		Autodesk 3D Studio Release 4
		   World-Creating Toolkit
			      
			  ---------

Welcome to the Release 3 World-Creating Toolkit(R). We have
provided you with the geometry and maps you need to get 
started in 3D Studio. The result is nearly 700 megabytes(MB)
of data comprised of over 400 mesh files and over 1000
texture maps. In addition, we've provided 100 new fonts 
specially optimized for 3D Studio.

For immediate viewing, we've also included a small portfolio 
of some of the best work done recently with 3D Studio. You can 
view this GIF collection from the DOS prompt by typing "DEMO" 
from within the \SAMPLES directory of your CD-ROM.


Navigating the CD-ROM
---------- --- ------

The World-Creating Toolkit has five parts, each with its own 
subdirectory.

FONTS            One hundred PostScript(R) fonts for 3D
		 Studio
GEOMETRY         Mesh geometry library
MAPS             Bitmap library
SAMPLES          Sample images and flic animations
VIDEOTEX         VGASHOW utility


			    Fonts
			    -----

The \FONTS directory has 100 fonts in .PFB format
that are loadable in the 2D Shaper of 3D Studio. These
fonts have all been custom hinted for use in 3D Studio and
contain full DOS code page 850 international character sets.

Sample images showing these fonts are included in GIF form 
in the \FONTS directory. These images can be viewed using 
the VIEW IMAGE command within 3D Studio.


			  Geometry
			  --------
			      
The Release 3 World-Creating Toolkit collects mesh geometry 
from a myriad of sources, including the material from the 
Release 2 CD-ROM, to form a vast library.

The Release 3 CD-ROM has been improved in several ways. We 
have created an ASCII index to all the geometry to make it 
easier to find the geometry you want. Also, wherever
possible, we have separated scenes into their component
objects, making it easier to add the geometry to your own
scenes. And once you've merged the geometry, it's now easier 
to work with it thanks to a consistent color scheme and
consistent orientation.

Navigating the Geometry Library:
---------- --- -------- --------

ARCHCOMP         Architectural components
ARCHITEX         Buildings and landmarks
CLIPANIM         Clip animation
CRITTERS         People, animals, and monsters
FURNITUR         Furniture
HOUSHOLD         Household items/furnishings
MEDIA            Media, music, and computers
MISC             Miscellaneous
PLANTS           Plants, flowers, and trees
SCENES           Complete scenes; see SCENES.TXT in this
		 directory for more information
SPORTS           Sports
VEHICLES         Vehicles
VENDORS\ACURIS   Models from Acuris
VENDORS\IWORKS   Models from Imagination Works
VENDORS\MIRA     Models from Mira
VENDORS\VPOINT   Models from Viewpoint


Using the ASCII index:
----- --- ----- ------

In the \GEOMETRY directory you will find a file called
GEOMETRY.TXT. This file is an ASCII text file formatted like
a spreadsheet; it indexes all the geometry files by filename, 
contents (key words), and number of polygons. You can use 
this index in many ways, but it has been carefully designed 
to be loaded into 3D Studio's text editor. From there you can 
use keywords and the SEARCH command to find useful geometry.


A note about materials:
- ---- ----- ----------

The geometry files all contain their original materials and
are mostly "ready to render." The maps necessary to render 
the geometry are kept in two subdirectories of the CD-ROM:
     \MAPS\MESHMAP1
     \MAPS\MESHMAP2
Before attempting to render geometry on the CD-ROM, you
should activate these paths in the map paths section of your
3DS.SET file so that 3D Studio knows where to find the maps.

A note about color:
- ---- ----- ------

In 3D Studio Release 3, you can now use color to distinguish 
geometry in the 3D Editor and Keyframer. To take advantage 
of this new feature while minimizing possible color scheme 
conflicts with users' own scenes, all geometry on the CD 
has been assigned a standard color scheme restricted to 
the two left columns of colors in the color selection dialog 
box. On most systems, most of the geometry from the CD-ROM 
appears blue-green. (This may vary depending on your palette 
configuration.) Most importantly, if you plan to use geometry 
from the CD-ROM, you might want to avoid using colors from 
the two left-hand columns of the color selection dialog. If
you reserve those colors, you can avoid "entangling" your
original geometry's colors with those of the CD-ROM's geometry.


			    Maps
			    ----

The Release 3 World-Creating Toolkit contains one of the
largest and highest quality texture map collections
available. The entire collection has been redesigned from
scratch and has more than doubled in size. First, the
maps have been reorganized in a manner consistent with the
geometry section. Second, excepting the animated maps, all
the maps have been converted to the extended Targa 2 (.TGA)
file format, including thumbnails and descriptive
information. (You can view an individual file's descriptive
information from 3D Studio with the FILE INFO command in the
FILE drop-down menu.) Finally we have included an ASCII
index, similar to the geometry index, containing filename,
keyword, and resolution information to facilitate finding 
the maps you're interested in.

