From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Sat Apr 02 2016 - 23:04:09 CDT

Jim,
  The lighting and material info are by far the hardest information to
keep preserved when converting to various external file formats.
A lot of the existing 3-D file formats only support what I would describe
as "lowest common denominator" materials and lighting information.
When Acrobat 3D first came out, I tried lots of conversion tools, and
none of the ones I found were capable of maintaining the materials and
lighting to my satisfaction, so this led me to go the route of using
the Acrobat OpenGL API capture.

Using the OpenGL API capture route, I got much better results
than I did with any of the file translation approaches.
To make the OpenGL API capture work properly with Acrobat,
I actually added a special rendering mode to VMD that prevents it from
using OpenGL features that Acrobat's capture utility didn't understand,
and that ensured that the scenes would look right in the final PDF.

I don't know if Tetra4D has OpenGL capture, but if so, that'd be my
suggestion.

Cheers,
  John

On Sat, Apr 02, 2016 at 11:54:03PM -0400, James Kress wrote:
> John,
>
> I've tried MeshLab and it provides u3d files that appear to lose the
> lighting and material info so you get really washed out, non-smooth,
> non-photorealistic images. I haven't been able to find any other apps that
> will take the outputs of VMD and convert them to u3d. I tried blender, but
> it didn't have a u3d export (even though they claimed they did).
>
> Jim
>
> James Kress Ph.D., President
> The KressWorksR Foundation
> An IRS Approved 501 (c)(3) Charitable, Nonprofit Organization
> "ENGINEERING THE CURE" C
> (248) 605-8770
>
> Learn More and Donate At:
> Website: http://www.kressworks.org
> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KressWorks.Foundation/
> Twitter: @KressWorksFnd
>
> Confidentiality Notice | This e-mail message, including any attachments, is
> for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential
> or proprietary information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or
> distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient,
> immediately contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the
> original message.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Stone [mailto:johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu]
> Sent: Saturday, April 02, 2016 11:44 PM
> To: James Kress <jimkress_58_at_kressworks.org>
> Cc: vmd-l_at_ks.uiuc.edu
> Subject: Re: vmd-l: Rendering high quality obj, x3d and other files for use
> in other 3D representation systems
>
> Jim,
> The best method I'm aware of for creating 3-D PDFs in the past was to use
> the OpenGL capture feature of Acrobat 3-D (v7 back in 2007, and later v8,
> and v9 revs).
> Adobe at some later point sold off their technology to other companies, so
> it's not part of the latest revs of Acrobat anymore, but that was formerly a
> great way of making a 3-D PDF directly capturing from VMD.
>
> >From what I read, Tetra4D has absorbed much of the functionality that used
> to be in Acrobat itself, but I haven't tried it so I can't give any firm
> guidance there.
>
> Part of the problem with U3D and everything related to it is that it was
> (still is?) poorly documented, and therefore poorly supported by most
> software I've come across. As far as I know, Acrobat and 3-D PDFs are the
> only thing U3D gets used for today.
> I had originally wanted to write a VMD exporter that would directly generate
> U3D, but the epic lack of information on the format made it impossible to
> make any progress on it back when I had the time.
> I instead made it possible for VMD to support OpenGL capture in Acrobat, but
> with Adobe selling off the tech, it seems that we're more or less back where
> we started unless one of the current tools like Tetra4D supports this or
> high quality file conversions again.
>
> I see that MeshLab claims to support U3D, although I haven't tried it.
> What converters have you tried so far?
>
> Cheers,
> John
>
>
> On Sat, Apr 02, 2016 at 11:14:08PM -0400, James Kress wrote:
> > John, thanks for the response.
> >
> > I'm trying to cobble together a workflow that allows the generation of
> > photorealistic 3D PDFs of DNA and other biomolecules from VMD.
> > Unfortunately, STL from VMD doesn't seem to support color and VRML
> > doesn't translate well. Another issue is the translation of whatever
> > output I generate from VMD into U3D (which is one of the file format
> > for 3D PDFs) or the apparently nonexistent PRC file format (which is
> > the other file format for 3D PDFs). I cannot find a good translator
> > that yields a U3D file that faithfully represents what is displayed in
> > VMD in terms of photorealism (or anything close to it). AutoCAD files
> > would be a good alternative, but I can find no way from VMD to and of the
> various AutoCAD file formats.
