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(16Oct95) comp.graphics.misc Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
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on many archive sites.
HOW DO I GET FILES IF I CAN'T FTP?
There are a number of sites that archive the Usenet sources
newsgroups and make them available via an email query system. You send
a message to an automated server saying something like "send
comp.sources.unix/fbm", and a few hours or days later you get the file
in the mail.
In addition, there is at least one FTP-by-mail server. Send mail to
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com saying "help" and it will tell you how to use
it. Note that this service has at times been turned off due to abuse.
_________________________________________________________________
Where can I get ...
This section provides information on how to obtain frequently sought
items. I tend to shy away from commercial products other than books so
as to remain as neutral as possible. I don't want to see things like
"... the paint program recommended in the comp.graphics.misc FAQ!" get
a toe-hold in my reality. :-)
WHERE CAN I GET FORMAT DOCUMENTS FOR TIFF, IFF, GIF, ETC.?
You almost certainly don't need these due to the existence of a large
quantity of very good free image manipulation software. Get one or
more of these packages and look through them. Chances are excellent
that the image converter you were going to write is already there.
But if you still want one of the format documents, many such files are
available by anonymous ftp from the following sites:
* zamenhof.cs.rice.edu:/pub/graphics.formats
* ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu:/misc/file.formats/graphics.formats
* telva.ccu.uniovi.es:/pub/graphics/file.formats
* peipa.essex.ac.uk:/ipa/file-formats
* avalon.vislab.navy.mil:/pub/format_specs
There are many files in each of these directories. Your best bet is to
go there and look around.
FITS stands for Flexible Image Transport System. It's a file format
most often used in astronomy. Despite the name, it can contain not
only images but other things as well. There is a regular monthly FITS
basics and information posting on sci.astro.fits - read it if you want
to know more.
WHERE CAN I GET FREE IMAGE MANIPULATION SOFTWARE?
There are a number of toolkits for converting from one image format
to another, doing simple image manipulations such as size scaling,
plus the above-mentioned 24 -> 8, color -> gray, gray -> b&w
conversions.
While there is a full URL listed for many of these packages, this is
really quite misleading. Most of these packages are available from
numerouse sites. I highly recommend two things:
1. Use archie or a similar tool to locate an ftp site close to you,
rather than fighting the frothing hordes for access to wuarchive.
2. ftp to your chosen site manually, change to the directory listed
in the FAQ for your chosen package, and look around. You will
often find newer versions or additional, related files.
That being said, here are the packages:
xv by John Bradley
X-based image display, manipulation, and format conversion
package. XV displays many image formats and permits editing of
GIF files, among others. The latest version is 3.10a, and may
be found at John's site ftp.cis.upenn.edu as
/pub/xv/xv-3.10a.tar.gz.
PBMPLUS by Jef Poskanzer
Comprehensive format conversion and image manipulation package.
It is available at ftp.ee.lbl.gov as /pbmplus10dec91.tar.Z and
at wuarchive.wustl.edu as
/graphics/graphics/packages/pbmplus/pbmplus10dec91.tar.Z.
NETPBM
This is a Usenet community supported version of the PBMPLUS
toolkit, including many new and updated converters. It is
available at wuarchive.wustl.edu as
/graphics/graphics/packages/NetPBM/netpbm-1mar1994.tar.gz. A
mailing list exists as well.
IM Raster Toolkit by Alan Paeth (awpaeth@watcgl.uwaterloo.ca)
Provides a portable and efficient format and related toolkit.
The format is versatile in supporting pixels of arbitrary
channels, components, and bit precisions while allowing
compression and machine byte-order independence. The kit
contains more than 50 tools with extensive support of image
manipulation, digital halftoning and format conversion.
Previously distributed on tape c/o the University of Waterloo,
an FTP version will appear someday.
Ed. Note: This is a very old blurb. Is this kit available on
the net? If so, where? If not, how does one get it? Is it
obsolete?
