Ayam Win32 Setup

This document describes how to set up Ayam on the Win32 platform.

0. Installation, Starting the Application

The executable of Ayam ("Ayam.exe") is located in the directory named "bin".
You do not need to install Ayam in the system, you can start it directly with a double click from where you unpacked the archive.

To start Ayam more easily, you can add an icon to your desktop by double clicking on the "make_shortcut.vbs" script.
Since Ayam 1.8 there are also two more scripts named "make_ftassoc.vbs" and "remove_ftassoc.vbs" that add and remove a file type association with Ayam scene files (extension .ay) to/from your desktop.

If you get error messages about input or output file handles when trying to render directly from Ayam, please use the accompanying batch file "ayam.bat" to start Ayam instead of directly using "ayam.exe".

1. Saving Preferences

All preference settings (Menu: "Edit/Preferences") are automatically saved when you leave Ayam.
The preferences are saved to the file:
"$(HOME)/ayamrc" if the environment variable "HOME" exists
"$(TEMP)/ayamrc" else.

The following steps need to be done if you (for some reason) do not like it that way, or the preferences end up in silly
places (e.g. Win95 is setting your $(HOME) to "C:/", so that the preferences are saved to "C:/ayamrc"...).
However, if everything is fine with you, just skip to Step 2 now.

You can change the path and filename of the preference settings using the environment variable "AYAMRC".
How do you set an environment variable?

An easy way to do this is to edit the batch file "ayam.bat", and use it to start Ayam (this route does not work on Windows-NT4!):

Alternatively: You can switch off automatic saving of the preferences on exit using the preference setting "Main/AutoSavePrefs". If you switched off "AutoSavePrefs", you can enforce saving of the preferences using the menu entry "File/Save Prefs".

Remember: NEVER use backslashes (\) in any path or filename you enter to Ayam.

2. Setting up Shaders

What are shaders? For the moment, we can safely assume that shaders are small files that carry material descriptions. Some example shaders come with your RenderMan compatible renderer (e.g. Aqsis), but you may also create your own.
After the additional download and installation of a RenderMan compliant renderer you need to point Ayam to the directories where your compiled shaders reside in order to use them with the material objects in Ayam.
This is done using the preference setting "Main/Shaders". Just open the preferences using the main menu entry "Edit/Preferences" and enter the appropriate paths (separated by semicolons ";") into the string entry labeled "Shaders".
An example string could look like this:
C:/Program Files/Aqsis/shaders/;D:/Ayam/scn/shaders/
Now press the "Scan Shaders" button below and watch the console for error messages.

Remember: NEVER use backslashes (\) in any path or filename you enter to Ayam.

In the directory "ayam/bin/plugins" there are the following shader parsing plugins: aysdr.dll for Pixie, ayslb.dll for Air, ayslo3d.dll for 3Delight, ayslo.dll for PRMan, and ayso.dll for RenderDotC.

The plugins may be loaded manually (using the main menu entry: "File/Load Custom") or automatically on startup of Ayam. In order to load a plugin automatically on startup of Ayam, just add the complete path and filename of the corresponding Tcl script (e.g. loadaysdr.tcl) to the "Scripts" preference setting and restart Ayam. The plugins have to be present in a directory called "plugins", which in turn has to be present in the directory where "ayam.exe" is located, in order to make this work. Your directory structure should look like this:

ayam/bin/
ayam/bin/ayam.exe
ayam/bin/plugins/ayslb.dll
ayam/bin/plugins/loadayslb.tcl
ayam/bin/plugins/...

Note that some plugins require additional DLL files to be present in the DLL search path. Depending on the flavour of your Win32 you may need to adapt the PATH environment variable to include the directories with those DLL files. You can also just copy them to the directory where "ayam.exe" is located. If a plugin does not find the corresponding DLL files it needs, you will get "invalid argument" Tcl error messages upon loading, or the plugin will fail to scan shaders later on.

Furthermore, all plugins have been compiled and tested against a specific version of the corresponding renderer (as outlined below); parsing shaders of other versions of those renderers possibly will not work.

aysdr.dll: Pixie 1.3.3, depends on "ri.dll"
This plugin only works, if the preference setting "Shaders" contains just a single element (this means, you need to copy all your private shaders to e.g. c:/pixie/shaders and compile them there).

ayslb.dll: Air 2.6, does not depend on other DLL files

ayslo3d.dll: 3Delight 2.1.0, depends on "3delight.dll"

ayso.dll: RenderDotC 3.3.5, depends on "soargs.dll"
Since RenderDotC compiles all shaders as shared native code (into DLL files), all paths of the "Shaders" preference setting should also be present in the DLL search path.

ayslo.dll: Photorealistic RenderMan 11.5, does not depend on other DLL files

Remember: NEVER use backslashes (\) in any path or filename you enter to Ayam.

3. Creating and Saving a Working Environment (View Windows)

The working environment is simply an almost empty Ayam scene file, that contains the specification of some view windows. This file is loaded automatically on every start of Ayam and presents you with a standard working environment, consisting of e.g. a traditional 3-view layout (Front, Side, Perspective). To create your own working environment, follow the steps below: Remember: NEVER use backslashes (\) in any path or filename you enter to Ayam.

We are set. Quit Ayam and start it again, check the console for errors; then download "Tutorial #1" from http://www.ayam3d.org/ and read it.

For further information, see also the documentation of Ayam and the list of frequently asked questions (FAQ).

Randolf Schultz, 13. May 2006
http://www.ayam3d.org/    Reconstruct the World!