Multimonitor friendly (edit on one screen and preview on the other)
                 -Many shortcuts to speed up editing process. Check editor's builtin help.


     -INSTALATION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Just use it from the folder.

     -USAGE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         It's highly recommended to see the folder structure of one of the demo samples included
         in this pack.

         Anyway, a common way to create a demo would be:

         -Create a workspace folder, f.e c:\mydemo
         -Create a data folder inside it, f.e c:\mydemo\data
         -Store all data (textures, scenes, videos) in c:\mydemo\data using the subfolders
          you want.
         -Place the musicfile in the workspace folder c:\mydemo
         -Run the editor, load all necessary data (music, scenes, textures...) and save the
          demo to a demo.txt file in c:\mydemo
         -When developing new contents, store them in c:\mydemo\data\* before loading them
          from the editor.

         To run the demo outside the editor environment:
         -Copy all files in the "SGZ Player" folder to the demo workspace folder and run the exe.

         To pack the demo:

         -Use .zip or better .rar to compress. Select demo.txt and the data folder and compress
          to a file. Rename to demo.dat
         -Files needed to distribute the demo are:
            Demo.dat
            music file
            sgz_player.exe
            sgz_plugins.dll
            freeimage.dll
            bass.dll.

         Note about paths:

             When paths or files are specified, it doesn't matter if they're relative or absolute.
             They will be converted to relative anyway.

     -PANEL OPTIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         To do :)

     -RESOURCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Resources are data used by effects. They can be shared between different effects.

         Currently supported

               Texture2D: Bitmaps (.jpg, .bmp, .tga, .tif, .gif...)
               Scene:     .sgz files exportados by the SGZ MAX TOOLS.
                          Specify the .sgz file and as additional path the texture folder.
               Spline:    Splines created using the 2D spline editor.
               Video:     .avi files (important: to play them you'll need the codec, so be careful
                          when using weird codecs people may not have installed!).

         To be completed

     -EFECTOS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         To do


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-SGZ DEMO PLAYER------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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     -DESCRIPTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Generic exe to play demos created with the demo editor.

     -USAGE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Copy all content to the folder containing the script (unpacked) or the demo.dat (packed).

              It works this way:

              -If there's a demo.dat, it will try to load a demo.txt inside it and all referenced
               data will be loaded from the demo.dat.
              -If there's no demo.dat, it will try to load an uncompressed demo.txt and all
               data referenced by it.

         Command line options:

             "-nodestalpha": Asks for a pixel format with no destination alpha support. Some
                             computers may not support it and it's needed for a small number
                             of effects:
                             Effect list needing destination alpha:
                                  -Scene With Depth Of Field

             "-log"        : Creates a .log file


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-FAQ: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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      MAXTOOLS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


      SGZ EDITOR -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      [P] : Editor doesn't work :_(
      [R] : .NET framework is needed (download from www.microsoft.com)

      [P] : I have problems loading .sgz files.
      [R] : Specify the texture folder as additional path when loading this kind of resources.

      [P] : ¿How can I delete keys from the curve editor?
      [R] : Drag them far away or use the right mouse button.

      [P] : When I use the normal viewport rendering (environment settings panel) instead of
            FBO I see weird things sometimes.
      [R] : You'll probably have problems with some effect using a copy to texture internally.
            Make the viewport window at least as big as this texture.

      [P] : I can't see shadows.
      [R] : You either don't support shadows or you haven't placed spot lights or the near-far
            range is so small no objects are inside the frustum.


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-TO DO LIST: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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      MAXTOOLS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          [ithaqua]

          [other]

      SGZ EDITOR -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          [ithaqua]
             -Multiselection for effects and keys. Multiple cut&paste.
             -Place snap to grid and lock fx layer in the main menu with shortcuts.
             -Select .avi compression options before the resolution change.
             -Add bpm support to the timeline.
             -Add a toggle follow timemark feature. Now the time mark disappears when playing.

          [other]


      SGZ PLAYER -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          [ithaqua]

          [other]

      MISCELÁNEA -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          [ithaqua]

          [other]


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-CONTACT: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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  Mail:

   ithaqua@maptel.es
   ithaqua@stravaganza.org

  MSN:

   ithaqua_sgz@hotmail.com

  Web:

   http://ithaqua.stravaganza.org