Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/art&graf.ix/art-5110/flm_play/readme.1st

Text File | 1993-10-27 | 18KB | 537 lines

These Animations were done with LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORPORATION 3D
Animator and Renderer CHRONOS-3D, FLM is the Film Format of Lexicor
Software, and it can be played using the PLAYER.PRG. The Animations
will only un on a a 520, 1040, Mega and TT without Graphics Card.

If you want to have Animations for the Falcon or GRAPHICS CARD
and the latest revision of the new Players then please feel free
to email:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
73073,[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Please note that if you have a SPEKTRUM Animation file you will have
to use Unispec or Anispec to view these animations in 512 Colors at
320x200 on your Atari. The respective file will be included in the
zip if you DO have a Spektrum Animation.

for LEXICOR WORLD support.

README on other LEXICOR PRODUCTS included after this textfile.

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

To the programs itself; "PHASE-4" Software is a series of separate programs
that will allow you to make, in my opinion, high quality (considering ST/TT
standards) animations using "Key-Frame-Techniques". It is completely compatible
to the Cyber Series and as a matter of fact if you purchase CHRONOS-3D you
get Cybersculpt along with it to create your 3D models. Since I know that in
England you don't have much in the way of Atari TT or Graphics boards I am
telling you now that it is fully compatible to the TT, supports all the
resolutions and colours and naturally makes full use of its speed, co-processor
and TTram. As a matter of fact you can get & view animations made with
"PHASE-4" Software at 16/32 PDL at Strood, Kent for the TT. The current
Graphic boards which are supported are, the ISAC and JRI Colourboard and the
MATRIX boards C32 and COCO, NOVA Graphics Boards and Crazy Dot's.

Now to a very brief introduction to each element.

CHRONOS-3D is a key frame animator, with it you can not only move, change
and twist around your 3D CAD modelsbut you can choose between different
shadings (Phong, Goraud, Flat), simulate as many light sources you want till
your memory bursts, create metamorphosis-like effects etc. With it comes
Cybersculpt and a Player with which you can then watch your finished animation
with a speed of up to 60 frames per second, from RAM as well as from disk,
which means that with a quick enough hard drive you can run the animation
smoothly at real-time. (15 m/s harddrive will allow upto 45-48 frames per
second!).

Morphing, Realistic Movements and Animations, Cycling and Renderman Compat.
Light sources, infinite key frame animations and positions possible.

Begin with CHRONOS to enter the world of Virtual 3D Graphics!

PRISM PAINT is an add-on tool for animations created with CHRONOS. You can
then edit it, add on new pics or animations, colours etc. However it was not
designed as an animation package on its own, or as a painting program. It
however can be used as such although then you will find that it has not enough
functions to make life easier, it is meant to be together with CHRONOS.
Interestingly enough PRISM PAINT on its own in its present state will support
the FALCON030's extended colour and palette (as well as resolution) and I have
even seen it work on TKR's Crazy Dots, however it always crashes when I use
the cut&paste function more than once.

This was an information to Prism Paint 1.1, Prism Paint 2.0 is a much
more powerful tool, and is also known as ARTIS ANIMATOR, which has over
100 functions, printer, scanner and font support etc.

PRISM RENDER is a render & raytracing program with which you can create a
"Photorealistic" animation or picture using the animations from CHRONOS. You
can choose between different types of layers, reflections etc.

Then you get small little extra's like GENESIS that allows to produce 2D & 3D
starfields in motion and can create 3D fractal planets as .3D2 (Cyber) files
which you can then implement in your animation.

That was only a short introduction, if you have any questions about the program
don't hesitate to contact me at the given address, phone & fax (fax or phone
preferred). Full support and European distribution will be in Austria (awkward
place, I know!). "PHASE-4" owners will then be able to get animations, CAD 3D
files and pics for use in their own animations (or just to watch them?).

