This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (2,112 messages)
I know, James — you can only "gander" at it so long before you just want to drive it! -Alan
Jerome, I think you should realize that whether raytracing is included with the shipping version of MAX or not, it would still be as well-integrated and seamless as possible when offered. -Alan
MS maintains (as far as I know) that 2 processors max out NT Workstation and besides, it was only a joke, Mark. I understand you pretty much run into diminishing returns after 2 processors (Intel). Much better to have 2 machines with 2 processors in each. -Alan
Ted, I'm pretty sure that the NT FP fix shuts down hardware FP ops, and replaces them with all software calls. Not exactly what you'd want to do while using a 3D package! I'm also pretty sure that MAX sticks with single-precision FP, so it really shouldn't be any more…
Yup, I'm gettin' my new one today. Stay tuned… -Alan
Yup, everyone who was at Siggraph! If you'd like to take a gander at the interface, Michael, search the libraries using MAX as a keyword and DL some GIF screengrabs of the UI. -Alan
#186507-
Rendering Programs?
Message #186566
Totally cool, Jack. That's about how I understood it. I wonder if there is any other modeler in existance that even *approaches* this sort of flexibility? Thanks, -Alan
Excellent to hear, Kevin. I've always been very happy with Micropolis equipment. I'll get the non-AV version tomorrow and I'm sure all my problems will simply go away! (knocking on wood…) Thanks, -Alan
Well, at least I've got a few brain cells left that still work… Every time another of MAX's features sinks in, I'm just more and more amazed….and impatient! Don't forget the sunscreen. -Alan
Dave, you had EXACTLY the same thing happen to you as happened to me! Same drive (was yours the AV?), same noise…and it happened to you TWICE? Arrrgh! I just got off the phone w/Mic tech support and their gonna FedEx me a new, non-AV drive today. None of the…
Gary will correct me if I am off-base here, Martin, but I coulda' swore I heard him or someone say (in effect) that as soon as a mesh is imported into MAX, it pretty much "smartens up" right off the bat. I'm suspecting that during the import process the mesh…
Two versions of the sphere, one with the glowing material and one without using Hide Keys comes to mind… -Alan
Thanks for the cool HD info, Gus! -Alan
I'm puzzled too, Martin. I just installed a new Mic 4G SCSI AV 'cause the original (new in late June) one died with a horrible scream Monday. Micropolis replaced it free and shipped it FedEx immediately, no questions asked, which leads me to suspect that this wasn't the first one.…
You're most welcome, Gary. It was a pleasure. And mucho thanks for taking OUR collective butts into the future! -Alan
Considering the amount of sleep I got up there, Jack, it's a wonder I remembered anything! Thanks, -Alan
Gary's quite busy catching up on things, John, so let me take a stab at this one, OK? The board was a 3Deamon from OmniComp (713/464/2990) and is known as a 4MB board. It uses the Glint 300SX chip and does double buffering, I'm pretty sure. I'm, not sure sure…
Most welcome, Paul. I hope the reports (Martin has a great one this morning) are informative and helpful. -Alan
Great, provocative commentary, Martin. Kind of a "state of the 3DS Union" address at a time when things are gonna heat up considerably. The spectre of SGI artists defecting to MAX should kick a few of our butts into improving our skills! Back to work… -Alan
Exactly, Michael — the 8 MB one! -Alan
>>…3D band…
It was very nice meeting you, too, Gino, at what turned out to be quite a show, eh? Yup, next year should really be something — I'm thinking hard about it already! I'm glad you will be more active here in the forum. The more the merrier! -Alan
Hey, not a bad idea, Kyle, but I'll have to spring for NT Advanced Server to run 'em all! Very nice meeting you at Siggraph and the best of luck with your project! -Alan
-Alan
Michele, Did I really blather on about other women? It musta been that high mini-skirt factor in at the show…boy, how things have changed in ten years. What I *really* wanted to do was tell you where I had applied your tatoo…but I just chickened out…. Hey, did they play…
It'd be very hard to properly advise exactly what to do on a complex lighting/RefMapping situation like this, Dom, without actually seeing it. The first thing that comes to mind would be a pretty considerable specular highlight because of the single light on the subject. A combination of a lens…
James, thanks for a very amusing message! (even though it wasn't a very amusing experience…) The only thing you seem to have left out was the passing of esteemed guitar man Jerry Garcia. (means frown) I'm glad that despite all the problems you had you still found the show worthwhile.…
Hey, Andrew it was great meeting you, too. I hope to see you again next year! -Alan PS -And I hope you've recovered OK!