Utah RLE Toolkit
Conversion and manipulation package, similar to PBMPLUS.
Available via FTP as cs.utah.edu:pub/urt-*,
princeton.edu:pub/Graphics/urt-*, and
freebie.engin.umich.edu:pub/urt-*.
Fuzzy Pixmap Manipulation by Michael Mauldin
Conversion and manipulation package, similar to PBMPLUS.
Version 1.0 available via FTP at network.ucsd.edu as
/graphics/fbm.tar.Z.
Xim (X Image Manipulator) by Philip R. Thompson
It does essential interactive image manipulations and uses
x11r4 and the OSF/Motif toolkit for the interface. It supports
images in 1, 8, 24 and 32 bit formats. Reads/writes and
converts to/from GIF, xwd, xbm, tiff, rle, xim, and other
formats. Writes level 2 postscript. Other utilities and image
application library are included. Not a paint package.
Available at gis.mit.edu as /pub/xim3i.tar.Z.
xloadimage by Jim Frost
Reads in images in various formats and displays them on an X11
screen. Available via FTP as in your nearest comp.sources.x
archive.
xli, by Graeme Gill
This is an updated xloadimage with numerous improvements in
both speed and in the number of formats supported. Available at
ftp.x.org as /contrib/applications/xli.1.16.tar.gz.
TIFF Software by Sam Leffler
Nice portable library for reading and writing TIFF files, plus
a few tools for manipulating them and reading other formats.
Available via FTP as sgi.com:graphics/tiff/*.tar.Z.
xtiff
This is an X11 tool for viewing a TIFF file. It was written to
handle as many different kinds of TIFF files as possible while
remaining simple, portable and efficient. xtiff illustrates
some common problems with building pixmaps and using different
visual classes. It is distributed as part of Sam Leffler's
libtiff package and it is also available on ftp.uu.net and
comp.sources.x. xtiff 2.0 was announced in 4/91; it includes
Xlib and Xt versions.
ALV
This is a Sun-specific image toolkit. Version 2.0.6 was posted
to comp.sources.sun on 11dec89. Also available via email to
alv-users-request@cs.bris.ac.uk.
popi
This is an image manipulation language. Version 2.1 posted to
comp.sources.misc on 12dec89.
ImageMagick
This is an X11 package for display and interactive manipulation
of images. Includes tools for image conversion, annotation,
compositing, animation, and creating montages. ImageMagick can
read and write many of the more popular image formats.
Available from ftp.x.org as
/contrib/applications/ImageMagick/ImageMagick-3.7.tar.gz.
Khoros
This is a huge (~100 meg) graphical development environment
based on X11R4. Khoros components include a visual programming
language, code generators for extending the visual language and
adding new application packages to the system, an interactive
user interface editor, an interactive image display package, an
extensive library of image and signal processing routines, and
2D/3D plotting packages. Available at ftp.eece.unm.edu as
/pub/khoros/*. A newsgroup exists for the discussion of khoros
and khoros-related topics, comp.soft-sys.khoros.
LaboImage
This is a SunView-based image processing and analysis package.
It includes more than 200 image manipulation, processing and
measurement routines, on-line help, plus tools such as an image
editor, a color table editor and several biomedical utilities.
Available via anonymous FTP on nic.funet.fi in
/pub/graphics/packages.
The San Diego Supercomputer Center Image Tools
These are software tools for reading, writing, and manipulating
raster images. Binaries for some machines are available at
sdsc.edu as /pub/sdsc/graphics/imtools/*.
Independent JPEG Group's free JPEG software
The Independent JPEG Group has written a package for reading
and writing JPEG files. FTP to
ftp.uu.net:graphics/jpeg/jpegsrc.v?.tar.gz
bit (Bitmap Image Touchup) by T.C. Zhao
This is a full color viewer/editor with a variety of features.
SGI only. It may be obtained via FTP at monte.svec.uh.edu in
/pub/bit.
