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# 6.4 Image Display: imf_disp

The image display and flipbook utility `imf_copy` is started as

`imf_disp` [options] [directory] [file ...]

If the directory is present, `imf_disp` will enter flipbook mode and display a sequence of files as a movie. If no directory is specified, a static image file is displayed. If a single minus sign is given as file name, the image will be read from standard input. This is useful for connecting mental ray and `imf_disp`:

`ray -imgpipe 1 scene.mi | imf_disp -`

If the file to display is still being rendered, `imf_disp` will open a connection to the mental ray program rendering it, and display rectangles as they are finished. This also works if mental ray and `imf_disp` run on different machines. Files that are still being rendered can be recognized by their size, which is always 128 bytes. Only one `imf_disp` can be connected to a running mental ray at any time.

The following options are supported on Unix systems. Many can also be set from pulldown menus. The standard X11 options such as `-display` or `-geometry` are also supported. The Windows NT version can only display static images and supports only the `-g` (gamma) option.

- `-delaymultiplier` factor
  Set timescale multiplier for flipbook playback speed. The default is 1.0.

- `-depth` min max
  When displaying depth (Z) images such as shadow maps, assign white to the minimum depth min and black to the maximum depth max, instead of determining the range from the depth map6.10. Infinite depths are always displayed light blue.

- `-G` gamma
  Set a gamma value. The default is 1.0, or whatever mental ray is using if `imf_disp` is connected to one.

- `-help`
  Print a brief option summary.

- `-imgtitle` title
  Set the window title. Normally the window title displays information about the image file, the operation mode, and the pixel under the mouse.

- `-m on|off`
  Display the matte (alpha) channel instead of the color image.

- `-mask` exp
  Set the file search mask in the file selector dialog to the expression exp. The default is `*`. This dialog is used to select files to cycle through in flipbook mode. The mask is useful to restrict the file listing to similar-named files that are part of a sequence, such as `image*.rgb`. Note that exp should be quoted to prevent the shell from evaluating wildcards.

- `-pseudocolor on|off`
  If on, `imf_disp` uses a pseudocolor visual that relies on color mapping and dithering. If off, true colors are used. The default is off.

- `-reconnect on|off`
  If enabled, `imf_disp` will watch the displayed file. If it is re-rendered, `imf_disp` will connect to the mental ray executable and show the changes as they are finished. If disabled, the displayed image will stay on the display even if rerendered. The default is on.

- `-reload on|off`
  This option is similar to the preceding, but checks whether the image was rewritten by means other than rerendering, and reloads it if so.

- `-shm on|off`
  Set X11 shared-memory mode. This allows the X11 display server to directly use the process memory of `imf_disp`. This reduces memory usage, but since shared memory is an optional X11 extension, some systems may not support it. Shared memory also cannot be used if the display (as defined by the `DISPLAY` environment variable or the X11 `-display` option) is not on the machine that `imf_disp` is running on. The default is on.

- `-verbose on|off`
  Enable or disable verbose messages. The default is off.

- `-vis` visual
  Set the visual ID for the display. X11 visuals determine display information such as the color mode, the number of bits per pixel, and so on. Use the X11 `xdpyinfo` command to determine the visuals supported by the X11 server. Note that visual must be a decimal number. The default is the best truecolor visual available.

#### Footnotes

... map6.10
  This option was introduced with mental ray 2.1.36.

Next: 6.5 Image Copy: imf_copy Up: 6. Command Line Options Previous: 6.3 Environment Variables