This is an announcement of the availability of an updated version of the
molecular graphics program package Raster3D, as reported in the November
issue of Acta Cryst. D (reference below).
The most recent update to the distribution kit was 28-Nov-1994.
Changes since the original Version 2.0 release include expanded documentation
and a utility to produce black&white PostScript half-tone images.
RASTER3D
Photorealistic Molecular Graphics
PROGRAM:
Raster3D is a set of tools for generating high quality raster
images of proteins or other molecules. The core program renders
spheres, triangles, and cylinders with specular highlighting,
Phong shading, and shadowing using an efficient Z-buffer algorithm.
Ancillary programs process atomic coordinates from Brookhaven PDB
files into rendering descriptions for pictures composed of ribbons,
space-filling atoms, bonds, ball+stick, etc. Raster3D can also be
used to render pictures composed in Per Kraulis' MOLSCRIPT program
in glorious 3D with highlights, shadowing, etc. (NB: you will need
MOLSCRIPT V1.4 to get the full benefit of this). Output is to
pixel image files with 24 bits of color information per pixel.
AVAILABILITY:
Raster3d is freely available but unsupported.
The current version is 2.02, last updated on 28 November 1994.
The programs have been tested on DEC, SGI, IBM, ESV, and SUN
unix workstations. The code does not depend in any way on
graphics hardware, so it should be portable to other machines
as well.
REFERENCES:
original implementation:
Bacon, David J. and Anderson, Wayne F. (1988). Journal of
Molecular Graphics 6, 219-220 (abstract of paper presented
at the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Molecular Graphics
Society, San Francisco, 10-12 August 1988). "A Fast
Algorithm for Rendering Space-Filling Molecule Pictures."
version 2.0:
Merritt, Ethan A. and Murphy, Michael E.P. (1994).
"Raster3D Version 2.0, a Program for Photorealistic Molecular Graphics"
Acta Cryst. D50, 869-873.
AUTHORS:
originally written by David J. Bacon and Wayne F. Anderson;
extensions, revisions, modifications, ancillary programs by
Mark Israel, Stephen Samuel, Michael Murphy, Albert Berghuis,
and Ethan A Merritt
SOURCE:
ftp: stanzi.bchem.washington.edu (128.95.12.38)
www: ftp://stanzi.bchem.washington.edu/pub/raster3d/raster3d.html
Ethan A Merritt
Dept of Biological Structure SM-20
University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195
merritt at u.washington.edu
