This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (362 messages)
Thanks. We've had missions that people have called "stealth science" missions because **somebody** decided that the experiments were too complex for the public to understand. When the last mission was getting set, the people involved in the project management side at NASA Lewis wanted to make an effort to get…
John: The behavior of a material near its critical point has been known for a while, but there has always been a problem with making measurements near the critical point – since the compressibility seems to rapidly go off toward infinity as you get near the critical point, you can't…
John: One consideration that I have that most people don't is that everything that I write at work (including programs!) and all of my animation is automatically in the public domain – the government does not copyright anything along those lines at all. The government can get a patent for…
John: I've decided that somebody will try to abuse any system that you set up. The government got into the mode of writing regulations and procedures assuming that people are going to try to cheat. As a result, a lot of systems get set up that are more about keeping…
John: If I can get the LVR I'll grab it. I wish sometime that, when a project has surplus equipment, we could sell off the surplus hardware and put the money back into the project. Unfortunately life dosen't work that way in the government… Chris
My friend has been capturing simultaneous frames from two cameras for a stereo velocimetry project. They seem to be heading toward going with an all digital system instead of recording video and then frame grabbing. They aren't selling the decks – that is almost impossible for us to do, since…
John: Yeah, the LVR-5000 sounds like it. One of my friends has a couple at work. He is thinking about moving to an all-digital (non-video) system and has kinda almost offered to let me have one of them. I'll gladly make room in my animation rack, maybe even move out…
Thanks, John. It also turns out to be the cheapest way to go, too! Do you have any experience with the SONY videodisk recorder? How does its image quality compare to Betacam SP? (I'm talking about the older two piece deck with the seperate control unit and recording deck.) Chris
John: Yeah, I want to get one for work, too. It looks like it would produce better video than my VO-5850, and a **lot** faster. Even for "broadcast quality" video output the PAR is going to be really useful for refining an animation. I would run all of the test…
Thanks. I'll be working with VHS primarily (at least for the time being) and only bumping up to a better format for final copies, so I won't look for the JPEG artifacts till then. The external case sounds interesting. I'll have to look at it if I ever need the…
Thanks, I'm enjoying my new PAR. Chris
Jonas: Thanks. I end up building a lot of models from plans, and I run into times that just scream for relative coordinate input. Chris
Another PAR Installation
Message #91161
I just got my DPS PAR (from Greg Pyros and company) last friday. The install went retty well, with only two significant problems: I got the 1 GB Micropolis drive and had some difficulty in mounting it. The drive is a 3.5" form factor and I didn't have a 5.25"…
IPAS 3 SDK update???
Message #91160
Now that the IPAS 3 SDK is out, does anybody know whether there is an upgrade deal for owners of the original IPAS SDK? Chris
Gary: I like the current documentation a lot, so I would give question 1 a 9 out of to. I wouldn't mind seeing more on-line documentation, but ***NOT*** at the expense of the printed docs. I think that you need to keep the level of detail in the printed manuals…
A minor suggestion
Message #90628
I would like the next version of 3DS to include the kind or relative coordinates that AutoCad does – you know how, once you have a point set you can place the next a, for instance, @20,10 which puts the new point at a coordinate that is 20 more than…
Thanks. I guess that I was thinking about things like a classical Novell network where you end up dedicating a machine to be the server. **That** I can't do, unless I get even more machines. Lantastic sounds good. I'll have to look at it. Thanks, Chris
John: Thanks! Right now I only have two machines, so I can't really dedicate one as a server. That makes me think about a peer to peer system. Chris
John: That has been my feeling too. If I get the network set up I should be able to move it all to a new motherboard whenever I decide to do that. Do you have any strong preferences for any particular network?