Hey, it was my pleasure, Phil. When Gary asked me to do the piece I knew it would be relatively easy and fun, too. It was a blast watching that little Hershey's kiss bop to Jimi's beat. Great seeing you again, as usual. -Alan
Why, thank you, Mike! It was a great show, wasn't it? Yeah, you're right. Now we've gotta get down and do some serious work to pay for all the toys we need. Let's see, dual P5/133's, 128MB RAM, 4G HD,…… -Alan
Gosh, er, ah, I'm all red and goose-pimply, Nancy! (and I *like* that!) I guess I kinda didn't think it was really part of Siggraph but I guess it definitely was part of some folks' Siggraph, eh? I'm so happy that you enjoyed my lecture and wasn't bored to tears!…
Hey John, it was good to see ya at Siggraph. It'll be a long time before I forget this show. I think we *all* will have more to show next year…if you know what I mean! -Alan
>>Any ideas?
Wish I could video tape that… -Alan PS -Nice seeing you again at Siggraph! We've gotta keep meeting like this…
Most welcome, Michael. I hope it wasn't too much of an imposition and folks could get a feel of what happened. One thing's for sure: MAX *happened*! Yup, we've got great things coming in the near future! -Alan
ROFL! You're a riot, Bob. We had a good time, eh? Even if there was a little angst amongst an individual or two. I hope nobody thought I was lying about running out of name tags — I actually ran out (I had 100) quite early in the night. And…
Why, thanks very much, Dave! That particular article was written as a sort of entry-level tips/techniques thing. The techniques and concepts are quite easy but have truthfully made a huge difference in the way I have gotten projects done over the years. I hope the info helps anyone that reads…
You're very welcome, Terry. The Reflection Mapping abilities in 3DS are many and varied, meaning that there is a certain level of complexity involved. Once you've learned what each type can do and how to deal with them, it gets quite simple. The tutorials can help quite a bit, as…
Todd, please note that mapping coordinates are not needed for Reflection Mapping. Yes, the faces need to remain co-planar for the Auto Flat RefMap to work as a *single* material. If you want to apply a Auto Flat RefMap to more than one non-coplanar faces, make seperately named materials and…
Great, Aaron. And now the best thing to do is to have real nice MAX dreams! -Alan
Wow, Terry, that musta been a real bummer, eh? If you are using an Automatic Flat Reflection for the pool surface, and you moved a vertex perpindicular to the face, your face set is probably no longer co-planar. Auto Flat Reflection only works with co-planar faces. Can you move the…
Todd, if you apply your material to co-planar faces, and on the face level, the reflection should work. -Alan
#Siggraph/MAX/WOW!!
Message #184531
Hello Everyone, It's Friday afternoon and after doing my best to get around the southbound LA-to-San Diego traffic I have finally made it home and am catching up on forum activity of the last few days. If it's OK with all of you, I'd like to post some impressions of…
>>…TV's everywhere! Surround images!…
David, from everything I've been able to surmise, 8-bit color software-only rendering is *extremely* fast. While the amount of simultaneous objects being rendered in real time may be limited without hardware acceleration, basic modeling needs should be covered quite well, I think. -Alan
Try OmniComp, William, at 713/464/2990. Their boards were used at Siggraph to demo MAX. -Alan
Mohammed, It looked that way because MAX was running under WinNT with the Beta Win95 GUI. Believe me, MAX is strictly a native WinNT program, and it really couldn't be any other way. -Alan
Dom, often the best reflection map for a highly polished or chrome surface is a shot of the actual scene (or backround, if there is one). If there is no scene, the hopefully one of the canned RefMaps will do the trick. You may consider adding some "local imagery" to…
>>..3DS is going to beat the pants of LightWave…
That's good to hear, Tim. Thanks for letting me know, -Alan
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