It converts an image file into the desired file format. The user is asked which format to convert to. For the time being, standard Sun Raster files, Rgb files, TIFF files and XWD files may be converted into the Sun raster, Rgb, BMP or TIFF formats. Other conversion options may be requested from your DeskArtes dealer.
The "greyscale" option converts a color image file into a similar file, but only containing gray scale colors. This is required for applying bump mapped textures; see TEXTURE menu.
The "3Dbump" option converts an rgb file into a cobj file, that contains a faceted representation for a 3D bump map of the image. The name of the faceted model will be preceded with 'bump_'. When this model is read into DeskArtes a bounding box is defined around the model which can later be used as a cutter if required.
The number of facets in the horizontal direction is asked as a parameter, default being according to the number of pixels in the image. The Z heights in the bump maps are taken from the pixel intensities in the image.
Once the cobj file is read into DeskArtes, it can be scaled and transformed along with the bounding box. One way to apply such 3D bumps is projecting them as decorations on other surfaces; see command SURFACEŞ Project to Surf.
The command also works as the interface for the DeskArtes Rapid Tools commands. These are special routines for various Rapid Prototyping applications, described in a separate set of Manuals.
If the selected item is a directory, which name ends with 'movie', the pnm images inside the directory will be combined into turntable animation. This command only works for SGI IRIX 5.3 and higher.
The command starts an SGI utility called movieconvert, which converts a series of images into a movie. Type in 1 in the From field and the amount of images into the To field. The names of the images are #.pnm. Press enter after having typed in the name.
After the conversion is finished, you can run the movie by double clicking it from the operating system.
Note that the default location for the movie file is the DeskArtes startup directory.