This seems like a good place to talk a bit about the .scn format. Since MacRTrace now supports .scn (mostly), people creating scenes for MacRTrace may want to use the .scn format, which is a higher-level format and is easier to use. The best source I know for information on the .scn format is on the World Wide Web: http://www.cica.indiana.edu/graphics/object_specs/scn/SCN.format.html. You can also find information on the .scn and .sff formats at ftp://asterix.inescn.pt/pub/RTrace.
Below is the standard document describing the .sff format.
This document describes the SFF (Simple File Format) used on the RTRACE ray tracer (Version 8). This a plain text line oriented format, with a file inclusion capability. As present, it is very simple to read and write this format from languages like C and Pascal, which was my main
concern...
(^ represents start of line!)
***** Format SFF (Simple File Format) *****
[Start of File]
^... Comment
^Eye(X Y Z)
^Look(X Y Z)
^Up(X Y Z)
^View_angle(H V) [1,89 degrees]
^... Comment
^Background(R G B)
^Ambient(R G B)
^... Comment
^Light_type(Type) Position(X Y Z) Bright(R G B) ...
| |
| /---------------------------/
| |
V V
1-POINT:
2-DIRECTIONAL: Direction(X Y Z) Angle(La) Light_Factor(Lf)
3-EXTENDED: Radius(R) Samples(N)
^Etc
^<NL>
^... Comment
^Surface_type(Type) Color(R G B) ...
| |
| /----------------------/
| |
V V
1-: Diffuse(R G B) Specular(R G B) Phong(Pf) Metalness(Mf) Trans.(R G B)
2-: Smoothness(R G B) Metalness(R G B) Transmission(R G B)