> >
> > I know it can be done since there is at least one commercial product
> > that will take an OBJ file and do a decent job in creating a 3D PDF
> > (PDF3DReportGen). However, I just cannot replicate the quality of
> > their results.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > James Kress Ph.D., President
> > The KressWorksR Foundation
> > An IRS Approved 501 (c)(3) Charitable, Nonprofit Organization
> > "ENGINEERING THE CURE" C
> > (248) 605-8770
> >
> > Learn More and Donate At:
> > Website: http://www.kressworks.org
> > Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KressWorks.Foundation/
> > Twitter: @KressWorksFnd
> >
> > Confidentiality Notice | This e-mail message, including any
> > attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
> > contain confidential or proprietary information. Any unauthorized
> > review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not
> > the intended recipient, immediately contact the sender by reply e-mail
> > and destroy all copies of the original message.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: John Stone [mailto:johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu]
> > Sent: Saturday, April 02, 2016 10:21 PM
> > To: James Kress <jimkress_58_at_kressworks.org>
> > Cc: vmd-l_at_ks.uiuc.edu
> > Subject: Re: vmd-l: Rendering high quality obj, x3d and other files
> > for use in other 3D representation systems
> >
> > Hi,
> > At present, there are no special flags that have any specific effect
> > on the export of VMD molecular scenes to the various scene file
> > formats, and that's why you didn't find anything in the User's Guide.
> >
> > Essentially VMD attempts to provide as close to WYSIWYG output as
> > possible, within the limits of what each of the file formats is capable of
> supporting.
> > You haven't said much about what you're trying to accomplish by
> > exporting the scenes in one of the formats you listed, so it's hard to
> > give specific guidance. In general, the resolution parameters for the
> > graphical representations will have the greatest impact on the
> > geometry that you get in scene file formats like OBJ or STL that only
> support triangle meshes.
> > VMD will use actual spheres and cylinders when exporting to file
> > formats such as like X3D or VRML which support such primitives. What
> > do you plan to do with the exported scene files after export?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > John Stone
> > vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Apr 02, 2016 at 05:09:00PM -0400, James Kress wrote:
> > > I have read the "VMD Images and Movies Tutorial" but it gives no
> > > information on what parameters can be specified in the File Render
> > > Controls for obj, x3d, stl, VRML 2.0 and other files for use in
> > > other
> > 3D
> > > representation systems.\001 It also does not provide, nor does the
> VMD
> > > documentation, the default settings used to create these other 3D
> file
> > > representations.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Where can I get this information and how do I modify the renderer
> > command
> > > to provide higher resolution, higher-antialiasing, and better
> materials
> > > and material properties for these output formats?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Jim Kress
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > James Kress Ph.D., President
> > >
> > > The KressWorks(R) Foundation
> > >
> > > An IRS Approved 501 (c)(3) Charitable, Nonprofit Organization
> > >
> > > "Engineering The Cure" (c)
> > >
> > > (248) 605-8770
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Learn More and Donate At:
> > >
> > > Website: [1]http://www.kressworks.org
> > >
> > > Facebook: [2]https://www.facebook.com/KressWorks.Foundation/
> > >
> > > Twitter: @KressWorksFnd
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Confidentiality Notice | This e-mail message, including any
> > attachments,
> > > is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
> > > confidential or proprietary information. Any unauthorized review,
> use,
> > > disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
> > > recipient, immediately contact the sender by reply e-mail and
> > > destroy
> > all
> > > copies of the original message.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > From: owner-vmd-l_at_ks.uiuc.edu [mailto:owner-vmd-l_at_ks.uiuc.edu] On
> > Behalf
> > > Of MannyEful E
> > > Sent: Saturday, April 02, 2016 1:28 PM
> > > To: John Stone <johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu>; MannyEful E
> <mannyeful_at_gmail.com>;
> > > vmd-l_at_ks.uiuc.edu
> > > Subject: Re: vmd-l: Residence Time Script (v2.)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Thank you John and Norman!