"Libreria de Utilidades Graficas" or "Graphic Utilities Library"
This is a library of subroutines for image manipulation. It has
routines for loading, viewing and manipulationg a variety of
formats. It may be obtained at ftp.uniovi.es as
/uniovi/mathdept/src/liblug.tar.gz.
Dore' (Dynamic Object Rendering Environment)
Dore' is a powerful 3D graphics subroutine library. It provides
a comprehensive set of tools for creating graphics
applications. It is also easy to use, portable, and extendable.
This version has interfaces/drivers to X11, PEX, IrisGL,
OpenGL, Postscript and more. It is known to run on NetBSD 1.0,
Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris 2.3, and OSF/1. It has also been ported
to Windows NT 3.5. The official distribution site is
sunsite.unc.edu, where it may be found in
pub/packages/development/graphics/Dore as pdore-6.0.tar.Z.
XMegaWave
XMegaWave is a graphics window environment oriented to image
processing. It is based in the collaboration between
researchers from the University of Balear Islands (U.I.B.), The
University of Las Palmas (U.L.P.G.C.) and the University of
Paris IX Dauphine (U.P.D.). XMW is oriented to UNIX
workstations which work with X11R4 and Motif1.1 libraries (this
XMW version). Currently, it is available for HP-Apollo and SGI
workstations. Full source is not available as of yet, but the
authors say they will cooperate in getting other versions
built. XMW may be obtained on ftp.dis.ulpgc.es in the
/investigacion/ami/XMegaWave directory.
Please do *not* post or mail messages saying "I can't FTP, could
someone mail this to me?" There are a number of automated mail servers
that will send you things like this in response to a message. Refer to
the section of this document titled How do I get files if I can't ftp?
for more help.
Also, the newsgroup alt.graphics.pixutils is specifically for
discussion of software like this. You may find useful information
there.
WHERE CAN I GET FREE PLOTTING SOFTWARE?
Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive data/function plotting
program. It runs on just about any machine, and is very flexible in
terms of supported output devices. The official North American
distribution site for the latest version is dartmouth.edu in
/pub/gnuplot. More information is available from the USENET newsgroup
comp.graphics.gnuplot and its FAQ, graphics/gnuplot-faq.
ACE/gr (xmgr - Motif/xvgr - XView) is a data/function plotting tool
for workstations or X-terminals using X. Available from
ftp.teleport.com in /pub/users/pturner/acegr. There is also a WWW page
for this package at http://www.teleport.com/~pturner/acegr/.
robotx (Robot) is a general purpose plotting and data analysis
program. Requires XView, X-terminal or workstation. Available from
ftp.x.org as /R5contrib/robotx0.48.tar.gz. There is a much improved
version in beta testing as well. Contact corbet@bastet.gsfc.nasa.gov
for info.
Xgraph is a popular two-dimensional plotting program that accepts data
in a form similar to the unix program graph and displays line graphs,
scatter plots, or bar charts on an X11 display. Available from a
multitude of sites, including ftp.cs.umn.edu, as xgraph-11.3.2.tgz.
XGobi is an interactive dynamic graphics program for data
visualization in the X Window System. It is especially designed for
the exploration of multivariate data. It may be found at ftp.archie.au
in /graphics/graphics/packages/XGobi.
XgPlot is a 3d plotting packages which supports linear, log, and
probability scaling of axes, as well as division marker lines in the
graph. It can plot up to 20 datasets on a single graph, and the graph
may be saved to or loaded from an ascii graph description file. It may
be found at ftp.x.org as /R5contrib/XgPlot-4.4.tar.Z.
PLOTMTV is a multipurpose X11 plotting program. It's capabilities
include 2D line and scatter plots (x-vs-y), contour plots, 3D surface,
line and scatter plots as well as vector plots. The program has an
rough but functional Graphical User Interface, through which it is
possible to zoom in, zoom out, pan, toggle between 2D and 3D plots,
and rotate 3D plots. Both color and grayscale postscript output are
supported. It may be found at ftp.x.org as
/contrib/applications/Plotmtv1.4.1.tar.Z.
