This is the README for Sced, a constraint based scene editor, or authoring
tool if you're into VRML.

Sced is a program for creating 3d scenes, then exporting them to a wide
variety of rendering programs. Programs supported are:
 POVray, Rayshade, any VRML browser, anything that reads Pixar's RIB
 format, and Radiance. Plus a couple of local formats, for me.

Sced uses constraints to allow for the accurate placement of
objects, and provides a maintenance system for keeping this
constraints satisfied as the scene is modified.

Getting it:
Sced is available from:
  http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~schenney/sced/sced.html
  ftp://ftp.cs.su.oz.au/stephen/sced
  ftp://ftp.povray.org/pub/pov/modellers/sced (soon)
The first page is also the sced home page.
When getting sced-0.93 the first time, get sced-0.93.tar.gz. As bugs
are fixed, you will probably only need to get the source distribution.

Upgrading from an old version:
Get everything. It's all changed. You may even need to reread some parts
of the guide. If support for previous versions is compiled in, you will
be able to load old scene files from any version. When these files are
saved, they are saved in the new version format, so old versions can't
read them. I see absolutely no reason why you would want to do that,
and it's technically impossible anyway. ;-)

Compiling it:
Gunzip and untar the distribution. Try:
  gunzip -c < sced-0.93.tar.gz | tar -xvf -

Run ./configure in the sced-0.03 directory that is created. Answer the
questions asked (most are answered for you). A "path" should be a
full pathname, starting at /. "Options" is a list of options you want
passed to a renderer when previewing (only when previewing). So
an example for POV is:
  POVray path []? /usr/local/bin/x-povray
  POVray options []? -l/usr/local/lib/povray +d3 +ftga
Answer y or n to the yes/no questions.

Run "make depend".

Run "make".

With a bit of luck it will all work. If it doesn't the first place to
look is in the Makefile AFTER running configure. If there's anything
there that looks strange, try fixing it. If you can't figure out what's
wrong, mail me and ask. If you can figure out what's wrong, mail me
and tell me.

Setting Up:
This part should be simple. In the sced-0.93/docs directory there is
a file called guide.ps. Print it or look at it using your favorite
postscript viewer. Or run "make text" in the doc directory to get a
plain text copy. In the back of that somewhere are the "Defaults File Format"
and the "X Resources". (The contents is at the back, thanks to troff).
A sample defaults file is in sced-0.93/scenerc.  Edit this to suit your
needs and copy it to $HOME/.scenerc. If you want to set the X resources
then do that via your normal method.

Running it:
That's the easy part. Just type sced.
Try loading some of the scenes provided.
When they're ready, work through the tutorials to get a much much better
idea of how to use it.

You should read the COPYRIGHT thing to, at least the first few lines.

Have fun,
Steve.
---
http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~schenney
schenney@cs.berkeley.edu