John: I have been thinking about a motherboard upgrade on my old 386 system, in fact. I might end up waiting for a reasonable Pentium-based system. I've seen networking starter kits with a pair of ethernet boards and software for about $500. I'm looking at the IPAS3 SDK. I've got…
Thanks. Any word on upgrades for people with the old IPAS SDK? Chris
I see by my next message that it isn't a rumor anymore… Chris
John: Yeah, I'm happy with 3DS on a DOS machine. I'm using a 486DX2-66 at home, and I can **always** use a faster machine. I'm thinking about networking my 386 and 486 together instead of getting a faster machine. I've used a couple of SGI machines, but never with a…
One of my friends has had an Amiga for quite a while (a 2500) and keeps trying to sell it to me. It turns out that he **isn't** doing video stuff and all of the commercial software that he really likes runs on the PC. My use for an Amiga…
I thought that the Amiga that I saw last week running with a video toaster looked a lot better than what I remember of the machines that I saw a while ago. One of my friends keeps trying to sell me his old 2500, but I've got two PCs now…
#IPAS 3 SDK rumor
Message #87454
I was at an Autodesk AutoVision and 3DS seminar this morning and, among many other things,most which made sense and some that didn't (like saying that you really only need 8Mb for 3DS ) they said that the IPAS3 SDK "was shipping now". Is this true, or just another ugly…
Does the Amiga use an interlaced monitor as its main monitor? I looked at them early on and the display of windows, etc. always bothered me. It looked "cheap" somehow, and I wonder if it is the display system that they used. At the same time they were having trouble…
OK. I'm not currently having any significant problems with the lock, but I'll download it and look at it.
I had minor problems with the hardware lock on my Tri-Star 386DX-33 in that it gave me the same "Sentinel Pro not found" message whenever I had my printer attached through the dongle but not turned on. If I turned on the printer (or disconnected it) the message never appeared.…
Greg: That sounds good! Chris
Greg: Is the PAR for the AT Bus actually shipping now? Chris
Greg: I would rather buy everything from the same place anyway. Somebody that I talked to early on when the PAR was first announced acted like it would be cheaper to buy the PAR an drive seperately. Now it sounds like a bad idea. Chris
Sure, I figure that I can just render to a 750 X 480 frame for the PAR either by setting it by hand or in the 3DS.SET file. Chris
Evan: It probably isn't important at all, but I was interested in how they do their recalibration strategy. It says something about what the designers had in mind for the drive. Chris P.S. How many pixels will fit on the end of the pin? Is there a standard pin for…
Greg: That makes a lot of sense (about the 3655A drives having to be modified for use with the PAR) and it really says that you have to buy the PAR and a drive together. This isn't what I was told by somebody else – they told me that you…
But Greg! My animations are so carefully crafted that I really need those 6 lines ….. Chris
Call for Animations
Message #81413
Do they have to have been done on the DPS, or can you use something like a series of Targa files to assemble into an animation with the DPS? Chris
Do the standard "off the shelf" Seagate 3655A drives work right with the PAR, or are they selling a modified drive with the PAR. Chris
Do most drives recalibrate on their own whenever they think that it is a good idea, or do they recalibrate before a read or write? Chris
Greg: Ok, Ok! Do my Targa files with 486 vertical resolution get centered or do I just lose the last 6 lines? Chris
So it sounds like the drive does the recal whenever it thinks that it needs it or when it gets a command to move a lot of data. Is that standard procedure for the Seagate drive that is used with the PAR, or do you need a version with special…
OK. Does that say that the Amiga version does not run at full vertical resolution?
Greg: Ok. The magazine article was in DTVW (Desk Top Video World?, Devils, Trolls, Vampires and Werewolves?? I'm not sure – all my copy has on the bottom where most magazines identify themselves is DTVW) and it said: "The specified 540MB hard disk holds from five to seven minutes of…
Ok, thanks. Do all drives do the degauss and recal cycle in one shot, or is this something that they can distribute over time? Chris
Greg: I noticed from your DPS PAR ZIP file that the PAR runs in 752 X 480 (fixed) resolution. I'm used to using my Targa+ at 512 X 486 and storing the individual frames on my optical drive. How would I set up my system with the PAR? I can…
Ok, I'll try it. Thanks. Chris
Ok, thanks. If I make the object as soon as I enter the lofter it seems to work out and avoid the crash. I'll keep looking out for it and I'll send you a file if I can isolate the problem. Chris
GOt it. I'll unzip it right away.
Thanks. I think that the only way to get far enough away is to stick my animation rack out in the hallway! I see your point, and I've noticed the beat effects even on the monitor that doesn't show the color bands. I've got my system set up with a…
Ok, I'll tell you when I get it. Chris
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