WHERE CAN I GET STANDARDS DOCUMENTS?
The American National Standards Institute sells ANSI standards, and
also ISO (international) standards. Their sales office is at
1-212-642-4900, mailing address is 1430 Broadway, NY NY 10018. It
helps if you have the complete name and number.
Some useful numbers to know:
* CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) is ISO 8632-4 (1987)
* GKS (Graphical Kernel System) is ANSI X3.124-1985
* PHIGS (Programmer's Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System) is
ANSI X3.144-1988
* IGES is ASME/ANSI Y14.26M-1987
Language bindings are often separate but related numbers; for example,
the GKS FORTRAN binding is X3.124.1-1985.
Standards-in-progress are made available at key milestones to solicit
comments from the graphical public (this includes you!). ANSI can let
you know where to order them; most are available from Global
Engineering at 1-800-854-7179.
WHERE CAN I GET 3D OBJECTS?
So far, I know of only one really large clump of them on the net. It
is located at avalon.vislab.navy.mil. The site administrators request
that major downloads be kept to non-peak hours. Their official mirror
site is ftp.kpc.com.
WHERE CAN I GET MRI AND CT SCAN VOLUME DATA?
Volume data sets are available from the University of North Carolina
at omicron.cs.unc.edu (152.2.128.159) in /pub/softlab/CHVRTD.
(Commercial use is prohibited.)
* Head data - A 109-slice MRI data set of a human head.
* Knee data - A 127-slice MRI data set of a human knee.
* HIPIP data - The result of a quantum mechanical calculation of a
SOD data of a one-electron orbital of HIPIP, an iron protein.
* SOD data - An electron density map of the active site of SOD
(superoxide dismutase).
* CT Cadaver Head data - A 113-slice MRI data set of a CT study of a
cadaver head.
* MR Brain data - A 109-slice MRI data set of a head with skull
partially removed to reveal brain.
* RNA data - An electron density map for Staphylococcus Aureus
Ribonuclease.
WHERE CAN I GET MPSC AND AOEGA INFO?
The Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists and Affiliated Optical
Electronic and Graphic Arts, Local 839 IATSE is pleased to announce
the availability by anonymous FTP of information files about our
organization.
Local 839 IATSE is the largest local union of motion picture graphic
artists in the world. We have over 1,500 active members employed in
animation and CGI in Southern California.
These files are available at ftp.netcom.com:/pub/mp/mpsc839 via
anonymous ftp.
For further information, contact them at mpsc839@netcom.com.
_________________________________________________________________
Graphics-related Mailing Lists
There are a variety of graphics-related mailing list out there, each
covering either a single product or a single topic. I have been an
active participant in several of these for some time now, and find the
focus and expertise which can be brought to bear on an isolated topic
to be nothing short of amazing.
Please send corrections if you notice outdated or erroneous
information in this list! Also, feel free to send me any other lists
you would like to see added.
IMAGINE MAILING LIST
The Imagine mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of the
Imagine 3D Rendering and Animation package from Impulse. Currently,
Imagine runs on the Amiga and the PC.
To subscribe, send mail to imagine-request@email.sp.paramax.com with
the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
DCTV MAILING LIST
The DCTV mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of the
Digital Creations DCTV box, software, and file formats. DCTV is an
Amiga graphics module.
To subscribe, send mail to DCTV-request@nova.cc.purdue.edu with the
word "subscribe" in the subject line.
RAYSHADE USERS MAILING LIST
The Rayshade Users mailing list provides a discussion forum for users
of the Rayshade raytracer. Rayshade is a public domain raytracer, with
source available on the net. It runs on most Unix boxes, as well as
the Amiga, Mac and PC platforms. To subscribe, send mail to
rayshade-request@cs.princeton.edu with the word "subscribe" in the
subject line.
LIGHTWAVE MAILING LIST
The Lightwave mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of
the Lightwave 3D Rendering and Animation package from Newtek.
