This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (46 messages)
Martin, Thanks for the comments. I do a lot of animation and the raytracer is hopeless for this situation, so your suggestion is helpful. As for Metaballs, I haven't used it in my work -yet. Mike
Martin, I didn't mean to put down 3DS by using the term "cartoon" rendering (and am willing to apologize) but I couldn't think of a better term for the subjective judgement I have when I look at the renderings and compare them with ray tracing. Although I am proud to…
Thanks, I am a rayman customer now and was only worried about its future. I have done some really great images with it. Apart from rendering speed (of course) it is difficult to go back to the "cartoon" type renderer in 3DS.
#rayman
Message #185630
I haven't seen Rayman advertised recently. Is it still a viable program? -Mike
Nik, Unfortunate about the lack of render to tape. It is a very valuable procedure within 3DS. Please consider this important function in a future version(sounds odd since the first version isn't out yet!). -Mike
#Render to tape
Message #163062
I am very interested if Animator Studio will be able to render directly to tape in the manner of 3DS. This is invaluable for week long Targa render to tape sessions without the need for enormous disk space. Thanks, Mike
Dave, Thanks. I understand. By the way, I have Liquid Speed and appreciate the speed a great deal. -Mike
Ralph, Your reply is what I expected. -Thanks
#Vibrant Drivers
Message #159375
I have recieved a card in the mail advertising high resolution vibrant drivers for animator pro. Do you know what these drivers can do? For example, can they result in greater than the 256 color limit? Or can they only increase screen resolution. Do they allow creation of large files…
Michael. Thanks for the benchmarks. The Pentium will be my next machine.
#Rayman speed
Message #156936
Stefan, I understand Rayman is optimized for the Pentium. I am using a 66 MHz 486. Could you indicate about how much speed improvement can be expected with a Pentium? Thanks, Mike
Stefan, Thank you. I will try your suggestion. I might add that I rendered a successful image overnight and I am very pleased with the results. Thanks, Mike
Stefan, More info (see my first note to you). QEMM version 6 The message is a rayshell message Image name LAB1.TGA Disk space availabe 180 MB Thanks, Mike
Stefan, Thanks for the reply. I need to explain the problem more clearly as it happened again overnight. 1. This time I ran 800×600 so the rendering time was less. 2. The finished image had the message (approximately) "do you want to re-display the image? I choose "no". 3. A…
#Rayman Raytracer
Message #155909
I'm just wondering if anyone else has tried the Rayman ray tracing program for 3DS. I recieved my copy about a week ago. After a week of small but interesting experiments I set up for rendering of a high resolution image. The total rendering time on my 486 was about…
Pat, It's good to hear that others find the flexibility of using one's own programming can multiply the uses of an already sophisticated program. -Mike
render to tape
Message #151750
Just some comments on Animator Pro. Of extreme use to me is the ability to use poco programs to write custom operations. This is of particular use for artificial life type programs which I send to video tape. I hope such a programming tool will be present in Animator Studio.…
Yost group, Great. It looks like a simple calculation. -Mike
Kevin, Thanks for the information. While I have done a lot of video work with 3DS, this is the first time I have used 3DS for high resolution still images. I still have a few things to learn. – Mike
Yost group, Thanks for all the information. I will try the white background. I have a second request from the art director which has me confused. He has requested the 3DS files be set for about 6×5 inches and 300 dpi. I can easily set this type of output on…
#Image Printing
Message #150452
I am using 3DS version 4 and need to provide tga files to a printer. As created, the images have the typical 3DS black background. The printer has requested that I create the image objects with no background-he says see if the program can be set to "none" or "transparent".…
#Ray Tracing
Message #143111
At one time I understood that at least one ray tracer had been developed by a second party for 3DS. Does anyone know if such a program is available? -Thanks, Mike
Please send to me also as I am purchasing V4 partly for the spline modeling. Thank you
Service Bureau ?
