Update README.md

README.md

@@ -11,14 +11,17 @@ The main branch of this repo is reviewed on a semi-regular basis for inclusion i
 
 This repo may be included in other repos as a submodule wherever the backend source code or the C/C++ API is needed.
 
+## What you can find in this repo
+This repo contains sources of the backend of the articulatory synthesizer [VocalTractLab](https://www.vocaltractlab.de). The backend can be accessed through a C/C++ API offering convenient C-style functions to provide the most commonly used functionality (e.g. converting a gestural score file into an audio file using default synthesis settings), or as a static C++ library for full access to all objects in the backend. This repo therefore contains separate projects/targets for both the C/C++ API and the C++ static library.
+
 ## Getting started
 - Clone the current main branch:
 ```
 git clone https://github.com/TUD-STKS/VocalTractLabBackend-dev
 ```
 ### Build using CMake (Windows, Linux, macOS)
 - Get the latet release of [CMake for your platform](https://cmake.org/)
-- Create a folder ``out``inside the cloned repository folder
+- Create a folder ``out`` inside the cloned repository folder
 - Open a shell/command prompt and navigate to ``out``
 - Configure the project and generate a build system:
 ```
@@ -28,8 +31,33 @@ cmake ..
 ```
 cmake --build . --config Release
 ```
+This will build both the API and the static library, as well as some unit testing executables. If you are only interested in one of those, you can specify the `--target` parameter:
+```
+cmake --build . --config Release --target VocalTractLabApi
+```
+or
+```
+cmake --build . --config Release --target VocalTractLabBackend
+```
 
 ### Build using Visual Studio 2019 (Windows)
 - Open ``VocalTractLabApi.sln`` in the folder `build/msw`
-- Build the project ``VocalTractLabApi``
+- Build the project ``VocalTractLabApi`` or ``VocalTractLabBackend``
+
+### Use the VocalTractLab backend in your own projects
+To include the VocalTractLab backend into your own projects, add the folder `include` from this repository to your project's include directories and link against the API or static backend library in the folder `lib`. 
+
+You can then include the API functions like so:
+
+```cpp
+#include "VocalTractLabApi/VocalTractLabApi.h"
+```
+
+C++-Objects can be included from the static backend library through their respective header:
+
+```cpp
+#include "VocalTractLabBackend/Speaker.h"  // or substitute your desired header here
+```
 
+## How to use the VocalTractLab backend
+The VocalTractLab API functions are documented with extensive comments in `VocalTractLabApi.h`. Unfortunately, since they were not previously public, the classes beyond the API in the static library are not (yet) documented consistently.