XENOMORPH (PHOENIX U.S.A. version 1.0)

In the U.S.A. contact us at [phone] Fax: [phone]
Tech. Hotline and individual Product Support at: [phone]

Internet: [e-mail]
Compuserve: [e-mail]
Genie: [e-mail]
Delphi: LEXICOR or [e-mail]

For International Support Fax at: [phone] or phone [phone]*

* This number will change for Lexicor International Support

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

Xenomorf is a powerful and full featured 3D renderer which lets you
create amazingly realistic three dimensional images on your Atari
Computer.

Xenomorf will run on all Atari ST, STe, TT030 and Falcon030 Systems
and all known Graphics Cards with a minimum of 1 meg of Ram.

Xenomorf (Phoenix U.S.A.) includes following features:

o Render Objects with smooth shading, no more polygon edges!
o Objects will render with highlights
o Objects may be textured with wood grain, marble, or wrap and
  image around the object
o Each Object may have it's own color palette
o Number of Objects is limited only by memory
o 4 different light source type, up to 21 lights in a scene.
o 3 different camera types. Maneuver the camera anywhere in a
  scene.
o Graphical object, light and camera positioning editor.
o View and save rendered images as 512 color Spectrum SPC files,
  2 to 256 color GIF files, or true color (24bit) Targa files at any
  resolution.
o Simple animation capabilities, or render CTL script animations
  (Cyber Control v.1.1 required for CTL animations) or use the new
  ANM-LINK (relativity) to render Chronos Key-frame animations with
  morphs and cycles.
o Several tutorial and sample objects included
o Runs in any 80 column color or monochrome resolution
o Full math co-processor support
o Plus much much more!

OFFICIAL LEXICOR SOFTWARE PRESS RELEASE

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

LEXICOR SOFTWARE is proud to announce the release of the long
awaited PRISM PAINT II (ARTIS ANIMATOR).

Check out the *.GIF files which are screen shot's of some of
Prism Paint II new features.


Date of availability: 03/09/93

Premiere Release by Lexicor Software Corporation in the U.S.A.

In conjunction with Artis Software Austria we combine the powerful
functionality of Artis into an animation package which is available
at an upgrade path from people with Prism Paint 1.1 or 1.5B.

Price: Recommended Retail is 189 U$D. Now 30 Day special offer for
149 U$D. Upgrade path is possible. Please call [phone] for
more details on that.

So how much does Prism Paint II vary from Prism Paint I (and a half).
Everything! Prism Paint is a complete re-write! It has nothing to do
with the original Prism Paint (except the name, the PNT file compat.
and that was about it!).

Special New Features.

Over 113 Functions
User Programmable Functions
RUN time file builder (ideal for Phoenix user's to build their animations)
Modular Design (external programmable port)
Supports every VDI friendly Graphics Board (e.g. NOVA, CRDOTS, MATRIX)
in any color's from 2, 16, 256, 32k, 64k upto 24bit.
Also run's and support's the Falcon in every resolution and color.
Built in Virtual Screen Manager
Special 24bit (NOVA STELLUM SPECIAL) air brushes
Geometrical features
Pixel Oriented Painting Options
Very thorough, intuitive and user-friendly interface
Can read GIF, TGA, IMG, XIMG, DOO, DEGAS, NEOCHROME, PIC, PNT and can
do much more because of the modular port which allows easy external
adaptations of new file format's.
Can write GIF, TGA, IMG and PNT same Modular features.
Color Printout Capabilities within Prism Paint II. Has a modular port
to expand it's print out driver capabilities. Very useful is the
HP Deskjet 550C driver, ideal for low-end color printout.
Memory Management, you can allocate Prism Paint II a certain amount of
your System Memory (eg. 80% of RAM).
Automatic Support of TTRAM.
Intuitive Magnifying Glass.
HSV, YMC, and RGB Palette Options
Extended Fill Patterns
Extensive Cut and Paste Options
Complete built in Help File
Support's Font GDOS, Speedo as well as SIGNUM Font's.
Complete Modular Port
Special NOVA TC brush effects
Scanner Support (Port for own Scanner Driver's)
Single Palette per Frame
Merge Modes between Film or run-time files
Full Support of Phoenix Run Time Files

Plus much, much more and everything you expect from a normal Painting
Program with extended Animation features.


