Aminet 5/Aminet 5 - March 1995.iso/Aminet/gfx/3d/IML57.lha/IML_57.txt

Internet Message Format | 1995-01-17 | 372KB

Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 12:02:15
Subject: Re: Re[2]: Texture smear
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> >as you can see I moved 4 to position 3 and 3 to 4, as well as adding the
> >texture button to 6, which is probably were the problem lies.
>
> >Oh well hope this gets your textures to do the twist..
>
> >=RRW=
>
> Actually, under 3.1 it works either way - I tried it last night.  There were n
o
> problems with performing the lockstate either before or after the state had be
en
> created.  For the people that this did not work, are you using 3.0?

I believe I noticed the same thing in 3.1, but know that this is the process
for 3.0. unless of course one updates the default state after setting the
lockstate.

=RRW=




Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 12:13:09
Subject: Re[2]: Texture smear
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>>as you can see I moved 4 to position 3 and 3 to 4, as well as adding the
>>texture button to 6, which is probably were the problem lies.

>>Oh well hope this gets your textures to do the twist..

>Actually, under 3.1 it works either way - I tried it last night.  There were no

>problems with performing the lockstate either before or after the state had
>been created. For the people that this did not work, are you using 3.0?

PC v3.11 is what I used when I wrote the 1-8-points list.
Are there differences between Amiga and PC?

-----------------------------------------------------------------
|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 14:11:43
Subject: Re: fr
From:    Carsten Bach <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



In a old e-mail i found that [e-mail] has send fr to the peopele
who had requested it try there for a start :)


On Tue, 29 Nov 1994, RIX JAMES wrote:

>
> On Mon, 28 Nov 1994, Carsten Bach wrote:
>
> > I have tried to use fr to make trees and snowflakes.
>
>     Where can I find "fr" on the internet.
>


Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 14:24:20
Subject: Re: fr
From:    Carsten Bach <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Sorry to have made such a stupid ;) error!

Arne

On Tue, 29 Nov 1994 [e-mail] wrote:

> Hi Arne,
>
> I> I have tried to use fr to make trees and snowflakes.
> I> But every time i try to make trees i get an error. And the system crashes
> I> .. some thing with the input device.
> I> When i chose to make a 3d-snowflake and convert it using pixel3d it looks
> I> like a strange triangel shaped object ( is it supposed to look like
> I> thist ?) The funny part comes when i try to load a converted object into
> I> imagine. The 3d-Snowflake depth 2/3. I get the error Not enough ram.
> I> I use a 4000/40 12 Mb ram.
> I>
> I> Any good ideas?
> =================
>
>         Sure.  Sounds like you might not have set a stack for fr to
>         use, and that's crashing your system.  The docs recommend
>         at least 30000.
>
>         The "snowflake" is a von Koch snowflake and looks sorta like
>         a filagree pyramid.  How the hell do you spell philogree?
>         Anyway, they are very complex and take up ram.
>
>         L8R
>
>         -mikeT
>
>
> * Offline Orbit 0.70a * ...Amiga. Designed to break the laws of physics...
>


Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 18:28:50
Subject: Launch
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Esrange just launched a rocket. Cool!

(I'm not at work so often when they do that so I'll just _have_ to tell the
whole world ;-)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 18:35:22
Subject: Caustics Texture
From:    [e-mail] (JOHN ROBINSON)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Is the caustics texture new with 3.1, or did it come with 3.0??
I have 3.0 and I don't appear to have it....

John

John Robinson
John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.


Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 20:30:24
Subject: IFF conversion problems and some solutions
From:    [e-mail] (Stephen Pietrowicz)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


This may be old news, but I ran across this last weekend, and thought I
should post it here.

Take an IFF that's merely a single pixel line.   Convert it using the IFF
conversion in Imagine 3.1 fp.   (When it asks to fill in faces, say no)  ;-)
The resulting conversion has an extra edge.  You can get rid of this edge
by doing a merge.  If you don't, and you do an extrude, you'll end up with
extra polygons.

Single pixel lines in IFF's don't convert well in other ways either.  I
created an outline of my house with open gaps for doorways and windows.  When
the IFF was converted, several of the points didn't quite overlap so the
merge trick didn't work.  (I had to do a grid snap).  In particular, a single
pixel L-shape didn't convert the way you would expect.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone who might have run into this problem, or
might be running into it and not realize it.  I look forward to the next
version of Imagine, which will hopefully fix these problems, and other problems
with the IFF conversion process.

srp


Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 21:56:23
Subject: More fr
From:    Kurt Yamamoto <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi,
      I finally got my copy of 'fr'.  Thanks to those who responded
to my post.  To all those still seeking a copy of this, send me
a private e-mail and I should be able to forward you a copy.
      I have a question for those of you out there currently using
this utility.  How do I convert the Sculpt format scene file into
something I can load into Imagine?  I hope I don't have to buy
something like Interchange.  Is there a PD utility that does this?

                              Thanks,
                                              Kurt
                                              [e-mail]



Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 22:34:14
Subject: Re: Texture smear
From:    "rob (r.d.) hounsell" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Conny,


  Have you had any luck with brushmaps?

  I'm applying a brushmap to a plane and then exploding the plane using the
explode effect. I've created a state (MAIN) and in the brushmap requester I've
entered "MAIN" in the lockstate box, but when I explode the plane the triangles
reflect only the initial position of the brushmap colours as they move. It's as
if someone is holding the brushmap up behind the camera and I'm exploding a
mirror - the colour of the triangles change as they move.

  The effect I'm looking for is the "exploding jigsaw puzzle" look, where the
triangles keep their initial colourization.

  My steps were:
1. create the plane
2. apply the brushmap, and enter "MAIN" as the lockstate
3. create the MAIN state, using all three state attributes

  Any ideas?

Thanks,

Rob


In message "Re: Texture smear", '[e-mail]' writes:

>
>>> It works.
>>> It works!
>>> IT WORKS!!!
>
>>Excellent!  For clarity, could you re-post the correct procedure, or
>>just send me a copy?  Thanks!
>>
>>Ed Totman
>
>Sure. Here it comes .....
>
>> I tried it, but I can't make it work :-(
>> Here is what I did:
>> 1. Created a default plane (100, 100, 10, 10)
>> 2. Applied the texture "quilt" with default values
>> 3. Created state "DEFAULT" (object/grouping, shape, texture)
>> 4. Attributes, Info, Lockstate=DEFAULT
>> 5. Moved points +x (most of them, not all)
>> 6. Created a new state ("BURP", object/grouping, shape)
>> 7. Quickrendered both states
>> 8. :-(((
>>
>> Did I do anything wrong?
>
>Well maybe
>try it this way:
>
>> 1. Created a default plane (100, 100, 10, 10)
>> 2. Applied the texture "quilt" with default values
>> 3. Attributes, Info, Lockstate=DEFAULT
>> 4. Created state "DEFAULT" (object/grouping, shape, texture)
>> 5. Moved points +x (most of them, not all)
>> 6. Created a new state ("BURP", object/grouping, shape, texture)
>> 7. Quickrendered both states
>
>as you can see I moved 4 to position 3 and 3 to 4, as well as adding the
>texture button to 6, which is probably were the problem lies.
>
>Oh well hope this gets your textures to do the twist..
>
>=RRW=
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
>|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
>|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rob Hounsell                           Internet: [e-mail]            |
| UNIX Team Leader                       PHONE: [phone]                |
| DMS System Performance Development     Bell Northern Research               |
| Dept. 7D23                             Ottawa, Ontario, Canada              |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Wednesday, 30 November 1994 23:29:33
Subject: Wanted: Screen Size Hack for Amiga IM3.1
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi All,

The last I heard of a screen hack for Amiga Imagine, it was for 3.0.  Does
anyone have the screen hack for Imagine 3.1?  The executables are different so
the 3.0 locations are not valid.

-Scott
[e-mail]



Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 01:35:08
Subject: Re: ObjectConversion&LossOfPolygons
From:    Douglas Rudd <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>
> Hey y'all,
>
>     So how come, when I'm converting objects back and forth between
> Imagn and LW (with PixelPro3d), I lose polygons?
>
I assume you mean in LW, the IM object appears full of holes. The poly-
gones in IM are double-sided where as in LW they are single-sided. The
conversion to LW may leave some of the polygones facing the wrong way.
Select double-sided in the surfaces menu-this will help. If you STILL
have problems, convert the object from IM to 3DS, then import the 3DS
into LW. That usually works for me.


Doug Rudd
[e-mail]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Amiga Guide to the Galaxy refers to Commodore's management as
"A bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first to be lined up
against the wall and shot when the revolution comes."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They will get my Amiga from me when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 01:35:11
Subject: Re: Imagine PC Questions
From:    [e-mail] (Darryl Lewis)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



 AN> I'm presently considering buying a PC and have some questions:
<snip>
 AN> Finally, has anyone had any trouble with Imagine and the Pentium?
 AN> There was
 AN> an article on C4 News here about Intel admitting that they have
 AN> shipped
 AN> 6 million Pentium chips with a major bug in the math processing,
 AN> which I
 AN> guess would be fairly important for raytracing.

 AN> Andrew
yeah! There is a problem with the pentium. It returns different values for
floating point divide operations each time. We have nothing but trouble
with them at work, not to mention that the things run HOT!. This may not be
a problem to you, but in Australia the last thing we need is a chip that
warms up the room! No joke.
Consider a fast 486 or even upgrade your amiga using a 68040+
Darryl

-- Via DLG Pro v1.0



Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 02:44:21
Subject: Re: Accelerating to 040 land
From:    Douglas Rudd <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> Although I don't want this thread to degenerate into an Amiga/PC war, I
> feel I must make the point that one can obtain an entire 486/66 system
> for less than $1000.  A new 040 system would cost at least 2x as much.
> I own both Amiga's and PC's, so I know the benefits of both platforms, but
> cost is a major factor for most people.
>
> Ed Totman
> [e-mail]
>
>
Nor do I. These are the machines I happen to own. A P90 would be MUCH
faster than any of the machines listed. Then again, I could put a Shablaam
card in my 486 and blow the chips out of the P90. But, as you can see from
my sig, I'm not likely to go that route.


Doug Rudd
[e-mail]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Amiga Guide to the Galaxy refers to Commodore's management as
"A bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first to be lined up
against the wall and shot when the revolution comes."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They will get my Amiga from me when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 03:57:40
Subject: Re: Wanted: Screen Size Hack for Amiga IM3.1
From:    Ian Smith <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


  %%%% Forwarded message from [e-mail] %%%%

On 30 Nov 94, [e-mail] (Scott) wrote:
> The last I heard of a screen hack for Amiga Imagine, it was for 3.0.
> Does anyone have the screen hack for Imagine 3.1?  The executables are
> different so the 3.0 locations are not valid.

Here are the positions I found for version 3.1 of Amiga Imagine.

         | Block Offset | Abs Pos | Current Value
         | ----- ------ | ------- | -------------
Width  = |  1667 +   60 |  853564 |         $0280
Height = |   126 +  425 |   64937 |           $64

Block + Offset is commonly used with most disk editors, but some use
the Absolute Porition instead.  Remember to divide the height of the
screen by 4 first, and that you can't use values higher than 127 due
to Impulses use of signed character storage.  127 will give you screen
height of 508.  I don't think its easily possible to hack Imagine to
use an unsigned character to get a higher screen size.  Anyone?

--
[e-mail] (Posted for [e-mail])
                     (Imagine needs ARexx, Impulse.  Think on it? :-)


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 03:57:42
Subject: Re: more fr
From:    Patrick Sauvageau <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


In <[e-mail]>, Kurt Yamamoto wrote:
>Hi,
>     I finally got my copy of 'fr'.  Thanks to those who responded
>to my post.  To all those still seeking a copy of this, send me
>a private e-mail and I should be able to forward you a copy.
>     I have a question for those of you out there currently using
>this utility.  How do I convert the Sculpt format scene file into
>something I can load into Imagine?  I hope I don't have to buy
>something like Interchange.  Is there a PD utility that does this?
>
>                             Thanks,
>                                             Kurt
>                                             [e-mail]
>
>

I used to have a small utility called "X-Object" to convert Sculpt and
Videoscape to Turbo-silver. I will check tonight is i still have it. If so,
it may be mailled on request, or put on Aminet (i did not find it in the
aminet index; maybe somebody could check on the early fred-fish; X-Obj is
at last 5 years old)

More tomorow...


--
Patrick Sauvageau (SIA)
[e-mail]


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 04:40:00
Subject: Re: Caustics Texture
From:    Michael North <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------







> Is the caustics texture new with 3.1, or did it come with 3.0??
> I have 3.0 and I don't appear to have it....
>
I have the PC version of 3.0 and it includes caustics and the
well-named but not terribly useful purphaze.  There isn't any
documentation on either, however.  They both seem to work, to
the fairly limited extent that I have played with them.

Michael


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 06:58:02
Subject: Re: Accelerating to 040 land
From:    "Mark A. Jones" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Yes, you can get a 486 system very cheap right now, and they render fast.
However, my lowly Amiga 1200 with 50MHz accelerator and 68882 can hold
its own pretty well for less than the 486, and can play back ANIMATIONS
in 24bit quality HAM8 mode in over 20 frames per second (full overscan)
or using the clariSSA software I got with a UK Magazine for free I can
convert it to 30 frames per second field frame format, giving me the
ability to play back the animation in true NTSC video speed. Can you do
that with a 486 without an add-on card?

Remember, the Amiga was video graphics ready back when IBMs had 4-color
monitors. This has given Amiga developers a consistant standard to
develop for while the IBM video card wars have kept on raging.
Proprietary systems do have their advantages!



Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 08:40:23
Subject: Re: Wanted: ALL info on Screen Size Hack
From:    "Daniel T. Edwards" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sorry, there is no hack available for Imagine PC.  I don't think it really
needs one as much as the Amiga version.  I'd be very interested to see one thoth
ough (for the PC)...
// James R. Walker      WalkerVision Videographics //
// [e-mail]                    //


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 14:23:54
Subject: Please stop AMIGA vs PC
From:    Andrew Conway <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dear folks,
I'm sorry but by enquiry about 040s seems to have sown the seeds of a new
AMIGA vs PC debate. This really ain't the place for it. Out of politeness
to other people on the mailing list maybe we should curtail such discussion,
conduct it in private or go to the news groups.
thanks
Andrew


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 16:28:03
Subject: Melt Utility
From:    [e-mail] (Shinobi)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Does anyone have the compiled Amiga version of Glenn Lewis' Melt utility?
Please let me know if you can uuencode it to me.  Thanks!

Paul

-- Via DLG Pro v1.0

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
| Paul             Fine Lines Publications                |
* Thompson      CGI   Animations   Multimedia             *
|                [e-mail]             |
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 20:12:32
Subject: Sculpt Object converter
From:    Patrick Sauvageau <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


For those who want to convert Sculpt object to imagine, i have a good
utility to do that. It is called Xobject. It can read Sculpt and Videoscape
and convert it to Imagine format. (Turbo-silver in fact).

Since i lost the original archive, the archive i have is not in the
original form the author wanted it to be. However, the shareware
information and the full documentation is included. Because of that, this
archive cannot be put on aminet or on any public distribution systems

Anybody interested in this utility, send me a mail.
The archive is just 15k and it need arp.library.




In <[e-mail]>, Kurt Yamamoto wrote:
>Hi,
>     I finally got my copy of 'fr'.  Thanks to those who responded
>to my post.  To all those still seeking a copy of this, send me
>a private e-mail and I should be able to forward you a copy.
>     I have a question for those of you out there currently using
>this utility.  How do I convert the Sculpt format scene file into
>something I can load into Imagine?  I hope I don't have to buy
>something like Interchange.  Is there a PD utility that does this?
>
>                             Thanks,
>                                             Kurt
>                                             [e-mail]



--
Patrick Sauvageau (SIA)
[e-mail]


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 21:38:38
Subject: Pentiums... and exaggeration.
From:    Mark Allan Fox <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Greetings:

      Yes, the original Pentiums did have problems (as did the
original 486DX2s).  However, the problems have long been fixed.
As I recall, Intel completely redesigned the chip with special
considerations regarding heat generation, the result was a new
chip (still called the Pentium) which ran much cooler.
      Intel stopped making the defective chips about 9 months
ago.  I sincerly doubt that you could find a PC box that has one
of the old chips in it at any dealer.
      In any case, I thought everybody here would know by now
that you never by new technology.  You always let them work out
the bugs for about a month.  I even waited for about a month
after the release of Imagine 3.0 and 3.1.  The result:  I happily
read the IML messages about bugs in the product, I went to see if
I had them, and found that I didn't (at least for most, Slice
still doesn't work, and that fog/transparency).


                              M. A. Fox
                              Armageddon Productions
                              [e-mail]


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 21:44:40
Subject: ISL
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hello !x

Is there any other ftp-site than ftp.netcom.com out in this world where
I can get the PC Version of ISL ?

Since the announcement of ISL for PC I tried to connect to thisftp-site, but...
...... "Sorry, there are to many....." grrrrr.

Thanks for any help,
Christian


Date:    Thursday, 01 December 1994 23:17:10
Subject: Fr - HELP!!!!!!!!
From:    Kurt Yamamoto <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Howdy folks,
      To all of you out there using fr.  How the heck do you guys
convert the objects created to an Imagine readable format?  The
program is pretty much useless to me unless I can do that.

                                      Thanks in advance,
                                      [e-mail]



Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 00:23:28
Subject: Re: IFF conversion problems and some solutions
From:    Wayne Haufler <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Wed, 30 Nov 1994, Stephen Pietrowicz wrote:

> This may be old news, but I ran across this last weekend, and thought I
> should post it here.
>
> Take an IFF that's merely a single pixel line.   Convert it using the IFF
> conversion in Imagine 3.1 fp.   (When it asks to fill in faces, say no)  ;-)
> The resulting conversion has an extra edge.  You can get rid of this edge
> by doing a merge.  If you don't, and you do an extrude, you'll end up with
> extra polygons.
>
> Single pixel lines in IFF's don't convert well in other ways either.  I
> created an outline of my house with open gaps for doorways and windows.  When
> the IFF was converted, several of the points didn't quite overlap so the
> merge trick didn't work.  (I had to do a grid snap).  In particular, a single
> pixel L-shape didn't convert the way you would expect.
>
> Anyway, I hope this helps someone who might have run into this problem, or
> might be running into it and not realize it.  I look forward to the next
> version of Imagine, which will hopefully fix these problems, and other problems
> with the IFF conversion process.
>
> srp
>
I had the same problem some years ago.
I believe Imagine's converter looks for color transitions or edges
and places an object 'line' (two points connected) at each edge.
Since a thin painted line, even 1 pixel thin, consists of two transitions,
(say, white to black, black to white) the Converter will generate two lines.

In some situations, say for a highly detailed architectural model,
you would WANT each surface of a wall modeled, so that it has some
thickness.  In other situations, like yours, you may want to keep
it simple and have only one pair of triangle faces to model a wall
with no thickness.

A workaround to this problem, if you want a simple, zero thickness wall,
is to try to process your image such that you limit the number of its
color transitions.  Umm, this might not be as simple as I first thought.

For a simple room, no door opening, instead of a drawing a simple
black-on-white outline of a rectangle, draw a filled black box
on a white background (or is it the other way around, white-on-black
for the Converter?).

But for a room within a house, with a door opening, I cannot currently
visualize a solution.

With concepts of 'inside' and 'outside' areas,
this is beginning to look like a Topological Math problem.
Anybody here with some expertise in that field?

             __
\\ /\\ /\\ //_    Wayne A. Haufler   [Christian/SW Engineer/XWindows/Amigan]
 \/--\// \//__    [e-mail]
     //           Unisys Space Systems - Shuttle Operations Contract
                  Hobby:  "Computer Animations For Christian Endeavors"


Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 01:41:18
Subject: Re: Pentiums... and exaggeration.
From:    [e-mail] (Cedric Georges Chang)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Dec 1,  9:20am, "Mark Allan Fox" wrote:
>     Intel stopped making the defective chips about 9 months
> ago.  I sincerly doubt that you could find a PC box that has one
> of the old chips in it at any dealer.

We just received a Gateway Pentium 90 here at work a few days ago, and
it does have the floating point divide bug.  The two other pentiums we
recieved within the past two to three months also have the bug.  I'll be
getting a Pentium in two weeks for my project, and I assume it too will have
the FDIV bug.  OTOH, I'm almost positive the bug will not affect my work.

Cedric
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cedric Chang             Mechanical Engineer             // Amiga 3000 '040
[e-mail]    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute    \X/  EGS Piccolo
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 03:30:23
Subject: Re: Wanted: ALL info on Screen Size Hack
From:    [e-mail] (Joe Cotellese)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>Sorry, there is no hack available for Imagine PC.  I don't think it really
>needs one as much as the Amiga version.  I'd be very interested to see one
thothough (for the PC)...
>// James R. Walker      WalkerVision Videographics //
>// [e-mail]                    //
>
I have not found a way to get the screen size to be greater the 640x480 for
the editors.  Too bad...

Joe Cotellese



Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 04:02:24
Subject: Re: Imagine PC Questions
From:    [e-mail] (Joe Cotellese)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> AN> I'm presently considering buying a PC and have some questions:
><snip>
> AN> Finally, has anyone had any trouble with Imagine and the Pentium?
> AN> There was
> AN> an article on C4 News here about Intel admitting that they have
> AN> shipped
> AN> 6 million Pentium chips with a major bug in the math processing,
> AN> which I
> AN> guess would be fairly important for raytracing.
>
> AN> Andrew
>yeah! There is a problem with the pentium. It returns different values for
>floating point divide operations each time. We have nothing but trouble
>with them at work, not to mention that the things run HOT!. This may not be
>a problem to you, but in Australia the last thing we need is a chip that
>warms up the room! No joke.

I have had a 60 Mhz Pentium at home since June, and a 66 Mhz at work since
May.  Neither system has run into any problems.

Joe Cotellese



Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 05:15:20
Subject: Re: Exploding brushmap (was Texture smear)
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Easy.  This doesn't work the way you expect (or want) in current versions of
Imagine.  Lobby Impulse to add this capability.  Crude way to simulate it is
use particle object with brushmap locked.  Start explode with original
plane, transition to particle object plane.  Probably not satisfactory
though.  Cheers!
 ----------
>From: imagine-relay
>To: cjo
>Cc: imagine
>Subject: Re: Texture smear
>Date: Wednesday, November 30, 1994 9:54AM

Conny,


  Have you had any luck with brushmaps?

  I'm applying a brushmap to a plane and then exploding the plane using the
explode effect. I've created a state (MAIN) and in the brushmap requester
I've
entered "MAIN" in the lockstate box, but when I explode the plane the
triangles
reflect only the initial position of the brushmap colours as they move. It's
as
if someone is holding the brushmap up behind the camera and I'm exploding a
mirror - the colour of the triangles change as they move.

  The effect I'm looking for is the "exploding jigsaw puzzle" look, where
the
triangles keep their initial colourization.

  My steps were:
1. create the plane
2. apply the brushmap, and enter "MAIN" as the lockstate
3. create the MAIN state, using all three state attributes

  Any ideas?

Thanks,

Rob


In message "Re: Texture smear", '[e-mail]' writes:

>
>>> It works.
>>> It works!
>>> IT WORKS!!!
>
>>Excellent!  For clarity, could you re-post the correct procedure, or
>>just send me a copy?  Thanks!
>>
>>Ed Totman
>
>Sure. Here it comes .....
>
>> I tried it, but I can't make it work :-(
>> Here is what I did:
>> 1. Created a default plane (100, 100, 10, 10)
>> 2. Applied the texture "quilt" with default values
>> 3. Created state "DEFAULT" (object/grouping, shape, texture)
>> 4. Attributes, Info, Lockstate=DEFAULT
>> 5. Moved points +x (most of them, not all)
>> 6. Created a new state ("BURP", object/grouping, shape)
>> 7. Quickrendered both states
>> 8. :-(((
>>
>> Did I do anything wrong?
>
>Well maybe
>try it this way:
>
>> 1. Created a default plane (100, 100, 10, 10)
>> 2. Applied the texture "quilt" with default values
>> 3. Attributes, Info, Lockstate=DEFAULT
>> 4. Created state "DEFAULT" (object/grouping, shape, texture)
>> 5. Moved points +x (most of them, not all)
>> 6. Created a new state ("BURP", object/grouping, shape, texture)
>> 7. Quickrendered both states
>
>as you can see I moved 4 to position 3 and 3 to 4, as well as adding the
>texture button to 6, which is probably were the problem lies.
>
>Oh well hope this gets your textures to do the twist..
>
>=RRW=
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
>|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
>|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rob Hounsell                           Internet: [e-mail]
|
| UNIX Team Leader                       PHONE: [phone]
|
| DMS System Performance Development     Bell Northern Research
|
| Dept. 7D23                             Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
|
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 08:53:56
Subject: Re: Please stop AMIGA vs PC
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> Dear folks,
> I'm sorry but by enquiry about 040s seems to have sown the seeds of a new
> AMIGA vs PC debate. This really ain't the place for it. Out of politeness
> to other people on the mailing list maybe we should curtail such discussion,
> conduct it in private or go to the news groups.
> thanks
> Andrew

I second that, I watched it start and slowly or maybe quickly grow to
were it became useless information for the IML..

=RRW=



Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 14:46:48
Subject: ------=> Sorry NO Subject!
From:    Kenneth Jennings <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Subject: Pentiums... and exaggeration.


Mark Allan Fox <[e-mail]> writes:
>
>Greetings:
>
>     Yes, the original Pentiums did have problems (as did the
[stuff deleted]
>     Intel stopped making the defective chips about 9 months
>ago.  I sincerly doubt that you could find a PC box that has one
>of the old chips in it at any dealer.

We just got new ALR dual pentuim servers that exibit the FDIV
bug.

>     In any case, I thought everybody here would know by now
>that you never by new technology.  You always let them work out
>the bugs for about a month.  I even waited for about a month
[stuff deleted]

It took them longer than a month to find the FDIV bug. While
the Pentiums coming out of Intel don't have the bug, it could
take a few months for them to move through the supply channels
and into machines at the dealer level.  Since public knowledge
of the bug has only occurred recently, my guess is that Intel
knew about it (nine months ago) and delayed notifying the
world, so they could continue to unload the defective chips on
the market.

Kenneth Jennings

[e-mail]



Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 16:50:00
Subject: More fr
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Kurt Yamamoto wrote;
>How do I convert the Sculpt format scene file into
>something I can load into Imagine?  I hope I don't have to buy
>something like Interchange.  Is there a PD utility that does this?

The november issue of Amiga Format had Pixel 3D Pro on the cover disk.
This is a commersial program but it does what you ask for. And more. It is
really a spline based object editor that can load from and save to some 14
different formats.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 17:55:22
Subject: Re: IFF conversion problems ...
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


The answer to this problem could be simple (I don't say that it _is_, just
that it _could_ be).

I tried converting an image of a logo.
I had made an outline (2 colors) of the logo in a paint program.
The results were horrible (points didn't connect, just like you said).
More by accident than anything else I filled the iff-outline (sort of making
it solid). And it worked one h-ll of a lot better. It actually converted
more or less exactly the way I wanted.

I don't know if this is applicable to your problems, but here it is anyway.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 19:11:56
Subject: Re: Texture smear
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Rob Hounsell wrote;
>Have you had any luck with brushmaps?
>I'm applying a brushmap to a plane and then exploding the plane using the
>explode effect.
>
>The effect I'm looking for is the "exploding jigsaw puzzle" look, where
>the triangles keep their initial colourization.
>
> My steps were:
>1. create the plane
>2. apply the brushmap, and enter "MAIN" as the lockstate
>3. create the MAIN state, using all three state attributes
>
> Any ideas?

Sorry, I haven't tried with brushmaps yet.
All I wanted was to learn the basics on how to do it.
And, exploding a jigsaw ... whew! (whiping sweat from my forehead (why isn't
there a smiley for that)).
The only idea that comes to mind (at the moment) is applying the brushmap to
every single piece (or triangle if you have to).

Anyone else got some input on this?

-----------------------------------------------------------------
|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 20:23:08
Subject: Pentium FDIV Jokes (fwd)
From:    Bruce W Baltzer <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


OK, they're not all funny, but since people mentioned the pentium, and the next
note in my mailbox was this collection of jokes about the recently 'discovered'
pentium flaw, I thought it might cast a humourous light on things...
Sorry for the off-topic post, but a) Imagine uses lots of floating point, so
someone may be interested, and b) i've seen numerous posts on pentiums here
and elsewhere from people wondering if it's worth the upgrade...
bruce

>
>  Q&A:  THE PENTIUM FDIV BUG
>
>  Q:   How many Pentium designers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
>  A:   1.99904274017, but that's close enough for non-technical people.
>
>  Q:  What do you get when you cross a Pentium PC with a  research grant?
>  A:   A mad scientist.
>
>  Q:  What's another name for the "Intel Inside" sticker they put on
>  Pentiums?
>  A:  Warning label.
>
>  Q:  What do you call a series of FDIV instructions on a Pentium?
>  A:  Successive approximations.
>
>  Q:  Complete the following word analogy:  Add is to Subtract as Multiply
>  is to
>          1)  Divide
>          2)  ROUND
>          3)  RANDOM
>          4)  On a Pentium, all of the above
>  A:  Number 4.
>
>  Q:  What algorithm did Intel use in the Pentium's floating point divider?
>  A:  "Life is like a box of chocolates." (Source: F. Gump of Intel)
>
>  Q:  Why didn't Intel call the Pentium the 586?
>  A:  Because they added 486 and 100 on the first Pentium and got
>  585.999983605.
>
>  Q:  According to Intel, the Pentium conforms to the IEEE standards
>  754 and 854 for floating point arithmetic.  If you fly in aircraft
>  designed using a Pentium, what is the correct pronunciation of
>  "IEEE"?
>  A:   Aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>  TOP TEN NEW INTEL SLOGANS FOR THE PENTIUM
>  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>    9.9999973251   It's a FLAW, Dammit, not a Bug
>    8.9999163362   It's Close Enough, We Say So
>    7.9999414610   Nearly 300 Correct Opcodes
>    6.9999831538   You Don't Need to Know What's Inside
>    5.9999835137   Redefining the PC--and Mathematics As Well
>    4.9999999021   We Fixed It, Really
>    3.9998245917   Division Considered Harmful
>    2.9991523619   Why Do You Think They Call It *Floating* Point?
>    1.9999103517   We're Looking for a Few Good Flaws
>    0.9999999998   The Errata Inside
>
>



Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 22:20:41
Subject: Re: Texture smear
From:    Wayne Haufler <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Now, I can't say that I have touched Imagine for quite awhile,
though I want to; but let me interject an idea here:

Perhaps, to get an "exploding jigsaw puzzle" look, you should
START with individual pieces (triangles or more jigsaw-shaped)
rather than using the Explode Effect.  Perhaps that Effect,
in the process of breaking up the object, makes the locked
brush feature invalid.  Or use the Explode Effect to break up
the object, capture the object from the second frame (I think
that would be the first frame after the breakup) and lock the
brushmaps to the object at THAT state; or is that what you
described?

   Try these steps:
 1. create the plane
 2. Explode the plane with the Explode Effect.
 3. Capture (save) the resulting broken-up object.
 4. apply the brushmap, and enter "MAIN" as the lockstate
 5. create the MAIN state, using all three state attributes

But then how do you get the pieces to move as if they were
'exploded' away from one another, without using the Explode
Effect, and without tedious Action Editor work?

I don't know, offhand.

- Wayne Haufler

On Wed, 30 Nov 1994, rob (r.d.) hounsell wrote:

> Conny,
>
>
>   Have you had any luck with brushmaps?
>
>   I'm applying a brushmap to a plane and then exploding the plane using the
> explode effect. I've created a state (MAIN) and in the brushmap requester I've

> entered "MAIN" in the lockstate box, but when I explode the plane the triangle
s
> reflect only the initial position of the brushmap colours as they move. It's a
s
> if someone is holding the brushmap up behind the camera and I'm exploding a
> mirror - the colour of the triangles change as they move.
>
>   The effect I'm looking for is the "exploding jigsaw puzzle" look, where the
> triangles keep their initial colourization.
>
>   My steps were:
> 1. create the plane
> 2. apply the brushmap, and enter "MAIN" as the lockstate
> 3. create the MAIN state, using all three state attributes
>
>   Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rob
>


Date:    Friday, 02 December 1994 23:30:21
Subject: Sanyo GVRS950
From:    Kenneth Jennings <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Does anyone else out there have a Sanyo GVRS-950 Deck??
Or does anyone have a BCD controller???

There is a program (SanyoArexxHandler or BCDarexxHandler
respectively) included with the disk of utilities that
provides an ARexx port that accepts commands and controls
the deck.  (or so the documentation claims >:(  )

Has anyone ever gotten this thing to work!??!!

I've been writing Arexx scripts for years and not even
the demonstration programs in the Sanyo Manual work.

Kenneth Jennings

[e-mail]


Date:    Saturday, 03 December 1994 04:43:07
Subject: Where is fr
From:    Brian Skreeg <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Can anyone point me in the direction of this fr prog.

If you're going to mail it to me UUencode it!

Cheers,

Brian,


Date:    Saturday, 03 December 1994 05:17:28
Subject: Re: IFF conversion problems ...
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Fri, 2 Dec 1994, cjo wrote:

> The answer to this problem could be simple (I don't say that it _is_, just
> that it _could_ be).
>
> I tried converting an image of a logo.
> I had made an outline (2 colors) of the logo in a paint program.
> The results were horrible (points didn't connect, just like you said).
> More by accident than anything else I filled the iff-outline (sort of making
> it solid). And it worked one h-ll of a lot better. It actually converted
> more or less exactly the way I wanted.

