most recent change:	  23-Dec-1997

The file Raster3D_2.4b.tar.Z contains a beta test copy of version 2.4 
of RASTER3D.

This is a unified distribution which has been tested on the following 
machines:

	Alpha / OSF 4.0
	SGI / Irix 5.3 / Irix 6.4
	IBM RS6000 / AIX
	Intel Pentium / linux (Redhat)

For optimal use of Raster3D you may also want to obtain 
John Cristy's ImageMagick package for image manipulation and viewing 
	(www.wizards.dupont.com/cristy/ImageMagick.html)
Some version of a TIFF library
	(e.g. via ftp from sgi.com)
Version 2.0 of Molscript (http://www.avatar.se/molscript)



New in version 2.4:

- new object types for render
	type 14:	generalized quadric surface, e.g. an ellipsoid
	type 15:	(ISOLATE flag) prevents following object[s] from
			being transformed by the view matrix in the header.
			That is, is causes the following objects to be
			interpreted in a coordinate space centered on (0,0,0)
			with unit extent in X, Y, and Z.
	type 17:	explicit vertex colors for triangles, 
			allows smoother coloring of triangular mesh surfaces

- other changes to render
			EYEPOS = 0.0 disables all perspective 
			much information to terminal put under control of 
			    -debug option 
			allow # to denote comment line in render input stream

- New programs
	rastep		generates thermal ellipsoid representations of atoms
			based on ANISOU records in PDB file. Also allows
			isotropic representation with size and colour based
			on isotropic B values.

	render_jpeg	alternative version of the rendering program that
			produces a JPEG (JFIF) image stream on stdout
			instead of the normal output  options.

- /materials		subdirectory containing sample material definitions
			illustrating various transparency modes, 2-sided
			objects, metallic surfaces, and so forth.


				Ethan A Merritt
				merritt@u.washington.edu