An Alias Camera Depth file contains depth information corresponding to the image created from that camera. The Camera Depth file is used for post-render 3D compositing. The file contains a magic number, an X and Y resolution, and an array of floating point depth values.
| bytes | header value | notes | C-type |
| 0, 1, 2, 3 | magic number | Uniquely identifies files of this type | int |
| 4, 5 | width | x resolution in pixels | short |
| 6, 7 | height | y resolution in pixels | short |
The magic number for Alias camera depth files is 55655. The rest of the file contains an X by Y array of floating point values in row order.
The following C-code is an example of how to read a camera depth file:
filein = open( infilename, O_RDONLY );
read( filein, &magic, sizeof( int ) ); /* magic number */
if ( magic != 55655 ) {
fprintf( stderr,”given input file '%s' does not have proper magic number (55655)\n”, infilename );
exit(0);
}
read ( filein, &width, sizeof(short) ); /* Xres */
read ( filein, &height, sizeof(short) ); /* Yres */
size = width * height;
buffer = (float *)malloc ( size * sizeof( float ) );
read( filein, buffer, sizeof(float)*size2 ); /* fill the array */
close( filein );
for (i = 0; i < height; ++i) {
for (j = 0; j < width; ++j) {
/* Do something to the pixel. */
}
}