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 4:38 PM, John Stone
> > > <[3]johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Don't use the variable name "list" because "list" is a Tcl command.
> > > You could rename that to "lst" or something more indicative of what
> > > it actually contains and the problem might go away.
> > > In general you should avoid using Tcl command names as variables,
> as
> > > they can cause confusing syntax errors and the like.
> > > That seems to be a likely source of your problem.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > John
> > >
> > > On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 01:51:48AM +0100, MannyEful E wrote:
> > > > Hello Everyone,A
> > > > I have seen a few requests for the average residence time of
> > water
> > > > molecules around the protein and am currently working on such
> a
> > > script. I
> > > > get a few errors which I believe are the result of the
> incorrect
> > > syntax.
> > > > Could someone please point me in the right direction?
> > > > The script is attached below and the two lines responsible for
> > the
> > > errors
> > > > are highlighted with arrows. (<-----------)
> > > > The error message:
> > > > A invalid character "." in expression "...st +])/[llength
> > $list]."A
> > > > In sum, the script does the following:
> > > > 1. For each water molecules it counts the number of separate
> > > occasions
> > > > that it approaches the polymer, including the times that it
> > leaves
> > > but
> > > > returns (A).A
> > > > 2. It also records how long they stay (B).
> > > > 3. An array of A/B is produced (C).
> > > > 4. Finally, the average and stdev of C is obtained and
> printed.
> > A
> > > (The
> > > > errors crop up here when I try to output my results in double
> > > precision,
> > > > whilst using a proc function.)
> > > > #################### A The Residence Script: A A
> > > #####################
> > > > puts "Bash usage: vmd -dispdev text -gro file.gro -xtc
> file.xtc
> > -e
> > > > residence_times_v2.tcl"
> > > > puts "Next, type: residence nth unit pol"
> > > > puts "e.g.: residence 1st 500 pvc "
> > > >
> > #################################################################
> > > > # process used to calculate the average of values in an array
> > > > proc lavg list {
> > > > expr {double([join $list +])/[llength $list].}
> > > > }
> > > > A
> > > > A # process used to calculate the stdev of values in an array
> > > > proc stddev list {
> > > > A set m [lavg $list]
> > > > A expr {sqrt([mean2 $list]-$m*$m)}
> > > > A }
> > > > A
> > > >
> > #################################################################
> > > > A
> > > > #proc residence {nth pol unit} {
> > > > # Variables for Atomselection
> > > > set nth 1st; # which repeat is it
> > > > set unit 5; # how many units is the polymer
> > > > set pol pva; # what is the polymer name
> > > > set min1 0.0; A A # lower limit for the hydration shell1 in
> > > angstroms
> > > > set max1 10.5;A # higher limit of the hydration shell1 in
> > > angstroms
> > > > set fp1 [open "residence_times_tracker.xvg" w]; # tracks the
> > > calculation
> > > > outputs
> > > > set fp2 [open "residence_times_output.xvg" w]; # tracks the
> > output
> > > > section
> > > > set atom_ref ${pol}${unit};A # VMD residue name of the
> > reference
> > > atom
> > > > set sel [atomselect top all];A # select all the atomsA
> > > > set all [$sel num];A # count the number of atoms
> > > > set fn [molinfo top get numframes]; # count the number of
> frames
> > > > set stepsize 40.00;
> > > >
> > #################################################################
> > > > # set all the histograms to zero