> I don't know if this is applicable to your problems, but here it is anyway.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> |   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
> |   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
> |   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
 I do not know if you have 3.1 yet but I have found the spline editor
with its ability to load IFF backdrops the way to go for logos and any
IFF transfer for that matter. It takes more work in the beginning but you
would have to spend as much if not more time cleaning up the object using
the import IFF technique. I created a logo recently that did not have one
straight line in it. The spline editor made this very easy.
  Kent Worley


Date:    Saturday, 03 December 1994 20:42:45
Subject: Help!!! Bad Chunk Size loading object
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi All,
Hope someone can help me. I made some changes to an object I have been
using in an animation and after saving it I get a Bad Chunk Size message
when trying to load the object. I'm on a PC with Imagine 3.1. The size
of the object went from approx 700k to 1.4Meg after the changes (most
likely due to fracturing the object as well as other changes). Is the
object too large for Imagine to handle? Is their any way to recover
(short of loading a saved model without these substantial changes)? I
can find no references to this error in the doc.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Larry J. Jacobs


Date:    Sunday, 04 December 1994 01:07:00
Subject: Re: Saving changes in the stage editor
From:    [e-mail] (Julian Knight)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi Kent, on Nov 24 you wrote:

> At 7:48 AM 10/29/94, Julian Knight wrote:
=2E..
> >Ahh but this is not simply connected to ModePro!
> >
> >I use Amiga (PAL) Imagine 3.0 on a Retina (with v1.4 of the Retina software).
> >
> >Even when I have plenty of both Chip & Fast mem I can get the situation where
> >most of the menus refuse to work. In fact I can reproduce this every time.
>E..
> I figured it was something like this.  I'm using 3.0 on a 2000 with a PPS
> 040 board (16MB fast, 2MB chip) with a 2MB Retina.  I run it at 1024x768
> and have the same problem.  I assumed it was an incompatability with some
> utility I was running, but now I'm beginning to believe it's a problem
> with Imagine.  BTW, I'm running WB 3.1 with this.
>
> Nice to know it's not bad RAM or some other hardware-related issue.


Hi, I've found out how to fix this!

All you need to do is to apply the "hack" to fix the screen size. I've done this
and so far ... no more problems! :)

Although Imagine 3 automatically makes use of a larger screen size if you
promote it using the Retina's WB emulation, it appears to be this that causes
the memory errors.

So, I'm back to a 1024x768 screen size :))  All we have to do now is pe=
rsuade=20
Impulse to finally upgrade the interface slightly to use proper request=
ors & I=20
won't have to keep peering at the screen!

=20

auf Wiedersehen,

Julian. /---------------------------------------+----------------------=
--\
=20       |Email:      [e-mail] | A4000/040, 14MB/320=
MB, |
=20       |Day/Urgent: [e-mail]       |    Opal, Retina (4M=
B), |
=20       |Location:   Redditch, Worcestershire,  |    One-Stop-Music-S=
hop,|
=20       |               United Kingdom.         |    Imagine 3, ADPro=
=20...|
=20       \---------------------------------------+--------------------=
----/



Date:    Sunday, 04 December 1994 11:15:01
Subject: Re: Melt Utility
From:    Roger Straub <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Anyone who wants this GREAT utility, mail me.

See ya,
      Roger



Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 02:26:12
Subject: Bones in 3.1
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Well, I've just figured out the new smart bones. It works great, but
with one amazing twist: the Make Big Bones and Make Small Bones are
backwards, at least in the Amiga version. Hard to believe such an error
but after spending 2 hours trying to make a bending finger I looked
carefully at the subgroups and realized that whenever I chose Make SM
Bones it marked it just the other way around, with the result that the
bending looked extremely angular. I would really like someone else to
verify this Insect.


Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 07:38:33
Subject: Re: Bones in 3.1
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> Well, I've just figured out the new smart bones. It works great, but
> with one amazing twist: the Make Big Bones and Make Small Bones are
> backwards, at least in the Amiga version. Hard to believe such an error
> but after spending 2 hours trying to make a bending finger I looked
> carefully at the subgroups and realized that whenever I chose Make SM
> Bones it marked it just the other way around, with the result that the
> bending looked extremely angular. I would really like someone else to
> verify this Insect.

Well actually I mentioned this on the IML, Ooooh, over a month or two ago.
I also mentioned an easy work around till Impulse fixes it which I have
been told has been done for the next update.

Anyways heres the work around again for you. What you need to do is make
yourself some gadgets for these functions. Make one Msb and Mbb, now when
you set these up in prefs just set them up reversed..

In other words set:

the gadget "Msb" to "Mk. Big Bone Subgrp"
and
the gadget "Mbb" to "Mk. Sm. Bone Subgrp"

Now when you use your gadgets all will work just fine. This is how I have
had mine set sense I found the problem and it has worked out just fine.
Just remember if you go to use the commands from the menus that you need
to use them reversed. But sense I have the gadgets set to work properly I
just avoid the menu commands completly..

=RRW=




Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 11:23:46
Subject: Re: Bones in 3.1
From:    Bush Doktor <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Sun, 4 Dec 1994, Randy R. Wall wrote:

> In other words set:
>
> the gadget "Msb" to "Mk. Big Bone Subgrp"
> and
> the gadget "Mbb" to "Mk. Sm. Bone Subgrp"
>
> Now when you use your gadgets all will work just fine. This is how I have
> had mine set sense I found the problem and it has worked out just fine.
> Just remember if you go to use the commands from the menus that you need
> to use them reversed. But sense I have the gadgets set to work properly I
> just avoid the menu commands completly..


    What a simple answer for the problem, no wonder I never
thought of it. :-)

BUSH DOKTOR  [e-mail]



Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 18:19:26
Subject: Re: Problem with Xobject and Imagine
From:    Patrick Sauvageau <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Homer Simpson would say: DHO!

Somebody just reported me that Imagine Was not able to oad "Xobj" converted
files and reported "Unexpected end of file".

I am sorry; i just remembered that xobj did not work directly  with
Imagine. When i used it, i hade to load the converted object in
Turbo-silver and save it again. Then i was able to load it in Imagine.

This is not a desesperate case, however, because I am now working on a
program that load Imagine object, so i have every tool to find and correct
the bugs in the xobj converted objects.

As soon as i will have the time, i will post a utility to correct
xobjects files. You will have to wait a weak or two.

I made a big mistake by not testing the xobj utility before posting it; I
do not remember using it for many years; thats why i do not remembered the
bug. I must apologyse for my unprofessional behaviour.

Do not blame the author of Xobject; Xobject has been writen for
Turbo-Silver, not for Imagine and some files specifications may have
changed since.

Sorry!




--
Patrick Sauvageau (SIA)
[e-mail]


Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 19:56:49
Subject: Re: Bones in 3.1
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Sun, 4 Dec 1994 [e-mail] wrote:

> Well, I've just figured out the new smart bones. It works great, but
> with one amazing twist: the Make Big Bones and Make Small Bones are
> backwards, at least in the Amiga version. Hard to believe such an error
> but after spending 2 hours trying to make a bending finger I looked
> carefully at the subgroups and realized that whenever I chose Make SM
> Bones it marked it just the other way around, with the result that the
> bending looked extremely angular. I would really like someone else to
> verify this Insect.
>
   It is true and Impulse knows about it it should be corrected for
3.2.
  Kent Worley


Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 20:22:09
Subject: Re: Bones in 3.1
From:    Ed Totman <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> Well, I've just figured out the new smart bones. It works great, but
> with one amazing twist: the Make Big Bones and Make Small Bones are
> backwards, at least in the Amiga version. Hard to believe such an error
> but after spending 2 hours trying to make a bending finger I looked
> carefully at the subgroups and realized that whenever I chose Make SM
> Bones it marked it just the other way around, with the result that the
> bending looked extremely angular. I would really like someone else to
> verify this Insect.

I have the PC version of Imagine 3.1 and bones are working fine.



Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 21:11:23
Subject: Creating 90 degree turn in path
From:    Steve McLaughlin <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi, How can I create a 90 degree turn in making a path?
In the spline editor, I can make a know discontiguous and make a sharp
bend.  Is there a way to export a spline object and make it a path?
IN the detail editor, I use the edit path, but there is no 'make discontiguous'
option, so the path is smooth, I want to make a sharp turn!


Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 22:25:08
Subject: Animated extrusion
From:    Mike McCool <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


This has probably been discussed ages ago.  I seem to recall someone
mentioning it last year--but how do you ANIMATE an extrusion?  I want to
extrude a logo along a curly-q path, and have it happen over time.

      Thanks, y'all.



Date:    Monday, 05 December 1994 23:13:31
Subject: Globals
From:    MCADOO <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Trying to use Global function and when quick rendering error stating
picture not correct size.  I've changed my global x and y to different
sizes to what I think my size is but to no avail.  Is there a program that
tells you the size of your pix.  I'm trying some RGB pix grabbed using
Toaster Paint or created in Toaster Paint.  Also is there a program to creat
TIFF,24bit formats?

MAC THE HACK

Memory is something we have so that we can remember what we forgot

email [e-mail]


Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 01:06:57
Subject: Re: animated extrusion
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> This has probably been discussed ages ago.  I seem to recall someone
> mentioning it last year--but how do you ANIMATE an extrusion?  I want to
> extrude a logo along a curly-q path, and have it happen over time.
>

      Use the FX Grow... (outlined on pg. 274 of the Im3.0 manual)

      Create a Curly Q spline path in Stage or Detail. Create the object to
be extruded. Group the object to the spline path so the spline path is the
parent object. Save this, go into Action, load the spline path, and add the FX
bar for Grow. Pretty easy and basic. The object will extrude along the spline
path over a given number of frames. Neat for cursive write-ons...
      Keep the object to be extruded simple. Usually it's a cross-section of
the final extruded object (ie. a square with no faces)...
      Good luck...

                                                              J.---->

E-Mail: [e-mail]



Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 01:59:10
Subject: Are there any Imagine object viewers for the PC world?
From:    Steve McLaughlin <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Are there any pc imagine object viewers out there, or 3rd party 3d object
editors?  Is Freeform only for Amiga?


Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 02:52:17
Subject: Re: creating 90 degree turn in path
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> Hi, How can I create a 90 degree turn in making a path?

      To create a simple 90 degree take two control points and move them
extremely close to each other (the distance varies given the scale you're
working with). I think it's fairly safe to say a good distance is around .001
units apart. Take the second control point and rotate it 90 degrees. Voila, a
90 degree bank (or one that's close enough for all intents and purposes). The
idea is to create a large change in a short amount of space. This will make it
*seem* like a discontinous break.

                                                              J.---->

E-Mail: [e-mail]


Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 03:16:05
Subject: Re: creating 90 degree turn in path
From:    Ayalon Hermony <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Mon, 5 Dec 1994, Steve McLaughlin wrote:

> Hi, How can I create a 90 degree turn in making a path?
> In the spline editor, I can make a know discontiguous and make a sharp
> bend.Is there a way to export a spline object and make it a path?
> IN the detail editor, I use the edit path, but there is no 'make discontiguous
'
> option, so the path is smooth, I want to make a sharp turn!
>

Hello,

Stage:  Edit path, in Transformation (R.A-T) write down the position of the
        knot you want a 90 degree turn from.

        Edit Group, Add open path.
        Transformation, change position to the one you wrote.
        Rotate the path so it's 90 degree to the knot.

Action: Change position and align of object bars, that tracked the first
        path, at the frame you want it to the second path.



           How do you come back from 3D ?
Ayalon M. Hermony      Internet: [e-mail]



Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 03:43:01
Subject: Re: animated extrusion
From:    [e-mail] (Silicon)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> This has probably been discussed ages ago.  I seem to recall someone
> mentioning it last year--but how do you ANIMATE an extrusion?  I want to
> extrude a logo along a curly-q path, and have it happen over time.

 In Imagine 3.0, there is an effect called 'grow'. It does just what
 you want.

Andrey


Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 08:28:34
Subject: Re: Globals
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Mon, 5 Dec 1994, MCADOO wrote:

> Trying to use Global function and when quick rendering error stating
> picture not correct size.  I've changed my global x and y to different
> sizes to what I think my size is but to no avail.

This message appears when you use a Bakcdrop picture. Imagine's Backdrop
function is very simple-minded; it expects a backdrop the same size as
your current render. This applies to renders done from the Project
editor, as well as all quickrenders. To see what size your quickrenders
are set to, go to the Preferences editor, check QUIK (Quickrender preset
name), then click on the "Rendering presets" button and find the entry
in the list. For example, my Preferences are set for a quickrender
preset name of "HAM Quarterscreen". In the preset list, I see that "HAM
Quarterscreen" images are 160 pixels wide by 100 high. This is the size
Imagine expects the backdrop to be, as well. This also means that when
everything is fine and I'm ready to generate a full-screen image from
the Project editor, I'll have to replace the backdrop with a file that's
the same resolution as my subproject, for example 640 by 400.



Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 09:25:24
Subject: Re: Bones in 3.1
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Sun, 4 Dec 1994 [e-mail] wrote:

> Well, I've just figured out the new smart bones. It works great, but
> with one amazing twist: the Make Big Bones and Make Small Bones are
> backwards, at least in the Amiga version.

Yep, you're right! And until Impulse corrects this oversight, you can
simplify your life by making two user buttons, labelled "MkBigBon" and
"MkSmlBon", which point to the "Make Small Bones" and "Make Big Bones"
functions, respectively.



Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 10:29:42
Subject: Re: animated extrusion
From:    Derek Hardison <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


to extrude anything over time -- use the GROW f/x.  this will extrude the
object evenly over the number of frames.  Be careful of the number of
points in the object or you will be rendering past Xmas on a hundred
frame animation.

 --
Derek Hardison     Imagine on Amiga 4000s
                            New Intelligence on Video
                                        SGIwannabe
Domain:  [e-mail]
UUCP:  ...!emory!pd.org!derekjh

On Mon, 5 Dec 1994, Mike McCool wrote:

> This has probably been discussed ages ago.  I seem to recall someone
> mentioning it last year--but how do you ANIMATE an extrusion?  I want to
> extrude a logo along a curly-q path, and have it happen over time.
>
>     Thanks, y'all.
>
>


Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 11:37:53
Subject: Pentium jokes.
From:    [e-mail] (Mikael Ostergren)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Can someone e-mail me the Pentium jokes. I've lost them!

Thanks, micce

     .--
     | FidoNet: 2:201/411.36    Internet: [e-mail] |
     | CompuServe: 100303,2117  Internet: [e-mail] (work)     |
                                                   Amiga 4000/040 --'


Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 12:57:22
Subject: Re: Bones in 3.1
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> > In other words set:
> >
> > the gadget "Msb" to "Mk. Big Bone Subgrp"
> > and
> > the gadget "Mbb" to "Mk. Sm. Bone Subgrp"
>
>     What a simple answer for the problem, no wonder I never
> thought of it. :-)
>
> BUSH DOKTOR  [e-mail]

hehehe! well Thanks, I'm sure if you had gotten tired enough of it you
would have thought of something..Just happens that this was the first
thing to come to mind for me..And it worked so I left it at that.

=RRW=






Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 13:26:31
Subject: Re: creating 90 degree turn in path
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




> Hi, How can I create a 90 degree turn in making a path?
> In the spline editor, I can make a know discontiguous and make a sharp
> bend.  Is there a way to export a spline object and make it a path?
> IN the detail editor, I use the edit path, but there is no 'make discontiguous
'
> option, so the path is smooth, I want to make a sharp turn!

Well I haven't tried to do this with a spline made into a regular points
object. I do know that if you do this you will need to extrude the points
in order to have anything to have for your object to follow, unless
of course your spline connects at both ends.If not You could extrude it
and then just delete the extra points and edges to leave a clean path for
following..then set whatever object you are going to have follow the path
to follow whatever you have named your converted spline. You could follow
it even if you didn't delete the extruded points and edges, but this
usually will give unpredictable results.

On the other hand you could also just add a path fracture a couple of
extra axis's into it and with the two axis's in the middle set one ontop
of the other and rotate one of them 90 degrees, then move its
corespounding end axis to the direction needed to make a straight line
from the center axis's and rotate it 90 degrees as well..Basically
something like this:

         x      x
         |______|_x
                |
                |
                |
                |
                |_x


If you don't need it this sharp then just start to move the axis on top
of each other away from each other in the disired direction..

Well, the explanation wasn't great but the little pic should make it a
bit clearer..I hope..

=RRW=





Date:    Tuesday, 06 December 1994 23:17:00
Subject: Re: Wanted: Screen Size Hack for Amiga IM3.1
From:    Ian Smith <[e-mail]>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  %%%% Forwarded message from [e-mail] %%%%

Oops!  I posted the numbers for 3.0, not 3.1!  Duh!
Here are the correct positions for the Amiga Imagine 3.1 screen hack:

         | Block Offset | Abs Pos | Current Value
         | ----- ------ | ------- | -------------
Width  = |  1765 +  424 |  904104 |         $0280
Height = |   131 +  343 |   67415 |           $64

Block + Offset is commonly used with most disk editors, but some use
the Absolute Porition instead.  Remember to divide the height of the
screen by 4 first, and that you can't use values higher than 127 due
to Impulses use of signed character storage.  127 will give you screen
height of 508.  I don't think its easily possible to hack Imagine to
use an unsigned character to get a higher screen size.  Anyone?

--
[e-mail] (Posted for [e-mail])
                     (Imagine could *really* use ARexx, Impulse!  :-)




Date:    Wednesday, 07 December 1994 00:35:00
Subject: Where are my bones?
From:    [e-mail]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi All,

I created a bones object and then went to the Stage to setup my anim.  Now
when
I reload it into the Detail editor, the bones are no longer visible.  The
states
are preserved and the object contorts as before.  So where did my bones go?
I'm
using Amiga 3.1.

-Scott
[e-mail]




Date:    Wednesday, 07 December 1994 01:20:00
Subject: Bones for non-organic movement
From:    [e-mail]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Again,

I haven't heard anyone mention this, so maybe it is new and maybe I'm brain-
dead.

I have been using bones to animate non-organic objects, i.e. machines.  These
objects work the same as a organic object such as the infamous 'finger'
tutorial.  The exception is that faces do not stretch and deform.  To do this
simply set your Big and Small subgroups equal to each other, and encompassing
the entire set of faces affected by that bone.

-Scott
[e-mail]




Date:    Wednesday, 07 December 1994 19:31:00
Subject: Pentium for Imagine...
From:    Nikola Vukovljak <[e-mail]>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I am right now shopping for a Pentium to sit next to my A4000 for use
with Imagine, LW and other gfx software.

What I can currently afford is a 60 or 66Mhz system.

Now, I am being offered what seems to be a good deal but just thougt to
run it by you guys as I will be using it for specific tasks where speed
is important... (It is easy these days to make Imagine crawl...)

The computer in question (new) has:

Motherboard: 3 PCI, 5 ISA (2 with VLBUS) slots, Opti chipset

CPU 60 or 66 Mhz Pentium

Ram: 72 pin simms,

Looking at also putting in a PCI S3 card - 32 bit though - can't afford
them new 64 bit ones.

VLBus I/O controller

SB16 CDROM package, etc, etc....

What I am really interested is what you guys think of the motherboard.
It has all the nice slots but I have heard some people mentioning some
probs with Opti chipset mboards..

What are you experiences ?

If you think that it is slow can you explain what you mean by that ?

How much slower ?

How can things be tested ?

Thanks in advance for any info..

Nik.

<Your friendly IML archivist>





Date:    Wednesday, 07 December 1994 22:49:00
Subject: Re: Pentium for Imagine...
From:    Michael North <[e-mail]>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

> It has all the nice slots but I have heard some people mentioning some
> probs with Opti chipset mboards..
>
> What are you experiences ?
>
> If you think that it is slow can you explain what you mean by that ?
>
> How much slower ?
>
> How can things be tested ?
>
I can't give you any experience, but I can relate the PC Magazine poop.
There is a general prejudice against the Opti chipset because, in their
words, it inserts extra wait states in burst mode.  The actual CPU scores
for P60 and P66 machines seem to show at most a 10% hit, though, and
it seems that even this can be overcome by extra L2 cache: the Micro Express
VL/P66 was one of the fastest machines (by CPU alone) that they tested:
it had the Opti and 512k of L2 cache.  So it seems that overall machines
with that chipset will run slightly slower, but even this can depend on
other factors.

It's also the case that Intel is working on a new chipset that will make
the Neptune (their faster alternative to the Opti) look slow.  So everything's
relative.

If you haven't, you might look at the Dec. 6 PCMag, where they give lots of
numbers for lots of machines.  I have to admit, I don't always see how these
numbers relate to their ratings, but sometimes there's not much else but
manufacturers hype to go on.

Perhaps this will help a little.



Date:    Thursday, 08 December 1994 03:44:00
Subject: Re: Pentium for Imagine...
From:    Ray Collett <[e-mail]>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>I am right now shopping for a Pentium to sit next to my A4000 for use
>with Imagine, LW and other gfx software.
>
>What I can currently afford is a 60 or 66Mhz system.

Well, I don't know much about that perticular mother board, but I've been
doing some shopping around here (the Portland Or area..) and I can get
full systems (Pentiun 90, 500-700Meg HD, 8-16Meg Ram, 64bit display, 2X
CDROM, 1280x1024 NI monitor, etc...) for roughly $2100-$2400.  The 60
Mhz's are only about $250-300 less...  (definatly worth the extra $$$ for
the extra speed....)

I don't know what price limits you have, but I'd try for the 90's if I
were you.





Date:    Thursday, 08 December 1994 07:42:00
Subject: Slice function
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I am trying to make a NASCAR racecar. I have created the basic shape of
the car body now I am trying to use the slice function to cut out wheel
wells and windows. My problem is I can only do one slice function on the
object, After this I get the edge to close to edge errors. I have saved
my sliced objects and as long as it is the first slice on my first object
it works fine so I know it is not the placement of the object. I have
joined and merged the object after it was sliced and I have tried not
joining and merging. Has anyone worked with slice that much.
  by the way racecar spelled backwards is racecar
  Kent Worley



Date:    Thursday, 08 December 1994 10:51:02
Subject: Re: Imagine PC Questions
From:    [e-mail] (Dan Santos)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



In a message of 01 Dec 94 Joe Cotellese wrote to me:

 JC> I have had a 60 Mhz Pentium at home since June, and a 66 Mhz at work
 JC> since May.  Neither system has run into any problems.

And I've had a P90 at work since last month and haven't even got Imagine 3.0 to
start on it :(

It works on a 486DX66 tho..

 JC> Joe Cotellese

Dan Santos ([e-mail])
DigiLight Studios - 3D Animation & Image effects
+-------------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+

|A4000/040 & A3000/040, Imagine v3.0, Real 3D v2.49 |Ethernet/TCP, Abekas A65 |
|SGI Indigo Elan, Alias PA, Liberty, Elastic Reality|Sony 1"C, BetacamSP & D2 |
+---------------------------------------------------+-------------------------+



Date:    Thursday, 08 December 1994 11:38:20
Subject: Re: IFF conversion problems ...
From:    [e-mail] (Dan Santos)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



In a message of 03 Dec 94 Kent Marshall Worley wrote to me:

 KMW>  I do not know if you have 3.1 yet but I have found the spline editor
 KMW> with its ability to load IFF backdrops the way to go for logos and any

 KMW> IFF transfer for that matter. It takes more work in the beginning but
 KMW> you  would have to spend as much if not more time cleaning up the
 KMW> object using  the import IFF technique. I created a logo recently that
 KMW> did not have one  straight line in it. The spline editor made this very
 KMW> easy.
 KMW>   Kent Worley

Hi Kent,
About this backdrop feature.. when you zoom in & out on a window, will the
loaded  backdrop rescale with the geometry in the window or will it stay the
same?

Dan Santos ([e-mail])
DigiLight Studios - 3D Animation & Image effects
+-------------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+

|A4000/040 & A3000/040, Imagine v3.0, Real 3D v2.49 |Ethernet/TCP, Abekas A65 |
|SGI Indigo Elan, Alias PA, Liberty, Elastic Reality|Sony 1"C, BetacamSP & D2 |
+---------------------------------------------------+-------------------------+



Date:    Thursday, 08 December 1994 15:00:30
Subject: Re: slice function
From:    gregory denby <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Kent Worley writes:
> My problem is I can only do one slice function...etc.

I suppose I might say, "At least you got it to work once." :-/  Evidently, slici
ng runs into problems because the four decimal place precision Imagine uses
is frequently not enough.  (At least that's my guess.)  I saw a demo of GFX
CAD that went to six digits of precision, and slicing and transforms worked
a good bit better.  So, as to a cure, Its been recommended here that the
size of the object be scaled up.  I've had some better results doing that,
but not much.  Usually I confine slicing to very simple objects.  I don't
think I'd try anything as complex or exacting as car parts.

...On a theme brought up awhile ago:  I tried using the fuzz texture on
a Christmas tree shape, and the results were, well, perhaps decent is going
too far, but at least better than anything else I've tried.  Just modify
the defaults so that the fuzz mostly extends in the z direction, and you get
blotchy striations that suggest the mostly vertical look of some pines.

Happy tracing

Greg Denby

[e-mail]


Date:    Thursday, 08 December 1994 23:05:03
Subject: Re: more fr, Pixed 3D coverdisk...HELP!!!
From:    Kurt Yamamoto <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi,
     Since finding out about the Pixel 3D coverdisk, I have
been hitting a lot of newsstands
and bookstores looking for the November Amiga Format.  I
live in Los Angeles, CA USA
and have only found the October issue with I think TV Text in
the coverdisk.  I realize
that these is a Euro mag but I'm wondering if we in the
States get these issues later
than in Europe.  Is It available in the states anywhere now? If
not when will It be available? Anybody know?

                              Kurt Yamamoto
                              [e-mail]

>>> cjo <[e-mail]> 12/02/94 01:29pm
>>>

>>How do I convert the Sculpt format scene file into
>>something I can load into Imagine?  I hope I don't have to
buy
>>something like Interchange.
>>Is there a PD utility that does this?
>
>The november issue of Amiga Format had Pixel 3D Pro on
the cover disk.
>This is a commersial program but it does what you ask for.
And more. It is really a spline >based object editor that can
load from and save to some 14 different formats.




Date:    Friday, 09 December 1994 01:07:28
Subject: Re: slice function
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>   I am trying to make a NASCAR racecar. I have created the basic shape of
> the car body now I am trying to use the slice function to cut out wheel
> wells and windows. My problem is I can only do one slice function on the
> object, After this I get the edge to close to edge errors. I have saved

      Slice is so weird. Here are a few things I've discovered about
Slicing.

      Interestingly, you can Slice anything. You don't have to have multiple
objects to perform a slice.
      So what? Well, most of the slice problems I've run into arise from
messed up object geometry. For instance, say you want to use boolean functions
to create a complex object. *NEVER* Join and Merge objects you want to
later Slice. It doesn't create sliceable geometry. Always Slice objects
together, and then Merge. This usually insures good geometry.

      To find out whether an object will perform well under a Slice, perform
Slice on the single object itself. If you get errors the object will not Slice
well in the future.
      If that single object actually separates into multiple parts it means
the object didn't have continuous geometry to begin with. Usually because of
duplicate points. It probably won't slice well in the future.
      Here's an example. Slice a primitive sphere. It should result in one
sphere.
      Now take two spheres, Join and Merge them, and Slice. You'd think it
would act like a single object. It should Slice to itself. If you don't get an
error you'll get multiple objects proving that the object geometry was bad.
      In any case you must fix the geometry. If your object errors you're
fairly screwed unless you have a saved copy of the object with good geometry
(i.e. an object saved before a function messed with its geometry).
      If your object splits into multiple objects you must Merge those
objects to create continuous geometry. Here's where I'm not sure what is
really true. Can someone confirm this?
      If you Merge an object duplicate points are not erradicated. If you
Merge an object in Points Mode duplicate points WILL be erradicated. Is this
true? If so, then to Join Sliced objects you should Merge objects AND points.

      So, as advice try Slicing each individual object to be sliced. Make
sure those are okay. If they are, Slice 'em. Merge (or Join and Merge) the
resulting objects/parts the way you want (deleting unneccesary parts), and
Slice the new object. If THAT'S okay then the next Slice should work.
      I've gotten into the habit of testing the 'Sliceability' of every
object I will Slice and every object I have Sliced. I rarely run into
problems.
      The one downside to Slicing everything (as opposed to just Joining) is
that your poly count goes way up.
      Imagine does need a better Slice/Boolean function...

      Of course, if it's an edge to close to an edge problem you could just
offset one of the objects to be sliced slightly...

      Hope some of this helps...

                                                      J.---->

E-Mail: [e-mail]














Date:    Friday, 09 December 1994 03:53:14
Subject: Light Texture Question
From:    [e-mail] (Curtis White)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Since nobody answered my original post, I will try again!

I was wondering if anyone knows how to use the Caustics and Purphaze light textu
res?
The docs do not discuss them anywhere.  I have PC v3.0 of Imagine.  I looked thr
ough all
the old IMLs and found some discussion on the missing docs but nothing that says

where to get the info on how to use them or what they are.  If anyone knows how
to use these or where I can find out how to use them, please let me know.  I hav
e some pics that I want to do that could benefit greatly from caustic lighting (
I don't even have
the slightest idea what purphaze is).  I would really appreciate any help anyone
 might be able to lend.

Thanks,

Curtis





Date:    Friday, 09 December 1994 09:36:22
Subject: Re: more fr, Pixed 3D coverdisk...HELP!!!
From:    Robert Iacullo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi, Kurt.  I am in Seattle, and the book store I get the Amiga Euro
magizines at doesn't get them until the middle of the month that the magazine
is for.  You should be able to get it now.  Robert Iacullo


On Thu, 8 Dec 1994, Kurt Yamamoto wrote:

> Hi,
>      Since finding out about the Pixel 3D coverdisk, I have
> been hitting a lot of newsstands
> and bookstores looking for the November Amiga Format.  I
> live in Los Angeles, CA USA
> and have only found the October issue with I think TV Text in
> the coverdisk.  I realize
> that these is a Euro mag but I'm wondering if we in the
> States get these issues later
> than in Europe.  Is It available in the states anywhere now? If
> not when will It be available? Anybody know?
>
>                             Kurt Yamamoto
>                             [e-mail]
>
> >>> cjo <[e-mail]> 12/02/94 01:29pm
> >>>
>
> >>How do I convert the Sculpt format scene file into
> >>something I can load into Imagine?  I hope I don't have to
> buy
> >>something like Interchange.
> >>Is there a PD utility that does this?
> >
> >The november issue of Amiga Format had Pixel 3D Pro on
> the cover disk.
> >This is a commersial program but it does what you ask for.
> And more. It is really a spline >based object editor that can
> load from and save to some 14 different formats.
>
>
>


Date:    Friday, 09 December 1994 13:41:27
Subject: Read Write Error problem
From:    mr KRZYSZTOF KORSKI <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



   Dear Imagineers,
Lately I discovered that during rendering I often have read-write
error on GOOD disk. Having checked that disk (using FixDisk) I can
see that Root directory (40th track) is damaged.
After repairing I loose at least one file.
Cooperation disk-other program seems to be good...(no read-write
errors!!!).
After global checking I know:

1. There is no virus (or my virusdetectors are old)
2. There is no Saddam activity (according to Nuke)
3. There is less probable to have R-W error when Imagine screen is
hidden -then my disk-drive works faster( I am able to hear its motor
activity)
4. There is no difference between no-name and f.e. Maxell DD disks...

Does ChangeTaskPri command help me? How?

I'm using KS1.3, A500, 2.5MB RAM, AR MkIII, Imagine 2.0

                                     Krzysztof Korski,
                               [e-mail]


Date:    Friday, 09 December 1994 20:07:35
Subject: Re: IFF conversion problems ...
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Wed, 7 Dec 1994, Dan Santos wrote:
>
> Hi Kent,
> About this backdrop feature.. when you zoom in & out on a window, will the
> loaded  backdrop rescale with the geometry in the window or will it stay the
> same?
>
> Dan Santos ([e-mail])
> DigiLight Studios - 3D Animation & Image effects
> +-------------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------
+
>
> |A4000/040 & A3000/040, Imagine v3.0, Real 3D v2.49 |Ethernet/TCP, Abekas A65
|
> |SGI Indigo Elan, Alias PA, Liberty, Elastic Reality|Sony 1"C, BetacamSP & D2
|
> +---------------------------------------------------+-------------------------
+
 Unfortunatly if you zoom in or out the IFF image goes away. It
gives me enough of an idea to lay down some splineknots and I can work
from there. I still find the fewer spline knots the better. There is alot
of "eyeballing" the image at that point for me, meaning I do not rely on
the backdrop image I just look at my hard copy and make it look right.
 Kent Worley


Date:    Saturday, 10 December 1994 04:48:43
Subject: Re: Light Texture Question
From:    Michael North <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------






> Since nobody answered my original post, I will try again!
>
> I was wondering if anyone knows how to use the Caustics and Purphaze light tex
tures?
> The docs do not discuss them anywhere.  I have PC v3.0 of Imagine.  I looked t
hrough all
> the old IMLs and found some discussion on the missing docs but nothing that sa
ys
> where to get the info on how to use them or what they are.  If anyone knows ho
w to use these or where I can find out how to use them, please let me know.  I h
ave some pics that I want to do that could benefit greatly from caustic lighting

>  (I don't even have
> the slightest idea what purphaze is).  I would really appreciate any help anyo
ne might be able to lend.
>
Sorry not to have answered the first post, but what I have doesn't really
qualify as information.  I have used both caustics and purphaze, but I
just went with the defaults and got fairly good results, though I think
purphaze isn't too useful.  For lite textures in general what you do is
add an axis, make it a light, and then texture it with the texture.  Play
with the numbers in the requesters until you get a picture you like.  I shone
my caustics lite on a water surface made with a ground and the waves texture
and a fair amount of reflection.  It made some rather nice looking little
sunspots.  The purphaze I used in conjunction with lensflare to get a sort
of iron foundry look in a very dark picture.  It just seemed to add a
fairly diffuse purple haze to the generallighting of the scene.  Like you,
I haven't the foggiest whether this is what these textures are _supposed_
to do, but I didn't want your post to go by unanswered again.

Best of luck.