The new Film File Format is called AFF. It is a resolution independent
film file format which will run perfectly in 2, 16, 256, 32K, 64k or
even 24bit and make full use of it. As of now, th AFF film file format
has the option of Palette-Per-Frame, but it is not supported in Prism
Paint II because of the speed.

You have the option to select a number of frames and delete them eg.
I can select frames 5-29 from 100 frames and delete only those selected.

Prism Paint II is a single frame editor, with the ability to not only
build animations but also to play them. However on the way are AFF Specific
Players that support the Hardware directly and are therefore much faster.

E.g. in 24bit a true color animation on the NOVA VME can only get a speed
of 4-8 frames per second in 640x480. Hardly a decent speed. However with the
specific player this can be boosted up to at least twice the speed, if not
more. Writing to the Hardware was always a lot faster.

The Modular External Port allow the user or any interested person to write
his own drivers for a color or b/w printer or to be able to read or write
new file format's. It is very easy and clearly documented so that this is no
problem at all, for anyone with any knowledge in C.

The programmable drawing tools are set up in such a way that you can use the
program tools to make your own new one. Eg. you can echo, or make the image
move circular etc. with the programmable drawing tools.

Prism Paint II is the next step in our animation. It is the final and
last addition. Once you have relativity and phoenix, and now prism paint II
to load and build animations you are basically complete. Prism Paint II
is the final building block. However, as you can see, Prism Paint II is
far, far more than just the regular paint or animation program. In it's
wealth of functions and ease of use, you will see that this is most
likely one of the most powerful painting and animation tools around for
this price.


For more information contact Lexicor Software Corporation
1726 Franzisko Street, CA 94703, Berkeley
[phone]
[phone]


Or contact us at [e-mail], 75300,[e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail]






                   LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORPORATION

                        1726 Francisco Street

                          CA 94703, Berkley

                Tel: [phone] - Fax: [phone]



This is an official announcement from LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORPORATION



Lexicor Software is extremely proud to announce the release of RAYSTART in

the U.S.A. It comes, naturally completely in English and is one of the best

Raytracers around on the Atari Platform.



Check out some of the Raytraced Images of RAYSTART in our Lexicor Graphics

Library.



Ray tracing allows you to produce near-photorealistic images and animation. The ray tracer
can accurately model such lighting effects as shadow, reflection and refraction,
magnification, mirrors, and textured surfaces.



It is a lovely addition to our family of Graphics Software. Perfect for use

in Presentation, Multimedia, Animation maybe and definately DTP.



It has a built in Editor very similar to CAD-3D2 from Antic and is 3D2 file

Compatible which means that you can use your Cyber Models (3D2) with it.



I will quote Godefroy de Maupeou from the French Magazine ST-Mag. (translated from
French into English)



"Raystart 1.0 is a big surprise. For a price that is usually for small Utilities, it is an
extremely powerful Raytracer and very easy to use!"



                            Godefroy de Maupeou



In the same article he said:

"Raystart is extremely fast, judge for yourself. A Sphere in 160x120 mode TIF with the
raytracing option, a mirror of 100% and one solar light takes 22 Seconds, without
antialiasing, 57 Seconds with antialiasing set to 1 (Four rays per Point rather than one)."






He however failed to mention the testing conditions, as RAYSTART v.1.0 has no Math
Co-Processor support these times are extremely fast for any raytracer, may it be for a
TT, Falcon or just a plain ST.





So how do I make a 3D Design and Raytrace it?