Currently, Lightwave runs on the Amiga, but it will soon be available
on various other platforms.
To subscribe, send mail to lightwave-request@bobsbox.rent.com with the
"subscribe lightwave-l address" in your message.
VIDEO TOASTER MAILING LIST
The Video Toaster mailing list provides a discussion forum for users
of the Video Toaster product from Newtek. The Video Toaster is an
Amiga board which includes Lightwave and a lot of video functionality.
To subscribe, send mail to toaster-request@bobsbox.rent.com with
"subscribe toaster-l address" in your message.
MAILING LIST FOR MASSIVE PARALLEL RENDERING
This list title seems pretty self-explanatory. I believe it is
primarly a Unix-oriented list.
To subscribe, send mail to mp-render-request@icase.edu with the word
"subscribe" in the subject line.
NETPBM MAILING LIST
The Netpbm mailing list provides a discussion forum for the
net-supported netpbm package. I believe this to be largely a developer
forum. Netpbm runs on just about any platform you could name.
To subscribe, send mail to oliver@fysik4.kth.se with the word
"subscribe" in the subject line.
POV-RAY MAILING LIST
The POV-Ray mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of the
POV-Ray raytracer. POV-Ray is a public domain raytracer, with source
available on the net. It runs on most Unix boxes, as well as the
Amiga, Mac and PC platforms. To subscribe, send mail to
listserv@vm3090.ege.edu.tr with "subscribe dkb-l" in the subject line.
RAYDREAM MAILING LIST
The Ray Dream mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of
the Ray Dream Rendering and Animation package. Currently, Ray Dream
runs only on the Mac.
To subscribe, send mail to listserv@cornell.edu with "subscribe
raydream-l address" in your message.
COMPUTATIONAL GEOMETRY MAILING LIST
The Computational Geometry mailing lists are meant for those working
or interested in computational geometry. There are actually three
separate but related lists:
* compgeom-announce: for announcements about professional activities
* compgeom-discuss: for discussion or questions
* compgeom-tribune: a newsletter in LaTeX.
To subscribe to one of these lists, send mail to
compgeom-request@research.att.com with the message "subscribe xxxx" in
the message body or subject line, where xxxx is the name of one of the
three lists.
The compgeom list also provides some other neat stuff, such as a
bibliographic search service. Send mail to
compgeom-request@research.att.com with the message "send readme" for
more information.
PHOTOSHOP MAILING LIST
The Photoshop mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of
the Photoshop image conversion and manipulation package from Adobe.
Adobe Photoshop runs on Windows, Macintosh, and SGI platforms. The
latest version, 3.0, does not work properly under OS/2 and Adobe
refuses to address the problem (editorial comment).
To subscribe, send mail to photshop@bgu.edu with "subscribe" in the
body of your message.
3DSTUDIO MAILING LIST
The 3dstudio mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of
the 3D Studio modelling and rendering package from Autodesk. Autodesk
3D Studio runs only on the PC platform, AFAIK.
To subscribe, send mail to majordomo@autodesk.com with "Subscribe
3dstudio <address>" in the body of your message. The <address>
section is optional, and should not include the <>.
KPT MAILING LIST
The KPT mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of Kai's
Power Tools, a set of cool texture plugins for Adobe Photoshop and
other packages. Kai's Power Tools work on Windows and the Mac.
To subscribe, send mail to listserv@netcom.com with "subscribe
kpt-list" in the body of your message.
KODAK PHOTO CD MAILING LIST
The KODAK Photo CD mailing list is a public mailing list for
discussion of the Photo CD format and related topics.
To subscribe, send mail to listserv@info.kodak.com with the command
"SUBSCRIBE PHOTO-CD <first-name> <last-name>", substituting
your own first and last names in the obvious spots. Both these names
and the address you subscribe from will be used by the mailing list
software.
CALIGARI TRUESPACE MAILING LIST
The Caligari mailing list provides a discussion forum for users of
the Caligari TrueSpace Rendering and Animation package from Caligari.
