Ayam Win32 Setup

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

The executable of Ayam 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.
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.

Before you start modelling with Ayam, the following three things have to be done:

  1. Saving Preferences
  2. Setting up Shaders
  3. Creating and Saving a Working Environment
Do not worry about any error messages in red color, that appear in the console on first startup. We are going to fix them now.

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 end up in "C:/ayamrc"...).
However, if anything 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. BMRT), but you may also create your own.
Currently, Ayam can only work with shaders that have been compiled with "slc" from BMRT, so you should get and install BMRT first.
Now you need to point Ayam to the directories where your slc-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", enter the appropriate paths (separated by semicolons ";") into the string entry labeled "Shaders".
An example string could look like this:
D:/BMRT2.6/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.

3. Creating and Saving a Working Environment

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" and do it.


Randolf Schultz, 3. Jul 2003
http://www.ayam3d.org/    Reconstruct the World!