Note: For the animated maps, which are in Autodesk Animator
flic (.FLI or .FLC) format, we have also included dummy
Targa still pictures to carry the thumbnail and indexing
information.


Navigating the Map Library:
---------- --- --- --------

ANIMAPS          Animated maps (flics)
ARCHITEX         Architectural/construction
BACKGRND         Background images
CLOUDS           Clouds and tileable skies
LIGHTS           Projector light maps; see LIGHTS.TXT
		 in this directory for more information
MARBLES          Marbles and rocks
MESHMAP1         Maps for geometry library (.FLC and .CEL)
MESHMAP2         Maps for geometry library (.GIF and .TGA)
METALS           Metals and corrosion
PATTERNS\BLUES   Blue procedurally created patterns
PATTERNS\BROWNS  Brown procedurally created patterns
PATTERNS\GREENS  Green procedurally created patterns
PATTERNS\GREYS   Monochrome procedurally created
		 patterns
PATTERNS\GROOVY  Polychromatic procedurally created
		 patterns
PATTERNS\PRINTS  Wallpaper/carpet patterns
PATTERNS\PURPLES Purple procedurally created patterns
PATTERNS\REDS    Red procedurally created patterns
PATTERNS\YELLOWS Yellow procedurally created patterns
REFMAPS          Reflection maps; see REFMAPS.TXT in this
		 directory for more information
TOPICAL          Miscellaneous maps
WIPES            Transition wipes (flics)
WOODS            Woods

For easiest access to the maps in the World-Creating
Toolkit, you should activate all of the above paths in
the map paths section of your 3DS.SET file. The default
3DS.SET file that ships with your 3D Studio Release 3
contains all these paths; just insert the appropriate 
drive letter for your CD-ROM and remove the semicolon.


Using the ASCII index:
----- --- ----- ------

In the \MAPS directory you will find a file called MAPS.TXT.
This file is an ASCII text file formatted like a spreadsheet;
it indexes all the map files by filename, key words, and
resolution. You can use this index in many ways, but it has 
been carefully designed to be loaded into 3D Studio's text 
editor. From there you can use keywords and the SEARCH command 
to find useful maps.

Note: Due to the difficulty in describing them, the abstract
patterns (excluding the PRINTS) are not listed in the index. 
The abstract patterns are all 256x256 pixels and tile perfectly.


			   Samples
			   -------
			      
You will find three subdirectories in the SAMPLES tree:

GIF            Portfolio in CompuServe GIF format (.GIF)
JPEG           Portfolio subset in 24-bit JPEG format (.JPG)
FLC            Flic animations (.FLI and .FLC)

To view the GIF portfolio from the DOS prompt, change to the
\SAMPLES directory and type "DEMO". A script file displays
the pictures in slide-show fashion. To abort, press any key.

To view the JPEG images, use the VIEW IMAGE command from
within 3D Studio. To view the Flic animations, use VIEW
FLIC.

The ASCII file "CREDITS.TXT" contains a list of the
portfolio contributors.


			  Videotex
			  --------

This directory contains the VGASHOW utility used in the GIF
slideshow. For usage instructions, type VGASHOW from the 
VIDEOTEX directory.

VGASHOW is provided by Videotex Systems for VGASHOW.
For more information about their suite of VGA, Targa, and Vista 
utilities, contact:
		    Bob Gillman
		    Videotex Systems, Inc.
		    8499 Greenville Ave., Suite 205
		    (214) 343-4500 or (800) 88-VIDEO
		    Fax: (214) 348-3821


			   Credits
			   -------

We would like to thank the following contributors of maps
and geometry to the Release 3 World-Creating Toolkit:

Acuris              Archimage           Ayres Group
Jon Bell            Jamie Clay          Martin Doudoroff
Forcade & Assoc.    Martin Foster       Glenn Melenhorst
James Hyde          Imagination Works   Noah Kennedy
KUB                 Cyrus Lum           Ron Lussier
Mira Imaging        Panoptic Imaging    PCA
Pyros Partnership   Robert Quinn        Karl Raade
Jeff Richardson     Rzoncamultimedia    Schreiber Instruments
SER                 Tim Shaller         Sherwood Animations
Michael Spaw        Robert Stein III    Trilobyte
Gary Yost           Viewpoint Engineering

CD-ROM compiled by Martin Doudoroff
Produced by Lori Eng-Lapinskas
Mastered by Rick Barrientos
Special thanks to:
	  Tina Mills
	  Jamie Clay
	  Gary Yost
	  Robert Bennett

