PV(1)

NAME

pv − Personal Visualizer 3D graphics editor and renderer

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

pv lets you interactively construct and view 3D scenes using a mouse and menu-driven interface. The pv offers advanced graphics capabilities in a form which is fun and easy to use and requires no special programming!

A scene in the pv is a collection of 3D objects which can be interactively positioned, scaled, and rotated. You compose your pv scene by selecting objects from a built-in library of common objects, or you may choose to use the integrated modeler/editor to create new objects or edit existing ones. You can also import your CAD data into a scene by using one of the demo IGES, SDRC I-DEAS, DXF, or SLA translators provided with the pv. If you are a Starbase programmer, you can import Starbase data into a scene (see the Starbase Device Drivers Library Manual for details).

After you have selected and positioned your objects, you can apply various types of surface materials such as wood, metal, and marble to the objects to create realistic effects. Then you can select and manipulate several types of lights to illuminate the objects in the scene.

Once you have constructed your scene, you may want to "walk around" in the scene and view it from various angles. Then, you can apply the Personal Visualizer advanced ray tracing or radiosity rendering technologies to make your scene appear almost as realistic as a photograph! Finally, you can save the scene for future viewing, or obtain a graphics printout of your scene on an HP Paintjet or Paintjet XL printer, or (on the s300/s400 only) on the Kodak(TM) XL7700 high-resolution printer.

DIAGNOSTICS

An Out of Disk Space error will occur if you attempt to create a scene and you do not have sufficient disk space in your $HOME directory, or if there is not sufficient disk space in the exchange area and you attempt to write data to this area.

An Out of Memory error will occur if you attempt to import or create models that exceed the size of the data space configured in your kernel.

NOTES

Refer to your Personal Visualizer -- HP Installation and Configuration Guide if you encounter system level problems.

The Personal Visualizer runs only in the X Window System, and requires an appropriately-configured 3D graphics device. Your $DISPLAY environment variable must be set to correctly identify the X11 display and screen the Personal Visualizer should use.

If a segmentation fault occurs when you try working with large data sets, you may need to reconfigure your kernel. On a s300/s400 system, you may also need to set the $SB_DISPLAY_ADDR environment variable. The $SB_DISPLAY_ADDR environment variable must be set before starting the X Window System.

ORIGIN

Wavefront Technologies Incorporated

Museum

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