Michael


Date:    Sunday, 11 December 1994 00:12:17
Subject: DIGIMAX for PC - Software problems
From:    wolfram schwenzer <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi, fellow Imagineers,

Does anybody of you own the DIGIMAX - PC version ? I bought one, but the
software (Version 1.0) won't function.
When I connect it to the COM port with a mouse previously (but now un)installed
it says "Mouse Driver not installed", when I connect it to the other COM port
it just bombs with a register dump:

EAX=0004E2C9,EBX=00000228,ECX=00000000,EDX=0010BE12,ESI=0000023F,EDI=0004C8C7
DS=0014,ES=0014,FS=0014,GS=0034,EBP=0004C884,EFLAGS=00010293
CS:EIP=000C:00002051,SS:ESP=0014:0004C864,INT#=00d,DXFLAGS=0000
ETYPE=4000,ES=00040000,CR2=00000000
etc.

I verified that the hardware is functioning by using KERMIT and received on
all three axes input streams when I changed the settings.
I connected the hardware on PORT COM2 with IRQ 3 (COM1 uses IRQ 4), the same
port I had used with the preliminary tests with KERMIT.

As e-mail to Imagine hasn't produced any reactions as yet I hope that
the often proved helpfulness of Imagine's users will show itself once again.

So PLEASE - if you got a DIGIMAX which runs just fine with your PC tell me -
and if it doesn't - tell me too and what you did against it.


              Yours friendly

                W.S.


--
wolfram schwenzer
Internet : [e-mail]



Date:    Monday, 12 December 1994 22:03:22
Subject: Where are my bones?
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi All,

Since no one replied to my first post, I'll try again.  I created a bones object

and then went to the Stage to setup my anim.  Now when I reload it into the
Detail editor, the bones are no longer visible.  The states  are preserved and
the object contorts as before.  So where did my bones go?  Are bones supposed to

uneditable after you leave the Detail Editor?  Has anyone else 'lost' their
bones?  I'm  using Amiga 3.1.  Thanks!

-Scott
[e-mail]



Date:    Monday, 12 December 1994 22:21:23
Subject: Crash in quickrender
From:    [e-mail] (Darryl Lewis)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I have a problem in Imagine 3.0 (surprise surprise!)

I am using an A2000, WB1.3, 4MB ram, Imagine 3.0 Interger version.

When I do a quick render of the rear of a particular object , my machine
has a Guru error #00000004.003057D8. This occurs about half way thru
rendering.

I can render all other views of the object except the rear.

I can render the rear of the object in Imagine 2.0.


Has anyone got any ideas?
Darryl

-- Via DLG Pro v1.0



Date:    Monday, 12 December 1994 23:33:33
Subject: Lensflare
From:    the Kid <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




      Hi guys,

      I own imagine 3.0 (allready patched) but I can't do
      lensflare. I also tried with the lensflare effect in textures/globals
      nad I got this message in a simpy requester:

              Can't find camera. (ok)

      and then:

              lensflare failed on ...  (ok)

      and the object (lite source),  the one with the lensflare effect,
      simly disappears. It also happens when i enter into stage.
      Whad do I wrong ?

                         bye, the
                           __
                            /  \
                            \__/
                  ____  ___ ____        ____
                  |  | /  / |  |        |  | /\
                  |  |/  /  |  |    ____|  |/  \
                  |     /   |  |   /  __   |    \
                  |     \   |  |  /  /  |  |     \
                  |  |\  \  |  | |  |   |  |      \
                  |  | \  \ |  | |   \__|  |       \
                   \/   \_/ |  |  \________|        \
                      ______|  |______/______  ______\
                      \              /      |  |
                       \            /       |  |
                 {o}--------------------------------{o}
                  |    balogh@.iit.uni-miskolc.hu    |
                 {o}--------------------------------{o}
                           \    /           |  |
                            \  /            |  |
                             \/             |__|





Date:    Monday, 12 December 1994 23:42:32
Subject: RE: DIGIMAX for PC - Software problems
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Greg Tsalidas posted a message on the IML about 3 weeks ago that the bug had
been noted and fixed.  The bugfix version (1.2?) is available on the
Compu$erve Imagine forum, both Amiga and PC format.  Impulse has stated
repeatedly that they do not consider the IML a "professional" forum and only
acknowledge input over Compu$erve, fax or snail-mail.  You should probably
be able to get the update if you phone and ask pretty please.  Good luck!
 Hope you will post some reviews and experiences with the DigiMax to the
IML.  And you can always shoot any groovy 3D objects you create to the
aminet :^)
 ----------
>From: imagine-relay
>To: imagine
>Subject: DIGIMAX for PC - Software problems
>Date: Thursday, December 08, 1994 8:58PM

Hi, fellow Imagineers,

Does anybody of you own the DIGIMAX - PC version ? I bought one, but the
software (Version 1.0) won't function.
When I connect it to the COM port with a mouse previously (but now
un)installed
it says "Mouse Driver not installed", when I connect it to the other COM
port
it just bombs with a register dump:

EAX=0004E2C9,EBX=00000228,ECX=00000000,EDX=0010BE12,ESI=0000023F,EDI=0004C8C7
DS=0014,ES=0014,FS=0014,GS=0034,EBP=0004C884,EFLAGS=00010293
CS:EIP=000C:00002051,SS:ESP=0014:0004C864,INT#=00d,DXFLAGS=0000
ETYPE=4000,ES=00040000,CR2=00000000
etc.

I verified that the hardware is functioning by using KERMIT and received on
all three axes input streams when I changed the settings.
I connected the hardware on PORT COM2 with IRQ 3 (COM1 uses IRQ 4), the same

port I had used with the preliminary tests with KERMIT.

As e-mail to Imagine hasn't produced any reactions as yet I hope that
the often proved helpfulness of Imagine's users will show itself once again.

So PLEASE - if you got a DIGIMAX which runs just fine with your PC tell me -
and if it doesn't - tell me too and what you did against it.


                Yours friendly

                  W.S.


 --
wolfram schwenzer
Internet : [e-mail]



Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 03:00:22
Subject: Re: Imagine PC Questions
From:    [e-mail] (Anders Lattermann)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



In a message of 08 Dec 94 Dan Santos wrote to me:

 DS> And I've had a P90 at work since last month and haven't even got
 DS> Imagine 3.0 to start on it :(

 DS> It works on a 486DX66 tho..

I've got the same problem. No go on the Pentium. Lightwave Windows is just
around the corner so how gives a damn really...

/Anders Lattermann

FidoNet:  2:201/411.24              !     PointBreak - Stockholm - Sweden
AmigaNet: 39:164/100.24             !            Amiga 3000 & Pentium 100
InterNet: [e-mail] !      I still feel the need 4 speed!


Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 04:09:00
Subject: RE: Where are my bones?
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



  I saw your last post and was going to check it out since I also have 3.1
but never got around to it.  I am going to try to remember to check it out
tonight.  Until then, are you re-loading the bones object back into Detail
Editor as a group object?  Also, you will have to select your bones axis or
axes to be able to see them.  You should also see them in the Find requestor
as Axis.1, Axis.2, etc. if you left the bones axis or axes with their
default names.
 ----------
>From: imagine-relay
>To: imagine
>Subject: Where are my bones?
>Date: Monday, December 12, 1994 9:22AM

Hi All,

Since no one replied to my first post, I'll try again.  I created a bones
object
and then went to the Stage to setup my anim.  Now when I reload it into the
Detail editor, the bones are no longer visible.  The states  are preserved
and
the object contorts as before.  So where did my bones go?  Are bones
supposed
to
uneditable after you leave the Detail Editor?  Has anyone else 'lost' their
bones?  I'm  using Amiga 3.1.  Thanks!

 -Scott
[e-mail]



Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 04:47:36
Subject: Re: crash in quickrender
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Mon, 12 Dec 1994, Darryl Lewis wrote:

> I have a problem in Imagine 3.0 (surprise surprise!)
>
> I am using an A2000, WB1.3, 4MB ram, Imagine 3.0 Interger version.
>
> When I do a quick render of the rear of a particular object , my machine
> has a Guru error #00000004.003057D8. This occurs about half way thru
> rendering.
>
> I can render all other views of the object except the rear.
>
> I can render the rear of the object in Imagine 2.0.
>
>
> Has anyone got any ideas?
> Darryl
>
> -- Via DLG Pro v1.0
>
I have not verified this but I think it is the 1.3 operating system. I
have a 500 with 9meg ram and a 030 processor and it does the same thing.
I have a 3000T with 11 meg of ram and it works fine. 2.0 of Imagine works
fine on my 500. Another imagine user answered the same question for me a
couple of months ago and he said when he upgraded the O.S. it worked fine.
 Kent Worley


Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 12:34:34
Subject: Where's the IML online site gone?
From:    "Frank.VanDerAuwera" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


There used to be a WWW archive site of the IML on
http://d1.ph.gla.ae.uk:4080/~gowdy/IML/

The URL doesn't seem to exist anymore.
Anybody know where it's headed? (Was it managed by Mehdi Ali, perhaps???)

Something else: I finally tried to patch my Im. 3.0 (FP) (PAL) yesterday
Changed screen width: ok :}
Changed screen heigth: nothing happens... :{
So I suppose I made a wrong note of what locations to edit.
Anybody? please? (I know this must be the n th time the subject
appears...sorry)

Frank Van der Auwera
University of Antwerp library

[e-mail]
[e-mail]




Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 18:35:15
Subject: Questions on 3.0
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi, I have some questions on 3.0. Although I don't consider myself a beginner on
 3D animation
it does have me stumped in some areas. I use 3.0 on a PC.
The manual mentions making bones-objects by "stitching" and then does not explai
n stitching.
What is it; how do I do it?
I've already figured out how to make bones by adding axes. The grouping has me c
ompletely
stomped though. I read the manual but since the tutorial in there is already gro
uped and they
don't explain the logic well I'm quite stumped.
Why can't I use my linear texture anymore in 3.0?
I'd like to find Greg Tsadilas' E-mail address. (beautifull pics in the latest P
C Graphics & Video;
congrats...)
If any of you all have any tutorials downloaded on 3.0 I'd be very gratefull to
receive them. (I
looked through old IML archives; but I seem to have through 200 posts before I f
ind one and
then it usually does not pertain to 3.0 anymore.
BTW Is the upgrade policy worth it for $100?

Hi-Lo




Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 20:35:37
Subject: RE: Where are my bones?
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



OK, I checked out a bones object in 3.1 and it loaded fine.  The bones were
there, all the states were OK, too.  At this point, I don't know enough
about how you set up your bones object to determine where your problem could
be.  Could be when you grouped them, or when you set the default, or ?
 Anyway, bones load back fine in 3.1 if that is any help.


Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 21:39:02
Subject: Re: Imagine PC Questions
From:    Steve NACAD::Sherman LKG2-A/R5 pole AA2 DTN 226-6992


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


re: some last few about not being able to get Imagine to run on a Pentium ...

I'm running Imagine 3.1 on a P90 with no problem.  Rough guess is that it
renders traced images about in about 1/3 to 1/2 the time of the 486DX2/66
I had before.  I'm running with 32 MB of memory, which seems to be just
enough.  (My more complicated images were taking about 45 minutes to render
and now take about 20 minutes.  This is at 640X480 resolution, 24-bit color.)

Steve


Date:    Tuesday, 13 December 1994 22:52:16
Subject: RE: DIGIMAX FO
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



** Message forwarded by GREG TSADILAS at 11:53:22 on 12-13-94 **
Stethem Ted wrote:



[Original Message Follows]


 > Greg Tsalidas posted a message on the IML about 3 weeks ago that the
 > bug had been noted and fixed.  The bugfix version (1.2?) is available on
 > the Compu$erve Imagine forum, both Amiga and PC format.  Impulse has
 > stated repeatedly that they do not consider the IML a "professional" forum
 > and only acknowledge input over Compu$erve, fax or snail-mail.  You should
 > probably be able to get the update if you phone and ask pretty please.
 > Good luck!
 > Hope you will post some reviews and experiences with the DigiMax to
 > the IML.  And you can always shoot any groovy 3D objects you create to
 > the aminet :^)

Dude,

If you have some problem do not include my name in such a post.  I posted the
original information to let people know that a fix to saving an object with
just points was available.  The fix has nothing to do with Wolfram's problem
which you decided to quote to illustrate your narrow viewpoint.

Give it a rest, Impulse does NOT run the IML, something that you tend to
forget.  They owe no affiliation to it but DO read the messages here and they
DO reply directlty to peoples messages WHEN warrented.  They do not have a
direct internet link for FTP'ing files either.  So cool your jets.

Instead of posting such garbage why don't you ask me to send you the archive
with the fixed versions of the DigiMax software so that YOU can place them on
Aminet.  I've already sent Wolfram a copy of the updated software when asked.
Why don't you do the same if you are so concerned about helping out the
IML'ers?  Instead your first instinct is to post about the inequities of not
having the new DigiMax software!  Hell man, you don't even HAVE one!

GreG tsadilas



Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 01:52:53
Subject: Re: lensflare
From:    Roger Straub <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Mon, 12 Dec 1994, the Kid wrote:

>
>     I own imagine 3.0 (allready patched) but I can't do
>     lensflare. I also tried with the lensflare effect in textures/globals
>     nad I got this message in a simpy requester:
>             Can't find camera. (ok)
>     and then:
>             lensflare failed on ...  (ok)
>     and the object (lite source),  the one with the lensflare effect,
>     simly disappears. It also happens when i enter into stage.
>     Whad do I wrong ?
>

The lensflare global effect that is installed with Imagine is screwed up.
Try copying the lensflar.ifx and haze.ifx files from disk 1. Mine work
perfectly.

See ya,
      Roger


Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 03:31:57
Subject: Re: Pentium for Imagine...
From:    [e-mail] (Joe Cotellese)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>I am right now shopping for a Pentium to sit next to my A4000 for use
>with Imagine, LW and other gfx software.
>
>What I can currently afford is a 60 or 66Mhz system.
>
>Now, I am being offered what seems to be a good deal but just thougt to
>run it by you guys as I will be using it for specific tasks where speed
>is important... (It is easy these days to make Imagine crawl...)
>
>The computer in question (new) has:
>
>Motherboard: 3 PCI, 5 ISA (2 with VLBUS) slots, Opti chipset
>
>CPU 60 or 66 Mhz Pentium
>
>Ram: 72 pin simms,
>
>Looking at also putting in a PCI S3 card - 32 bit though - can't afford
>them new 64 bit ones.
>
>VLBus I/O controller
>
>SB16 CDROM package, etc, etc....
>
>What I am really interested is what you guys think of the motherboard.
>It has all the nice slots but I have heard some people mentioning some
>probs with Opti chipset mboards..
>

I have run in to problems with certain motherboards using Opti chipsets.
This problem has to do with 8-bit DMA transfers.  It shouldn't effect
rendering speed though.

I would make sure the bus is a PCI bus before adding that PCI video card.

Joe Cotellese



Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 04:55:43
Subject: RE: DIGIMAX FO
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



   Wow! Flame ON!!!  Geez, Greg, I never once said anything derogatory about
you or even associated you with Impulse's dismal customer support.  Several
statements you made indicate you have somehow TOTALLY misinterpreted what I
said.  I just wanted to point out that you had posted a message a few weeks
ago about a bug-fixed version of the DigiMax software.  Also, I am WELL
aware that Impulse does not run the IML or even claim any affiliation with
it.  In fact, there have been many instances where they have shown total
contempt for the participants of this forum.  Many times, new people will
log-on to the IML thinking that it IS a direct link to Impulse and I just
wanted to point out (as it has been pointed out to me by some extremely
caustic messages, now including your most recent one) that it is not
officially recognized by Impulse as a medium for customer input (although I
could dig up all those messages from several months ago where customers were
requesting lens flare and Impulse was responding that lens flare was a
camera anamoly, essentially a defect, and why would you want that, and so
on, and, surprise, surprise, now there is lens flare in Imagine!).
   Also, I don't know where you got the impression that I was somehow
expressing disappointment with not having the DigiMax software.  This
statement is really misconstrued and FUBAR.
  I really respect your work with Imagine and now my view of it is tarnished
because of this message.  I always thought 3D art and animation should be
fun.  I didn't know it could lead to such high levels of inflammation and
hostility.  Thanks for the reality check.
 ----------
>From: imagine-relay
>To: imagine
>Subject: RE: DIGIMAX FO
>Date: Tuesday, December 13, 1994 11:54AM


** Message forwarded by GREG TSADILAS at 11:53:22 on 12-13-94 **
Stethem Ted wrote:



[Original Message Follows]


 > Greg Tsalidas posted a message on the IML about 3 weeks ago that the
 > bug had been noted and fixed.  The bugfix version (1.2?) is available on
 > the Compu$erve Imagine forum, both Amiga and PC format.  Impulse has
 > stated repeatedly that they do not consider the IML a "professional"
forum
 > and only acknowledge input over Compu$erve, fax or snail-mail.  You
should
 > probably be able to get the update if you phone and ask pretty please.
 > Good luck!
 > Hope you will post some reviews and experiences with the DigiMax to
 > the IML.  And you can always shoot any groovy 3D objects you create to
 > the aminet :^)

Dude,

If you have some problem do not include my name in such a post.  I posted
the
original information to let people know that a fix to saving an object with
just points was available.  The fix has nothing to do with Wolfram's problem
which you decided to quote to illustrate your narrow viewpoint.

Give it a rest, Impulse does NOT run the IML, something that you tend to
forget.  They owe no affiliation to it but DO read the messages here and
they
DO reply directlty to peoples messages WHEN warrented.  They do not have a
direct internet link for FTP'ing files either.  So cool your jets.

Instead of posting such garbage why don't you ask me to send you the archive
with the fixed versions of the DigiMax software so that YOU can place them
on
Aminet.  I've already sent Wolfram a copy of the updated software when
asked.

Why don't you do the same if you are so concerned about helping out the
IML'ers?  Instead your first instinct is to post about the inequities of not
having the new DigiMax software!  Hell man, you don't even HAVE one!

GreG tsadilas



Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 07:58:22
Subject: Pentium, or A3000T??
From:    "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Alright, what I'm about to ask is in a way pretty silly, considering
the power of these new pentium machines, but my concern is OUTPUT.

I'm considering a Pentium machine, or an A3000T, either of which would
cost me a little around 2K.  Now, when I called a local computer video
store, they warned me about a lot of bus concerns in a Pentium machine,
like making sure it has ISA and PCI bus, and I was warned not to be
fooled by the "local bus" feature, if it doesn't have expansion
connectors.

When I asked about motion output (get this) there's a board for
a little over $500 that will give you 30 frames per second at
(i think it was) 320 x 260.   That STINKS!!!!   The guy told
me that I should be impressed that they could get THAT fast,
considering all the overhead that Windows causes.

Now I know that there's a lot of computing power in a Pentium
machine, and it'd be REALLY nice to have one as a workstation, but
I am starting to do free-lance animation work and need OUTPUT.

Right now, doing DCTV 740 by 400 animations at 20 frames per second
sounds like a better option to me than the Pentium system for playback.

Of course getting a DPS Par would help me on the PC, but now we're talking
about a $4,000 machine.  So, since my A500 motherboard is sick, and is
dying painfully, do I buy a nicely expandable A3000T, a replacement A500,
or a Pentium system that I can't get anything decent out of until I sink
in another grand??  I spoke with Mike Halvorsen (sp?) this morning and he
absolutely raved about the speed of rendering with a Pentium system.
Granted..  but what do you animators think??  Is it time for free-lance
animators to jump platforms??  If so, how the heck do we use a Pentium
system without a PAR??

If someone can tell me about a good way to get 640 by 480 at 20 FPS
and in more 16 bit graphics or more on a Pentium system (without spending
an extra two grand for it), then I'll probably cancel my A3000T and
buy a Pentium.   I'm just limited to about 2 grand right now.
Can anyone help me out here???   Any suggestions???

Thanks in Advance
Scott Krehbiel
[e-mail]


Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 13:13:12
Subject: Re: Pentium, or A3000T??
From:    Ian Smith <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Tue 13 Dec 1994, [e-mail] (Mr. Scott Krehbiel) asked:
> I'm considering a Pentium machine, or an A3000T, either of which would
> cost me a little around 2K.  [...]

The A3000T has a few more slots and drive bays than a normal A3000.
My A3000 has three hard drives, a floppy, 10M of RAM and 4 slots free.
I would find a used 16Mhz A3000 and throw in a nice 33MHz 040 Warp
accelerator board.  Used A3000's might run around $400.
The 28MHz Warp is $895,  33MHz is $1185. Total cost, around $1300-$1600.
Add one of thise nice Micropolis AV SCSI-II drives and hook it to the
SCSI port on the accelerator.   A 1GB drive runs about $650.  Now play
768x400 DCTV animations off the hard drive with the software that was
mentioned earlier on the list.  That should run you about $2,000.
Hmm... your going to want to add some ram to that Warp board now that
I think about it.. you can run with the slower RAM on the motherboard,
but you will want to upgrate to maximize rendering times.  Not sure how
much the RAM will cost you..  several hundred at least.  Don't have to
buy it all at once though!  :-) The Pentium would render faster, the
Amiga would play faster.  I'd say look over the above system, call some
companies, then go take a look at a Pentium system and pick whichever
suits your needs.  (Remember, PC Imagine doesn't multitask!)
I'm personally looking at one of those V-Lab motion boards.  Anyone have
any experience/comments on them?
Good luck with your rendering.. maybe an IBM person knows of a better
animation card than the one you looked at, I'm sure one will try and
beat the system I quoted.  See, compitition and multiple platforms are
GOOD things!  Support diversity!  :-)

[e-mail] (Posted for [e-mail])
                     (Rexx! Imagine really need Rexx! Pleeeeease? :-)


Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 19:59:58
Subject: Re: Pentium, or A3000T??
From:    "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Wed, 14 Dec 1994, Ian Smith wrote:

> On Tue 13 Dec 1994, [e-mail] (Mr. Scott Krehbiel) asked:
> > I'm considering a Pentium machine, or an A3000T, either of which would
> > cost me a little around 2K.  [...]
>
> The A3000T has a few more slots and drive bays than a normal A3000.
> My A3000 has three hard drives, a floppy, 10M of RAM and 4 slots free.
> I would find a used 16Mhz A3000 and throw in a nice 33MHz 040 Warp
> accelerator board.  Used A3000's might run around $400.
> The 28MHz Warp is $895,  33MHz is $1185. Total cost, around $1300-$1600.

your suggestions are great, and that's my basic plan with the A3000T.
(the staying under $2,000 is just temporary... I wanted to get a system
that I could animate with immediately, but will be adding a fast Warp
Engine to this baby pretty soon.) I'm getting the tower because the guy at
Copperhead said that the room inside the A3000 is too cramped to get good
ventilation for a processor faster than 28MHz, and I want to add a lot of
cool cards.  He said the Macrosystems people are recommending that nobody
use faster than 28MHz in an A3000.  He also said that you'd have to do
some cutting of the drive bay supports in order to put in a card I wanted,
and I think it was the Warp Engine that we were talking about.  Maybe it
was for additional ram on the Warp Engine.

Does anyone know about the above stuff??
Is anyone running a 40MHz Warp Enging in their A3000, and will
you have to do cutting to get room to add ram??

I chose the tower system 'cause it seemed there was more room and
ventilation for a 40Mhz warp, and more drive bays, and more power for
drives, etc. Are there easy ways to mount an A3000 motherboard in a 3rd
party tower case with a bigger power supply, better cooling, and more room
for cards??  (though this obviously wouldn't solve the problem of not
enough slots)

Scott Krehbiel
[e-mail]



Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 20:09:54
Subject: ------=> Sorry NO Subject!
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




If I read too much into your message, I appologize.  Must have been a very bad
hair day.  What ruffled my feathers (don't why, I usually let stuff roll by)
was that you replied to Wolfram's message with the following...

 > Impulse has stated repeatedly that they do not consider the IML a
 > "professional" forum and only acknowledge input over Compu$erve, fax or
 > snail-mail.  You should probably be able to get the update if you phone
 > and ask pretty please.
 > Good luck!

To me it looked like it came out of the blue and unfair.  I don't recall
Impulse saying that the IML was not a "professional" forum.  I have seen them
mention that they do not officially support it.  The last sentance with the
added "Good Luck!" was if Impulse could care less about it's users.  That's not
true.  At times it may seem that way if certain features aren't implemented,
but they do listen.  I think Imagine 3.1 and the forthcoming 3.2 are evidence
of that.

Regardless, if I offended you I publicly offer my appologies to you.  Will I
ever overreact again?  Probably, I have more bad hair days than not.  <g>
Thing to remember is that I *NEVER* hold bad feelings with anyone.  I can have
a knock down drag-out fight with you and then offer to split a six-pack.  Life
goes on.

-GreG

P.S.  Split a six-pack?



Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 20:34:54
Subject: RE: QUESTIONS ON 3.0
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>Hi Henri,
>
>Thanks for the Congrats.  Now you have my e-mail address here on the=
 internet.=20
>On compuserve my address is 74774,232 and I handle the Imagine Users=
 Group in
>one of the forums there.
>
>By stitching they mean either creating a seemless object, or JOIN'in=
g the
>seperate objects to create one object.  You may want to SLICE object=
s so that
>you JOIN only the necessary parts of the objects that will be visibl=
e and
>discard the remaining parts.
That's what I figured; I hoped that there would be an easier way (sli=
ce does not work very nicely on=20
irregular; organic forms in my opinion) and do I wish that the resolu=
tion in the detail editor could be=20
highe (at least 1024-768) It is not that easy to SEE what belong s to=
 what and where in wireframe.
>
>You should be able to use linear.itx in 3.0.  What type of object ar=
e you using
>it on?  And how are you using it?  Remember that the linear gradient=
 moves
>along the Z axis of the texture.  There is also a setting to control=
 the width
>of the area that the transition takes place in.
That must be it; I tried it on a plane with z=3D0; I'll do it again a=
nd reorient the plane
>
>-GreG
>
I really admire the ashtray and the seamonsters in the magazine. I re=
ad in not so friendly E-mail earlier=20
that you work for Impulse; As a suggestion what about putting project=
s on a CD so that people can=20
actually see in t=E6=D0 program what the eeshes and textures; lights =
etc... look like? I do not know of any=20
programs that do that at the moment and it would be such a help compa=
red to a manual. I'd be willing to=20
pay extra for such a CD if that were an option.

Hi-Lo (A FAN; both of you and your tools)





Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 20:58:02
Subject: RE: Pentium, or A3000T??
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>Alright, what I'm about to ask is in a way pretty silly, considering
>the power of these new pentium machines, but my concern is OUTPUT.
Not silly; PC architecture has always been behind the Amiga (It was a business m
achine after all; I've
always been amazed that the MAC became the graphics standard instead of the Amig
a) I had an Amiga
with 4096 colors in 86!

>
>I'm considering a Pentium machine, or an A3000T, either of which would
>cost me a little around 2K.  Now, when I called a local computer video
>store, they warned me about a lot of bus concerns in a Pentium machine,
>like making sure it has ISA and PCI bus, and I was warned not to be
>fooled by the "local bus" feature, if it doesn't have expansion
>connectors.
They are right. with intel's plug and play it looks as PCI is going to become th
e standard. Also since
Mac is adopting the pci standard looking a few years ahead you'd be nuts to go w
ith anything else.

>
>When I asked about motion output (get this) there's a board for
>a little over $500 that will give you 30 frames per second at
>(i think it was) 320 x 260.   That STINKS!!!!   The guy told
>me that I should be impressed that they could get THAT fast,
>considering all the overhead that Windows causes.
Actually; even DOS boards are not faster because this has nothing to do with dos
 or windows. Unless
the board can do Mpeg decompression on the fly. The reason is that there is no w
ay your harddisk can
keep up with the datastream of uncompressed video (even a RAID drive)
>
>Now I know that there's a lot of computing power in a Pentium
>machine, and it'd be REALLY nice to have one as a workstation, but
>I am starting to do free-lance animation work and need OUTPUT.

If you intend to make monney with the machine; have you thought about leasing it
? It will be less of a
killer on your cash flow so you'll have some left to advertise.

>Right now, doing DCTV 740 by 400 animations at 20 frames per second
>sounds like a better option to me than the Pentium system for playback.

It IS a better option; but let's face it; it still sucks. If you want to do prof
essional stuff; Your only clients
would be the car-dealer around the corner. You need higher quality than that.

>Of course getting a DPS Par would help me on the PC, but now we're talking
>about a $4,000 machine.  So, since my A500 motherboard is sick, and is
>dying painfully, do I buy a nicely expandable A3000T, a replacement A500,
>or a Pentium system that I can't get anything decent out of until I sink
>in another grand??  I spoke with Mike Halvorsen (sp?) this morning and he
>absolutely raved about the speed of rendering with a Pentium system.
>Granted..  but what do you animators think??  Is it time for free-lance
>animators to jump platforms??  If so, how the heck do we use a Pentium
>system without a PAR??
There is a PAR for PC's; good product; same price. Remember; leasing? Problem is
 (I'll get flamed for
this; but it's probably true) with Lightwave being ported to the PC there is no reason anymore to stay
with AMIGA (Even if it is a better machine which in my opinion it is). Your Amig
a will be obsolete in a
relatively short time.

>If someone can tell me about a good way to get 640 by 480 at 20 FPS
>and in more 16 bit graphics or more on a Pentium system (without spending
>an extra two grand for it), then I'll probably cancel my A3000T and
>buy a Pentium.   I'm just limited to about 2 grand right now.
>Can anyone help me out here???   Any suggestions???

I thought about it and am looking at a Digital Video Jpeg compression capture bo
ard that will allow
TGA playback in full motion; full screen (640-480). It goes for $895 including a
dobe premier and does
not need a dedicated HD. Give the people at IC Technology a call (1-800-267-0743
)

>Thanks in Advance
>Scott Krehbiel
>[e-mail]

You're welcome;

Hi-Lo




Date:    Wednesday, 14 December 1994 21:52:31
Subject: Imagine Popup features
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Ok, I'm new to the IML and I hope my first question isn't a FAQ
somewhere.

I've been using Imagine since it was called Turbo Silver on the Amiga
and I'm currently running v3.1. My question is, in the original spec
sheet distributed by Impulse for Imagine 3.0 there was a feature
supposed to be new....that to this day, I still can't locate.

I quote:

----------------------------------------------------------------
NEW FEATURES OF IMAGINE 3.0

HIERACHY CONTROL AND POP UP ACTION BARS IN THE STAGE:  To say the
least going from one editor to the next can be a real pain.  Now from
the Stage you can move any object no matter if it is part of a group
or individual and stand alone.  Also from the Stage you can call up
the Action bar directly so that you don't have to go to the Action
editor to make any changes.  This gives you total control over object
movement.  If you don't like the way an object is moving, you don't
have to go back to the Cycle editor to make these changes, do it righ=
t
in the Stage.

---------------------------------------------------------------------=
-
 =FE wcECHO 4.0 =F7 InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - (=
805) 683-1388

I cannot figure out how to move "parts" of a grouped object in the
Stage editor. To me, it's still all or nothing. How do you actually
move parts of a grouped object?  Or was this meant only for cycle
objects?

I have been unable to locate ANY popup Action BAR. I know you can
keyframe keyframe position,size and alignment through "bars" in the
object menu. Is this what they mean by "Action BAR" or is there some
hidden menu or hot key I'm missing?

Lastly, and this is for any Impulse folks reading this. I run a Graph=
ics
specific BBS. I get a lot of folks really interested in getting into
Raytracing and asking for programs to experiment with. I was wonderin=
g
if Impulse ever considered distributing a Demo version of Imagine? Th=
e
Internet is littered with Demos of commercial renderers, but I'd real=
ly
like to turn some folks on to Imagine.

(BTW, I am aware of the PC version 2.0 Imagine on the Image Lab CD).
Not the same.....


Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual



Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 01:05:00
Subject: Essence I problem
From:    Derek Hardison <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I bought forge and Essence II in april.
I bought Essence I two weeks ago and 3.0 won't recognize them ( of course )
I changed the name to add an .itx to the end...
and it still would not recognize them.
   ( i did try to reach Steve W. )
        What's the trick?


 --
Derek Hardison     Imagine on Amiga 4000s
                            New Intelligence on Video
                                        SGIwannabe
Domain:  [e-mail]
UUCP:  ...!emory!pd.org!derekjh



Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 03:35:46
Subject: Re: essence I problem
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Wed, 14 Dec 1994, Derek Hardison wrote:

> I bought forge and Essence II in april.
> I bought Essence I two weeks ago and 3.0 won't recognize them ( of course )
> I changed the name to add an .itx to the end...
> and it still would not recognize them.
>    ( i did try to reach Steve W. )
>         What's the trick?
>
>
>  --
> Derek Hardison     Imagine on Amiga 4000s
>                             New Intelligence on Video
>                                         SGIwannabe
> Domain:  [e-mail]
> UUCP:  ...!emory!pd.org!derekjh
>
>
  sounds like you have an older version of Essence 1. It was released
before Imagine 2.9 came out. The original Essence 1 did not work with 2.9
but they did upgrade for a small amount of money. There was a way to fix
it for 2.9 but I do not think it applied to 3.0.
  I would keep calling APEX.
  Kent Worley


Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 07:31:18
Subject: Re: Imagine Popup features/Imagine L/T
From:    "Steve J. Lombardi" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> NEW FEATURES OF IMAGINE 3.0
>
> HIERACHY CONTROL AND POP UP ACTION BARS IN THE STAGE:  To say the
> least going from one editor to the next can be a real pain.  Now from
> the Stage you can move any object no matter if it is part of a group
> or individual and stand alone.  Also from the Stage you can call up
> the Action bar directly so that you don't have to go to the Action
> editor to make any changes.  This gives you total control over object
> movement.  If you don't like the way an object is moving, you don't
> have to go back to the Cycle editor to make these changes, do it right
> in the Stage.
>

Access to individual Objects that make up a group is not yet possible
from the stage editor. This is at the TOP of my wish list. THe Popup
action bars are also not there yet. These are two biggies that we need badly.


> Raytracing and asking for programs to experiment with. I was wondering
> if Impulse ever considered distributing a Demo version of Imagine? The
> Internet is littered with Demos of commercial renderers, but I'd really
> like to turn some folks on to Imagine.

