This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (2,112 messages)
Pat, This is a kind of a quick guess, but have you expanded your environment area in DOS to handle the Set commands needed for drivers and such? A line such as: shell=c:\command.com /e:750 /p in your config.sys adds environment space. The line: set COMSPEC=C:\command.com just may do the trick…
Neil, Without going into _too_ much detail, consider these points: * "Broadcast quality" is somewhat of an arbitrary term in this business, but suffice it to say at least say that for _good_ quality a Targa card works and for _great_ quality, a Vista card works, both Truevision products. *…
Hey, Keith! Heck, give me a call — check your E-Mail for my #. If I can help, I will…. -Alan Iglesias
Oh, no problem, Nik — Just want to do the "right thing" here, so if there is a rule or policy about this (and it seems that there should be) it makes sense to me! -Alan
Sanjeev, I haven't a clue about Adesk's plans for it's products, but these things should be noted: Neither Pixar's Typestry, nor Renderman represent a true full-featured production-oriented complete 3D package of the likes of 3D Studio. These programs are niche-oriented and designed for doing relatively specific 3D operations, so a…
Hello, Anthony. I left you a detailed message a couple of days ago concerning your questions about reflection mapping. Maybe it got deleted accidently — anyway, this was the jist of it… Although it goes without saying, Gary's suggestions are all excellent ways of obtaining the effect you are looking…
Hi Nik, Hmmm.. Didn't realize that that was a hard and fast rule…OK, no more "chatting" in this section! (That *was* a chilly movie!) -Alan (I got the hint…)
I think I have either heard that one or others like it. I'll never forget the scene in Amedeus in which 'Volfy takes Scalari's (sp?) rather vauge little ditty and totally shreds a new theme/arrangement. VERY cool! I'd like to know who/how that scene was put together. I wonder if…
>>Variety in the 3D graphics thing — YUP! -Alan
Hmmmm… Just a couple of guesses… First, I think I would check all the maps involved with the materials associated with the project file. If all the maps are viewable, then they shouldn't cause a problem. That being said, it would seem that loading the maps could be causing a…
Hi David, Just took a look at the flic you sent me. Cool-looking transparent letters! The type-on effect is cool too. Well, here's the deal: Your 11.2 MB file can be divided into two basic sections, the first (approx.) 150 frames, where there is considerable delta, (averaging about 67k) and…
#44035-
Review
Message #44193
It's true that so much of learning trditional theory depends on recall. I believe that guys like Mozart (besides being born with a huge amount of music already *in* them) have a combination of perfect pitch _and_ total recall. It's funny how easy it is to remember stuff during improvisation…
#44040-
Wind & Water…
Message #44192
Great, John! I could'a swore I saved that message. I think I remember it mow that I see it. I was actually able to get some pretty nice subtle movements with your basic vertex-level morphing, etc… Thanks for the effort! -Alan
#Wind & Water…
Message #43961
Hello, Gary: A couple of IPAS-related questions… 1) I'd like to do a looping animation involving the water.sxp's movement ablities. Is there any way to reliably predict a repeating action for a smooth loop? 2) I've been creating willow trees in silicon garden that I would like to see "wafting"…
#43873-
Review
Message #43945
Maybe she'd do a duet with me…maybe she'd probably know better! I gotta get that CD — I'm interested to hear what she sounds like… -Alan
#43866-
Review
Message #43944
What a concept! Actually, in stereo-mixed music, producers call their efforts at positioning sound in 3D space imaging. Extermely difficult thing to do with a couple of speakers that are typically not positionally optimized to reproduce the effect. It makes sense that the headphones provide a better way to consistantly…
OK, OK! _What_ Beatles songs?? Did we do Beatles songs? So once again I get the great lesson handed down: If you're not absolutely sure of what is going to come out of your mouth, keep it shut! One day I'll get it, I guess! You'd never know it now,…
Is _that_ what happened after the meeting! Greg didn't mention how much beer had to be consumed in order to make a _complete_ fool out of myself (as opposed to a least a partial one as usual!). And when someone who was there tells me, I'll know too! Actually, the…
Mike, It's hard for me to answer that question without knowing _exactly_ which shades of colors (and how many) you need for your pallette. My first guess is you may have to enter them manually, but perhaps there is a way. AApro experts out there??
Martin, I rather agree with Gus' assessment of the many differences between video and film and their "look and feel". Film is actually made of layers of _emulsion_, which is an organic substance that holds the silver nitrate grains that react to the light during exposure. I get the feeling…
It sounds like you've got the right idea already, Michael. Go into AApro (or Animator) and set up the pallette any way you like it. Save it out and use it as a custom pallette. 3DS will render the 8-bit flic or .gif with only these colors. You could also…
Hello Andy, IPAS development requires either Metaware HighC 3.0 or Watcom C along with the PharLap Linker. Also, you'll be needing the IPAS Software Developer's Kit, available from ADesk. Try contacting Chris Allis or Regina Brown @415.491.8777. You might also download an addendum to the kit, IPAS21.zip, that has been…
#42665-
Pyros boutique!
Message #42692
Thanks, Steve! Actually, those are all just all standard spherical reflection maps that were used for that rendering. BTW, Bill Allen called me the other day and asked me to contribute the technique as a "3DS tip" for the next issue — it has to do with stepping up the…
Hmmm…I think the drivers that came with my card _are_ 1.2 — at least that's what I thought I saw when changing screens in AApro. If you come down a little early Thursday, maybe we could try 'em out (or I guess I could just download them–what's that file name?).…
#42341-
BD-Girl object?