> > > > for {set i 0} {$i < $all} {incr i} {
> > > > set hist1($i) 0; A # counter: If it is within region
> > > > set hist2($i) 0;A A # note: If it left
> > > > set hist3($i) 0; A # counter: Sum of those that leftA
> > > > set hist4($i) 0; # counter
> > > > }
> > > >
> > #################################################################
> > > > # loop through all the frames
> > > > for {set i 0} {$i < $fn} {incr i} {
> > > > # do the following for all the frames except the last one
> > > > if {$i < [expr $fn - 1]} {
> > > > # go to the next frame
> > > > animate goto $i;
> > > > # outputs frame we are on
> > > > puts $fp1 "Frame $i of $fn: [expr {double(($i *
> > $stepsize)/1000)}]
> > > ns ";A
> > > > # make selections in frame and in next frame
> > > > set sel1 [atomselect top "(name OW and same resid as (resname
> > SOL
> > > and
> > > > (within $max1 of resname $atom_ref))) and not (name OW and
> same
> > > resid as
> > > > (resname SOL and (within $min1 of resname $atom_ref)))" frame
> > $i];A
> > > > set sel2 [atomselect top "(name OW and same resid as (resname
> > SOL
> > > and
> > > > (within $max1 of resname $atom_ref))) and not (name OW and
> same
> > > resid as
> > > > (resname SOL and (within $min1 of resname $atom_ref)))" frame
> > [expr
> > > $i +
> > > > 1]];A
> > > > A A A $sel1 update; # updates dynamic water selection1 for
> > this
> > > frame
> > > > A A A $sel2 update; # updates dynamic water selection2 for
> > this
> > > frame
> > > > puts $fp1 "Both selections made";
> > > > # creates a list of atoms indices from the next frame
> > > > set list2 [$sel2 get index];
> > > > puts $fp1 "List of future atom indices made: \n $list2";
> > > > # for every water oxygen atom that is near the polymer
> > > > # get the atoms index
> > > > foreach present [$sel1 get index] {
> > > > puts $fp1 "ID: $present";
> > > > # check: Is it near the polymer (Always true in this loop)
> > > > incr hist1([expr $present - 1]);A # add 1 if present near
> the
> > > area of
> > > > interest
> > > > puts $fp1 "HIST1: $hist1([expr $present - 1])";
> > > > # check: Is it coming back?
> > > > if { $hist2([expr $present - 1]) == 1 } A {
> > > > incr hist3([expr $present - 1]);A # add 1 if previous hist2
> > was 1
> > > > because it left and came back.A
> > > > puts $fp1 "HIST3: $hist3([expr $present - 1])";
> > > > }A
> > > > # check: Will it leave?
> > > > # compare the atom indices to the list of selection2
> > > > # and if it is present, it will return a value greater than 1
> > > > # so add one to our approaches counter
> > > > # if it has left it returns a -1
> > > > if { [lsearch -exact $list2 $present] >= 0} {
> > > > set hist2([expr $present - 1]) 1;
> > > > incr hist4([expr $present - 1]);
> > > > puts $fp1 "It will stay in the next frame";A
> > > > } else {
> > > > set hist2([expr $present - 1]) 0;
> > > > puts $fp1 "It will leave in the next frame";
> > > > }
> > > > }
> > > > } else {
> > > > # go to the next frame
> > > > animate goto $i;
> > > > # outputs frame we are on
> > > > puts $fp1 "Frame $i of $fn: [expr {double(($i *
> > $stepsize)/1000)}]
> > > ns ";A
> > > > # make selections in frame and in next frame
> > > > set sel1 [atomselect top "(name OW and same resid as (resname
> > SOL
> > > and
> > > > (within $max1 of resname $atom_ref))) and not (name OW and
> same
> > > resid as
> > > > (resname SOL and (within $min1 of resname $atom_ref)))" frame
> > $i];A
> > > > foreach present [$sel1 get index] {
> > > > puts $fp1 "ID: $present";
> > > > #Any present? Always in this loop
> > > > incr hist1([expr $present - 1]); # add 1 because it is
> present
> > > near area
> > > > of interest
> > > > # check: Is it coming back?