Impulse is advertising IMAGINE L/T for 99 dollars. This is a CD-rom
for PC's only. The ad says that some of 3.0's features have been crippled
and that there is an upgrade to the full imagine. THere is also a 30
day money back guarantee. Contact impulse for more info.

--
steve lombardi
[e-mail]

                         "YOU WILL." -- AT+T


Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 08:00:01
Subject: Re: Pentium, or A3000T??
From:    David Nix <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


In reference to the question about the V-Lab Motion...

I have a A4000 with a 28mhz Warp and 18 megs ram running a V-Lab and
love it. I suspect that this is gonna be well above the $2k cap that the
first writer put on the cost, but it allows for so much more in the way
of output. You also gain rotoscope capabilities, non linear editing, all
sorts of transitional effects, and AREXX hooks into any number of Amiga
image processing programs.

The best investment I've made in years.

Dave


Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 08:20:09
Subject: A3000 accelerators
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Scott:

I have been running a GVP 33Mhz '040 in a 3000 for over a year with
no overheating problems and a friend has been running the 40Mhz model
for a short while, also no probs. I would like to hear from anyone who
actually has had a prob with a fast '040 in a 3000.

By the way, the '060 chips are "supposed" to be out by the end of
January and these should make the Amiga as fast or faster than the
Pentium. IF they don't delay the release again. The folks at
MacroSystems should know this as soon as anybody.

By the way, every once in a while, for no reason I can figure, the
"bend" deformation button seems to stop working for me. It looks like
it's doing it's thing, but when I hit the space bar the object just
returns to the way it looked originally. Anyone else encounter this?


Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 18:36:48
Subject: Re: Imagine PC Questions
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I also have not experienced any problems with my P90 and 3.1.  Upgrading from
a 486 33dx I am getting right at a 4x speed increase in traces and scanline
renders.  Screen redraws are also a whole lot quicker.  Does anyone know if
Imagine uses any math that would be affected by the FP bug in the Pentium?  I
have not noticed any problems so far.  You can't beat the Speed
increase/price ratio.


Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 19:10:40
Subject: RE: IMAGINE POPUP FEATURE
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




-> From: Steve J. Lombardi <[e-mail]>
->
-> Access to individual Objects that make up a group is not yet possi=
ble
-> from the stage editor. This is at the TOP of my wish list. THe Pop=
up
-> action bars are also not there yet. These are two biggies that we =
nee

Thank you for your quick response.

THAT is the answer I didn't want to hear....but most expected. I'll
leave it at that, since I am new to the IML....but NOT to Impulse and
the Imagine saga.

-> Impulse is advertising IMAGINE L/T for 99 dollars. This is a CD-ro=
m
-> for PC's only. The ad says that some of 3.0's features have been c=
rip
-> and that there is an upgrade to the full imagine. THere is also a =
30
-> day money back guarantee. Contact impulse for more info.

Hmmm...maybe that's the version I got. :)


(no, wait...it didn't come on CDROM. --nevermind--)
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 20:02:05
Subject: RE: essence I problem
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



  This was a hot (= flame) topic on the IML about a year ago.  After much
heated (flaming) discussion, one of the elite guys that used to be on the
IML came up with a patch to allow Essence 1 textures to be loaded by Imagine
versions after 2.0.  Essence 1,  unpatched, only works with Imagine V2.0.
 OK, now where is the patch?  Gee, its been a really long time and I seem to
remember it was sent up to aminet but I can't say for sure.  I know this is
probably not much help but you could go to the IML Archives and search for
that period of time to see if there is some reference to where the patch was
actually sent.  There was also a lot of discussion about the exact reasons
why Essence 1 became incompatible with Imagine after version 2.  And I seem
to remember a message that explained a manual way to make the changes,
worked, but just a lot more tedious than the patch routine.
 ----------
>From: imagine-relay
>To: IML
>Subject: essence I problem
>Date: Wednesday, December 14, 1994 4:00PM

I bought forge and Essence II in april.
I bought Essence I two weeks ago and 3.0 won't recognize them ( of course )
I changed the name to add an .itx to the end...
and it still would not recognize them.
   ( i did try to reach Steve W. )
        What's the trick?


 --
Derek Hardison     Imagine on Amiga 4000s
                            New Intelligence on Video
                                        SGIwannabe
Domain:  [e-mail]
UUCP:  ...!emory!pd.org!derekjh



Date:    Thursday, 15 December 1994 20:10:02
Subject: Imagine Wish List
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Ok, if any Impulseers are peeking, here's MY wish list:

I've seen 3D Studio's Materials editor and slobbered all over myself.
I sure would like to see Impulse combine the Attribute, Textures and
brushmap requestior into one unit. Then add a little preview box to
quickly see how your textures, wraps and attributes look together to
make it quicker to tweek your settings.
(BTW, THANKYOU for now allowing the saving of Texture/Maps along with
Attributes!!!!)

Also, I've noticed when exchanging objects that everone stores their
maps, textures etc. in different directories. It's a real pain to edi=
t
each wrap/texture disk location by hand. What would be real handy is =
a
little requestor box attached to the BRUSH/TEXTURE file location fiel=
d.
This would be especially handy when PC Imagine users exchange objects
with Amiga Imagine users, since PCDOG chops the Amiga filenames to
bits.


Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Friday, 16 December 1994 02:36:22
Subject: FW: essence I problem
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




 ----------
>From: BOCONNELL
>To: TedS
>Subject: Re: essence I problem
>Date: Thursday, December 15, 1994 2:55PM

the file in question is called esstoim29.lha.  it is located on aminet in the
biz/patches directory, absolutely nowhere near the imagine stuff where one might
expect it to be.  This will patch it so it works with im 3.x, but they won't
work with forge.  :(

render forth and bend thy light to thine will.

* Bob O'Connell - [e-mail]
* Cross Platform Productions - Boston, MA
* A4000/Warp Engine 40/40 18mb RAM
* 1 gig Micropolis AV / Toshiba CD-ROM / Bernoulli 90 Pro
* Imagine 3.0 / Essence I, II, Forge / Lightwave 3.5
* and a honkin' huge coffee machine...


Date:    Friday, 16 December 1994 07:25:41
Subject: Re: Slice function
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi everybody!
The following message should have reached the IML last week if not my
company's mail-gateway-computer had crashed :-(  Anyway, here it is:

Greg Denby wrote;
>> My problem is I can only do one slice function...etc.
>
>I suppose I might say, "At least you got it to work once." :-/

Hmmm... Don't remember if I've said this before, but anyway...

I have tried a couple of slices, something like this;
Say you have made some font-objects in the spline-ed (just plain extrudes)
and now you want to make "holes" in a plane or box or whatever.
So, you make a simple plane (and to make the final object as "clean" as
possible (as few points as possible) you make it only 1 triangle high and 1
wide).
Now you load the font-object, place it where you want it (possibly in
the lower left corner of the plane so the fonts only intersect _one_ of the
triangles of the plane).
Pick both objects and slice them. This will take a loooooooooong time (if it
is possible to do at all, you might get "edge to close...").

After having got tired of this, I finally tried makeing the plane out of
more triangles (many more, say 5 triangles across each of the letters in the
font-object, ie having a five letter word would give a 25 triangles-across
plane). Load and place the font-object and slice. This will take _MUCH_ less
time and your slicing-success-ratio will increase dramatically.

So, in the case of the wheel, try making the original object (cylinder or
torus or whatever you are using) out of more points. In the cylinder-case
make more circular sections and when you extrude it make more sections.

Anybody else got more input on this slice-thingy?

-----------------------------------------------------------------
|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Friday, 16 December 1994 17:55:22
Subject: Rendering Times
From:    Douglas Smith


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


There has been a lot of discussion recently about running imagine on different
platforms, I think it would be a good idea to create a "Reference" scene, and
render it on as many different machines as we have access to. We could then
compile a top 100 of machines & typical render speed.

This would allow us all to invest wisely in the future.

Obviously the "Reference" has to be chosen carefully, it should include as many

different elements of Imagine as possible, but still represent a typical job. It

should be renderable on all versions of imagine, and on all platforms.

It really ought to be a small scene, so we can uuencode it and mail it around.

I invite your comments on,

      1. Is it a worthwhile idea ?

      2. What the scene should contain.

      3. What machine info we should collect.


+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+

|Douglas E.F. Smith     |      [e-mail]|

+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
|A4000/30 2+4 214       | "If I was organised, I'd be dangerous"               |

+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+

|My employer is not responsible for my opinions; I`m not supposed to have them |

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+




Date:    Friday, 16 December 1994 17:55:23
Subject: Re: Imagine 3.0 / Truespace ?? Opinions wanted please.
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>>etc... Imagine is the only way to go. (Or Will vinton's animation master; or
>>real 3d but you did not ask about any of those... ;)
>>
>
>
>Well, I have looked a bit into real3D.  How would you compare it
>to Imagine. (Which BTW I'm liking the 2.0 version more and more--except when
>it crashes!)
>
>thanks for your comments,
>Travis
>[e-mail]
>
I've been playing with the demo version (does not allow for saving (Nuisance; ca
n't they put saving in
the demo and put say no-high resolution in it?)
It is not very easy without manuals. It has beautifull "forces" built in: a ball
 will bounce of an object;
without keyframing; it has full NURBS etc...
If you have a $1000 to spend and a PC it probably is THE program to go (besides
Lightwave coming
out soon.) I don't have the need to be the first kid on the block wit a new prog
ram; so I'll get a PAR
before I change software...

Hi-Lo




Date:    Friday, 16 December 1994 18:20:47
Subject: RE: QUESTIONS ON 3.0
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>
>Henri,
>
>The higher resolution editor screens will be available in Imagine 3.2, and at
>8bits per pixel resolution also.  So if you are part of the constant update
>program, you'll have your wish soon enough.
I'll become a member of the upgrade program right now!

>
>I just want to correct you, I DO NOT work for IMPULSE.  I do contract work.  I
>do oversee an Imagine section on Compuserve, but I don't get paid to do it.  I
>do it because I had people to ask for help when I needed it, and want to do the

>same.
I drew this conclusion from the little "flame-battle (3 letters is hardly a war)
 Sorry; and thank you very
much for helping us neanderthals out out of pure "charity" ;-)
>
>The only relationship I have with Impulse is that....I support their product,
>they in turn keep me informed with new developments.  Nothing more.
I support their product too; most bang for the buck.

>
>-GreG
>
Hi-Lo




Date:    Friday, 16 December 1994 19:03:53
Subject: Re: Slice function
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


C> Say you have made some font-objects in the spline-ed (just plain extrudes)
C> and now you want to make "holes" in a plane or box or whatever.
C>
C> After having got tired of this, I finally tried makeing the plane out of
C> more triangles (many more, say 5 triangles across each of the letters in
C> the
C> font-object, ie having a five letter word would give a 25 triangles-across
C> plane). Load and place the font-object and slice. This will take _MUCH_
C> less
C> time and your slicing-success-ratio will increase dramatically.
C> Anybody else got more input on this slice-thingy?
===================

        Well... I've done some slicing in my time. :/  I try to
        avoid it whenever possible.  The example above was exactly
        what I needed to do recently.  Instead of slice, I put the
        font spline objects inside a rectangular spline object, and
        joined all the obects.  Then Extrude created the plane-with-
        letters-cut-out effect.

        But, yeah, often the more points available, the less likely
        are to get errors like splitting a face.

        -mikeT


* Offline Orbit 0.70a * ...Amiga. Designed to break the laws of physics...


Date:    Friday, 16 December 1994 20:03:32
Subject: RE: IMAGINE WISH LIST
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> Mike,
-> I switched from amiga to pc. what is pcdog?

It's a crude slam against PC developers for not being able to develop
a more eligant OS than the Amiga's ....even after 10 years of trying.
<g>

-> I would like to port my objects over to pc.
-> Thanks
-> Doug

Well, that's easy...assuming you still have your Amiga too. You can
either use CrossDos (software) to read and write to MSDOS formatted
floppies and copy them that way. Or, the best way is to get or build =
a
null modem and use Twin Express. It's a shareware file transfer progr=
am
that allows the PC and Amiga to talk to each other and transfer files=
.

Of course, you do know Imagine objects are compatible with both the
Amiga and PC version of Imagine, right? So are attribute files.
Textures....nichs....nein...and hell no.



Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 01:11:45
Subject: Re: Rendering Times
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Douglas Smith wrote;
>There has been a lot of discussion recently about running imagine on different
>platforms, I think it would be a good idea to create a "Reference" scene, and
>render it on as many different machines as we have access to. We could then
>compile a top 100 of machines & typical render speed.
>
>I invite your comments on,
>
> 1. Is it a worthwhile idea ?

Yes, I think it is.

> 2. What the scene should contain.

Good question. Some primitives, and use as many attribute features as
possible (procedural textures, brushmaps, transparency, reflectivity...)

> 3. What machine info we should collect.

Platform, CPU, FPU, RAM (amount and type), how much RAM was used to render,
renderingtime.....

Also, the results should (IMO) be inluded in the FAQ.
Maybe Paul Thompson (are you out there?) could organize and administrate
this (the guy that manages the IML-Pro (now where did that go?))

>+------------------------------------------------------------------------
>My employer is not responsible for my opinions; I`m not supposed to have
>them
>+------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hehe, this was a good one :-)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]              |
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 01:12:27
Subject: IMAGINE L/T and the continuous upgrade
From:    wolfram schwenzer <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi, fellow imagineers,

Today I read Impulse's ad in the Dec issue of CGW (Computer Graphics World)
which said:

"50 Million Users Won't Be Wrong"
(Geeez, didn't know that we were so many ...)

"..... Imagine L/T is available on CD-ROM only ... Imagine L/T loves Pentium.
...It was designed for the first time 3D designer and animator. Our manual was
written for real people, not just professional animators and rocket scientists.
The Imagine L/T CD includes an assortment of 3D model objects, rendered examples

animations, textures and stage files for you to try out and modify for your own

uses."

If they have a NEW manual which is easier on newbies (perhaps in machine-
readable copy on the CD ?) could they send that (for a nominal fee) to
registered users too ? -

I wonder what NEW material they got on that CD and if it's worth buying one if
you already have Imagine 3.1, which actually doesn't appear nowhere in the ad.
Instead they mention a product called Imagine PRO:

"... Impulse offers a very reasonable Imagine PRO upgrade. Imagine PRO has the
power that you crave and more."

I am just wondering what happened to the next version ("sometime just before
Christmas" as their 3.1 upgrade notice said) in their "constant update plan"
with them apparently very busy shipping Imagine L/T ...

There's also an ad for the DIGIMAX in the same mag; price is now $ 695 (still
marked as "introductory"); I got mine for the old price, so I should be happy,
if only the software wouldn't bomb ...

                    Happy Xmas (<- arg, 'xcuse me: "happy holidays" to stay
                                      `politically correct' ;-))

                      W.S.

--
wolfram schwenzer
Internet : [e-mail]



Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 04:42:31
Subject: Re: Rendering Times
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


  I think that a rendering time index is a great idea.  We just need to come
up with the sample scene.  That way everyone will know "How much faster is a
????? machine?"


Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 07:13:08
Subject: Re: Rendering Times
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Fri, 16 Dec 1994 [e-mail] wrote:

>   I think that a rendering time index is a great idea.  We just need to come
> up with the sample scene.  That way everyone will know "How much faster is a
> ????? machine?"
>
Who cares how much faster "bigger" it still will not be fast enough just
dig in and hang on!



Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 07:52:02
Subject: Wishlist &Spline Interpolation
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



What I most hope will be part of 3.2 is a toggle button on the editor
screens to allow the user to switch between 2 or 3 diff sized render
screens. It drives me crazy going back and forth from preferences
as I develop a complex scene and need varying degrees of resolution.

On another note:
Although I generally am pleased with the Action Editor's Spline
Interpolation of motion paths I truly do not understand what's going
on. For instance, I just did a 30 frame anim w/3 position keys, but
in this case I left the 2nd and 3rd positions identical. In the
render, the motion continues somewhat beyond the 2nd key position
but then swings back to it by the end of the animation, as though
there were a kind of follow through, that I had never defined! What
tells Imagine where to go between two identical key positions?
I wish this interpolation were visual so that it could be predicted
and tweaked.




Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 10:09:53
Subject: Re: Imagine PC Questions
From:    [e-mail] (Curtis White)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>I also have not experienced any problems with my P90 and 3.1.  Upgrading from
>a 486 33dx I am getting right at a 4x speed increase in traces and scanline
>renders.  Screen redraws are also a whole lot quicker.  Does anyone know if
>Imagine uses any math that would be affected by the FP bug in the Pentium?  I
>have not noticed any problems so far.  You can't beat the Speed
>increase/price ratio.
>


>

I have been running Imagine 3.0 on a P60 for a while now.  I have only encounter
ed one
problem that I am trying to find out if it is connected to the bug.  This is, if
 I
try to use both a global reflection map and global background map at the same ti
me,
it crashes Imagine.  I have a friend that is going to try this on his 486 to see
 if
the same thing happens.  If not, then I guess I will be contacting Intel.  Has a
nyone
else tried this on a PC other than a buggy pentium?



Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 20:23:42
Subject: Re:  Wishlist &Spline Interpolation
From:    "Daniel T. Edwards" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On the Spline interpolation problem:

I am running Imagine PC v3.11.  I created an object with four states.
I would like to morph from state one (default) to state four (bend1),
then right back to state one and stay there for about 40 frames, then
go to state two (twist1) and finnaly state three (endtwist) and stay
there till the end of the anim.

What happens is this: It morphs from state one to a reversed version
of state four early! Then it correctly morphs to state four.  It then
reverts back to state one, But when I have it stay on the same state
for a number of frames, it makes up a new (totally unrelated) state
and morphs to that.

Am I doing something wrong in the Action editor?  should I maybe
turn off the spline interpolation radio button?  How can I make
my objects "stay on the baseline" when they morph between states?

// James R. Walker      WalkerVision Videographics //
// [e-mail]                    //


Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 20:52:21
Subject: RE: IMAGINE L/T and the continuous upgrade
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>Hi, fellow imagineers,
>
>Today I read Impulse's ad in the Dec issue of CGW (Computer Graphics World)
>which said:
>
>"50 Million Users Won't Be Wrong"
>(Geeez, didn't know that we were so many ...)

It says WON'T ; obviously they've hired a PR guy to do their economic forcasting
 :-)
>
>"..... Imagine L/T is available on CD-ROM only ... Imagine L/T loves Pentium.
>written for real people, not just professional animators and rocket scientists.

>The Imagine L/T CD includes an assortment of 3D model objects, rendered example
s
>animations, textures and stage files for you to try out and modify for your own

>uses."

The imagine L/T program is the same program as 3.0 with some features disabled
(bones & particles). This being one of the tougher programs to use; You will hav
e to be a
very dedicated hobbyist to stay with it. ( I used to do anim in the DKB raytrace
r with
scripting and math; So I was happy when Imagine turned out to be affordable; and

"relatively easyto use.)

>If they have a NEW manual which is easier on newbies (perhaps in machine-
>readable copy on the CD ?) could they send that (for a nominal fee) to
>registered users too ? -
>
It actually is the same manual as 3.0 only it says in some places "does not appl
y to
Imagine L/T"
I do not believe that the manual is for sale to reistered users. (unless they'd
put some
pretty nifty project files in there why would you even bother?)

>I wonder what NEW material they got on that CD and if it's worth buying one if
>you already have Imagine 3.1, which actually doesn't appear nowhere in the ad.
>Instead they mention a product called Imagine PRO:
>
Imagine PRO is what your using. Here go the marketing guys again. (Isn't it nift
y to
suddenly be a pro?):-)

>"... Impulse offers a very reasonable Imagine PRO upgrade. Imagine PRO has the
>power that you crave and more."
>
>I am just wondering what happened to the next version ("sometime just before
>Christmas" as their 3.1 upgrade notice said) in their "constant update plan"
>with them apparently very busy shipping Imagine L/T ...

Imagine 3.2 will ship in january and guess what? You will be able to run in High
 resolution!!!
(I could use that in stage editor!) When I heard that I immediately became an up
grade
member. This used to be the biggest pain in the you know what. I also wonder wha
t the
INTELLIGENT BONES are like. I seem to be pretty stupid with them...:-)

>There's also an ad for the DIGIMAX in the same mag; price is now $ 695 (still
>marked as "introductory"); I got mine for the old price, so I should be happy,
>if only the software wouldn't bomb ...
>
u/load a MODEL! I want to see what kind of meshes to expect. (Please let it be v
iewpoint
quality!)

>                   Happy Xmas (<- arg, 'xcuse me: "happy holidays" to stay
>                                     `politically correct' ;-))
>
>                     W.S.
>
>--
>wolfram schwenzer
>Internet : [e-mail]
>
Hi-Lo




Date:    Saturday, 17 December 1994 23:15:38
Subject: Pentium replacement
From:    Kenneth Jennings <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




Curtis White <[e-mail]> wrote:

>>I also have not experienced any problems with my P90 and 3.1.  Upgrading from
[stuff deleted]
>>renders.  Screen redraws are also a whole lot quicker.  Does anyone know if
>>Imagine uses any math that would be affected by the FP bug in the Pentium?  I
[stuff deleted]

>I have been running Imagine 3.0 on a P60 for a while now.  I have only encounte
red one
>problem that I am trying to find out if it is connected to the bug.  This is, i
f I
[stuff deleted]
>else tried this on a PC other than a buggy pentium?

The FDIV bug in the Pentium only affect the original
batches of chips before the P90.  Current P90s and
slower Pentiums being produced today do not have
the FDIV bug.

BTW, the magic word to use when you call up INTEL to
demand a replacement pentium is, "FDA" (Food and Drug
Administration).  The FDA has stated that all software
used in companies that manufacture medical and food
products must be recertified.  Since that's not possible
with most commercial software, INTEL will replace
Pentiums for those companies.  We didn't have to prove
our need (even though ours is legitimate, since we
write that software that controls the Vistakon Accuvue
production line).  All the boss did was say, "..the
FDA told us ...", and replacement Pentiums are in the mail.


+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
|   Kenneth Jennings, Amiga Advocate  | ====== Equine Video Studios  ====== |
|  "Proud I'm not a PC/Mac lemming."  | ======  & SyntheToonz, Inc.  ====== |
|       [e-mail]      | >>>>>>>> Lynn, Video Maven <<<<<<<< |
| Applied Automation Techniques, Inc. | > Ken, Computer Animation Artiste < |
|  Obviously not the opinions of AAT. | >>>>>>> Bruno The Wonder Dog <<<<<< |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

"You'd think that PC and Mac users willing to gut their systems to achieve
 Amiga classed performance would just save themselves the trouble and buy
 Amigas in the first place. But they don't know any better -- they read BYTE."




Date:    Sunday, 18 December 1994 02:41:59
Subject: Cycle setup for bones
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi All...

Have a quick one here.  In order to setup a group of axis for use
as bones one could simply use the cycle setup function.  Is this true
or false?  I am only interested in setting up the position of the axis before
assigning faces etc.  A yea or nay would be cool.

render forth and bend thy light to thine will.

* Bob O'Connell - [e-mail]
* Cross Platform Productions - Boston, MA
* A4000/Warp Engine 40/40 18mb RAM
* 1 gig Micropolis AV / Toshiba CD-ROM / Bernoulli 90 Pro
* Imagine 3.0 / Essence I, II, Forge / Lightwave 3.5
* and a honkin' huge coffee machine...


Date:    Sunday, 18 December 1994 03:07:52
Subject: Re: Pentium replacement
From:    [e-mail] (Curtis White)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>
>Curtis White <[e-mail]> wrote:
>
>
>The FDIV bug in the Pentium only affect the original
>batches of chips before the P90.  Current P90s and
>slower Pentiums being produced today do not have
>the FDIV bug.
>
Well, according to the intel newsgroup, and from what I have heard and read else
where,
Intel is just now starting to mass produce fixed Pentiums.  Also, the bug exists
 in
all speeds of Pentium, including P90.  There were approximately 2 million buggy
P60/P90's produced.  From what I understand, they are intermixing the bad chips
in with the good ones to get rid of the rest of the bad ones.  I only heard this
,
so it may or may not be true.  If it is, that is pretty bad business.  I just bo
ught
my Pentium approximately 3 months ago, and it has the bug.  That is pretty recen
t.

>BTW, the magic word to use when you call up INTEL to
>demand a replacement pentium is, "FDA" (Food and Drug
>Administration).  The FDA has stated that all software
>used in companies that manufacture medical and food
>products must be recertified.  Since that's not possible
>with most commercial software, INTEL will replace
>Pentiums for those companies.  We didn't have to prove
>our need (even though ours is legitimate, since we
>write that software that controls the Vistakon Accuvue
>production line).  All the boss did was say, "..the
>FDA told us ...", and replacement Pentiums are in the mail.
>
>

Good idea.  Maybe I can come up with something that the FDA would recommend that
 I
get it replaced.  If I can prove that this Imagine problem is connected to the b
ug,
then I might be able to get mine replaced, since I use it for my graphics busine
ss.
I was unable to use the global brush map and global reflection map in a demo pic
 for
a potential client.  Not being able to do it, could possibly affect my business.

I will not be a happy camper if this is the case.



Date:    Sunday, 18 December 1994 05:55:07
Subject: Re: Pentium replacement
From:    Kenneth Jennings <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Curtis White <[e-mail]> wrote:

>Kenneth Jennings wrote::
>
>>Curtis White <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>
>>The FDIV bug in the Pentium only affect the original
>>batches of chips before the P90.  Current P90s and
>>slower Pentiums being produced today do not have
>>the FDIV bug.
>>
>Well, according to the intel newsgroup, and from what I have heard and read els
ewhere,
>Intel is just now starting to mass produce fixed Pentiums.  Also, the bug exist
s in

My understanding was that the problem was spotted and fixed
months ago, but Intel kept it under their hat, so they could
dump the expensive inventory of buggy Pentiums.

>all speeds of Pentium, including P90.  There were approximately 2 million buggy


Intel told us only the (slower) original models are
affected.  The design of the P90 required some
changes to reduce the already excessive heat buildup
in the chip which is when the problem was found.
This jibes with the Pentiums in the office.  The 90s
are OK, but the slower ones fail the test.

>P60/P90's produced.  From what I understand, they are intermixing the bad chips

>in with the good ones to get rid of the rest of the bad ones.  I only heard thi
s,
>so it may or may not be true.  If it is, that is pretty bad business.  I just b
ought

When you get as big as Intel you no longer need to
care about your customers who are already enslaved
by the Intel/MicroSloth architecture.

>my Pentium approximately 3 months ago, and it has the bug.  That is pretty rece
nt.

It takes a while for the distribution channels to
run their course.  We just got a couple of new ALR
servers that exhibit the bug, too.

>>BTW, the magic word to use when you call up INTEL to
>>demand a replacement pentium is, "FDA" (Food and Drug
>>Administration).  The FDA has stated that all software
>>used in companies that manufacture medical and food
>>products must be recertified.  Since that's not possible
>>with most commercial software, INTEL will replace
>>Pentiums for those companies.  We didn't have to prove
>>our need (even though ours is legitimate, since we
>>write that software that controls the Vistakon Accuvue
>>production line).  All the boss did was say, "..the
>>FDA told us ...", and replacement Pentiums are in the mail.
>>
>>
>
>Good idea.  Maybe I can come up with something that the FDA would recommend tha
t I

Perhaps your work is producing medical imagery?? ;-)

>get it replaced.  If I can prove that this Imagine problem is connected to the
bug,

Given the nature of the FDIV bug, a crash is highly
unlikely.  The bug causes some floating point divisions
to produce inaccurrate results.  At the worst, the
problem would reveal itself with a polygon or an object
that inexplicably changes position in a single frame,
or perhaps a stray pixel or two are the wrong color.

>then I might be able to get mine replaced, since I use it for my graphics busin
ess.
>I was unable to use the global brush map and global reflection map in a demo pi
c for

What are the formats of the images? (GIF, TIF, IFF)
Are they 24bit, low color (<32 colors) or do they
use a 256 color palette?  What are the resolutions
(dimensions) of the images??

>a potential client.  Not being able to do it, could possibly affect my business
.
>I will not be a happy camper if this is the case.


+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
|   Kenneth Jennings, Amiga Advocate  | ====== Equine Video Studios  ====== |
|  "Proud I'm not a PC/Mac lemming."  | ======  & SyntheToonz, Inc.  ====== |
|       [e-mail]      | >>>>>>>> Lynn, Video Maven <<<<<<<< |
| Applied Automation Techniques, Inc. | > Ken, Computer Animation Artiste < |
|  Obviously not the opinions of AAT. | >>>>>>> Bruno The Wonder Dog <<<<<< |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

"You'd think that PC and Mac users willing to gut their systems to achieve the
 Amiga's level of performance would just save themselves the trouble and buy
 Amigas in the first place. But they don't know any better -- they read BYTE."



Date:    Sunday, 18 December 1994 08:37:46
Subject: Pentium replacement, CEI, etc., etc.
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi All,

With apologies in advance to anyone this might offend, I can get lots of
discussion of general topics in a whole lot of places.  I just get this
list for discussing Imagine.

OBIB (Obligatory Imagine Bit):
Has anyone gotten the Lock function to work in Spline?  It should make
the knots snap to grid.  At least that's the way it works on points in
Detail.  I can't see it doing anything in Spline.  :\

-mikeT


... ...To AutoFlame this post, hit Ctrl/ L-amiga/ R-amiga...

* Offline Orbit 0.70a *


Date:    Sunday, 18 December 1994 16:22:14
Subject: Re:Rendering Times
From:    gregory denby <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Hi IMLers,
      Way back in the days of Turbo Silver, I spent several weeks on a
68K A500 testing the rendering times needed to produce various effects.
I did this because I had found it impossible to meet a due date for a
45 frame anim that used some transparency and reflectivity, and I wanted
to know what sort of overhead I was looking at in the future.  While
rendering speeds are vastly better today, until realtime operation becomes
standard, one always has to consider how long an effect will take.
      I don't have the time to recreate the tests I did way-back-when,
but to anyone else considering this task, here are some recommendations.

1.   You only need to render as much area as is needed to test the effect.
     i.e. just a mirror, and not the rest of the scene it reflects, or
     in the case of multiple reflectors, just one showing the others.
     Then:
2    Any feature can be expressed as a ratio, such as a phong shaded blob
     and a "glass" transparent phong blob are 100/320
3    Always render in 24 bit.  everything else is just converted from that.

Once you have some figures, educated guesses becom pretty easy.  Say you
have an anim in which a shadow casting light is to flicker on and off.
Since a shadowing light takes about twice as long to render as a non-
shadowing light, multiply the render time of a dark frame by two, and
the multiply by the number of frames in the light.  So, you figure your
hardy render beast will finish this off just after lunch.  To add a little
more interest to the scene, a reflective object will pass through for
about half the frames.  In your pencil test you notice that the object
fills half the screen.  Since true reflective objects take about 75% more
time than non-reflective (at least), those frames will take 37% longer.
However, having injected another object, Imagine may take a good bit longer
studying the spacial layout of objects.  This is always a big problem
for ray tracers, and a good bit of research has been done to find the most
efficient method.  Still, an object with small protruding parts always
requires a lot of clock cycles to define.  In this imaginary scene, you
do a test render, and find the time on a frame having the object takes
8% longer.  So a little more multiplication shows that you will still
finish up rendering with enough time to put the anim together.

I still want to test some of the textures, to see which are quickly rendered,
and which really eat up the clock.  When I do this, I'll post a note here.

Bye,
Greg Denby
[e-mail]


Date:    Sunday, 18 December 1994 22:09:41
Subject: Re: Re:Rendering Times
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


  What we need to do with the rendering times test scene.  Is to render the
entire scene in 24bit, in both scanline and ray-trace.  This way we can get a
result like:
  "It takes 00:04:24 to ray-trace render the scene on a 90MHz Pentium, while
on a 66MHz 486DX2 it takes 00:37:12 to ray-trace the scene, while on a 40MHz
Amiga 4000 it takes 00:38:32" and so on and so forth.

  This will help anyone who is considering the purchase of a new computer to
know immediatly what kind of speed increase, or decrease they can expect from
the purchase.

Kurt


Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 00:08:54
Subject: Re: cycle setup for bones
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> Have a quick one here.  In order to setup a group of axis for use
> as bones one could simply use the cycle setup function.  Is this true
> or false?  I am only interested in setting up the position of the axis before
> assigning faces etc.  A yea or nay would be cool.

      Well... probably not. Bones needs the Z-axis to point in the direction
of the next bone. Cycle Setup points and scales the Z-axis towards the
previous axis.
      It's not like you can't do it, you just run into some problems. When
working with bones the size of the bones axis dictatates the size of the
bounding box representation of the bone. If you use Cycle Setup, the bounding
boxes get twice as large as they should be (providing you really wanted easily
represented bones). By setting up bones axes manually you can easily create
bounding box representations, by adjusting the size of the axes, that more
resemble your original object.
      Besides, the manually states that when using States the Z-axis must
point towards the final object (not the first one ala Cycle Setup). Though, I
don't exactly know why. Anyone?
      'Tis a pity. Using Cycle Setup was the first thing I thought about
when using Bones. It would make things really easy. Perhaps that should go on
a wish list; Ability to auto-orient bones axes to the next or last bone (the
opposite of Cycle Setup) without affecting axes size.

      You know what else should go on the wish list (speaking of small,
easily done things)? Automatic creation of Quick Edges from Sharp Edges. An
object's Sharp Edges almost always make a good template for Quick Edges. I'm
constantly selecting an object, entering Pick Edges Mode, Pick Sharp Edges,
Make Quick Edges, and entering Pick Groups/Objects Mode. Wouldn't mind a
function for this. Or macros. Then I could just program it in...

      Have fun...

                                                              J.---->

E-Mail: [e-mail]




Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 01:32:39
Subject: Problem with bones.
From:    Jon Bagge <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




Well, so I've moved onto bones too.  I think I got the basic principle,
but I have a problem with a special case.  I've read both the manual, and
the bones tutorials here on the list.  Plus followed the list for some
time, though I don't think I've seen this here before.