I believe Caligari currently runs on the Amiga and PC (Windows)
platforms.
To subscribe, send mail to truespace-request@cs.uregina.ca with
"subscribe" in your message.
GLOBAL ILLUMINATION MAILING LIST
The Global Illumination mailing list is a forum for the discussion of
research issues pertaining to the simulation of 'global illumination',
that is the balance of radiant energy between a set of surfaces of
radiatively active media. This is not a list for the newbie or the
dabbler - 75% of the current members are researchers in academic
environments.
To subscribe, send a message to globillum-request@imag.fr containing
your name, affiliation, and 2 lines describing your interests. There
is also an affiliated Global Illumination WWW page,
http://safran.imag.fr/Membres/Francois.Sillion/globillum.html
FRACTAL DESIGN PAINTER MAILING LIST
The Fractal Design Painter mailing list provides a discussion forum
for users of the Fractal Design Painter package. I believe Fractal
Design Painter currently runs on the PC (Windows) and Mac platforms.
To subscribe, send the message "subscribe painter-list" to
listserv@netcom.com.
_________________________________________________________________
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH, the Special Interest Group for Graphics of the Association
for Computing Machinery, is the premiere professional organization in
the computer graphics world. It is so active and so pervasive that I
feel it deserves its own section.
SIGGRAPH INFORMATION ONLINE
ACM-SIGGRAPH provides an online information site at siggraph.org
(128.248.245.250). This site provides SIGGRAPH information via both
anonymous ftp and an electronic mail archive server.
The anonymous ftp service is very standard, and the ftp directory
includes both conference and publications subdirectories.
To retrieve information by electronic mail, send mail to
archive-server@siggraph.org and in the subject or the body of the
message include the message send followed by the topic and subtopic
you wish. A good place to start is with the command send index which
will give you an up-to-date list of available information.
The coolest way to get SIGGRAPH info, of course, is via their WWW page
at http://www.siggraph.org.
HOW TO JOIN ACM/SIGGRAPH
Probably the easiest way to join ACM/SIGGRAPH is to trot over to your
local technical library and find a copy of Communications of the ACM.
Somewhere within the first few pages will be an application blank.
Fill it out and mail it in. ACM membership for students costs $24.00,
Voting or Associate Membership $79.00 (yearly).
SIGGRAPH student membership costs an additional $50.00, $59.00 for
Voting or Associate Members (also yearly). To get TOG (Transactions on
Graphics) it's another $27.00 for students and $32.00 for Voting or
Associate Members (TOG is an ACM publication, not a SIGGRAPH
publication).
If you just want to join SIGGRAPH without joining ACM, it'll cost you
$85.00 (no student discount).
There are surcharges for overseas airmailing of publications.
ACM Member services may be contacted via email at
acmhelp@acmvm.bitnet. Their phone number is (212) 626-0500. FAX number
(212) 944-1318. Snailmail address ACM, PO Box 12114, Church Street
Station, NY, NY 10257
SIGGRAPH `95 will be held in Los Angeles, California, August 6-11,
1995.
SIGGRAPH ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHY PROJECT
The ACM SIGGRAPH Online Bibliography Project is a database of over
15,000 unique computer graphics and computational geometry references
in BibTeX format, available to the computer graphics community as a
research and educational resource.
The database is located at "siggraph.org". Users may download the
BibTeX files via FTP and peruse them offline, or telnet to
"siggraph.org" and log in as "biblio" and interactively search the
database for entries of interest, by keyword.
Web users may also access the SIGGRAPH Online Bibliography Project via
the URL http://siggraph.org/library/bibliography/bibliography.html.
Additions/corrections/suggestions may be directed to the admin,
"bibadmin@siggraph.org".
_________________________________________________________________
Check out John Grieggs' Home Page
_________________________________________________________________
grieggs@netcom.com / grieggs@primenet.com / JohnG@cup.portal.com
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