> > > > if { $hist2([expr $present - 1]) == 1 } A {
> > > > incr hist3([expr $present - 1]);A # add 1 if previous hist2
> > was 1
> > > > because it left and came back.A
> > > > puts $fp1 "HIST3: $hist3([expr $present - 1])";
> > > > }A
> > > > # in order to account for those occasions where the water
> > molecule
> > > > remained at the last frame
> > > > # artificially set all atoms present in the area of interest
> to
> > > leave in
> > > > the last frameA
> > > > set hist2([expr $present - 1]) 1;
> > > > incr hist4([expr $present - 1]);
> > > > puts $fp1 "It will stay in the next frame";A
> > > > }
> > > > }
> > > > $sel1 delete; array unset sel1; # unset the selection1A
> > > > $sel2 delete; array unset sel2; # unset the selection2A
> > > > }
> > > >
> > #################################################################
> > > > # set new constants to zero
> > > > set hist_final {};A
> > > > set counter 0;
> > > > set comebacks 0;
> > > > # loop through all atoms (non-oxygens as well)
> > > > for {set i 0} {$i < [llength $hist1([expr $all - 1])]} {incr
> i}
> > {
> > > > puts $fp2 "Atom ${i} : [lindex $hist1([expr $all - 1]) $i]";
> > > > # find the atoms that have residence times (ie if the hist1
> > counter
> > > is
> > > > greater than zero, a residence time is available)A
> > > > if {[lindex $hist1([expr $all - 1]) $i] > 0} {
> > > > # count the number of atoms with residences recorded
> > > > incr $counter;
> > > > puts $fp2 "Number of atoms with residences: $counter Counter";
> > > > # calculate the individual residence times for each oxygen
> atom
> > > that was
> > > > near the molecule
> > > > puts $fp2 " [lindex $hist1([expr $all - 1]) $i] / [lindex
> > > $hist4([expr
> > > > $all - 1]) $i] = [expr [lindex $hist1([expr $all - 1]) $i] /
> > > [lindex
> > > > $hist4([expr $all - 1]) $i]]";
> > > > # populate the array hist_final
> > > > lappend hist_final [expr {double([lindex $hist1([expr $all -
> 1])
> > > $i]) /
> > > > double([lindex $hist4([expr $all - 1]) $i])}];
> > > > # identify how many times the water molecules returned after
> > > leaving
> > > > set comebacks [expr $comebacks + [lindex $hist3([expr $all -
> 1])
> > > $i]];
> > > > } else {
> > > > puts $fp2 "No residence times to record ${i} - number [lindex
> > > $hist1([expr
> > > > $all - 1]) ${i}]";
> > > > }
> > > > }
> > > > puts $fp2 "$counter : Number of oxygen atoms with residences
> > within
> > > $max1
> > > > of the polymer over $fn frames";
> > > > puts $fp2 "$comebacks : Number of times any of the $counter
> > water
> > > > molecules";
> > > > puts $fp2 "[expr {[lavg (double($hist_final))] * $stepsize}]
> ps
> > :
> > > Average
> > > > residence time "; A <--------------
> > > > puts $fp2 "[expr {[stddev (double($hist_final))] * $stepsize}]
> > ps :
> > > Stdev
> > > > "; A <-----------
> > > > close $fp1;
> > > > close $fp2;
> > > >
> > #################################################################
> > > > # unset all the selections for faster execution
> > > > array unset nth;
> > > > array unset unit;
> > > > array unset pol;
> > > > array unset min1;A
> > > > array unset max1;A
> > > > array unset fp1;
> > > > array unset fp2;
> > > > array unset atom_ref;A
> > > > array unset fn;A
> > > > array unset stepsize;
> > > > $sel delete; array unset sel;
> > > > array unset list2;A
> > > > array unset present;
> > > > for {set i 0} {$i < $all} {incr i} {
> > > > array unset hist1($i); A
> > > > array unset hist2($i);A A
> > > > array unset hist3($i); A A
> > > > array unset hist4($i);
> > > > }
> > > > array unset all;A
> > > > array unset hist_final;A
> > >
> > > > array unset counter;
> > > > array unset comebacks;
> > > >
> > #################################################################
> > > > #}
> > > > END
> > >
> > > --
> > > NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
> > > Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
> > > University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
> > > [4]http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/ Phone: [5]217-244-3349
> > > [6]http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > References
> > >
> > > Visible links
> > > 1. http://www.kressworks.org/
> > > 2. https://www.facebook.com/KressWorks.Foundation/
> > > 3. mailto:johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu
> > > 4. http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/
> > > 5. tel:217-244-3349
> > > 6. http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/
> >
> > --
> > NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics Beckman
> > Institute for Advanced Science and Technology University of Illinois,
> > 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
> > http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/ Phone: 217-244-3349
> > http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/
>
> --
> NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics Beckman Institute
> for Advanced Science and Technology University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews
> Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
> http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/ Phone: 217-244-3349
> http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/

-- 
NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/           Phone: 217-244-3349
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/