- Load or make an Object

- Confirm th Object for Output

- Choose a Color for your Object

- Choose a Texture

- Choose it's attributes (when a ray of light hit's th Object)

- Position the light sources

- Position the Camera

- Select the method of calculation

- While an object is raytraced you have the option to interrupt it and continue later on



Positioning the Camera can be done using either a Coordinate System just like PHOENIX
or a point and click interface like CHRONOS.



Parallel, Point, Ambient and Spot light sources



Additional options for Interpolation, Mirror, Transparency, Convex, Reflections, Shine,
Texture, density, antialiasing and more.



Functional and Analytical Objects.



Intuitive Point and click Graphical User Interface, very easy to use.



The Textures Menu have four different types of color deviations (if that is the right
word): Block, Rings, Spherical and Striped. Each one of these Textures can be
parametrised with a dozen other features, including the random functions. I won't go into
detail of each those other functions as they are too specific.



Distortion Raster



The built in Editor allows you to change or distort a previously defined Object via a
mathematical funtion which can be user-defined.




System Requirements:



Any Atari ST, STE, Mega, TT or Falcon.



Price: 99,- U$D



Availabitlity:     GERMAN version Raystart 1.0, NOW

             ENGLISH version Raystart 1.0, September 1993


Does not include Shipping and Tax.

Please contact LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORPORATION in Berkley at:



1726 Franzisko Street

CA 94703, Berkley

U.S.A.

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

For more information and introductory prices.

                  AVERKEY from AVER TECHNOLOGIES

                    The Pocket Size VGA to Video Encoder


English:

The AVerKey is a compact PC-Video peripheral that bridges VGA Display capabilities over
to standard NTSC or PAL video devices. The AVerKey adds presentation power to VGA
based system's. With the powerful AVerKey you can add your television, VCR and large
screen display to your computer hardware, multimedia in General.

Move the presentation from the VGA monitor to the world of video with the AVerKey!

AVerKey features reflect the latest in multimedia hardware design. Through it's compact
size and powerful internal design, the AVerKey can be quickly installed to convert a
number of resolutions and convert these into standard NTSC or PAL signal's.

As an added feature, the AVerKey features a state-of-the-art, built in flicker filter. This
filter helps overcome the inherent flicker problems which arise when linking the VGA
envrioment with video.

Deutsch:

Der AVerKey ist eine kompakte PC-Video Peripherie die ihr VGA Signal auf standard
NTSC oder PAL Video Signale convertiert. Es ist bestens geeignet für den Multimedia
Bereich mit ihrem VGA Ausgabe System. Mit dem AVerKey verbinden sie ihren Fernseher,
Videorecorder oder Großbildschirm mit ihren Computer (VGA Output).

Machen sie den Schritt in richtung Video mit dem AVerKey!

AVerKey ist auf dem neuestem Stand der Technik im Multimedia Bereich. Die Kompakte
Bauform sowie der eingebaute flicker filter geben ausgezeichnete Resultate auf Video.

Der flicker fixer korrigiert die sonst immer schlechte VGA Signal ausgabe auf Video egal
ob es in NTSC oder PAL ist.


Supported Display Modes


In NTSC


All Standard VGA Modes

640x480 mode with any color mode (256, 32768, 65536)



In PAL



All Standard VGA Modes

640x480 mode with any color mode (256, 32768, 65536)

800x600 mode if using Cirrus CL-GD 6410 VGA chip or Tseng Labs. ET-4000 with
frequency synthesizer as ICS 2494-237



Input



1 x VGA Card input connector

    - Analog RGB signal from VGA connector's 15-pni display connector

    - Voltage: 0.7 Volt peak to peak



Output



1 x VGA Monitor 15 pin card signal

1 x RGB Video 15 pin: 0.7 Vp-p

1 x Video Out:

    - Composite Video, 1.0 Volt peak to peak, RCA jack connector

1 x S-VHS Out:

    - Y (Luminance), C (Chrominance) Video, Mini-DIN 4 pin connector.



Power Consumption:



Maximum 4.5 W


Price in the U.S.A. at LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORPORATION

289 U$D without Tax and without Shipping