Message #42369
Don't specifically recognize it, John, but sure looks familiar… I must say that I'd love to get a hold of the mesh I saw at the DGS booth at NCGA last year…
Yeah…how much do I owe you?? Wow, jumping out of planes again, eh? How did your "partner" fare? I hope you had a good time. You can tell me about it and I'll try to live vicariously through your experience 'cause thats probably as close as I'm gonna get! -Alan
>>I have almost all the messages going back to July last year, or so. I _knew_ there was a reason I didn't have to do it!! -Alan
You should give Viewpoint a call…1-800-DATASET(328.2738) -Alan
#41412-
#Video Editing Woes
Message #41439
Interesting. No doubt, feature production can be one helluva process! Most high-end video editing decks support discrete recording of video/audio. -Alan
Don, As it says on pp. 70 of the Installation and Performance Guide, once 3DS starts to page to memory during a render, it continues to use that swap file for subsequent renderings. The only way to stop the paging is to reboot the program. Hope this helps, -Alan Iglesias
Uh, I think you got your height/width mixed up, James. In a 512×486 image, the width is 512 pixels, and the height is 486. If you had the renderer set to something other than null, then the height could be constrained to 486, thus the 480×486 output. -Alan Iglesias
Hi Martin, Had the Ill Pro spec sheet a while back, I think I tossed it. Matrox is famous for feature-laden slightly-ahead-of-it's-time hardware but unfortunately for them it doesn't usually find it's way to "household word" hardware heaven…thus some support/compatibility problems. Bruno Parent at Matrox will be glad to give…
#40235-
2D ANIMATION IN 3DS (?)
Message #40253
No, Phil. AAPRO is strictly a 2-dimensional animator while 3DS is 3D. I my opinion, though, "2D" animations done in 3DS — while are admittedly more complicated and time-consuming — look MUCH better! And when your company sees what 3D looks like (in the stuff you will undoubtably do in…
#40234-
#3D Studio for post?
Message #40252
Hi Mike. 1) Yes, 3DS is VERY compatible with the ATVista standard. Many video types on this forum use it's many capabilities to record to VTR and Laser disks, with ecxellent results. Maybe one or two will jump in with specifics (Greg?). 2) What happens at upgrade time? The same…
#40230-
Aldus Photostyler
Message #40251
PMJI, but I think it's been done! check Greg Pyros' new set of IPAS image manipulation .IXPs due out soon… Give him a holler… -Alan
#40239-
Smoke stuck in a bottle
Message #40250
Don, As it states in the documentation (pp.26), the smoke routine was designed primarily to simulate smoke in a beam of light, ie: a well-defined surface. I think your idea about morphing smoke-shaped objects is a good one. Try lofting muliple rounded-edge objects for your morphing. Also, when designing your…
Hello, Sze C. I'll try to answer your questions the best I can, in the order that you asked them: 1) As much RAM as possible. In a professional installation, 32 can be a minimum, depending on the complexity of your scenes to be rendered. For small projects, you can…
Tim, PMJI, but check the next issue of 3D Artist (due out soon) for an article regarding the use of CorelDraw with 3DS. To order the newsletter, call Bill Allen at (505)982-3532. I'll think you will be quite pleased with the publication, as it focuses on (among other issues) tips…
Sure, Tim. -Alan
Hi, Dirk. Great stuff from Greg, etc, but you might try a higher resolution bitmap to keep those stars from blowing out. I think the first thing I would do is crank up the tiling setting in the mapping section. Should increase the number of stars as well as keep…
Are you using a custom pallette? This _may_ help your problem if it is pallette related. -Alan Iglesias
Timothy, I don't believe the drivers in 3DS support the 550C. I get the best output by printing out of Windows, specifically out of CorelDraw. If you are not running Windows, there are printer utilities that will allow you to print to the 550C. I'm not sure of their names,…
Thanks for the info, Dan. -Alan
James, By capability, I'm assuming you mean the ability to render faster. Your video card doesn't have a whole lot to do with it — especially if you render to "null". If you are paging to disk during rendering (check the Current Status command in the 3D editor) then you…
>>reminds me that we are all part of a much larger world… This, I feel, is an extremely important point for us all…thanks for hitting on an often overlooked concept, John. -Alan
#Gateway Probs??
Message #37658
Hello, folks! A friend is considering purchasing a Gateway DX2/66 w/local bus to be used as a 3DS workstation. Can anyone report on any problems concerning: 1) Memory management up to 64MB. 2) Basic compatibility. 3) PharLap compatibility. 4) ADI/VESA problems with the ATI ultra card it comes with. 5)…
animation/convertion
Message #37494
Darrell, If you export your ACAD 3D files to .DXF, you should be able to import them to 3DS any make any kind of animation you want, at any level of quailty! This kind of thing is done all the time with ACAD and 3DS, with great results… Good Luck,…
#Murder and 3DS
Message #37493
OK, Alec…Thanks. I'll be looking for it. Gosh, I hope those test people come through OK. Although I did have a couple of people faint from boredom once while watching one of my animations once so you never know….. -Alan
Real Chrome and Gold
Message #37492
Edwin, According to my Atlas (and if I read it right), you guys in Germany are about 9 hours ahead of us here in Southern California. So if you called in the early evening, you would get me in morning…gimme a call! -Alan
Animator Memory question
Message #37491
Sounds Like a memory management problem, Dennis. Check your configuration to see how much EMS/XMS is being allocated (if any). Now check the Status command (I'm assuming you meant 3DS, not Animator) to see how much of your memory 3DS is actually seeing. Certainly, You will want 3DS to see…
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