So, here is the problem:

Bones seem ideal for the body-arm-hand-finger kind of thing.  But what if
it divides up and then goes back together again?  Example:

Two boxes bound by bars.  The x'es marks joints.

       XOOX
       !  !
       !  !
       !  !
       !  !
       XOOX

When you tilt it, it will look like this:

   XOOX
   \  \
    \  \
     \  \
      XOOX

In effect, the two boxes stayes paralell.

I'm creating a tablelamp. The kind that has an arm with a joint at the
bottom, one in the middle, and one just by the lampshade.  But each of
the two 'arms' are made up of two bars.

Also there are strings holding this together, making things even more
difficult.

Hopefully you can see what kind of lamp it is I'm thinking of.

I've done some experimenting with this, but I can't seem to figure out
how to put up the bones.  What to include in the subgroups and so on.

I think I read on the list that keeping the Big and the Small subgroup
identical should make this work withouth stretching anything.  From the
manual this seems to be right.  After all, this is a mechanical thing.

Help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

:-Jon



Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 04:07:25
Subject: States and morphing
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Do not use the Default state in an animation, clone it and rename it or
whatever, but Imagine reserves the name Default for strange unknown
internal uses associated with Bones.


Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 05:34:56
Subject: Problem with bones.
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On 12-18, Jon Bagge wrote:

J> I'm creating a tablelamp. The kind that has an arm with a joint at the
J> bottom, one in the middle, and one just by the lampshade.  But each of
J> the two 'arms' are made up of two bars.
J>
J> I've done some experimenting with this, but I can't seem to figure out
J> how to put up the bones.  What to include in the subgroups and so on.
==========
        Hi Jon,

        If I'm visualizing this right, it doesn't sound like bones
        is the way to go.  But if you insist, you might try joining
        or merging the two bars making up the arm into a single
        object, if you haven't, and see if that makes it easier.

        That's about all I can think of.  OK, it *is* all I can think
        of, but I could think of more later...

        -mikeT


* Offline Orbit 0.70a * ...Sleep is a poor substitute for Raytracing...


Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 05:52:34
Subject: Announcement
From:    [e-mail] (Shinobi)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Fellow Imagineers:

My particle generator is entering Alpha testing.  And I'm so
excited about it, I thought I should post this message to
tell you all about the features it will have, and ask for
your suggestions.  I want to make this program the best
particle generator I can, and include all the nifty doo-dads
that all the big boys enjoy.

Name: Chaos (yet to be finalized)

Features:

Main Screen
- User-definable position
- Can stay stationary or inherit position from a pre-defined
  object
- Definable shape of origin: Disk/Ellipse, Sphere, Plane,
  Cube
- Static birthrate or envelope-controlled birthrate
- GUI-controlled trajectory of particle stream
- User-definable lifespan with variation controls
- Ground plane
- End states for particles: Stop, Kill, Recycle

Properties (of particles)
- Prefix for identifying particle objects
  - Define a particle effect and check it out.  Not to your
  liking?  Change the effect, but not the prefix, and the
  particle effect is updated.
- User-defined rotation
- Static velocity or inherit velocity from object
- Definable terminal velocity and velocity variation
- Sizes of particles include: Static, Random, Envelope
  controlled
- Particles will scale over a user-defined range of frames
- Elasticity
- Air Resistance
- Two stage morphs for changing particles, morph delay,
  spline or linear morphing
- Single or Random particle objects

Global Controls
- Up to 50 force fields
- Up to 50 gravity wells
- Both force fields and gravity wells have user-defined
  minimum and maximum strengths, positions, sizes, etc.
- Wind controls, including envelope-controlled wind strength


If there's anything that's not here that you'd like to see,
please let me know.  I'll try to add as much as possible.


-- Via DLG Pro v1.0

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
| Paul             Fine Lines Publications                |
* Thompson      CGI   Animations   Multimedia             *
|                [e-mail]             |
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 14:02:38
Subject: RE: RENDERING TIMES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



->   I think that a rendering time index is a great idea.  We just ne=
ed
-> up with the sample scene.  That way everyone will know "How much f=
ast
-> ????? machine?"

I know one thing. A 486/66 w/12megs is a billion times faster than my
Amiga with a 2630 and 9 megs! That's as precise as I can get. <g>

Mike

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
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Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 14:51:43
Subject: IMAGINE Texture Playgroun
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> Imagine 3.3 will have a Texture playground for ya.  You'll be able=
 to
-> the texture looks like from within Attribs.
->
-> -GreG

Now you're talkin'! Wait, 3.3? As in not the next update...but the on=
e
after that. -grrrr <g>

BTW, I'm new to the IML, and I assume you either work for ...or are
close to Impulse. I hope you have a thick skin. I've been using Imagi=
ne
since it was called Turbo Silver and have a LOVE/HATE relationship wi=
th
Impulse. I used a lot of packages, and still LOVE/HATE Imagine! I lov=
e
it....I hate it....I grumble a lot....but wouldn't switch for the wor=
ld!
Which I suppose would amuse Mike Halvorson, since he's the grumpiest =
guy
I've ever talked to. :)

Thanks for the carrot on the stick, Greg! (why I oughta......)

Mike
Email: [e-mail]
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Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 15:17:07
Subject: WISHLIST &SPLINE INTERPOL
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> Although I generally am pleased with the Action Editor's Spline
-> Interpolation of motion paths I truly do not understand what's goi=
ng
-> on. For instance, I just did a 30 frame anim w/3 position keys, bu=
t
-> in this case I left the 2nd and 3rd positions identical. In the
-> render, the motion continues somewhat beyond the 2nd key position
-> but then swings back to it by the end of the animation, as though
-> there were a kind of follow through, that I had never defined! Wha=
t
-> tells Imagine where to go between two identical key positions?
-> I wish this interpolation were visual so that it could be predicte=
d
-> and tweaked.

If I read your message right, you are using "follow path" AND
keyframing? Unless I'm wrong, this is dangerous. It has been my
experience than you either set the object to follow a path and tweek =
the
path angles, or you keyframe your movements without a path. It seems =
the
"follow path" will supersede any keyframe positions. Atleast that's w=
hat
happens to me.

Please correct me if I've got this wrong. Impulse?

Mike

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
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Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 15:55:24
Subject: IMAGINE L/T
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> Today I read Impulse's ad in the Dec issue of CGW (Computer Graphi=
cs
-> which said:
->
-> "50 Million Users Won't Be Wrong"
-> (Geeez, didn't know that we were so many ...)

Let's see here. 50 million times $699...equals....MY GOD! That's more
than the NASA, CIA and NSA budget!

-> The Imagine L/T CD includes an assortment of 3D model objects, ren=
der
-> animations, textures and stage files for you to try out and modify=
 fo
-> uses."

Did they happen to mention what they were selling it for?

-> If they have a NEW manual which is easier on newbies (perhaps in m=
ach
-> readable copy on the CD ?) could they send that (for a nominal fee=
) t
-> registered users too ? -

=2E.giggle. You must be NEW to Impulse and Imagine. Wake me when they
actually write a "easier to understand" manual. :)
Come on Steve, where's "Understanding Imagine 3.x"?

-> "... Impulse offers a very reasonable Imagine PRO upgrade. Imagine=
 PR
-> power that you crave and more."

How about "the power/features you promised and MORE".... <still grinn=
in>

-> I am just wondering what happened to the next version ("sometime j=
ust
-> Christmas" as their 3.1 upgrade notice said) in their "constant up=
dat
-> with them apparently very busy shipping Imagine L/T ...

YOU ARE new to Impulse. "It will be shipping in 3 WEEKS"...
                                     (doubled up with belly laffs)
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Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 18:36:20
Subject: Re: Pentium replacement
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>Good idea.  Maybe I can come up with something that the FDA would recommend tha
t I
>get it replaced.  If I can prove that this Imagine problem is connected to the
bug,
>then I might be able to get mine replaced, since I use it for my graphics busin
ess.
>I was unable to use the global brush map and global reflection map in a demo pi
c for
>a potential client.  Not being able to do it, could possibly affect my business
.
>I will not be a happy camper if this is the case.
>
Reflection maps that don't work with floor reflections in scanline rendering are
 a bug in v.
3.0 there is a fix available on aminet.

Hi-Lo




Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 19:34:37
Subject: Rendering Benchmarks
From:    Kevin Bonifield <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I really like the idea of putting together a benchmark for
indexing the performance of different platforms.  Let's start
putting together a scene for evaluation.

As groundrules, should we try to exercise all the features
of Imagine (ie- bones, particles) or keep it simple
with a few procedural textures and brushes on, say, three
simple objects?  The advantage of the first is that it
would help find any performance bottlenecks peculiar
to a platform...the advantage of the second would be
portability (less memory req'd, etc).  My vote is for the
second...

A simple test would be to make three primitives, say a sphere,
box, and triangle.  Use a common procedural texture (agate?)
on one, no texture on the second but with filter set to 50%
and/or refraction, and a brush on the third.  Add a few lights
and trace for time....


What do you think?

  //Kevin


::::::::::SpaceCom Systems::::::::::::::
: Down-to-Earth satellite solutions (r):
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::        Kevin Bonifield             ::
::    Software Design Engineer        ::
::                                    ::
::    Inet :[e-mail]       ::
::    Phone:[phone]              ::
::    Fax  :[phone]              ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Date:    Monday, 19 December 1994 22:04:19
Subject: ------=> Sorry NO Subject!
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Sun, 18 Dec 1994, Jon Bagge wrote:
>
> Two boxes bound by bars.  The x'es marks joints.
>
>        XOOX
>        !  !
>        !  !
>        !  !
>        !  !
>        XOOX
>
>   XOOX
>    \  \
>     \  \
>      \  \
>       XOOX
>
[lots of stuff deleted]

I created an animation of a hydraulic backhoe and encountered similar
problems.  I worked around the problem by anchoring the base of each
piston to the assembly, then rotated each piston after I repositioned the
arm assembly.  One section looks like this:

XOOX   <-anchored to assembly at this point
 \   \
  \    \
   \     \  <-this point free. rotate and move in or out (or resize)
    XOOX

I know this isn't an ideal arrangement but I did get it to work.  In the
final animation the pistons looked fine - no movement where there
shouldn't have been.  I used about 4 states for each transition.
Hope this helps.

Ed Totman
[e-mail]




Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 04:26:59
Subject: ------=> Sorry NO Subject!
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On 12-18, Jon Bagge wrote:

J> I'm creating a tablelamp. The kind that has an arm with a joint at the
J> bottom, one in the middle, and one just by the lampshade.  But each of
J> the two 'arms' are made up of two bars.
J>
J> I've done some experimenting with this, but I can't seem to figure out
J> how to put up the bones.  What to include in the subgroups and so on.

You might try using the constrain feature in 3.0.


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 12:32:01
Subject: Pentium replacement, Filter Map
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Somebody wrote:

T> >The FDIV bug in the Pentium only affect the original
T> >batches of chips before the P90.  Current P90s and
T> >slower Pentiums being produced today do not have
T> >the FDIV bug.

And somebody else answered:

T>    At the risk of going off-topic and invoking even more lively
T> discussions, the above statement is not quite correct.  Intel has
============

        Of course E-Mail rather than IML is always an option.


OBIB (Obligatory Imagine Bit) :)

        On 12-19, Amadeus wrote:

I am having problems getting the filter map setting to have any effect.
I have an object and a brush, and when the brush is set to be a color
map, I can see that it is positioned perfectly, but when I select filter
map, absolutely nothing gets filtered.  It doesn't work in either scanline
or trace mode.  My brush is a 1-bit iff image; in which the colors are
black 000 and a light grey AAA.  I want the black areas to be opaque and
the grey areas to be almost completely transparent.  Most of the brush is
grey, yet when I render the scene, the object is completely opaque and
retains the color indicated by its color slider.  What am I doing wrong?
============

        It should work.  Hope I'm not suggesting the (too) obvious,
        but did you remove the one set to a color map?  Of course
        your background is one that would easily show through...

        I don't know, I just did a quick test the way you describe it,
        and it worked fine.

        -mikeT


* Offline Orbit 0.70a * ...Sleep is a poor substitute for Raytracing...


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 12:48:15
Subject: Lettering
From:    [e-mail] (Perry Lucas)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hey All,

  I have been wanting to build some 3D words in Imagine for a
HTML page.  Unfortunately, I do not have my manual with me (left
it at school for the Christmas Break) and do not remember what
needs to be done.  I have done it before, however, the letters
have turned out a little too blocky at times.  (Like the Imagine
Companion front cover, only worse.)  Any ideas on how I can do
this?

--Perry


                         _,_/|
                         \o.O;
        +-----------oOO =(___)= OOo-----------+
        |Perry Lucas       U     [e-mail]|
        |"PJ" on Diversity University Inc.    |
        |        Telnet: moo.du.org 8888      |
        | http://erau.db.erau.edu:80/~lucasp  |
        +-------------------------------------+



Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 12:48:18
Subject: ------=> Sorry NO Subject!
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



On Sunday, December 18, 1994 14:42, CaptKurt wrote:
>-------------
>  What we need to do with the rendering times test scene.  Is to render the
>entire scene in 24bit, in both scanline and ray-trace.  This way we can get
a
>result like:
>  "It takes 00:04:24 to ray-trace render the scene on a 90MHz Pentium,
while
>on a 66MHz 486DX2 it takes 00:37:12 to ray-trace the scene, while on a
40MHz
>Amiga 4000 it takes 00:38:32" and so on and so forth.
>
>  This will help anyone who is considering the purchase of a new computer
to
>know immediatly what kind of speed increase, or decrease they can expect
from
>the purchase.

That sounds good Kurt, but unfortunatly it would only be of use for the PC
platform since Imagine does not multitask on it.  On the Amiga side, the
user, or any other program, can eat CPU cycles in the background doing
anything from running another complex program to copying files or simply
moving the mouse pointer.  To have a correct comparative time on the Amiga,
users would have to make sure that no other program is running such as
clocks, background utilities or whatever else and that the user do nothing
while the render takes place.  Of course this would not represent reality,
as I don't know many Amiga users who don't make use of it's preemptive
multitasking capabilities while a program is busy.  Not quite like comparing
oranges and pears, but close. (to avoid using the word "apples")


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 12:55:14
Subject: Re: Re:Rendering Times
From:    Wizard <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>   What we need to do with the rendering times test scene.  Is to render the
> entire scene in 24bit, in both scanline and ray-trace.  This way we can get a
> result like:
>   "It takes 00:04:24 to ray-trace render the scene on a 90MHz Pentium, while
> on a 66MHz 486DX2 it takes 00:37:12 to ray-trace the scene, while on a 40MHz
> Amiga 4000 it takes 00:38:32" and so on and so forth.
>

...or like thiz:
    "It takes 00:04:24 to ray-trace the scene on a 40Mhz Amiga 4000,
while on a 90Mhz Pentium, it takes 00:37:12......."


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 12:55:16
Subject: Re: Filter Maps with Imagine 2.0
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>     I am having problems getting the filter map setting to have any effect
snip..
>  My brush is a 1-bit iff image; in which the colors are black 000
> and a light grey AAA.  I want the black areas to be opaque and the grey
> areas to be almost completely transparent.  Most of the brush is grey, yet
> when I render the scene, the object is completely opaque and retains the
> color indicated by its color slider.  What am I doing wrong?

Well, you might try turning your grey up to a brighter value, or set the
Full Scale Value in the brushes requester to a lower number, by setting
it lower you are basically setting the values of grey that will become
tranparent. If you have Full Scale Value at 255 right now then that is
what is the color grey (white) that you will need to get full tranparancy.

So for something slightly filtered you could set your maps color grey to say
127,127,127 and your Full Scale Value at maybe 190. This is a geuss as I
haven't tried these figures, I would suggest you play with it to see for
yourself how this works.

 And one thing to note is that the lower you do make the
Full Scale Value (FSV), the less colors of grey you have to play
with for smooth gradient filter maps. So if this is important, its better
to keep your tranparent colors bright on your maps and the FSV at a
higher number..so you could just leave the FSV alone and make your
brushwrap transparent colors brighter. This would depend on just what it
is your doing...

Oh and I believe you said you did this, but just in case you didn't.
Make sure you also select the Filter Button in the brush requester. And
as a last ditch effort on my part set the  RSDP (resolve depth) in the
prefrence editor to a number at least above 2 or 3, depending on how many
filters your working with you may need it even higher.

Well, Hope this helps get that Gremlin.

=RRW=





Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 12:55:20
Subject: Re: Pentium replacement
From:    Michael North <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------






> The FDIV bug in the Pentium only affect the original
> batches of chips before the P90.  Current P90s and
> slower Pentiums being produced today do not have
> the FDIV bug.
>

That's what I thought, too, but my brand new P90 flunks the little
division test that's been going the rounds.  Of course, that depends
on the Windows calculator, which, it has been pointed out, is so
inaccurate in itself as to be a joke.


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 13:28:47
Subject: Incompatible Texture Code!?
From:    "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Hi Everyone
I just got sent a whole bunch of money to Impulse to hop up to 3.1
from 1.1, and I found that Imagine wouldn't read my Essence volume 1
textures.  It reads my Essence II textures, which I told the Essence
installer to add the .itx extension to.

So, I added the .itx extension to my older Essence textures.  It says
"Incompatible texture code."   Now I heard that 3.0 and up wouldn't
have this problem.  Is there an easy fix, or do I have to get the
program that will automatically edit my texture code??

If 3.0 fixed this problem, then 3.1 broke it again..  :-/

Thanks for any help

Scott Krehbiel
[e-mail]




Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 13:28:53
Subject: RE: Pentium replacement
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>The FDIV bug in the Pentium only affect the original
>batches of chips before the P90.  Current P90s and
>slower Pentiums being produced today do not have
>the FDIV bug.

   At the risk of going off-topic and invoking even more lively discussions,
the above statement is not quite correct.  Intel has now said that they will
continue to sell the FPDIV bug Pentiums until their current inventory is
depeleted.  This was reported in an article from US World News magazine.
  Not only that, there was a front-page article in the Seattle Post
Intelligencer newspaper saying that a large financial institution has
discovered errors in financial calculations due to the bug.  There are
multiple reports coming from several areas now and a large graphics company
has reported the problem and they have bought several MacIntoshes to replace
their Pentium machines because they cannot afford the downtime for the
replacement processors.  In addition, there are now eight class action
lawsuits filed against Intel and more are on the way.  The article also said
when Intel does determine that you need a replacement processor, they are
requiring a charge of $1000 to a credit card until the FDIV bug processor is
returned.  The network news has had a few stories on it also, and NASA has
directed the removal of Pentium machines from critical areas and IBM has
stopped shipping Pentium computers.
  In the last issue of EE Times, it was reported that Intel has formed a
development group to introduce software patches to allow for error-free
calculations.  It appears the calculation error is not as benign as first
reported, particularly in spread-sheet applications and one financial
institution has reported calculation errors as often as every day (not once
in 27,000 years as Intel has claimed).


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 14:18:58
Subject: Re: Announcement
From:    Wizard <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> Fellow Imagineers:
>
> My particle generator is entering Alpha testing.  And I'm so
> excited about it, I thought I should post this message to
> tell you all about the features it will have, and ask for
> your suggestions.  I want to make this program the best
> particle generator I can, and include all the nifty doo-dads
> that all the big boys enjoy.

....and for those ugly PC guys??????


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 16:10:36
Subject: Filter Maps with Imagine 2.0
From:    christopher arthur <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



    I am having problems getting the filter map setting to have any effect
.   I have an object and a brush, and when the brush is set to be a color
map, I can see that it is positioned perfectly, but when I select filter map,
absolutely nothing gets filtered.  It doesn't work in either scanline or
trace mode.  My brush is a 1-bit iff image; in which the colors are black 000
and a light grey AAA.  I want the black areas to be opaque and the grey
areas to be almost completely transparent.  Most of the brush is grey, yet
when I render the scene, the object is completely opaque and retains the
color indicated by its color slider.  What am I doing wrong?

Chris



Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 17:19:10
Subject: Compendium update ???
From:    Huib <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I was just browsing through all of my disks (and that is far to many).
But I found what I was looking for: "The Big Imagine Compendium
rev.C".
But the problem was that they spoke about the new version of Imagine
which was at that time 1.1.
Now that I'm working with version 3.1 and using the tutorials of the
compendium rev.C of 1.1 I bumbed to some problems.
Because there are many menu differences. I wonder is there somehow
someway to get hold of a newer compendium.

Thanx.
 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Greetings from [e-mail]
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\


Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 21:33:40
Subject: WISHLIST &SPLINE INTERPOL
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Reply:  Item #7949866 from [e-mail]@INET#

 >-> in this case I left the 2nd and 3rd positions identical. In the
 >-> render, the motion continues somewhat beyond the 2nd key position
 >-> but then swings back to it by the end of the animation, as though
 >-> there were a kind of follow through, that I had never defined! What
 >-> tells Imagine where to go between two identical key positions?
 >-> I wish this interpolation were visual so that it could be predicted
 >-> and tweaked.
 >
 >If I read your message right, you are using "follow path" AND
 >keyframing? Unless I'm wrong, this is dangerous.

Mike,

No, this happens with plain keyframing with spline interpolation
turned on.

What's interesting about my earlier post is that Mike Halvorson
replied to it! Apparently, some IML posts are being forwarded to
Impulse via Compuserve, which is cool by me. Mike simply said that's
the way Imagine's spline interpolation works: use discontinuous knot
if you don't want the bounce! I just wish you could adjust the spline
visually so you would know it's effect more precisely - but that's
not the Impulse way, I guess.

Floater



Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 21:59:41
Subject: FOLLOW PATH (LIKE A TRAIN
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> I've wondering the following for a very long time:
-> How do I get a bunch of objects to follow a path
-> similar to "follow-the-leader" ?  I have Imagine 3.1
-> for the PC and I used to use Turbo Silver.  In TS,
-> this was very easy using something called Story or
-> Follow-me or something like that.

Since every object wants to start at the same place on the path,
the only way I figure you can do this is introduce each object
into the scene after so many frames. Like enter the 2nd actor at say
frame 10, the 3rd frame 20 etc. Then start your render frames at some
point where they are all in a row....or render them all, and delete t=
he
erroneous ones.

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Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 21:59:58
Subject: Re: Rendering Times
From:    [e-mail] (Darryl Lewis)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> 2. What the scene should contain.

 > Good question. Some primitives, and use as many attribute features as
 > possible (procedural textures, brushmaps, transparency,
 > reflectivity...)

In issue 43 of Amiga shopper they do a comparison (roughly) between a
standard A4000 and a Raptor. They used lightwave, not imagine, but the
following should still hold true.
The simple object scenes rendered with little speed increase. However When
they started (bench mark 4) raytracing complex scenes, thats when the
differences were logrthmic.
Therefore I think we need a complex scene to show the real speed
differences.
Darryl


-- Via DLG Pro v1.0



Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 23:10:57
Subject: IMAGINE TEXTURE PLAYGROUN
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



 To Mike Halvorson

->         I am not (grumble grumble) I am a very nice person, its ju=
st
-> else that is grumpy, I am never grumpy, OH SHUT UP< so there

I knew I could flush you out. Lerking on Compuserve eh?

->         Have fun and I hope you love hate or hate love or love or =
hat
-> things as much as you whatever for Imagine.

No, nothing brings out my primal scream as much as Imagine. Though
I have to admit, 3.1 is "almost useable". :)

->         Mike (the nicest person you have never met) Halvorson

Oh, I've met you. At Ami Expo in LA, years ago. I was hanging with my
mentor, Brad Schenck (head cheese of Grumps Anonymous). He turned gru=
mpy
into an art form.

And I know immediately I'm talking to you when I call tech support. I=
t's
the little endearments that give you away. <g>

->         President and head grump or is that Forest Gump  I forget

Hey, atleast we now know you're listening. You may make paper airplan=
es
out of our suggestions and gripes, but atleast your reading them.


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Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 23:40:51
Subject: RE: IMAGINE L/T
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Hi Doug,

->         Come on, stop giving Impulse such a hard time, no-one can =
wri
-> documentation that bad, for such a large number of years unless th=
ere
-> good reason for it. Obviously they just want to encourage cross fe=
rti
-> ideas within this forum.

Yeah, well, I remember one of their manuals was so vague that they
encouraged you to "experiment" to find out how everything worked. No
LIE. :)

->         As to the minor problems that they have had in the last fe=
w y
-> getting updates out, maybe they don't want to disappoint us. You k=
now
-> features that keep getting promised, and people say, cor i'll look=
 fo
-> that. It is sort of sad to shatter all the illusion just by upgrad=
ing

Well, I remember waiting for 3.0. I got a flyer saying it was ready
to ship and hurry to place your order. This time I decided to wait un=
til
it ACTUALLY shipped. I called exactly once a month for exactly 8 mont=
hs.
Answer was the same every time. "It'll be shipping in 2 weeks".

Are we there yet? NO! Are we there yet? NO! Are we there yet? NO!

->         I've decided to be retro about this, I got a copy of Turbo=
Sil
-> soiled, gave it to me for free) and I'm going to start using that =
ins
-> imagine. then I can Upgrade whenever I like !

Gads....I still have my original Turbo Silver disks and Manual. I
couldn't go back to Imagine 1.0 ...much less TS. <g>

-> Seriously, I think that things have started moving a little i
-> six months, in that we have had bug fixes and upgrades. I still fe=
el
-> Impulse does need a good poke now and again.

Movement is good.

->         It is a pity that Impulse are not more "Customer Focussed"=
, t
-> take a more active part in this mailing list. I'd like to see the =
odd
-> followed up with a "suggestion accepted, what a good idea message"

I think they are smart enough to keep a distance from direct feedback
forums. They'd have to hire a staff of 20 people just to answer all t=
he
love letters from grumps like me. :)

-> keep up the gentle pressure

=2E..like a firehose!


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Date:    Tuesday, 20 December 1994 23:53:50
Subject: Bear Facts
From:    [e-mail] (Brad Molsen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


        To all, I was watching football this weekend and saw the latest
Coca Cola commercial with the polar bears moving the Christmas tree. Last
year one of the readers on the list was involved in making the bear
animation. This years is much better, the bottom of the coke bottles don't
disappear when the bears take a sip as they did last year. Although the
bears are great, I can't help but wonder about the Christmas tree. How was
that done? How big of a file was it. Theres been much talk of late on the
list regarding trees and their creation. If someone involved with this
animation is still on the list perhaps they could give us some facts about
it. Quite impressive!
                                regards,
                                        Brad
On the same vein, happy holidays to all you imagineers!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Almond rocca?!! Ahhh..no thanks, I have a cat!

Brad Molsen c/o  LORAL                          [e-mail]

13810 SE Eastgate Way Suite 500                 [phone]
Bellevue, Wa 98005                              Fax: [phone]




Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 00:14:59
Subject: Re: Rendering Benchmarks
From:    Andrew Nunn <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi Kevin,

> A simple test would be to make three primitives, say a sphere,
> box, and triangle.  Use a common procedural texture (agate?)
> on one, no texture on the second but with filter set to 50%
> and/or refraction, and a brush on the third.  Add a few lights
> and trace for time....

A while back, Amiga World created a simple test scene. It had a
checkered square floor, with a sphere,closed tube and a cube. These
had varying attributes chrome,glass etc. There were multiple light
sources and a graduated backdrop.

In their case it was to compare different renders so they used simple
common features. I constructed the same scene and could probably find
it somewhere it anyone's interested. It also had the benefit of being
quite a small scene file, since there were no brushes and could probably
be distributed by mail.

Andrew Nunn
[e-mail]


Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 00:25:39
Subject: ------=> Sorry NO Subject!
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




-> No, this happens with plain keyframing with spline interpolation
-> turned on.

Oh....

-> What's interesting about my earlier post is that Mike Halvorson
-> replied to it! Apparently, some IML posts are being forwarded to
-> Impulse via Compuserve, which is cool by me. Mike simply said that=
's
-> the way Imagine's spline interpolation works: use discontinuous kn=
ot
-> if you don't want the bounce!

Yeah, I made a small reference to his "jolly" nature in a post the
other day and he quickly replied himself. He apparently has a CompuSp=
end
account and is decoding our transmissions with the help of the NSA.
So...I figure if you want a quick answer from the horses mouth, you
need to make some disparaging comment about the horse he rode in on.:=
)

-> I just wish you could adjust the spline
-> visually so you would know it's effect more precisely - but that's
-> not the Impulse way, I guess.

er...um...you need Lightwave for that. coff,coff. Look out, INCOMING!


Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 00:32:41
Subject: RE: Slice
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Slice is much improved in V3.1.


Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 00:52:44
Subject: Particles
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Shinobi,

I don't suppose your particles program will allow objects to detect
each other?

What I really need is the ability to roll a sphere into another
sphere and have it carom away like a billiard ball or roll a
sphere down "stairs" and have it "bounce" downward. You CAN do this
stuff w/Real 3D, but I much prefer Imagine in so many other ways.




Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 01:04:49
Subject: Follow path (like a train does).
From:    Shane Davison <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Holiday greetings to everyone on the IML,

I've wondering the following for a very long time:
How do I get a bunch of objects to follow a path
similar to "follow-the-leader" ?  I have Imagine 3.1
for the PC and I used to use Turbo Silver.  In TS,
this was very easy using something called Story or
Follow-me or something like that.

How do I do this in Imagine (or in general) ?
I've called Impulse and the person told me to
use associate (don't think this is what I want)
or conform-to-path (couldn't get it to work on
a group of objects).  Any ideas would be
much appreciated.

Thanks and have a *merry* Xmas !!

Shane Davison
[e-mail]

p.s.  Please reply to me directly or CC me when you send to the list.
I want to join the IML as soon as I read all the archives (I'm on #46).



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 01:20:42
Subject: RE: IMAGINE L/T and the continuous upgrade
From:    Stethem Ted 5721 <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




>"50 Million Users Won't Be Wrong"

   I saw this ad and misread it at first also.  It doesn't mean there are 50
million Imagine users.  This is Impulse's way of saying that they would like
to see the entire base of MS-DOS machine users become Imagine users
(approximately 80 million MS-DOS machines in the world currently but that
includes XT and other configurations not really powerful enough to run
Imagine).


Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 01:35:01
Subject: Re: Problem with bones.
From:    Jon Bagge <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




On Sun, 18 Dec 1994 [e-mail] wrote:

>         If I'm visualizing this right, it doesn't sound like bones
>         is the way to go.  But if you insist, you might try joining
>         or merging the two bars making up the arm into a single
>         object, if you haven't, and see if that makes it easier.

Don't think that would work.  Because the parallel bars rotate around
different axes.

I could just rotate things manually, creating alot of states, and than
use that for animation.  But I though it might make things easier if I
could have imagine do all the work for me.

Then the number of effective joints would be reduced to three.  Like an
arm.  One shoulder-joint, one elbow-joint, and one hand-joint.

Now, as far as I can remember, I have 17 axes to work on.  *sigh*

:-Jon



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 01:46:39
Subject: ------=> Sorry NO Subject!
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> ...
> Intel told us only the (slower) original models are
> affected.  The design of the P90 required some
> changes to reduce the already excessive heat buildup
> in the chip which is when the problem was found.
> This jibes with the Pentiums in the office.  The 90s
> are OK, but the slower ones fail the test.
> ...

My boss received his P90 last Thursday and it tested positive
for the FDIV bug!


Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 04:03:53
Subject: Re: Bear Facts
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Can you say SGI!

  This was obviously the work of some very powerful machines.  It was
amazingly well done, and made me drool.  If only Imagine could...


Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 07:22:35
Subject: Re: Rendering Benchmarks
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I would include the following elements, which are certainly used by most
serious users -- and they're the ones most affected by rendering time
differences. Complex textures, brushes certainly. I would like to see
the same scene rendered twice, once for trace and once for scanline.
Memory should not be tight; I suggest at least 20% free RAM at the
moment when Imagine's at its greediest, to avoid any weirdness that
might occur if memory became tight enough to cause some kind of
swapping/thrashing, but not tight enough that you'd run out and cause
Imagine to put up an error message. Rendering a frame where objects are
between two states would help, since one omnipresent feature of Imagine
is the way it lets you interpolate any parameter. Image quality
parameters, such as EDLE and RDSP, could be left at their default values.

Comments?



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 07:27:41
Subject: Re: Re:Rendering Times
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Mon, 19 Dec 1994, Ducharme, Alain: FOB wrote:

> On the Amiga side, the
> user, or any other program, can eat CPU cycles in the background doing
> anything from running another complex program to copying files or simply
> moving the mouse pointer.  To have a correct comparative time on the Amiga,
> users would have to make sure that no other program is running such as
> clocks, background utilities or whatever else and that the user do nothing
> while the render takes place.

I agree, but let's face it -- the fact that a small fraction of Amiga
CPU time is lost to "background noise"-type activities, i.e. unavoidable
tasks, can simply be redefined as the Amiga baseline standard, much like
darkness in the joke about burnt lightbulbs and Microsoft engineers.

Our benchmark could simply use idle Amigas, and leave it at that. The
fact that someone has an extra menu-bar clock wouldn't make that much
difference, compared to that hot Pentium 90 next door.



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 07:52:21
Subject: Any one with 3.1...
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



      Quick one...

      I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, funds permitting, but in the
interim. Is the Forms Editor Zone Set function fixed in 3.1?

      And just a random comment... Guess what happens when you group a
series of objects back to the original parent? Try it... I would have expected
some form of error message.

      As for my input on a common platform render test... Why not something
like the 4 x 3 grid of twelve "boxes" each sporting a nifty texture ala
another piece of software we all know? The only thing missing here is the
shadow casting. Add a ground...
      Facts are, for a true benchmark you'd have to have many different
types of scenes ranging from the very simple to the very complex.

      Paul, about your Particle Generator. Great idea. Questions. Will your
particles stick? For example, if your emitter is moving will the particles
always move with the emitter? Or, once the particles fall will they be
considered totally separate? Will the fallen particles stick to the ground? Is
there a ground?
      Along the same lines... Are you including bouncing abilities? If so,
will walls be included?

      Happy holidays everyone...

