First of all, download HyperSnap from http://www.hyperionics.com/ and install it. If you have a 3dfx card, start HyperSnap, go to the "Capture" menu, and select "Enable Special Capture (DirectX, Glide, DVD)..." before you do anything else.
It may be convenient for you to configure HyperSnap to automatically save your photographs into files as you take them; that will make it possible to photograph multiple targets in a single sortie without having to stop and save files during flight. To do this, go to the "Capture" menu, select "Restore After Capture", then select "Quick Save". This will pop up a window titled "Quick Save"; in the "Auto Save To:" box in that window, specify a file name to save the shots to (e.g., C:\Windows\Desktop\recon.jpg), then select "Increment file name". The result will be that your photographs will be saved in files named, for example, recon1.jpg, recon2.jpg, etc.
Then, before each photographic reconnaissance mission, start HyperSnap
and let it run in the background while RB3D runs. As you approach the
target you wish to photograph, activate the autopilot with
Shift-a, go to the F4 view, and focus the camera on
the target using l (there may be multiple targets in range,
so you may have to cycle through a few before you find the one you're
looking for). To take the photograph, press Scroll Lock if
you have a 3dfx card, and Ctrl-Shift-f if you do not. The
end result should look something like this:
After landing, exit RB3D and bring up the HyperSnap main window. If all went well, you should see your photograph displayed there. If you configured HyperSnap to automatically save your photographs, this step isn't necessary. (In either case, it's probably a good idea to background RB3D temporarily while you're still over the target and check that all went well, just to be on the safe side.) To complete the mission, save the photograph if it hasn't already been saved and email it to Headquarters for postprocessing. Be sure to save it in JPG format rather than BMP format, as JPG is much more compact, and efficient to transmit by email. The above JPG image, for instance, is only 18k, but that same image as a BMP is 454k!
That's all there is to it!
Last modified: February 5, 2000 by Uhlan