ShadeTree for Windows NT/2000

Installation Instructions

Contents

Please read this entire document before proceeding with an installation.

Acquiring the Distribution

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Licensing ShadeTree

Note: It is recommend not to install the license server on a machine that uses Dialup Networking or that has a dynamically assigned IP address. If you have to install the server on a machine like this, perform the following steps when 'Dialup Networking' is not being used. Also note, in that case, you will not be able to launch ShadeTree when you are using Dialup Networking.

If you will be running a license server on your machine, follow these steps to license your new software:

  1. Start the "Cinema Graphics ElanLM" program from the Windows Control Panel.
  2. Press the Settings button in the program and set your Key Directory and Log File Name.
  3. Press the Launch button in the program to start the server.
  4. Launch the Start->ShadeTree->License Manager
  5. Check that the machine name is correct in the Host Name field
  6. E-mail the contents of the contents of the Host Name and Server Code fields to [email protected].
  7. When you receive a key, paste it into the Key field and press OK.
You should now be able to run ShadeTree and work with the example shaders provided in the release. The license server will restart automatically every time you boot your system.

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Required Software

The following 3rd party software must be on your machine to use ShadeTree for Windows NT/2000:
  1. At least one of the following rendering software packages RenderMan, Houdini VEX, or BMRT.
  2. Perl 5 (we recommend Perl for Win32, available free of charge at www.activestate.com).
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Optional Software

ShadeTree launches a text editor under a variety of circumstances, e.g. when you choose to view generated shader source code.

The standard Windows text editor, Notepad, is invoked by default. You may want to use a more sophisticated editor with ShadeTree. You can override the default by specifying an alternate editor through an environment variable (EDITOR or STREE_EDITORCMD both work), or you can simply replace the NOTEPAD.EXE executable with another text editor.

A couple of popular shareware replacements for Notepad include EditPad and Super NoteTab. Both report cursor positions as line numbers (unlike Notepad), which is practically essential when debugging.

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Environment Variables

At minimum, ShadeTree requires that the following environment variables be set: Normally both of these variables will be set up for you automatically during installation.

The Perl interpreter (PERL.EXE) must be in the system path in order to use ShadeTree successfully.

In addition to the editor-related variables mentioned above, ShadeTree recognizes several optional environment variable settings:

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Trouble Shooting

  1. Temporary Files

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    ShadeTree creates temporary files in the standard Windows temporary file directory unless you specify an alternative location through the optional STREE_TMPDIR variable. Normally any directories created within the temp directory are cleaned up automatically when the program exits.
     
     

  2. The Registry

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    ShadeTree NT remembers the layout of its windows across sessions using the Windows registry. If you need to blow away these settings for any reason, use the Windows REGEDIT utility to remove the registry entries under "HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Cinema Graphics". IMPORTANT: Do not edit the registry unless you are familiar with its purpose and role in the Windows O/S.

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If you encounter errors in this document, please email [email protected] with the URL, and enclose an example of the erroneous text, and what you feel to be the corrections, if possible.

Copyright (c) 1996-2001 Cinema Graphics Inc. All Rights reserved.