                                                              J.---->

E-Mail: [e-mail]



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 10:54:46
Subject: Re:Filter Maps with Imagine 2.0
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>
> >     I am having problems getting the filter map setting to have any effect
> snip..
> >  My brush is a 1-bit iff image; in which the colors are black 000
> > and a light grey AAA.  I want the black areas to be opaque and the grey
> > areas to be almost completely transparent.  Most of the brush is grey, yet
> > when I render the scene, the object is completely opaque and retains the
> > color indicated by its color slider.  What am I doing wrong?
>
 Well, you might try turning your grey up to a brighter value, or set the
 Full Scale Value in the brushes requester to a lower number, by setting
 it lower you are basically setting the values of grey that will become
 tranparent. If you have Full Scale Value at 255 right now then that is
 what is the color grey (white) that you will need to get full tranparancy.

 So for something slightly filtered you could set your maps color grey to say
 127,127,127 and your Full Scale Value at maybe 190. This is a geuss as I
 haven't tried these figures, I would suggest you play with it to see for
 yourself how this works.

  And one thing to note is that the lower you do make the
 Full Scale Value (FSV), the less colors of grey you have to play
 with for smooth gradient filter maps. So if this is important, its better
 to keep your tranparent colors bright on your maps and the FSV at a
 higher number..so you could just leave the FSV alone and make your
 brushwrap transparent colors brighter. This would depend on just what it
 is your doing...

 Oh and I believe you said you did this, but just in case you didn't.
 Make sure you also select the Filter Button in the brush requester. And
 as a last ditch effort on my part set the  RSDP (resolve depth) in the
 prefrence editor to a number at least above 2 or 3, depending on how many
 filters your working with you may need it even higher.

 Well, Hope this helps get that Gremlin.

 =RRW=







Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 11:27:15
Subject: Re: Follow path (like a train does).
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> I've wondering the following for a very long time:
> How do I get a bunch of objects to follow a path
> similar to "follow-the-leader" ?  I have Imagine 3.1
> for the PC and I used to use Turbo Silver.  In TS,
> this was very easy using something called Story or
> Follow-me or something like that.
>
> How do I do this in Imagine (or in general) ?
> I've called Impulse and the person told me to
> use associate (don't think this is what I want)
> or conform-to-path (couldn't get it to work on
> a group of objects).  Any ideas would be
> much appreciated.

Well, I found when making a monorailtrain for a project that making the
whole monotrain with engine and cars as one large group worked GREAT! You
will need to make sure your axis for each object of the group are set in
the proper locations for each object to follow correctly. They don't need
to be in the same  position but X and Z probably sould be (depending on
the group and just what it is your trying to do) but for my train it was
this way. I then aligned the Y axis for all the objects in the direction
I wanted the train and cars to go.

I loaded in the track which I made from the path I
wanted the train to follow, then loaded the path and train_group.

Now the fun part to make them all follow along the path set the train up
to follow the path you have loaded. BUT to make sure they all follow
correctly you will need to set Conform Group to Path..This should work
fine, and if at some time one object needs to break loose then its time
for some keyframing and well a lot of work. But it can all be done with
very nice results..

Oh and for them little walkways between the trains, that flex as it goes
around corners..well to simulate that. Make these a seperate object of
its own..not grouped but joined.. basically make one and copies for the
rest and then move them into positiion between the cars and join them into
one object.. Make sure your axis is correct to follow the path (it should be
the same as the parent of your Grouped train. Its best to build this
while you are building the rest of the train so that everything will match
up when you put them all together on the path. But make sure you save the
train group and Walkways object seperatley.

Now for the walkways to flex as the train goes around curves just set it to
follow the same path as the train and set its alignment to Conform Object
to Path..

I did this and it works GREAT! I was really impressed with the results
and have got to give Impulse the Thumbs Up on these features..

Anyways this went longer than it should have, but I hope it will direct
you to the solution you need, I believe it will...

=RRW=



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 19:04:47
Subject: RE: IMAGINE L/T
From:    [e-mail] (Perry Lucas)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>->         Come on, stop giving Impulse such a hard time, no-one can wri
>-> documentation that bad, for such a large number of years unless there
>-> good reason for it. Obviously they just want to encourage cross ferti
>-> ideas within this forum.
>
>Yeah, well, I remember one of their manuals was so vague that they
>encouraged you to "experiment" to find out how everything worked. No
>LIE. :)

<snip>

I think I still have Imagine 1.0 manuals around here somewhere.  All 20 pages of

of both books. :P

--Perry



                         _,_/|
                         \o.O;
        +-----------oOO =(___)= OOo-----------+
        |Perry Lucas       U     [e-mail]|
        |"PJ" on Diversity University Inc.    |
        |        Telnet: moo.du.org 8888      |
        | http://erau.db.erau.edu:80/~lucasp  |
        +-------------------------------------+



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 20:10:49
Subject: Moving axis
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



I've been converting a lot of 3DS and DXF objects from 3D Studio into
Imagine format. Many objects have multiple meshes (objects). The prob=
lem
is, sometimes the Axis for each object is occasionally too far from t=
he
object or objects themselves. My question is, is there a way to reloc=
ate
multiple axises at once? I've tried the Multi mode, and it only picks=
 up
one axis at a time. It would be nice to move all of them at once.

Mike


Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 20:14:56
Subject: IMAGINE
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> Yes, 3.3, not the next update.  <g>  I don't work for Impulse, but=
 ha
-> "working" relationship them.  I oversea an Imagine User Group sect=
ion
-> Compuserve, and help in answering questions in one of the Impulse =
ven

Ahhh... so you're kinda like the "big brother" that steps in and keep=
s
the neighborhood kids from throwing rocks at Impulse Kids down the
block? Ok, but one of these days, you'll be at the Movies or somethin=
g,
and I'll have my dirt clod ready! :)

-> Mike grumpy?  Nah.....!  <g>  He's a great guy, and if you speak t=
o h
-> expecting a regular down to earth guy who doesn't pull punches whe=
n h
-> with you, then you won't be dissapointed.

That's one of the best euphemisms GRUMP I've ever heard. ...bravo! <g=
>

Mike

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Wednesday, 21 December 1994 20:56:01
Subject: IMAGINE TEXTURE PLAYGROUN
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: [e-mail]
-> Date: Wed, 21 Dec 94 02:43:00 UTC
-> I think it's great that Mike Halvorson gets this list forwarded an=
d
-> responds when he can. Sure, we've all been frustrated with Impulse=
 at
-> times, but by now this program is pretty cool. And I, for one, am
-> glad to see Impulse continuing its support for the Amiga.

Yep, you're right. But I've found the best/quickest way to see all
the fish in the lake is to throw in a stick of dynamite. Now that
I've done that....know who's listening...I can get down to business.:=
)

My biggest problem over the years has not been so much with Imagine, =
but
with the manuals. I have to admit, their 3.0 manual was far in away t=
he
best one. It just didn't have enough specific details on certain
functions.

=2E..and so, the IML!

Mike

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 03:20:07
Subject: Re: Re:Rendering Times
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> On the Amiga side, the
> user, or any other program, can eat CPU cycles in the background doing
> anything from running another complex program to copying files or simply
> moving the mouse pointer.  To have a correct comparative time on the Amiga,

> users would have to make sure that no other program is running such as
> clocks, background utilities or whatever else and that the user do nothing
> while the render takes place.



  It is not just Amiga's that have extra things running.  PC can have a
multitude of different configurations.  This benchmark should only give an
indication of performance, not the definative speed index.  Perhaps we could
do as many as possible and then average all the times from the same machnes?


Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 12:38:00
Subject: Re: Bear Facts ( Trees & Hair)
From:    Bush Doktor <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Tue, 20 Dec 1994, Brad Molsen wrote:

>         To all, I was watching football this weekend and saw the latest
> Coca Cola commercial with the polar bears moving the Christmas tree. Last
> year one of the readers on the list was involved in making the bear
> animation. This years is much better, the bottom of the coke bottles don't
> disappear when the bears take a sip as they did last year. Although the
> bears are great, I can't help but wonder about the Christmas tree. How was
> that done? How big of a file was it. Theres been much talk of late on the
> list regarding trees and their creation. If someone involved with this
> animation is still on the list perhaps they could give us some facts about
> it. Quite impressive!

     I've been trying since the new imagine came out to get hair that
looks reasonable when zoomed in on it.  Still nothing that's feasible
to use and the objects size as wild.



Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 18:44:00
Subject: Re: Moving axis
From:    Douglas Rudd <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>
>
> I've been converting a lot of 3DS and DXF objects from 3D Studio into
> Imagine format. Many objects have multiple meshes (objects). The problem
> is, sometimes the Axis for each object is occasionally too far from the
> object or objects themselves. My question is, is there a way to relocate
> multiple axises at once? I've tried the Multi mode, and it only picks up
> one axis at a time. It would be nice to move all of them at once.
>
> Mike
>
>
> Email: [e-mail]
> BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
> ---
>  _ InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]
>
My experience with 3DS objects is that those axes are things like cameras
and lights that have no meaning in Imagine. Check this out with find. The axis

that is off and away from the rest will likely have no points associated
with it. You can delete these axes with no effect on the rest of the object.
You will need to ungroup the thing first, as the null axis is almost
always the parent.


Doug Rudd
[e-mail]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Amiga Guide to the Galaxy refers to Commodore's management as
"A bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first to be lined up
against the wall and shot when the revolution comes."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They will get my Amiga from me when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 19:41:00
Subject: Wish List
From:    Douglas Smith


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello !

        The camera positioning in 3.0 is quite nice. Having a camera view is
great, and being able to use the buttons on the perspective view to move the
camera - nicely done Impulse. I like being able to aim the camera, then see
the
camera lines moving to track an object as I shift the camera position.

        What I would like is a light view implemented in the same way, o.k. you
would need some way of picking which light to move, but that shouldn't be too
difficult.

        How about it Impulse ??



+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
|Douglas E.F. Smith     |
[e-mail]|
+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
|A4000/30 2+4 214       | "If I was organised, I'd be dangerous"
|
+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
|My employer is not responsible for my opinions; I`m not supposed to have them
|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+





Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 20:05:00
Subject: Benchmarking
From:    Douglas Smith


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


The response to my initial post has been quite interesting.

Two clear issues have emerged.

        o benchmarking across platforms

        o benchmarking Imagine features

        Benchmarking across platforms is what I initially had in mind, and to
obtain a good benchmark, we need a reference scene that reflects a typical
job.
I'm still slogging along the learning curve, so I am requesting information as

to what a typical job contains.
        As to whether this information should go in the FAQ, it is interesting,
but not particularly useful - it shows you where you are, but you are still
there at the end of it.

        Benchmarking features is a seperate task, and a very important one.
Putting this info in the FAQ is a good idea, it will show users which features

to exploit/avoid to get the best render times. I would assume that the
relative
performance would not vary greatly across platforms, after all it should be
the
same code .... obviously this could do with checking.

        I am offering to coordinate the benchmarking across platforms, if
someone else will manage the features stuff.

        I feel this sort of thing is where the benefits of the IML really show
up, and I'm quite pleased with the level of interest shown, so send me your
comments and ideas as to what a typical job should contain. Remember if you
don't contribute, you can't critisize the benchmark later.


Doug.




+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
|Douglas E.F. Smith     |
[e-mail]|
+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
|A4000/30 2+4 214       | "If I was organised, I'd be dangerous"
|
+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
|My employer is not responsible for my opinions; I`m not supposed to have them
|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+





Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 22:18:00
Subject: Re: Bear Facts
From:    Mike McCool <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Brad, et al,

        The guy who makes these fabulous bear commercials is Steve
Ziolkowski (god, I hope I haven't screwed up the spelling), and
he works for Rhythm and Hues, down in Tinsel Town.  He ain't on this list
anymore, but I forwarded him your post.  I still hear from him now and
then.

        That dorky program, How Did They Do That, actually featured the
Rhythm Galoots on a show about those very bear commercials.  Naturally I
missed it, but apparently they showed how they used actual doods, Steve
among them, rollerblading around in the parking lot, to set up the bears-
on-skates routine.




Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 22:47:00
Subject: Imagine under Windows '95
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


This is a question for us Imagine DOS users.

I understand Windows '95 has eliminated DOS (so they say) and all DOS
applications need to be run under Windows DOS emulation. If this is the
case will Imagine be modified to run under this environment?

Does anyone know if Windows '95 will have a dual boot system like OS/2?

Which brings me to my next question. Does Imagine run under OS/2's DOS
emulation? Or do you need to "dual boot" OS/2 into DOS mode to run it?
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Thursday, 22 December 1994 23:34:00
Subject: RE: MOVING AXIS
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> How do you convert 3DS objects to Imagine?  I have been wanting to=
 do
-> quite a while, but can't justify the $500 expense to buy a 3D obje=
ct
-> have seen quite a few nice 3DS objects on the I-net, but don't hav=
e a
-> convert them to Imagine format.  I have found converters that will=
 co
-> any info you have on this.

You aren't gonna like the answer. I have 3D Studio rel. 3  I just sav=
e
the objects off as DXF files, then read them into Imagine 3.1

What I would like to have is a 3DS to DXF batch converter. Then I can
get rid of 3DS altogether.

Mike

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 00:29:00
Subject: SanyoGVR-S950/FrED/ADPro
From:    Kenneth Jennings <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Hey, I've written an Arexx script for the
Art Department Professional's Frame
Editor (FrED) that lets ADPro/Fred run
the Sanyo GVR-S950 single frame deck.
It functions as a FrED saver.

I've also got a FrED saver script to save
ADPro's image data to a Toaster DV buffer.
It will (according to the user's wishes)
scale the image data to fit the toaster
frame page or center it on a backdrop.

Anyone interested??


+-------------------------------------++-------------------------------------+
|   Kenneth Jennings, Amiga Advocate  || ====== Equine Video Studios  ====== |
|  "Happy I'm not a PC/Mac lemming."  || ======  & SyntheToonz, Inc.  ====== |
|       [e-mail]      || >>>>>>>> Lynn, Video Maven <<<<<<<< |
| Applied Automation Techniques, Inc. || > Ken, Computer Animation Artiste < |
|  Obviously not the opinions of AAT. || >>>>>>> Bruno The Wonder Dog <<<<<< |
+-------------------------------------++-------------------------------------+
"You'd think that PC and Mac users willing to gut their systems to achieve the
 Amiga's level of performance would just save themselves the trouble and buy
 Amigas in the first place. But they don't know any better -- they read BYTE."




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 02:02:00
Subject: DXF objects
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Oh, and if anyone without an Internet account is looking for Imagine
objects either in native Imagine or DXF format, I'm gathering quite a
collection. Call GraFX Haus BBS and look in the 3D objects file secti=
on.

I generally convert most new objects into DXF format, so I don't have=
 to
make two different versions for Imagine and 3DS users.

If you'd like to horse trade objects, I'd be happy to attach your obj=
ect
requests to Email messages for exchanges. Just attach a DXF or Imagin=
e
object and Email me direct. I can Email you back the current list of
objects I have so far. (right now I'm limited to attached files no
bigger than 500k).

Mike

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 02:41:00
Subject: Re: Imagine under Windows '95
From:    Sharky <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, 22 Dec 1994, Mike Vandersommen wrote:

>=20
> This is a question for us Imagine DOS users.
>=20
> I understand Windows '95 has eliminated DOS (so they say) and all DOS
> applications need to be run under Windows DOS emulation. If this is the
> case will Imagine be modified to run under this environment?
>=20
> Does anyone know if Windows '95 will have a dual boot system like OS/2?
>=20
> Which brings me to my next question. Does Imagine run under OS/2's DOS
> emulation? Or do you need to "dual boot" OS/2 into DOS mode to run it?
> ---
>  =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]
>=20

Aloha and Holiday Greetings From Hawaii!
Previous postings I've seen on CompuServe regarding Imagine imply that=20
Imagine 4.0 should be able to run under windows 95 (not necessarily be a=20
Windows 95 application) when it is released.  With all the delays of W95=20
from MS, I hope it gives the gang at Impulse the time they need to work=20
on whatever goodies they have planned for us!

Shameless Plug: Come visit Hawaii! I've got some pics and stuff on my=20
home page and everyone's welcome to come sit a spell. If you look in the=20
3d Modelling Notes link under Steve Blackmon you'll find a spiffy set of=20
his PC textures and a sample image. I'll probably put more samples up=20
during the holidays, but contributions of imaages, objects, or pointers to=
=20
your home pages are welcome!

Mele Kalikimaka Imagineers and Lurking Impulsers!

Sharky

[e-mail]/CIS#70614,2011 __   v  Home Page : http://aloha.com/~shark=
y
WebSurfer & Fun Guy,Funky    __/  \ >*< Hawaii Related Links and Etcetera's
WWW Page Designs,       ____/    ) | ^  3D Modelling & Animation Art,Object=
s,
Tech. Planning  /\_____/          } \   NOTE:Pages still under construction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(_________ALOHA!_______)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~ =20
                     =20

  =20




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 03:18:00
Subject: Re: MOVING AXIS
From:    [e-mail] (Silicon)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

> What I would like to have is a 3DS to DXF batch converter. Then I can
> get rid of 3DS altogether.

Ok, I guess it is time to announce it.

I am writing a 3DS to Imagine object converter, which will also double
as an object viewer for both file types.  It is half way done, and I
hope it will be ready within a next month.  Once it is out, you wo't
have to worry about those DXF files anymore. :)

Andrey




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 09:52:00
Subject: Water and Magic Wands in IM31
From:    Alan Gordie <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi All and Happy Holidays!!!
*<:)

i have a problem...duh!   #1
i'm doing this aquarium/fish bowl thing.  i made two objects with refraction
and scaled the second to fit snuggly into the first, you know, making the
fish bowl out of "glass"...anyway, there are fish and things in the bowl,
which looks ok as long as the camera is outside and even with the tank...

here's the problem...
if the camera is INSIDE the bowl there is no water...
How do i make a good water effect?

problemo #2...

particles to use as the sparkles coming from the tip of a waving magic wand,
when i wave the wand with a subgroup of particles on the tip, the particles
move with the wand...

How do you get the particles to just fall on the 'ground' and stay there
while the object still moves?

if anybody can help a fellow 6-month imagine veteran out, it would be
graciously accepted...

thanks to all and to all a goodnight





Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 18:40:00
Subject: MERRY CHRISTMAS
From:    [e-mail] (Mattias Hallberg)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi!

I just wan't to wish you all a very merry christmas!

/M. Hallberg



Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 18:50:00
Subject: RE: MOVING AXIS
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>
>-> How do you convert 3DS objects to Imagine?  I have been wanting to do
>-> quite a while, but can't justify the $500 expense to buy a 3D object
>-> have seen quite a few nice 3DS objects on the I-net, but don't have a
>-> convert them to Imagine format.  I have found converters that will co
>-> any info you have on this.
>
>You aren't gonna like the answer. I have 3D Studio rel. 3  I just save
>the objects off as DXF files, then read them into Imagine 3.1
>
>What I would like to have is a 3DS to DXF batch converter. Then I can
>get rid of 3DS altogether.
>
>Mike
>
 Pretty expensive file converter; ever thought about using the file converter
from syndesis
(approximately $150 includes a CD-ROM with about 500 objects) It translates
3Ds to
Imagine; so you don't have to deal with DXF files (and lose all info on colors
etc...)

Hi-Lo





Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 19:09:00
Subject: RE: DXF objects
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>Oh, and if anyone without an Internet account is looking for Imagine
>objects either in native Imagine or DXF format, I'm gathering quite a
>collection. Call GraFX Haus BBS and look in the 3D objects file section.
>
>I generally convert most new objects into DXF format, so I don't have to
>make two different versions for Imagine and 3DS users.
>
>If you'd like to horse trade objects, I'd be happy to attach your object
>requests to Email messages for exchanges. Just attach a DXF or Imagine
>object and Email me direct. I can Email you back the current list of
>objects I have so far. (right now I'm limited to attached files no
>bigger than 500k).
>
>Mike

I'll be calling today. However; people without Internet accounts will not read
this message.
I take it you mean people without ftp.

Hi-Lo





Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 20:00:00
Subject: Re: MOVING AXIS
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>> What I would like to have is a 3DS to DXF batch converter. Then I can
>> get rid of 3DS altogether.
>
>Ok, I guess it is time to announce it.
>
>I am writing a 3DS to Imagine object converter, which will also double
>as an object viewer for both file types.  It is half way done, and I
>hope it will be ready within a next month.  Once it is out, you wo't
>have to worry about those DXF files anymore. :)
>
>Andre

I'm definitely interested in that. I use syndesis right now which is a pretty
good converter.
However I can't set the program up to run in batch mode . (to translate say a
whole
CD-ROM to Imagine overnight.) Please try to put color information and grouping

hierarchies into the translation.

Hi-Lo





Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 20:22:00
Subject: RE: Imagine under Windows '95
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>This is a question for us Imagine DOS users.
>
>I understand Windows '95 has eliminated DOS (so they say) and all DO=
S
>applications need to be run under Windows DOS emulation. If this is =
the
>case will Imagine be modified to run under this environment?
>
>Does anyone know if Windows '95 will have a dual boot system like OS=
/2?
>
>Which brings me to my next question. Does Imagine run under OS/2's D=
OS
>emulation? Or do you need to "dual boot" OS/2 into DOS mode to run i=
t?
>---
> =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]

If win 95 would not have a dual boot feature it would take only one a=
pp to not run under it=20
and I wouldn't be able to use it. I don't think Mr. Gates is that stu=
pid. I do hope that it will=20
be more foolproof than the setup of OS/2 which used to be a nightmare=
 untill warp.

Imagine does NOT run under DOS emulation. this is a problem. I heard =
that Impulse was=20
thinking about porting Imagine to NT. That would be a pity as I consi=
der OS/2 to be clearly=20
superior for workstations. (not for servers; NT no matter how people =
bitch is actually the=20
best operating system for a mission critical server; and I'm from a N=
OVELL background.)

Hi-Lo






Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 20:53:00
Subject: 3DS to Imagine format
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> From: [e-mail] (Curtis White)
-> I am a programmer by trade and would be willing to write a batch c=
onv
-> find out the format of the 3DS files.  Do you have this format?  I=
 th
-> Imagine users out there could benefit greatly from something like =
thi
-> course I would release it to the public domain.  Please let me kno=
w.

It sure would be nice. Unfortunately, I have no idea. But someone
already posted that they are working on such a program, so I assume h=
e
has the format.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 21:01:00
Subject: Re: MOVING AXIS
From:    [e-mail] (Silicon)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

> I'm definitely interested in that. I use syndesis right now which is a
pretty good converter.
> However I can't set the program up to run in batch mode . (to translate say
a whole
> CD-ROM to Imagine overnight.) Please try to put color information and
grouping
> hierarchies into the translation.

The shareware version will be only command-line driven.  It will take
a 3DS file and translate all objects in it into one object in Imagine
format. I don't know if I will add batch conversion to it.

The registered version, however, can be used both ways: command-line
and graphics interface.  In registered version, you will definitely be
able to batch-convert. It will also translate a 3DS file into one file with
grouped objects or put each object into its own file. In the viewer,
you will be able to open a file, look at each object (or all objects),
rotate them, use SOLID preview, maybe even do a quick scanline render
(I don't know about that one yet).  You will be able to view both
formats, 3DS and Imagine.

I hope that answers your questions. If you have any others, please,
let me know them.

Andrey




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 21:21:00
Subject: Great 3D FTP site
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Just in case this isn't common knowledge, there is a great FTP site
for 3D stuff. Lots of objects in just about EVERY format. In additon =
to
utilities.

It's called Avalon China Lake.

avalon.chinalake.navy.mil


Does anyone have any other sites (besides AmiNet)?

Mike-

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 21:36:00
Subject: 3DS to Imagine format
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> From: [e-mail] (Silicon)
-> Ok, I guess it's time to announce it.
->
-> I am writing a 3DS to imagine converter, which will also double as=
 a
-> viewer for both kinds of objects.  It is half way done, and I hope=
 it
-> will be ready within the next month.  Once it is out, you won't ha=
ve
-> to worry anymore about those DXF files. :)

Oh, Bless you sir! That's the perfect Imagineer Christmas gift. Let u=
s
know when you have it ready. I've already got a buyer lined up for my=
 3D
Studio. I'm only keeping it now for 3DS conversions. :)

PS. I'm almost afraid to ask this....but in what format are you
developing this program? Please say DOS...or Amiga AND DOS.
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 21:41:00
Subject: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: Peter Bugla <[e-mail]>
-> Hi!
->
-> Can you direct me to the program you used to convert between 3ds a=
nd
-> imagine file-formats (or have you (successfully) used the dxf in/o=
ut
-> functions?)? Have you tried it in both directions?

Sure. Just pick up a copy of the incredibly overpriced 3D Studio from
AutoDesk. It saves out it's objects to DXF format that Imagine 3.1 no=
w
reads beautifully. It'll only cost you about $3000!

Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't mean
there isn't one out there.

Mike-

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 22:11:00
Subject: IMAGINE
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: "Steve McLaughlin" <[e-mail]>
->
-> Hi, I saw you have both 3d studio and imagine, In what ways is ima=
gin
-> better than 3ds? (if any) and in what ways is 3ds better than imag=
ine
-> Thanks for your time!  I saw the 3ds demo and was impressed on how=
 si
-> they make it look.

Ooh, gee. I'm a bad one to ask. I got a "too good of deal to pass up"=
 on
Rel. 3 and have only tinkered with it. I was disappointed to discover
that it is NOT a real raytracer, like Imagine. Stuff we take for gran=
ted
in raytrace mode (like reflections) you have to do relection map on 3=
DS.
It has a KILLER Material editor. It works similar to one I saw at
WaveFront Technologies once. You can tweek your materials, maps,
bumpmaps etc. with all sorts of bells and whistles, dials and things
that go whirrr. Then preview it in a little preview window spheres or
box objects. 3DS has all sorts of 3rd party effects and plug ins, whi=
ch
is nice. Animation, I am told by other 3DS users that call my board, =
is
quite easy....but as yet have no hands on experience.

Personally, I prefer Imagine. Not so much because it's BETTER (that's
purely subjective)...but because I'm approaching middle age and I'm
starting to get set in my ways. I'm leaning on "old familiar ways".
Dollar for Dollar, however, Imagine is the best deal around! If I wer=
e
just starting out, and had to choose between 3DS at $3000 and Imagine=
 at
$695.....well, as they say, YOU DO THE MATH. :)

ps. I've been told, 3DS rel. 4 still does not do REAL raytracing. FWI=
W
Mike-


Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 22:12:00
Subject: RE: IMAGINE UNDER WINDOWS
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> From: Sharky <[e-mail]>
->
-> Aloha and Holiday Greetings From Hawaii!
-> Previous postings I've seen on CompuServe regarding Imagine imply =
tha
-> Imagine 4.0 should be able to run under windows 95 (not necessaril=
y b
-> Windows 95 application) when it is released.  With all the delays =
of
-> from MS, I hope it gives the gang at Impulse the time they need to=
 wo
-> on whatever goodies they have planned for us!

Thanks for the info. I hope you are right.....

-> Shameless Plug: Come visit Hawaii! I've got some pics and stuff on=
 my
-> home page and everyone's welcome to come sit a spell. If you look =
in

Next time I'm on RAIN, I'll come visit. Thanks.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 22:13:00
Subject: RE: IMAGINE UNDER WINDOWS
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> blurr the distinction of the two.  I am supposedly on a beta list,=
 so
-> I'll get a copy eventually and be able to let you know if Imagine =
run

That would be helpful, since I don't know whether to commit to Window=
s
'95 (for my other apps) or go with OS/2. I want to make sure I can st=
ill
run Imagine DOS version. I don't want the OS/2 or Windows overhead to
get in my way.

-> No go under OS/2, as far as I remember.->

Is that NO GO under the OS/2 environment, or NO GO with DOS dual boot=
?

-> If they aren't working on a Windows version, then they are DEAD. T=
hat
-> the direction the DOS world is heading, so its curtians if they ar=
en'
->
-> [I have no relationship with Impulse other than I bought Imagine f=
rom
-> them.  These are JUST opinions...]

I don't care much if Imagine runs UNDER Windows, but I do want it to =
run
if I install Window's 95.
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Friday, 23 December 1994 23:12:00
Subject: RE: MOVING AXIS
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> My experience with 3DS objects is that those axes are things like =
cam
-> and lights that have no meaning in Imagine. Check this out with fi=
nd.
-> that is off and away from the rest will likely have no points asso=
cia
-> with it. You can delete these axes with no effect on the rest of t=
he
-> You will need to ungroup the thing first, as the null axis is almo=
st
-> always the parent.

No, these objects all are assigned to meshes. I was just wondering if
there was a way to multi-move a group of axises.
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]
=20
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MWX6C\DTC<821[7W*MM""2A)*D!G/C<(7LE7D=3DY?%MG&UON7>&*\TTVYHN_,;
M=3D[STHFEYY3+_T1/@],"4%6J,)<G#<5,6*8$JI$N@&EH9PE2V3H<:L$]VX@PD
MFW?H2G/R?1)VE;E*3Y_])/!0D^7H^J36PT),JN?ZI.YER4),L!;]$FS2D['T
M29:%:Y5NH_U2>!=3D;IG2?+9^J3Q^RGO?U28P+%,)?UE'8Z:J__UCS9JB?YN;Z
M)-I?II[W^O)^F_84L4[!"SS?R#V$F>ER`9,X7;3%Z<V$@)!L9E;U`]-,'?]:
M_O2C<X1H:HYX$IVD)PT#DP4V<)18U`PB8@A+=3D/^5A4(S#*,:EW6`I`]1!PV@
M$%=3D.GR.,=3DK+R&;2]$K*<VM_7I3*"T$<!<DSO0Z`CU[>_HMC@85ZAO;QUFN9\
M^K4>;1L$E28VU/DC%/]8[+V<6^[C^>2.6^\G(`+;&'*5D[S$R;Z9)GJWZ=3DSR
F.ZCWBPLTQ`S>3QS=3DR8\BIF;\4PQFJR]E;GX,+5-N1N12*[\_F`"9
``
end
=20




Date:    Saterday, 24 December 1994 08:02:00
Subject: RE: MOVING AXIS
From:    Robert Iacullo <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

try Pix 3DPro.

On Thu, 22 Dec 1994, Mike Vandersommen wrote:

>=20
>=20
> -> How do you convert 3DS objects to Imagine?  I have been wanting to do
> -> quite a while, but can't justify the $500 expense to buy a 3D object
> -> have seen quite a few nice 3DS objects on the I-net, but don't have a
> -> convert them to Imagine format.  I have found converters that will co
> -> any info you have on this.
>=20
> You aren't gonna like the answer. I have 3D Studio rel. 3  I just save
> the objects off as DXF files, then read them into Imagine 3.1
>=20
> What I would like to have is a 3DS to DXF batch converter. Then I can
> get rid of 3DS altogether.
>=20
> Mike
>=20
> Email: [e-mail]
> BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
> ---
>  =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]
>=20



Date:    Saterday, 24 December 1994 13:05:00
Subject: RE: DXF OBJECTS
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> From: Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>
->
-> I'll be calling today. However; people without Internet accounts w=
ill
-> I take it you mean people without ftp.

Well, it was my impression that the IML is being archived and
distributed around. Myself, I'm moving all the messages to a READ onl=
y
message section on my BBS. That's how I heard about it in the first
place, reading an archived IML session off a BBS somewhere.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Saterday, 24 December 1994 13:34:00
Subject: RE: MOVING AXIS
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> From: Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>
->  Pretty expensive file converter; ever thought about using the fil=
e c
-> (approximately $150 includes a CD-ROM with about 500 objects) It t=
ran
-> Imagine; so you don't have to deal with DXF files (and lose all in=
fo

I didn't originally get it for a file converter....it just worked out
that way. :)

As you can see, your message got chopped off. What is the name of the
3DS -> Imagine utility and CD you were refering to? Is if for DOS or
Amiga?

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Sunday, 25 December 1994 12:31:00
Subject: Animating States
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I was wondering if it is possible in Imagine 3.1 to morph on object i=
nto
another without it being exactly same object...only deformed in somew=
ay?

Example:
 I have a pine tree object group. It has tree objects to the group.

 1. The stalk
 2. The branches
 3. The pine needles

Is there a way or technique to animate the tree growing...or morphing
=66rom stalk to stalk with branches to stalk with branches and needle=
s?

I thought maybe STATES did it, but it isn't working that way. Am I
asking too much here? Does STATES only work with like object
transformations or movement?

Mike -


Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Sunday, 25 December 1994 20:10:00
Subject: Holiday greetings from Sweden
From:    [e-mail] (Goeran Ehrsson)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've just completed the longest rendering session in my
four years history with Imagine. 8days for one frame!
This project was planned to be a 100 frame animation.  :-)

For those of you with http access try:
http://www.abalon.se/~goran/cg/gallery/xmas94.html
I can't try it out myself (AMosaic crashes :-), but I hope it works OK.

It shows frame one of an animation with a well known (I think)
christmas decoration. It's four angels playing trumpets and spinning
round and round by the heat of four candles. And today I lightened the
candles on the real one that I looked at when I created the object.
And to my positive surprise I notised that the reflection that I thought
was wrong in Imagine shows up in the real world to!  :-)
It looks like a metal plate is transparent, showing the candle behind,
but it's a reflection from another candle.
I'm amazed by how good Imagine recreates the real world.

Happy Holidays and Happy Rendering!

- Goran

--
Email: [e-mail] (MIME compliant)
WWW  : http://www.abalon.se/~goran
EARTH: Goran Ehrsson, Abalon AB, Box 11129, 16111 BROMMA, SWEDEN
---------------------------------------------------------------------------



Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 05:30:00
Subject: Objects?
From:    [e-mail] (Bill Osuch)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can anyone suggest where I might be able to find a couple Star Trek objects?
Specifically, an old-style Klingon ship and the DS9 station. FTP, BBS,
whatever...

Arigato!
    Bill Osuch                |   I haven't lost touch with reality,
    [e-mail]          |   reality has lost touch with me....
    Semprini?                 |




Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 08:24:00
Subject: Buddha object
From:    [e-mail]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone know where I might find a DXF (or Imagine PC) object of a Buddha.
I've had no luck searching the Internet (that doesn't mean much as I'm
pretty much a newbe on the Net). Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Also is there some way to convert object for Amiga Imagine to PC image
(or DXF) format?

Have a Happy New Year!

Larry Jacobs
Tampa



Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 11:28:00
Subject: Re: Animating States
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

> I was wondering if it is possible in Imagine 3.1 to morph on object into
> another without it being exactly same object...only deformed in someway?

Imagine 3.1 will still only morph objects that have the same amount of
points and faces, sorry for the bad news..

> Example:
>  I have a pine tree object group. It has tree objects to the group.
>
>  1. The stalk
>  2. The branches
>  3. The pine needles
>
> Is there a way or technique to animate the tree growing...or morphing
> from stalk to stalk with branches to stalk with branches and needles?
>
> I thought maybe STATES did it, but it isn't working that way. Am I
> asking too much here? Does STATES only work with like object
> transformations or movement?

Actually you could probably use STATES for this, but you would have to
probably start out with your full tree and from that start to make the
needles, branches, and stalk shrink buy sizing and moving them each
individually....It would not be an easy effect to pull off, but I'm sure
with enough time and ram it could be done convincingly. And such an
effect would probably be worth such an effort.

I have done a similar effect but in a small scale version of a tree, just
to see how it worked..It came out OK but am sure if I had really devoted
time to it I could have really made it nice. But I was only seeing if it
was possible..and it was..

=RRW=





Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 14:00:00
Subject: Animating States
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D

Ok. I give up. What's the trick with animating STATES objects in the
Stage editor?

I've been messing around with STATES, and have gotten my object to
animate correctly while in the DETAIL editor. However, I cannot find =
an
example in the manual on how to use and get the same effect in the St=
age
Editor. I've keyframed a 3 STATE object via the Action Editor...and
figured out how to atleast make it do something. But the motion does
not come out the same way it did in the DETAIL editor.

Is there a FAQ tutorial on how to use STATES objects for animations
somewhere? Or would some good soul like to get me a quick crash cours=
e?

Any help or reference would be appreciated.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 15:32:00
Subject: Re: Objects?
From:    RIX JAMES <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



On Sun, 25 Dec 1994, Bill Osuch wrote:

> Can anyone suggest where I might be able to find a couple Star Trek objects?

> Specifically, an old-style Klingon ship and the DS9 station. FTP, BBS,
> whatever...

        There are two good places to obtain objects for Star Trek and
about every other type:

        Using the Internet and Lynx goto http://ftp.wustl.edu/~aminet
        Using the Phone: Studio Amiga [phone].

Knows the the multiverse as Gem Collector:
        Do you have a gem for me to collect?




Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 19:23:00
Subject: BUDDHA OBJECT
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


-> Anyone know where I might find a DXF (or Imagine PC) object of a B=
udd
-> I've had no luck searching the Internet (that doesn't mean much as=
 I'
-> pretty much a newbe on the Net). Any pointers would be much apprec=
iat

Don't know about a "Buddah" object, but you'll find lots of objects i=
n
DXF format at:

FTP site avalon.chinalake.navy.mil

Also, there are many Imagine objects on the AmiNet and it's mirrors
at FTP site wuarchive.wustl.edu (aminet/3dobj) or at GraFX Haus BBS,
805-683-1388

-> Also is there some way to convert object for Amiga Imagine to PC i=
mag
-> (or DXF) format?

Amiga Imagine objects are directly compatible with PC Imagine format.
So are attributes (by the way).
And if you have Imagine 3.1, the DXF format output (save) is excellen=
t.

Mike -
Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 19:47:00
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi Randy. Thanks for the response.

-> From: "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>
-> Imagine 3.1 will still only morph objects that have the same amoun=
t o
-> points and faces, sorry for the bad news..

Yes, after hours of futile effort I came to this conclusion already.

-> Actually you could probably use STATES for this, but you would hav=
e t
-> probably start out with your full tree and from that start to make=
 th
-> needles, branches, and stalk shrink buy sizing and moving them eac=
h
-> individually....

Hmmmm. Now that's a thought. Since there are three grouped objects,
stalk, branches and needles, maybe I could simply shrink the branches
and needles objects and save that as a STATE. I assume, of course,
STATES allows grouped object changes......yes, silly, of course.
Thanks. I'll try it.

-> I have done a similar effect but in a small scale version of a tre=
e,
-> to see how it worked..It came out OK but am sure if I had really d=
evo
-> time to it I could have really made it nice. But I was only seeing=
 if
-> was possible..and it was..

I was rightly disappointed, once I decided to play with STATES, on ho=
w
little it's functional use and implimentation was documented in the
manual. grrrr...

Mike -
Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]




Date:    Monday, 26 December 1994 20:15:00
Subject: Re: Objects?
From:    Julian Cook <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



My suggestion for the money is Studio Amiga. It's been mentioned in
AmigaWorld quite often. Several people from Amblin and Foundation imaging
are on the board. I've been on it for about 4 years and I've downloaded
tons of stuff.

I just paid a pretty modest fee for unlimited downloads forever.

Just give it a call at  817-557-2111 or 557-2112 for 2400 baud.

Happy Holidays to all you folks!

Julian

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
       //
      //       "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
  \\ //                                      Albert Einstein
   \X/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail]        Improved .sig under construction

On Sun, 25 Dec 1994, Bill Osuch wrote:

> Can anyone suggest where I might be able to find a couple Star Trek objects?

> Specifically, an old-style Klingon ship and the DS9 station. FTP, BBS,
> whatever...
>
> Arigato!
>     Bill Osuch                |   I haven't lost touch with reality,
>     [e-mail]          |   reality has lost touch with me....
>     Semprini?                 |
>



Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 04:49:00
Subject: Re: Buddha object
From:    [e-mail] (Curtis White)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>Anyone know where I might find a DXF (or Imagine PC) object of a Buddha.
>I've had no luck searching the Internet (that doesn't mean much as I'm
>pretty much a newbe on the Net). Any pointers would be much appreciated.
>


There are two great resources that I know of for Imagine objects.  One is
ftp to avalon.chinalake.navy.mil or one of its mirrors and the other is the
GraFX Haus BBS [phone].  Many Imagine objects on both.

>Also is there some way to convert object for Amiga Imagine to PC image
>(or DXF) format?


You don't have to convert Amiga Imagine objects for the PC.  The PC can
directly
read Amiga Imagine format object and vice-versa.  They are compatible.


>
>Have a Happy New Year!
>
>Larry Jacobs
>Tampa
>
>



Curt





Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 08:24:00
Subject: Re: Animating States
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> I've been messing around with STATES, and have gotten my object to
> animate correctly while in the DETAIL editor. However, I cannot find an
> example in the manual on how to use and get the same effect in the Stage
> Editor. I've keyframed a 3 STATE object via the Action Editor...and
> figured out how to atleast make it do something. But the motion does
> not come out the same way it did in the DETAIL editor.

OK Mike, I'll see if I can help some. This will be a crash course..

First add the first state buy adding the object to the first frame and
set the state in the State Name input area. If you want it to be animated
as in the Detail editor select the Discontinuous Knot button, and
deselect the Spline Interpolation.

Now for frames 2 to 10 (or whatever you want it to be) add the same State
object again, but now set in the State Name input area the name of your
next State in the object. Set Discontinuous Knot button, and deselect the
Spline Interpolation again for the same effect as in the Detail Editor.

Basically so far you have set your States to animate from your first State
to the Next in 10 frames..So to get the next State to animate just add
the object again and set the State and Discontinuous Knot button, and
deselect the Spline Interpolation button and set the frames for 11 to 20.

Now you should have a 20 frame animation of 3 States, State 1 Starts at
frame 1 and animates to State 2 in 9 frames and State 3 in 9 frames.

Also make sure you never use the Default State as this can cause you
problems in the States animation.

Well, this was for sure a crash course, but I think the main reason
you can't get the same effect as in the Detail Editor is you need to set
the Discontinuous Knot button, and deselect the Spline Interpolation
buttons..at least I believe this to be the reason?

Anyways hope it leads you in the right direction...

=RRW=







Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 14:19:00
Subject: Re: Animating States
From:    gregory denby <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hiya,
Mike, Randy's suggestions for animating states seems to be on target.
I've done much the same, but only for a single flower.  I had to rehearse
how the flower developed several times to get what I wanted.  Basically
it was just a deformed cone with about 48 radial sections, and six
vertical.  Likewise, I ran through the stem and leaves a few times.
Finally I joined the basic tiny shapes, and stretched and scaled etc
through six states.  I find it necessary to get everything just right
in one pass, because I have trouble altering states after they have been
defined. (it's just a method I'll have to work on, since sometimes I
get it, and other times I'm left trying to figure what I did out of
sequence.)
Also, I morphed a texture on the petals, so that the shape and color
developed as the blossom opened.
I'd suggest making one bunch of leaves and a branch, and see how that
works.  Then just copy them and arrange them as desired.

As a by the way, check out the RayTraceNews at wustl in /graphics/graphics/
ray/RTNews to see just how esoteric this field can get.  This includes
some work by our illustrious founder, S. Worley.

Bye for now,
Greg Denby
[e-mail]


To :            Mike Vandersommen <[e-mail]>
Cc:             [e-mail]
Bcc:
From:           "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>
Subj:           RE: ANIMATING STATES
Date:           Tuesday, December 27, 1994   08:50
Attach:
Certify:        N
Forwarded by:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>
> -> Imagine 3.1 will still only morph objects that have the same amount o
> -> points and faces, sorry for the bad news..
>
> Yes, after hours of futile effort I came to this conclusion already.

Well, thats to bad..But then I geuss we have all spent hours on testing
out ideas to only find them impossible, I'm usually happy if I can find
something else interesting in the process though.

> -> Actually you could probably use STATES for this, but you would have t
> -> probably start out with your full tree and from that start to make th
> -> needles, branches, and stalk shrink buy sizing and moving them each
> -> individually....
>
> Hmmmm. Now that's a thought. Since there are three grouped objects,
> stalk, branches and needles, maybe I could simply shrink the branches
> and needles objects and save that as a STATE. I assume, of course,
> STATES allows grouped object changes......yes, silly, of course.
> Thanks. I'll try it.

I'm sure you can do it if you spend enough time on it and make enough
States to make the Transition look smooth.

> -> I have done a similar effect but in a small scale version of a tree,
> -> to see how it worked..It came out OK but am sure if I had really devo
> -> time to it I could have really made it nice. But I was only seeing if
> -> was possible..and it was..
>
> I was rightly disappointed, once I decided to play with STATES, on how
> little it's functional use and implimentation was documented in the
> manual. grrrr...

Ya well, The manuals are more of a basic guide (very basic). And to find
out more you must dive right in and start experimenting on your own.. I
must admit that if Impulse made a manual that explained all the
possibilities of everything it would be one heck of a large manual..And I
for one don't mind the experimenting when I have the time to. But I would
like to see the manuals a bit more specific on some subjects..Anyways
They are much nicer than before and thats a good step in the right direction.

=RRW=




Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 18:06:53
Subject: RE: MOVING AXIS
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>As you can see, your message got chopped off. What is the name of the
>3DS -> Imagine utility and CD you were refering to? Is if for DOS or
>Amiga?
>
>Mike -
>
It's the syndesis 3D-ROM. It translates DXF; Wavefront; 3Ds; Imagine; Lightwave

Hi-Lo



Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 18:48:49
Subject: DXF
From:    [e-mail] (Perry Lucas)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



I have been using 3d Studio at school (since I can't bloody well afford
it myself.) and have trouble moving DXF objects to Imagine.  I save the
object in DXF Object in 3d Studio and then when loading it in imagine,
nothing but the axis appears when I load it.  What gives?  I am using
3d Studio release 3.0 at the school and Imagine 3.0 at home...Help....

--Perry



                         _,_/|
                         \o.O;
        +-----------oOO =(___)= OOo-----------+
        |Perry Lucas       U     [e-mail]|
        |"PJ" on Diversity University Inc.    |
        |        Telnet: moo.du.org 8888      |
        | http://erau.db.erau.edu:80/~lucasp  |
        +-------------------------------------+



Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 19:36:16
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: Bush Doktor <[e-mail]>
->    I've got the same problem, except I can't get it to work at
-> all in Stage.  If you find a good way to do it, please pass the in=
fo
-> along.

This is the kind of thing that ticks me off about Imagine. Meager
documentation of features. But that's old news.....

Anyway, after hours of frustrating "experimentation" here's how I
finally got it to work. If there's a better way, somebody let me know=
.

Let's say you have a simple bird object, and assume you've figured ou=
t
how to create STATES for the wings to flap (that's a whole other ball
game).

State 1  (wings in the up position)
State 2  (wings in the down position)
State 3  (wings in the original up position)

Let's say you create 30 frames and you want to wings to flap from up =
to
down to up again over that 30 frames.

1. Load the Bird Actor for frame 1 (Start Frame 1 - End Frame 1)
   In the State Name load "State 1"
2. Load the Bird Actor for frame 2 (Start Frame 2 - End Frame 16)
   In the State Name load "State 2"
3. Load the Bird Actor for frame 17 (Start Frame 17 - End Frame 30)
   In the State Name load "State 3"

Now, when you use the ANIMATE "make" preview command, your bird
wings should move up and down one cycle over the 30 frames.

Hope this helps. (I hate it when I gotta answer my own questions :> )


Mike -
Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 20:08:15
Subject: Re: DXF
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


[e-mail] wrote:

>"I have been using 3d Studio at school (since I can't bloody well >afford it
myself.) and have trouble moving DXF objects to Imagine. "
>......"nothing but the axis appears when I load it.  What gives?  I am
>using 3d Studio release 3.0 at the school and Imagine 3.0 at >home."

The 3.1upgrade to Imagine offers better DXF translation.  The one in 3.0
basically....sucks.  I've had great success with 3.1.  There are other neat
features to the upgrade as well.  I think the $100 for the upgrade program is
well worth it.

Happy Rendering!




Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 20:31:50
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>

-> > Yes, after hours of futile effort I came to this conclusion alre=
ady
->
-> Well, thats to bad..But then I geuss we have all spent hours on te=
sti
-> out ideas to only find them impossible, I'm usually happy if I can=
 fi
-> something else interesting in the process though.

Me...I'm just happy if I can get what's suppose to work, WORK! <g>

-> I'm sure you can do it if you spend enough time on it and make eno=
ugh
-> States to make the Transition look smooth.

I'll certainly give it a go, now that I have a better understanding o=
n
the limitations involved.


-> Ya well, The manuals are more of a basic guide (very basic). And t=
o f
-> out more you must dive right in and start experimenting on your ow=
n..

Yes, an Impulse common theme since Turbo Silver.....

-> must admit that if Impulse made a manual that explained all the
-> possibilities of everything it would be one heck of a large manual=
..A
-> for one don't mind the experimenting when I have the time to. But =
I w
-> like to see the manuals a bit more specific on some subjects..Anyw=
ays
-> They are much nicer than before and thats a good step in the right=
 di

I disagree here. I expect a program as complex as Imagine to at least
document and explain how to impliment a feature, even if it's only
a brief example. The 3.0 manual explains fairly well how to CREATE
STATES, but doesn't explain how to use them once created. You could g=
et
away with this with Amiga owners, since anyone who owned an Amiga and
bought a program like Imagine was enough of a propeller head to figur=
e
much of it out on their own. However, to cross over to the DOS platfo=
rm,
you better have good documentation or they will drop kick it out the
window! :)

That's probably why we haven't seen Steve Worley's "Understanding
Imagine 3.x" yet. He's probably still trying to figure out all the
goshdern functions himself. <g>

Mike -
Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 21:28:16
Subject: Re: MOVING AXIS
From:    Douglas Rudd <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>
> >As you can see, your message got chopped off. What is the name of the
> >3DS -> Imagine utility and CD you were refering to? Is if for DOS or
> >Amiga?
> >
> >Mike -
> >
> It's the syndesis 3D-ROM. It translates DXF; Wavefront; 3Ds; Imagine; Lightwav
e
>
> Hi-Lo
>
>
>
Are you sure you don't mean Interchange (by Syndesis). That is a 3D conversion
utility on the Amiga (being ported to windoz). The 3D-ROM (I thought) contained
objects in several formats but had no conversion utilities included (since it is

intended to be multi-platform).




Doug Rudd
[e-mail]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
:-) I think I'll write a letter to my congressman.

:-| A congressman has two ends: a sitting end and a thinking end;
and since his entire future depends on his seat, why bother friend....
------------------------------------------------------------------------



Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 22:13:50
Subject: Re: get help imagine
From:    Douglas Rudd <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> help
> /help
> /pdget help
> Hai! My name is REX. I am a Malaysia Chinese.
> Now study at China FuJian QianZhou HuaQiao University.
> Please send me help.
>
>

Help is as close as your local aminet. Look in gfx/3d for arc-43 to 52 or more.
These are the IML archives, which may help you out. Otherwise, you must ask a
specific question to get help on a specific topic. When you figure out what it
is you need help on, give IML a call, that's what it's here for. Enjoy.



Doug Rudd
[e-mail]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No matter how high or great the throne,

      that which sits on it is the same as your own.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 22:21:50
Subject: Re: DXF
From:    Douglas Rudd <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>
> I have been using 3d Studio at school (since I can't bloody well afford
> it myself.) and have trouble moving DXF objects to Imagine.  I save the
> object in DXF Object in 3d Studio and then when loading it in imagine,
> nothing but the axis appears when I load it.  What gives?  I am using
> 3d Studio release 3.0 at the school and Imagine 3.0 at home...Help....
>
> --Perry
>
The DXF import/export on Imagine prior to 3.1 is not very robust. IM31 fixed
all that - it is one of the most solid DXF file converters I've encountered.
Other than that, your only option is Interchange or Pixel 3D - if you're dos
bound, you will have to wait for Interchange (windoz), coming your way soon.



Doug Rudd
[e-mail]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Okay, let's take off your engineering hats, put on your management
hats and make the right decision".

                  Morton Thiekol, O-dark hundred, 28 January 1986
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Tuesday, 27 December 1994 23:13:45
Subject: RE: DXF
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>
>I have been using 3d Studio at school (since I can't bloody well afford
>it myself.) and have trouble moving DXF objects to Imagine.  I save the
>object in DXF Object in 3d Studio and then when loading it in imagine,
>nothing but the axis appears when I load it.  What gives?  I am using
>3d Studio release 3.0 at the school and Imagine 3.0 at home...Help....
>
>--Perry
I quite often need to scale my objects up quite a lot to be able to see
them. Also Imagine 3.1 has MUCH better DXF importing capabilities.

Hi-Lo




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 04:31:20
Subject: FAQ around somewhere??
From:    "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



I am trying to get up and running on 3.1, and I'm rather disappointed
with the manual.  (States animation: see stage editor chapter.
Stage editor chapter: You can animate a birds wings with a blue spot
on a green plaid carpet...  for technical details, see States section..
where I just came from!)

I figure that rather than bombarding this list with questions that
have probably been answered a thousand times before, I should look
up the FAQ.  Is there one around??

Thanks
Scott Krehbiel
[e-mail]




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 05:18:15
Subject: Re: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Fri, 23 Dec 1994, Mike Vandersommen wrote:

> Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
> convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't mean
> there isn't one out there.

How about Interchange from Syndesis, the standard Amiga object format
converter? (Ummm, or were you thinking about IBM utilities?)


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 05:38:30
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Tue, 27 Dec 1994, Mike Vandersommen wrote:

> State 1  (wings in the up position)
> State 2  (wings in the down position)
> State 3  (wings in the original up position)
>
> Let's say you create 30 frames and you want to wings to flap from up to
> down to up again over that 30 frames.
>
> 1. Load the Bird Actor for frame 1 (Start Frame 1 - End Frame 1)
>    In the State Name load "State 1"
> 2. Load the Bird Actor for frame 2 (Start Frame 2 - End Frame 16)
>    In the State Name load "State 2"
> 3. Load the Bird Actor for frame 17 (Start Frame 17 - End Frame 30)
>    In the State Name load "State 3"
>
> Now, when you use the ANIMATE "make" preview command, your bird
> wings should move up and down one cycle over the 30 frames.

By the way, you don't need to create the third state. In step 3, simply
morph back to State 1, since States 1 and 3 are identical.


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 06:18:40
Subject: Re: Water and Magic Wands in IM31
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Fri, 23 Dec 1994, Alan Gordie wrote:

> if the camera is INSIDE the bowl there is no water...
> How do i make a good water effect?

Here's an idea: create a convex lens object, give it a refraction index,
place it in front of the camera, close enough to cover the entire field
of view, and use "associate" to glue the lens in front of the camera.
The lens will move with the camera, and create distortion. You may want
to add a morphing Waves texture to the lens, using the morph to move the
distortion sideways, for that classic underwater look.

>
> problemo #2...
>
> particles to use as the sparkles coming from the tip of a waving magic wand,
> when i wave the wand with a subgroup of particles on the tip, the particles
> move with the wand...
>
> How do you get the particles to just fall on the 'ground' and stay there
> while the object still moves?

I would personally add a simple particle object (1/2 dozen particles?) on
every frame, at whatever location the wand's tip happens to be. This
would allow the particles "born" on that frame to fall to the ground
without any unwanted motion.  You may want to create one set of
particles, tweak its parameters until the particles die off in a
satisfactory manner, then select "Clone" as many times as you wish.

Save changes, go to Action, and alter every new
instance of the object, so that they appear on consecutive frames.

Save changes, then go to Stage, and on every frame, select the newest
particle clone, and move it to coincide with the wand's tip.

I would personally make the particles die off after about 1/2 second,
and drift downwards with low acceleration. I would not make them bounce
off the ground, but that's a purely artistic judgement; I'm thinking of
Disney-style "fairy dust" here.




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 06:42:44
Subject: Re: Follow path (like a train does).
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


You mean to say that "conform group to path" will tweak each child
object's location and alignment, but not deform the children in any way?
That's wonderful! My solution to the rollercoaster problem was to have
separate objects, each following the same path, but entering the scene
at, say, 10-frame intervals, so that each was at a different point along
the path; then start rendering the scene at the frame where the last car
had begun its trajectory. Using "conform group to path" greatly simplifies
scene setup, and allows easier car positioning. Thanks.



Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 07:07:25
Subject: Re:Filter Maps with Imagine 2.0
From:    Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Tue, 20 Dec 1994, Randy R. Wall wrote:

>  So for something slightly filtered you could set your maps color grey to say

>  127,127,127 and your Full Scale Value at maybe 190. This is a geuss as I
>  haven't tried these figures, I would suggest you play with it to see for
>  yourself how this works.

Randy,

I assume you're a PC user, so let grandpa Charles tell you a story...
way back when Imagine was an Amiga-only program, people would often use
Deluxe Paint, by Electronic Arts, to create images meant to be used as
brushmaps. Since original Amigas allowed 16 levels (0-15) of red, green,
and blue, the highest any palette color could go in DPaint was 240, on
the scale of 0 through 255 we all know and love. This means that even
pure white areas in a Filter map would not be totally transparent, since
Real White (255,255,255) was unattainable. So, the kind folks at Impulse
added the Full Scale Value in the next release of Imagine. If you loaded
a 24-bit brushmap, you could leave this value at 255, but if you loaded
a DPaint image, you could lower it to 240.

If you're not working with brushmaps that have this "240 out of 255"
value, you should leave FSV at 255; one less parameter to confuse you.
To change transparency levels, play with your image instead.


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 07:40:05
Subject: Bump Mapping and States
From:    [e-mail] (David Wyand)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi Again All!

I forgot to mention in my last message that I'm using Imagine 3.1 for
the Amiga.

                                        -Dave
                                         [e-mail]


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 08:00:51
Subject: Uploading to AmiNet
From:    [e-mail] (David Wyand)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi All!

Could someone please describe to me how to upload to Aminet?  I have
written my own texture library, and i would like to now distribute it.
As soon as I find out how to do this, you'll all be able to enjoy these
textures.  They range from Fog affecting to Alpha channel creating.

                                        -Dave
                                         [e-mail]


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 08:27:07
Subject: Bump Mapping and States
From:    [e-mail] (David Wyand)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi All!

I've asked this one before, but never got an answer, so here goes again!

Has anyone ever had trouble using bump mapping and a states object
before?  More specifically, locking of a bump brushmap to a particular
state?  Whenever I do this, the bump map shifts in position and the
bumping effect becomes extremely exagerated.  No matter how much I try
to change the Y-Axis of the bump map, it is always exagerated.  This
only seems to happen when I lock the bump map to a state.  Anyone?

Also, if you have been succesful at bump ampping and states, could you
please let me know?  I wouldn't mind picking your brains if you cna
spare a bit of gray matter...

Thanx in advance...

                                        -Dave
                                         [e-mail]


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 08:28:38
Subject: Re: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    Robert Iacullo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


How about Pixel 3D Pro

On Tue, 27 Dec 1994, Charles Blaquiere wrote:

> On Fri, 23 Dec 1994, Mike Vandersommen wrote:
>
> > Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
> > convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't mean
> > there isn't one out there.
>
> How about Interchange from Syndesis, the standard Amiga object format
> converter? (Ummm, or were you thinking about IBM utilities?)
>


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 09:06:34
Subject: Re: Animating States
From:    "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Using the Discontinuous knot button, and turning off the spline
interpolation... what's the difference between the two?  I would
have thought that just turning off the spline interpolation (sp?)
would do the trick.  Then again, my experience is very close to nil.

While I'm on the subject of States, can anyone tell me the difference
between the five different types of states in 3.1??

you have:
  Shape  -  ok, this one's obvious (or I'm more confused than I thought)
  Face Colors  -  would this be the basic color setting in Attributes?
  Grouping  -  What the heck is this??
  Object Props  -  Is this the same as Attributes??  Why separate from
                       Face Colors??
  Textures/Brushes  -  Okay, another obvious one.

Which of these states would I want to define in my Default state??

Thanks for any help!
Scott Krehbiel
[e-mail]




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 09:12:14
Subject: Re: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    [e-mail] (Silicon)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> > Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
> > convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't mean
> > there isn't one out there.
>
> How about Interchange from Syndesis, the standard Amiga object format
> converter? (Ummm, or were you thinking about IBM utilities?)

I am currently writing a program that will convert 3DS and RAW files
into Imagine format directly.

Andrey



Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 10:02:50
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> Me...I'm just happy if I can get what's suppose to work, WORK! <g>

heheheh, well that can sometimes be the case as well too.

> -> I'm sure you can do it if you spend enough time on it and make enough
> -> States to make the Transition look smooth.
>
> I'll certainly give it a go, now that I have a better understanding on
> the limitations involved.

Yes, this always helps in developing a strategy.

> -> Ya well, The manuals are more of a basic guide (very basic). And to f
> -> out more you must dive right in and start experimenting on your own..
>
> Yes, an Impulse common theme since Turbo Silver.....

I geuss so..

> -> must admit that if Impulse made a manual that explained all the
> -> possibilities of everything it would be one heck of a large manual..A
> -> for one don't mind the experimenting when I have the time to. But I w
> -> like to see the manuals a bit more specific on some subjects..Anyways
> -> They are much nicer than before and thats a good step in the right di
>
> I disagree here. I expect a program as complex as Imagine to at least
> document and explain how to impliment a feature, even if it's only
> a brief example. The 3.0 manual explains fairly well how to CREATE
> STATES, but doesn't explain how to use them once created. You could get
> away with this with Amiga owners, since anyone who owned an Amiga and
> bought a program like Imagine was enough of a propeller head to figure
> much of it out on their own. However, to cross over to the DOS platform,
> you better have good documentation or they will drop kick it out the
> window! :)

Well, I own an Amiga, and geuss I'll have to take that as a complement.
As I did figure most of it out on my own..But if you noticed I did say
that I would like to see the manuals a bit more specific on some subjects.
So I do agree with you as well...But only ment to say that it would be a
pretty large book if they explained every possibility..But I do think
they could explain how all the commands and different animation effects and
such work. It is quite lacking in many respects..You have no arguement
from me on that..I personally have better things to do than figure out
how this stuff works, but when I must, I do...

> That's probably why we haven't seen Steve Worley's "Understanding
> Imagine 3.x" yet. He's probably still trying to figure out all the
> goshdern functions himself. <g>

hahahhaha! ya I wouldn't dought that one bit..Or maybe he's waiting for
4.0. As it should have a lot of the bugs out and be a bit more complete..
I'm sure he's also taking notes from the IML as well..well at least I
would think so anyways..

=RRW=




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 10:56:03
Subject: Re: Follow path (like a train does).
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> You mean to say that "conform group to path" will tweak each child
> object's location and alignment, but not deform the children in any way?
> That's wonderful! My solution to the rollercoaster problem was to have
> separate objects, each following the same path, but entering the scene
> at, say, 10-frame intervals, so that each was at a different point along
> the path; then start rendering the scene at the frame where the last car
> had begun its trajectory. Using "conform group to path" greatly simplifies
> scene setup, and allows easier car positioning. Thanks.

You've got it! It works great..But you must be sure you set things up
correctly..

Glad I was of help..

=RRW=




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 11:17:58
Subject: Re:Filter Maps with Imagine 2.0
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> >  So for something slightly filtered you could set your maps color grey to sa
y
> >  127,127,127 and your Full Scale Value at maybe 190. This is a geuss as I
> >  haven't tried these figures, I would suggest you play with it to see for
> >  yourself how this works.
>
> Randy,
>
> I assume you're a PC user, so let grandpa Charles tell you a story...
> way back when Imagine was an Amiga-only program, people would often use
> Deluxe Paint, by Electronic Arts, to create images meant to be used as
> brushmaps. Since original Amigas allowed 16 levels (0-15) of red, green,
> and blue, the highest any palette color could go in DPaint was 240, on
> the scale of 0 through 255 we all know and love. This means that even
> pure white areas in a Filter map would not be totally transparent, since
> Real White (255,255,255) was unattainable. So, the kind folks at Impulse
> added the Full Scale Value in the next release of Imagine. If you loaded
> a 24-bit brushmap, you could leave this value at 255, but if you loaded
> a DPaint image, you could lower it to 240.

Well Grandpa Charles, You assumed wrong I'm strictly Amiga only. Well when
it comes to Imagine, and have been using Imagine sense it was first
released. I don't know where you got this information, as it surely is not in
the manuals..And though you maybe right about this it does not make it a
reason not to use it to your advantage in your work if you can. At least
thats my opinion.

I think if you only look at the FSV as being good for setting your full
scale value for Dpaint then thats all it will be good for. Me I try to
look at everything for what I can get out of it. And I think the FSV can
be good for several effects. One possible effects it might be able to
accomplish for you is a gradient Trasparent wipe of your object simply by
changing this number between two states. It would start out smooth and
leave very sharp.. Maybe not something I'lle ever need but if I do its
there. Or if you have a Black/White pic and want the color to become
Transparent at a specific value but don't want to go and edit the actual
image, this would do the trick..

> If you're not working with brushmaps that have this "240 out of 255"
> value, you should leave FSV at 255; one less parameter to confuse you.
> To change transparency levels, play with your image instead.

I geuss you didn't read my whole message as I also said he would probably
be better off just changing the actual map, but could also try the
FSV...I was basically letting him know his options..I believe thats what
this list is for, isn't it??

Well if you want to limit yourself by sticking with the so called rules,
thats fine with me. But I would rather explore the possibilities.

=RRW=





Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 14:18:15
Subject: Re:Animating States
From:    gregory denby <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Scott Krehbiel asks:
>While I'm on the subject of States, can anyone tell me the difference
>between the five different types of states in 3.1??
>
>you have: (...etc...)
 Grouping is just the spatial layout of objects in a group.  State one
grouping might be a tube aligned with a sphere on the x axis, state
two might be the same, but with the tube moved to the z axis.  In this
way you can get motion similar to cycle objects.
>Which of these states would I want to define in my Default state??
 At least one, maybe all.  It depends on what elements you want to
change.  As a bit of documentation said somewhere, they give you
Grouping as a default because it takes so little in terms of storage.
Shape makes almost an entire copy of the object point by point, so
you end up with a really large file if you use it for many states.
 As a caveat, make sure to check anything you might want to change
in a later state when you define the Default.  You can't add, for
instance, "Oject Props" in stage three if its not already defined
in Default and two.
 I think of States as being a more coherent way of morphing than the
earlier method, where different objects would be sequentially loaded
onto a time line.  Instead of many objects to co-ordinate, there is
just one large one.  So on frame 30/60 you don't have to load in
"man2.jmptp" just "man," state "jumped."

Hope it helps
Greg Denby
[e-mail]


Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 16:03:18
Subject: Collecting particles
From:    "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



I'm trying to animate LPCVD - Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition,
a technique for depositing nitride onto the silicon oxide layer of
a soon-to-be semiconductor chip.   The idea is you take this wafer,
put it in a chamber with this (probably nitrous) gas, and it deposits
nitride.

I'm thinking about using particles to animate this effect, and my
thought is to have a bunch of particles just floating around in my
gas chamber just kind-of milling about, and have another set that
collects on the surface of the wafer.  I guess what I could do is
have a wafer that uses the particle effect backwards to have these
things collect.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to make this look good - so that
the particles will not come in  linearly, but will appear to 'collect'
on the plane?  Also, does anyone have any ideas about the particles
to be milling about - how to make them nicely dispersed, and if
possible a little turbulent?

Thanks for any help

Scott Krehbiel
[e-mail]




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 19:26:21
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>> That's probably why we haven't seen Steve Worley's "Understanding
>> Imagine 3.x" yet. He's probably still trying to figure out all the
>> goshdern functions himself. <g>
>
>hahahhaha! ya I wouldn't dought that one bit..Or maybe he's waiting for
>4.0. As it should have a lot of the bugs out and be a bit more complete..
>I'm sure he's also taking notes from the IML as well..well at least I
>would think so anyways..
>
>=RRW=
>
>
Although I use Imagine 3.1 I'd be very interested in Steve Worley's Understandin
g Imagine 2.0. Where
can I get it? ISBN; Major cahin; publisher...?

Hi-Lo

(I know it's in the FAQ but the FAQ's books don't have ISBN numbers and I don't
seem to be able to
track the publisher's down.





Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 19:43:39
Subject: RE: collecting particles
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>
>I'm trying to animate LPCVD - Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition,
>a technique for depositing nitride onto the silicon oxide layer of
>a soon-to-be semiconductor chip.   The idea is you take this wafer,
>put it in a chamber with this (probably nitrous) gas, and it deposits
>nitride.
>
>I'm thinking about using particles to animate this effect, and my
>thought is to have a bunch of particles just floating around in my
>gas chamber just kind-of milling about, and have another set that
>collects on the surface of the wafer.  I guess what I could do is
>have a wafer that uses the particle effect backwards to have these
>things collect.
>
>Does anyone have any ideas about how to make this look good - so that
>the particles will not come in  linearly, but will appear to 'collect'
>on the plane?  Also, does anyone have any ideas about the particles
>to be milling about - how to make them nicely dispersed, and if
>possible a little turbulent?
>
>Thanks for any help
>
>Scott Krehbiel
>[e-mail]
>
>
Try an explosion particle effect with the explosion reversed. (Use a plane "glue
d to the wafer") as
exploding material. set plane to particles and use spheres so as to get a "molec
ular" effect instead of
shards flying)

Hi-Lo




Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 20:16:01
Subject: GET HELP IMAGINE
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: /G=3DADMIN$/FUJIAN/S=3DHUAQIAO/O=3DFUJIAN/@chinamailsh.sprin=
t.com
-> Subject:  get help imagine
->
-> Hai! My name is REX. I am a Malaysia Chinese.
-> Now study at China FuJian QianZhou HuaQiao University.
-> Please send me help.

Hi Rex. What kind of help do you need?

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 20:24:15
Subject: RE: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: Robert Iacullo <[e-mail]>
-> To: Charles Blaquiere <io.org!blaq>
-> Subject: Re: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
->
-> How about Pixel 3D Pro

I was refering specifically to PC/IBM, but I do have Pixel 3D Pro on =
my
Amiga and the version I have doesn't import 3DS files. What version d=
o
you have? I've drifted away from the Amiga so I'm not up to date on t=
he
newer programs.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 21:03:13
Subject: RE: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>
->
-> > Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
-> > convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't m=
ean
-> > there isn't one out there.
->
-> How about Interchange from Syndesis, the standard Amiga object for=
mat
-> converter? (Ummm, or were you thinking about IBM utilities?)

Yes, my point of reference was from the IBM side. Thanks.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 21:41:01
Subject: DXF
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: [e-mail] (Perry Lucas)
->
-> I have been using 3d Studio at school (since I can't bloody well a=
ffo
-> it myself.) and have trouble moving DXF objects to Imagine.  I sav=
e t
-> object in DXF Object in 3d Studio and then when loading it in imag=
ine
-> nothing but the axis appears when I load it.  What gives?  I am us=
ing
-> 3d Studio release 3.0 at the school and Imagine 3.0 at home...Help=
...

You need Imagine 3.1. Imagine 3.0 barfs on many DXF objects.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 21:58:45
Subject: FAQ AROUND SOMEWHERE??
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




-> From: "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>
-> Subject: FAQ around somewhere??
->
->
-> I am trying to get up and running on 3.1, and I'm rather disappoin=
ted
-> with the manual.  (States animation: see stage editor chapter.
-> Stage editor chapter: You can animate a birds wings with a blue sp=
ot
-> on a green plaid carpet...  for technical details, see States sect=
ion
-> where I just came from!)

You must have JUST MISSED my tirade on the same exact thing! In
reference to STATES too! If you specifically need help on STATES
and missed the answers to my questions about them, I'd be happy
to Email you the response I got....and what I figured out on my own.
Grrrr!

-> I figure that rather than bombarding this list with questions that
-> have probably been answered a thousand times before, I should look
-> up the FAQ.  Is there one around??

It's probably better to just bombard the IML with specific questions
and if it's something better detailed in a FAQ, someone would probabl=
y
refer you to it. So far it seems everyone's having the same problems =
as
me, so ask away. There's many of us that would benefit from the answe=
rs
too!

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
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Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 22:12:27
Subject: RE: DXF OBJECTS
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: Dick Bryant
-> Subject: RE: DXF objects
->         I'd like a list of the objects you have available.

I'll attach it for you.

->         Do you have any experience with Vistapro ? They export the=
ir
->         objects in dxf format so 3d studio can use them. They also=
 ex
->         a color map in tga format so you can color the object.

Yes, I have Vista Pro and it works well for terrain objects.

->         I can read the dxf file into imagine ok. I convert the tga=
 fi
->         a tif file for imagine. The tif file looks ok in imagine. =
Whe
->         it to the object as a brush map, it gets messed up somehow=
. A
->         experience with this ?

I can only guess. It might be axis orientation. Make sure your DXF
terrain's Y axis is pointing down through the object. Then the automa=
tic
brush map sizing should paint it flat on the top of the surface.

Let me know if you get the attached Object file list. Sometimes Email
drops attachments for some reason.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]
=20
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M$_N0U%J6OFLAI%E3E6QH(]B\]N!)%\YW9UX]:3N=3D5*Q/]^.KR>6)1BBD2B/0
MN35`.M4*WUU,YT:Q,JW=3DO#?G(Q'07]@Y(B'F'+N]@0MA]-=3D>8N-H<8O_7`GV
MC)=3D=3D>)[NE0UWU?JO\1IEA"$N&V]GWEQ@0%&3]%J#^VB<@)C^N`2]O?H<S+X^
MJ#!O/PMS4F)>WWT2IFF7F!@-/P-SL)B7F-C#_1Q,M\+L?@XFCLL'M=3DVKS\"<
M6.9]@7G=3D^R3,V??J[I^$:>L5/Z\_R8Z<^UI8^B2=3D=3DVOZB7\K^!F8GG5?W?TS
MZ+P?=3D[5NM>C2NWG'V2'R/8E@3$(:`9[)^\&(X3SJHVI)M^D>_3T_$.PVU7ID
M$O2H!,ZV_:NQBRHPRFHJKW7?W>M38'96M&2+6'<3/!2"%_`HR)9>6_(@/NCV
MK=3D*RU&"TR55<CE/F"(E<,K&2>)91OT6W\;YY@#?K0$@WFVJ+_<%"WGA%TU7[
MK`G%]\MZ&&\\S#%_H4#P#X6D4-IJ$PQ4HH#(#_7U@*8-)7D<NZEYF58OFQ^/
M@9M6Y(_O`SN/M1%<^[8A+W0X\`.O4O_SL_\%4$L!`A0`%``"``@`I#:<';8A
M>)9H$@``13T```H``````````0`@`````````#-$3$E35"Y46%102P4&````
/``$``0`X````D!(`````
``
end
=20



Date:    Wednesday, 28 December 1994 22:25:06
Subject: Re: collecting particles
From:    Ed Totman <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Wed, 28 Dec 1994, Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC) wrote:

> Does anyone have any ideas about how to make this look good - so that
> the particles will not come in  linearly, but will appear to 'collect'
> on the plane?  Also, does anyone have any ideas about the particles
> to be milling about - how to make them nicely dispersed, and if
> possible a little turbulent?

You could make it in two or more scenes - show the particles swarming
about, perhaps in a cloud (with closeups of the particles in the cloud),
then cut to a closeup scene of the wafer and the particles (molecules?)
impacting and sticking to the wafer surface.  This way you don't have to
worry about assigning random and then direct movement to the particles,
as this would be difficult to pull off.  If you do the camera shots right
the audience will link the scenes together without thinking about it.

Hope this helps,

Ed Totman
[e-mail]



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 07:29:11
Subject: Animation Contest 94 *Update*
From:    [e-mail] (Jim Quaschnick)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




                   ** ANIMATION CONTEST 94 **
                          ** UPDATE **


        Due to popular demand, or at least quite a few requests,
the deadline for entering your animations in the "Animation
Contest 94" has been extended.  The new and final deadline is
December 31, 1994.

        Anyone considering entering the contest should send
there entry in as soon as possible.  Please don't wait until the
last minute.  This makes things harder on us.  It also makes
shipping your tape to us more expensive for you (having to send
next day air etc.)

        We have received alot of very nice looking and creative
animations and would like to thank everyone that has sent in
entries up to this point.  We will be sending confirmation
letters to all of you letting you know that we have received
your entries. If anyone would like to know right away just ask
us through E-Mail at the internet address below.

        We still have plenty of room left for more animations/
entries so if you are having thoughts about entering and
would like FREE ADVERTISING for yourself and/or your company
then send in your entry/s now.  Your entry could be anything
from flying logos to mini-movies, whatever you want.

        This contest is completely free to enter.  There
are absolutely no hidden charges whatsoever.  All you need
to do is put your animations to tape, and send us a copy.
For those of you not able to get your animations to tape but
would like to enter the contest, we are helping as many people
as we can by having them send their data by floppy disk or by
modem and putting it to tape for them.  If you are interested
in doing something like this (and have no way to get your
animations to tape) send us some E-mail and let us know your
situation.  We will do the best we can to help.

        For complete rules and information on the contest or for
specific questions or comments we can be reached at the internet
address below, or call us voice to have the information sent
by mail.

     Thanks again to all the people that have sent in entries, and
for everyone that hasn't yet, you better hurry, times running out!


                     New and final Deadline
                   *** December 31, 1994 ***


          For more information, questions or comments:

                     Animation Contest 94
                       Jim Quaschnick
              [e-mail]
              -------------------------------
                   Voice: [phone]
                    -------------------




Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 07:45:29
Subject: Re: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    [e-mail] (Curtis White)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>> > Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
>> > convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't mean
>> > there isn't one out there.
>>
>> How about Interchange from Syndesis, the standard Amiga object format
>> converter? (Ummm, or were you thinking about IBM utilities?)
>
>I am currently writing a program that will convert 3DS and RAW files
>into Imagine format directly.
>
>Andrey
>
>


>


Is your program for IBM or Amiga?



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 08:17:48
Subject: Re: collecting particles
From:    "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



That's a great idea about using cuts to imply the same scene, Ed.
I'll try that.  Now my only question is how to make the particles
swarm.   I guess I could try two tubes, each rotating slowly, and
turn all faces to particles.  Maybe that would provide enough
stuff moving around?  Any suggestions on how to make a cloud of
particles, as opposed to a tube of them or box of them, etc.??

I mean, I know I could just make a complex object then turn faces
to particles... is this the best way?

Thanks

Scott Krehbiel
[e-mail]




Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 09:10:58
Subject: Re: Follow path (like a train does).
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Well Shane, I don't really care to retype out the explanation again so
here is a snip of the text I already sent you once.. This is about the
best I can do sense it would be difficult to explain how this would work
in every situation of grouped objects. But this should lead you in the
right direction.. Basically you'lle need to try it and test it out to
find out how it all works.. I don't really have time to write out a
tutorial for you at the moment..sorry. You will find these commands in
the Action Editor for the alignment bars for following paths.

As for following a path in the Detail Editor, make sure you path is named
path or type in the name of the object you want to follow, also be sure
to add enough Sections.

> Although I will go and play around with this myself, could you please
> give me a brief description of how to set things up right.  I've been
> so busy, I haven't been able to try this but I did try something in
> the Detail Editor that said 'conform to path' and it didn't work.
> Is 'conform group to path' in the Stage/Action Editor ?  What is the
> correct way to set it up ?

Here is the text I sent earlier..


Well, I found when making a monorailtrain for a project that making the
whole monotrain with engine and cars as one large group worked GREAT! You
will need to make sure your axis for each object of the group are set in
the proper locations for each object to follow correctly. They don't need
to be in the same  position but X and Z probably sould be (depending on
the group and just what it is your trying to do) but for my train it was
this way. I then aligned the Y axis for all the objects in the direction
I wanted the train and cars to go.

I loaded in the track which I made from the path I
wanted the train to follow, then loaded the path and train_group.

Now the fun part to make them all follow along the path set the train up
to follow the path you have loaded. BUT to make sure they all follow
correctly you will need to set Conform Group to Path..This should work
fine, and if at some time one object needs to break loose then its time
for some keyframing and well a lot of work. But it can all be done with
very nice results..

Oh and for them little walkways between the trains, that flex as it goes
around corners..well to simulate that. Make these a seperate object of
its own..not grouped but joined.. basically make one and copies for the
rest and then move them into positiion between the cars and join them into
one object.. Make sure your axis is correct to follow the path (it should be
the same as the parent of your Grouped train. Its best to build this
while you are building the rest of the train so that everything will match
up when you put them all together on the path. But make sure you save the
train group and Walkways object seperatley.

Now for the walkways to flex as the train goes around curves just set it to
follow the same path as the train and set its alignment to Conform Object
to Path..

I did this and it works GREAT! I was really impressed with the results
and have got to give Impulse the Thumbs Up on these features..

Anyways this went longer than it should have, but I hope it will direct
you to the solution you need, I believe it will...

=RRW=




Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 13:58:45
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




-> Discontinuous Knot is like setting a linier path or movement. Basi=
cal
-> it will do exactly what you have it set to do with no deviation in=
 th
-> movement..
->
-> Spline Interpolation is just the opposite, it will try and make yo=
ur
-> movements smoother by using splines..

Thank you. That clears up other loose ends. I appreciate the info.
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 14:10:22
Subject: Re: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>> Can you direct me to the program you used to convert between 3ds and
>> imagine file-formats (or have you (successfully) used the dxf in/out
>> functions?)? Have you tried it in both directions?

>Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
>convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't mean
>there isn't one out there.

We have been discussing this on the IML before.
For the Amiga-line of computers there is a program called "Pixel 3D Pro".

      Conny Joensson     |__      Swedish Space Corp. Esrange
      Kiruna, Sweden  \__|__|__/  Satellite operations - Telecom Div.
     _______________     |__|     _______________
    |   |   |   |   |\  |    |  /|   |   |   |   |
    |   |   |   |   | \_|    |_/ |   |   |   |   |
    |   |   |   |   | _-|    |-_ |   |   |   |   |
    |___|___|___|___|/  |____|  \|___|___|___|___|
                  [e-mail]


Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 15:06:50
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>

-> While I'm on the subject of States, can anyone tell me the differe=
nce
-> between the five different types of states in 3.1??
->
-> you have:
->   Shape  -  ok, this one's obvious (or I'm more confused than I th=
oug
->   Face Colors  -  would this be the basic color setting in Attribu=
tes
->   Grouping  -  What the heck is this??

Page 139 of Imagine 3.0 manual (giving credit when it applies) says:

Grouping - Select this if the object is part of a group formed by the
States menu Group command. By assigning the state to all objects in t=
he
group, memory is conserved.


->   Object Props  -  Is this the same as Attributes??  Why separate =
fro
->                        Face Colors??
->   Textures/Brushes  -  Okay, another obvious one.
->
-> Which of these states would I want to define in my Default state??

=2E.you got me.

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 15:19:26
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------




-> From: "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>

-> Well, I own an Amiga, and geuss I'll have to take that as a comple=
men
-> As I did figure most of it out on my own..But if you noticed I did=
 sa
-> that I would like to see the manuals a bit more specific on some s=
ubj
-> So I do agree with you as well...But only ment to say that it woul=
d b
-> pretty large book if they explained every possibility..But I do th=
ink
-> they could explain how all the commands and different animation ef=
fec
-> such work. It is quite lacking in many respects..You have no argue=
men
-> from me on that..I personally have better things to do than figure=
 ou
-> how this stuff works, but when I must, I do...

Well, I've been dinkin' with Imagine since it was called Turbo Silver
and I'm an original Amiga owner (Amiga 1000/early '86)....so I know t=
he
breed (was prez of an Amiga group for 5 years too). I still have my 2=
500
sittin' here, though the cobs are making webs on it. Manuals have bee=
n
Impulse's weak point for years, though the 3.0 is V*A*S*T improvement
over 2.0. They just have a tendency to forget us poor dummies who buy
the program have no idea how to impliment some features that they've
programmed, debugged and tinkered with for 6 months when writing the
manual. I think they might feel we already know how to use something
that they take for granted. (...only thing I can figger)

-> > That's probably why we haven't seen Steve Worley's "Understandin=
g
-> > Imagine 3.x" yet. He's probably still trying to figure out all t=
he
-> > goshdern functions himself. <g>
->
-> hahahhaha! ya I wouldn't dought that one bit..Or maybe he's waitin=
g f
-> 4.0. As it should have a lot of the bugs out and be a bit more com=
ple
-> I'm sure he's also taking notes from the IML as well..well at leas=
t I
-> would think so anyways..

4.0 .... all the bugs out...har...har. Now it's my leg yore a
pullin', right mate? <g>

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 17:37:08
Subject: RE: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



>
>-> From: Charles Blaquiere <[e-mail]>
>->
>-> > Unfortunately, I am unaware of any stand alone program that will
>-> > convert 3DS files into DXF or Imagine format, but that doesn't mean
>-> > there isn't one out there.
>->
>-> How about Interchange from Syndesis, the standard Amiga object format
>-> converter? (Ummm, or were you thinking about IBM utilities?)
>
>Yes, my point of reference was from the IBM side. Thanks.

Syndesis has a version of interchange for the PC.

Hi-Lo



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 18:13:02
Subject: FAQ AROUND SOMEWHERE??
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


M> -> I am trying to get up and running on 3.1, and I'm rather disappointed
M> -> with the manual.  (States animation: see stage editor chapter.
M> -> Stage editor chapter: You can animate a birds wings with a blue spot
M> -> on a green plaid carpet...  for technical details, see States section
M> -> where I just came from!)
M>
M> You must have JUST MISSED my tirade on the same exact thing! In
M> reference to STATES too! If you specifically need help on STATES
M> and missed the answers to my questions about them, I'd be happy
M> to Email you the response I got....and what I figured out on my own.
M> Grrrr!
============

        Hmmm... Manual complaints are pretty old news. I guess I thought
        they did OK on the States references.  Creating States is pretty
        clear in the Detail section, then they tell you to see the Action
        section for animating.  The Action section talks about Morphing,
        they just don't say to use Morphing to animate your States.  But
        it doesn't seem like too big a leap to get there.

        I do think that Morphing setup in the Action Editor was a little
        more intuitive when there was a requester for Transition Frame
        Count for the Actor being added, and a shaded timeline to indicate
        the morph taking place.

        Hasta!

        -mikeT


* Offline Orbit 0.70a * ...Sleep is a poor substitute for Raytracing...


Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 18:43:25
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: Henri Smulders <[e-mail]>
-> Although I use Imagine 3.1 I'd be very interested in Steve Worley'=
s U
-> can I get it? ISBN; Major cahin; publisher...?

Although your message got chopped of again, I assume you wanted
Understanding Imagine 2.0.

The address on my version of the book is:

Apex Sofware Publishing
405 El Comino Real Suite 121
Menlo Park, Ca. 94025

(hope that's still right)

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 19:25:17
Subject: RE: FAQ AROUND SOMEWHERE?
From:    [e-mail] (Mike Vandersommen)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



-> From: "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <[e-mail]>
-> Hi Mike
->
-> So you got lots of info about states, huh??  When about did this
-> happen??  Right now, I have One Thousand Two Hundred and Eighty Se=
ven
-> messages in my InBox.  So, if it happened a couple weeks ago, I've=
 go
-> those messages sitting around in here somewhere (echo as I walk in=
to
-> endless caverns lined with casks of Amantillado)

Hi Scott.

Ya, like only a message or two prior to your question, so you shouldn=
't
have to go back too far. If there is something about STATES that wasn=
't
covered please ask. I'm still playing with it and I'd be interested i=
n
the answers too!

It is nice to know I'm not alone trying to headscratch my way though
3.1...... <g>

Mike -

Email: [e-mail]
BBS: GraFX Haus (Santa Barbara, Ca.) 805-683-1388 v.32 14.4 HST dual
---
 =FE InterNet - GraFX Haus BBS - Santa Barbara, Ca - [phone]



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 19:52:37
Subject: Re: 3DS->DXF->IMAGINE ?
From:    [e-mail] (Silicon)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> >I am currently writing a program that will convert 3DS and RAW files
> >into Imagine format directly.
>
> Is your program for IBM or Amiga?
>

It's for IBM.

Andrey



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 20:23:16
Subject: Re: MOVING AXIS
From:    [e-mail] (Silicon)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> >I am writing a 3DS to Imagine object converter, which will also double
> >as an object viewer for both file types.  It is half way done, and I
> >hope it will be ready within a next month.  Once it is out, you wo't
> >have to worry about those DXF files anymore. :)
>
> Oh YEAH!!!!!!
> What platform are we talking about?

It's for IBM platform.

Andrey



Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 21:30:15
Subject: RE: FAQ AROUND SOMEWHERE??
From:    Steve NACAD::Sherman LKG2-A/R5 pole AA2 DTN 226-6992


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


With respect to States and morphing and all ...   Of late, I've been doing
slides and not animation.  I tried using states, figuring that it would
save all my info on textures, objects and so forth.  Someone earlier
mentioned that you have to think of States in a morphing context.  That
is absolutely correct, from my experience.

Basically, using states means that your object needs to have the same
stuff attached to it the whole time.  I had no luck trying to remove
objects out of groups, drop and restore textures and so forth.  I got
complaints about objects not having the same numbers of points, lost
textures and so forth.  I'm *NOT* complaining, by the way.  It's just
that if you try to use States where you can't expect to morph it
probably isn't going to work.

Now ...   what I'd *like* to have are States that allow me to swap
different textures in and out, loose or restore objects in a group
and so forth.  Yes, I can't morph sometimes and it's okay for me to
get a warning about it (that I'd like to be able to disable).  But,
this would allow me to drop objects that are not needed during
rendering.  Similarly, I'd hoped that layer control would allow me
to drop objects during rendering, but that only works in the Stage
editor.  <sigh>  I'd *like* to see States include Layer support so
that you can pop objects in and out based on layers during rendering.
(One o' these days I'll write this down and send it to Impulse, maybe.)
Sorry about the rambling ...

Steve


Date:    Thursday, 29 December 1994 22:10:28
Subject: Re: ANIMATING STATES
From:    Douglas Rudd <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


> Although your message got chopped of again, I assume you wanted
> Understanding Imagine 2.0.
>
> The address on my version of the book is:
>
<Snip>

No matter. It's out of publication and no longer available.


Doug Rudd
[e-mail]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
:-) I think I'll write a letter to my congressman.

:-| A congressman has two ends: a sitting end and a thinking end;
and since his entire future depends on his seat, why bother friend....
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Friday, 30 December 1994 01:26:58
Subject: CD Brushwrap
From:    Paul Rance <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



 I'm after a Compact Disk brushwarp, does anyone know where I can get one.
Basically something with all the spectrum colours,etc you see when you look
at one side on.

Thanks

Paul

--
.-------------------------------------------------------------------------.
!Email [e-mail]                      2:254/516.2@Fidonet    !
`-------------------------------------------------------------------------'


Date:    Friday, 30 December 1994 02:06:54
Subject: Re: collecting particles
From:    [e-mail] (Shinobi)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


In a message dated Thu 29 Dec 94  4:00, "Mr. Scott Krehbiel; ACS (PC)" <sco
wrote:

 MSK> I'm thinking about using particles to animate this effect, and my
 MSK> thought is to have a bunch of particles just floating around in my
 MSK> gas chamber just kind-of milling about, and have another set that
 MSK> collects on the surface of the wafer.  I guess what I could do is
 MSK> have a wafer that uses the particle effect backwards to have these
 MSK> things collect.

I've used this technique successfully for just this kind of animation.
What you might try is defining several planes for the surface of the wafer.
Selectively delete faces from each plane so that, for example, all four
planes individually have few faces but together make up a solid plane.
Adjust the axis positions of each plane to a different location.

Under the particle effects, choose DELAY.  This will "explode" each plane
from its axis outwards.  But, since you have several planes with several
axes in differing positions, it will give you a more random look when the
particles leave the "wafer".  Finally, choose REVERSE MOTION (or something
like that...can't remember) so that the particles will "land" on the wafer
from an exploded position.  CAVEAT: you'll probably have to play with the
settings a little bit to get the timing right, but it WILL look good.

As for the particles "milling about", you might want to try adding several
"shapes" and particlizing them.  Make sure they will occupy the "volume"
that you want for the particles.  You can even morph them by individually
moving the faces to different positions, setting up a 2 or 3 stage
"resonance" morph.  Animated slowly, it should look fine.

Hope it helps ya!

Paul



-- Via DLG Pro v1.0

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
| Paul             Fine Lines Publications                |
* Thompson      CGI   Animations   Multimedia             *
|                [e-mail]             |
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Date:    Friday, 30 December 1994 10:17:18
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
> -> Discontinuous Knot is like setting a linier path or movement. Basical
> -> it will do exactly what you have it set to do with no deviation in th
> -> movement..
> ->
> -> Spline Interpolation is just the opposite, it will try and make your
> -> movements smoother by using splines..
>
> Thank you. That clears up other loose ends. I appreciate the info.

No problem, glad I could help.

=RRW=




Date:    Friday, 30 December 1994 11:01:08
Subject: RE: ANIMATING STATES
From:    "Randy R. Wall" <[e-mail]>


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



> Well, I've been dinkin' with Imagine since it was called Turbo Silver
> and I'm an original Amiga owner (Amiga 1000/early '86)....so I know the
> breed (was prez of an Amiga group for 5 years too). I still have my 2500
> sittin' here, though the cobs are making webs on it. Manuals have been
> Impulse's weak point for years, though the 3.0 is V*A*S*T improvement
> over 2.0. They just have a tendency to forget us poor dummies who buy
> the program have no idea how to impliment some features that they've
> programmed, debugged and tinkered with for 6 months when writing the
> manual. I think they might feel we already know how to use something
> that they take for granted. (...only thing I can figger)

Yes, I too have Turbo Silver, but never quite got as involved with it as
I have Imagine. And yes it sometimes seams that Impulse does think we
already know how this stuff should work. But then they have been playing
with it for 6 months and to them it is just second nature to know how to
implement the new features.. for us its a new ladder to climb. hehehe

=RRW=

> > -> > That's probably why we haven't seen Steve Worley's "Understanding
> -> > Imagine 3.x" yet. He's probably still trying to figure out all the
> -> > goshdern functions himself. <g>
> ->
> -> hahahhaha! ya I wouldn't dought that one bit..Or maybe he's waiting f
> -> 4.0. As it should have a lot of the bugs out and be a bit more comple
> -> I'm sure he's also taking notes from the IML as well..well at least I
> -> would think so anyways..
>
> 4.0 .... all the bugs out...har...har. Now it's my leg yore a
> pullin', right mate? <g>

hahaha! well, maybe just wishful thinking..

=RRW=




Date:    Friday, 30 December 1994 12:01:24
Subject: RE: FAQ AROUND SOMEWHERE?
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


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Hi Mike!
>It is nice to know I'm not alone trying to headscratch my way though
>3.1...... <g>

You are not alone ... sigh ... not alone ... :-|

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|   Conny Joensson   |   Swedish Space Corp. Esrange            |
|   Kiruna           |   Satellite operations - Telecom Div.    |
|   Sweden           |   [e-mail]                     |
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Date:    Friday, 30 December 1994 12:34:59
Subject: Re: 3DS<->Imagine (was MOVING AXIS)
From:    cjo <[e-mail]>


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>>>I am writing a 3DS to Imagine object converter, which will also double
>>>as an object viewer for both file types.  It is half way done, and I
>>>hope it will be ready within a next month.  Once it is out, you wo't
>>>have to worry about those DXF files anymore. :)
>>
>>Oh YEAH!!!!!!
>>What platform are we talking about?
>
>It's for IBM platform.
>

SHIT!!!!!!!!
What language are you writing it in? (C ?)
You don't know anybody with an Amiga who can compile it for us Amigans?

-- Swedish Space Corporation -- Esrange ------------------------------------
Conny Joensson, Satellite Operations, Telecom Div.   Fax: [phone]
SSC Esrange, PO Box 802, S-98128 Kiruna, SWEDEN.   Phone: [phone]
                                                  E-Mail: [e-mail]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date:    Saturday, 31 December 1994 01:43:17
Subject: RE: FAQ AROUND SOMEWHERE??
From:    Kent Marshall Worley <[e-mail]>


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On Thu, 29 Dec 1994, Steve NACAD::Sherman LKG2-A/R5 pole AA2 DTN 226-6992 wrote:


>
> Now ...   what I'd *like* to have are States that allow me to swap
> different textures in and out,
>
> Steve
  If you have the Essence textures you can fade textures in and out.
There is a transparency texture from impulse that will do a similar effect.
 Kent Worley

Date:    Saturday, 31 December 1994 05:41:31
Subject: PC object converter
From:    [e-mail]


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Those looking for a 3D object converter program may want to investigate
a program called "World Render 3D" that runs under Windows. I found a
demo of it on C$erve (can't recall the manufacturer's name). They often
advertise in the 3D Artist magazine. The demo reads, but doesn't write,
many different file formats including Imagine 2.0, 3DS, and DXF, amoung
others. There's a good chance I may get it through work ($199). If you
need more info, let me know and I'll try to follow up.

david clemons
[e-mail]


Date:    Saturday, 31 December 1994 07:01:39
Subject: Re: Uploading to AmiNet
From:    [e-mail] (Curtis White)


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>Hi All!
>
>Could someone please describe to me how to upload to Aminet?  I have
>written my own texture library, and i would like to now distribute it.
>As soon as I find out how to do this, you'll all be able to enjoy these
>textures.  They range from Fog affecting to Alpha channel creating.
>
>                                        -Dave
>                                         [e-mail]
>


>

What format are the textures, Amiga or IBM?






Curt



Date:    Saturday, 31 December 1994 12:57:07
Subject: Easy Puddles
From:    [e-mail] (Shinobi)


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Here's a technique for making dead-easy puddles.  You know, the kind
of puddle of a thick solution such as mercury, oil, blood...anything
that has a meniscus that rises above the surface the puddle lies on.

First, add an axis, and make sure you are in the TOP view.  Copy and
paste this axis roughly in a circular shape.  Use as many as you like.
Rotate each axis to a different angle.  These axes will be used to
make a closed loop.

Next, select each axis in turn around the circumference of your
puddle-to-be.  Usually, I group the whole bunch and save it as
PUDDLE_OUTLINE.GROUP just to be on the safe side.  Select MAKE CLOSED
PATH.  Instantly, you have an outline of your puddle.  Now is the time
to make any changes to the shape of your puddle.  Try to stay away
from very thin "fingers" as they may cause you trouble in the next
section.  Rename the object to PATH, to make life easy for us in the
Extrude requester.

Move to the FRONT view and add a disk.  Choose PICK POINTS.  Delete
the center point and all the points for three-quarters of the circle.
What you should be left with is a quarter-circle like the diagram on
the left:

   ____          Z            ._________          Z
       \         |                      \         |
        \        +---X                   \        +---X
         |                                |
         |                                |
(Pardon the lousy diagram)

Add one more point to the top-left line segment, so that your shape
now looks like the figure on the right.  Save this object as something
like CIRCLE.OUTLINE.

Next, bring up the EXTRUDE requester.  Select FOLLOW PATH, and ALIGN Y
TO PATH.  Make as many sections as you like.

Now you have a nice, smooth shape that follows the contour of your
puddle-path.  But what about the center?

Here's the good part.  It's so easy, I could have kicked myself for
not thinking of it earlier.

Make sure your selection method is set to both CLICK and LOCK.  This
will cause every point you drag to snap to a grid intersection.

Provided you started out with a clean workspace, the 0,0,0 location
should be right in the middle of your puddle (approximately).  Change
the grid size to something outrageous, like 1000.  Select DRAG POINTS.

Now, simply click once on each of the points that sticks out.  After
you click, the point will immediately jump to the nearest grid
intersection...at the center of the puddle.  In a few moments, you'll
have all the points in the center, and the top of your puddle will
have these wonderful faces.

As a final step, make sure to MERGE the object so that you don't have
a lot of extraneous points on top of one another.

YOUR PUDDLE IS DONE.

Paul

-- Via DLG Pro v1.0

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
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* Thompson      CGI   Animations   Multimedia             *
|                [e-mail]             |
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Date:    Saturday, 31 December 1994 20:36:49
Subject: Bump Mapping and States
From:    [e-mail] (David Wyand)


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Hi Greg!

>Bump mapping states does have a bug in it, even in 3.1

Well, I sure hope that Impulse fixes this darn bug soon.  It is very
limiting not being able to use bump mapping with states.  Aaargh!

                                        -Dave
                                         [e-mail]


Date:    Saturday, 31 December 1994 21:00:10
Subject: Re: Uploading to AmiNet
From:    [e-mail] (David Wyand)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi Curt!

>What format are the textures, Amiga or IBM?

They're in Amiga format (that's the reason for uploading them to
AmiNet).  They come with a manual in AmigaGuide format.

Do you know how to upload to AmiNet??

                                        -Dave
                                         [e-mail]


Date:    Saturday, 31 December 1994 22:07:35
Subject: Re: Easy Puddles
From:    [e-mail] (Michael B. Comet)


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


>
>Here's a technique for making dead-easy puddles.  You know, the kind
>of puddle of a thick solution such as mercury, oil, blood...anything
>that has a meniscus that rises above the surface the puddle lies on.
>

[ENTIRE how to DELETED]

      That was pretty cool.  Someone a while ago had something similar
where to make the faces, you just select all the points and hit join
(rather than dragging each one to 0,0,0, just use selection and hit join).
So if you have an outline and want to extrude it, a trick is to make a
copy, make the copy smaller, skin the 2 then take all the points of the
second smaller one and join them to one point.  Only works for nice concave
things though.  A heck of a lot easier than adding faces of course.  Then
you can extrude this now flat faced object.

      Another way to do puddles which has worked well for me is to just
use the spline editor.  Make the spline, and presto, auto faces, rounded
beveling etc....


--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Michael Comet, [e-mail] - CWRU, Software Engineer/Graphics Artist |
| Computer Graphics/Animation! - HomePage: http://sushi.ins.cwru.edu/      |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+