Message #119664
I need some advice on making large prints of 3DS images. I live in a rather small city and have no local access to this type of printing. My understanding is that this type of work is done by service bureaus. I need color prints of about 2×2 ft. Here…
Brian, Thanks, I look forward to an excellent upgrade. -Mike
New Version Wishlist
Message #107875
Autodesk, Please consider the following suggestion for the next update on Animator Pro: As in 3DS, it would be extremely valuable if frames could be sent to video tape immediately after rendering each individual frame. This eliminates the need for huge disk space and would bypass flitape altogether. This characteristic…
Thanks, I would be very dissapointed if it became a dead end.
#Future of Animator Pro
Message #103484
It has been a very long time since Animator Pro has been upgraded. Version 1.3 isn't much change over 1.0. Is there a future planned for Animator Pro? If so when can a significant upgrade be expected. This program is extremely useful to me in conjunction with 3DS and I…
Animator pro upgrade
Message #50648
Ralph, Thanks. Actually your outline is how I do Apro to video now. It's just that I would like the option to render directly to tape. I guess this is not possible. -Mike
Thanks for the reply, Actually I use Flitape a great deal but my understanding is that I must save the rendered APro flics first on disk and then run Flitape from the DOS prompt. What I would like is each individual flic frame sent out to VTR as it is…
#Animator pro upgrade
Message #49879
Just a question concerning Animator Pro. I have found a lot of use for this program by itself and when used together with 3D Studio. My concern is that I no longer see Animator Pro advertised. In fact, it was not mentioned in the Autodesk annual report (I'm a stockholder).…
Tony, Thanks for the information. We have AutoCad Release 12 so I'll take a look. -Mike
Hyperchem to 3DS
Message #48240
Is it possible to convert Hyperchem 3D images to 3D Studio file format? This would be very useful to us. Thank you, Mike
Thanks for the comments. I have tried a number of combinations of wait states without success. I will also try your suggestion of clock divided by 8. The system board manual (Micronics) indicates that 1/4 should be selected for my 66 Mhz DX-2. Do you know if using 1/8 will…
Targa+ warning
Message #47888
Just a note on an experience I have had with a Targa+/32. After a year of successful operation sending 3DS/Targa+ output to video with a 386, I decided to speed things up and obtained a Micron Technology 66 Mhz 486(VLB). The Targa card in this computer appears to operate incorrectly.…
Thanks for the information. I wasn't aware that it is possible to obtain 3DS drivers for the ATI GUP other than the one that comes with the card. This is something new to me. Could someone let me know where separate drivers can be purchased? Thanks Mike
#Graphics ultra pro
Message #43178
Anyone had these problems with the 2Mb graphics ultra pro? I am set up as they recommend for 3ds- 800x600x16 for the editor, 640x480x256 for the materials editor,640x480x16 million for the rendering. 1. Viewing an image saved before I got the ultra (640×480 or smaller) results in the request to…
I recieved your fax today- many thanks. I plan to spend the weekend experimenting with the render to fields problem and will get back to you with my settings and anything else I learn. -mk
Martin: Your comment concerning saving a mesh object with Render Fields off is very interesting because last evening I was finally able to render to fields but only after creating an object while render fields was on. When I brought in an old file (created with render fields off) it…
Greg: Thanks for the clarification. The 7750 dealer is also a 3DS dealer so I hope he isn't leading anyone else in the wrong direction. -Mike
I called my Panasonic 7750 salesman, he says: "The Panasonic 7750 doesn't support 3DS render to fields.Render to fields requires a VTR in the 50-60K price range." If this is true, it looks like us 7750 users are out of luck.Can anyone confirm this?? -Mike
#31333-
#VTR JITTERS
Message #31548
Thanks, I'll give Diaquest a call. Is render to fields really that much better than render to frames with vblur.ixp? In any event, I'm trying to get the highest video quality and will keep looking into this problem. -Mike
Rendering to video tape looks good when I render to frames. Only the fields situation gives me a problem. As for a special switch on the 7750-I haven't come across anything in the manual. Also the render to frames with vblur.ixp works fine (as recommended I don't use vblur with…
John, Thanks for the information. I think you must be correct about the type of shape which cannot be deformed. The simplest shape I have tried which does not work in deform fit is as follows(V=vertices,.=grid markings): V…….V . . V.V V.V . . V.V V.V . . V…….V Connect…
#Deform-fit problem
Message #30481
Problem with Deform fit Example:Simple lathed cylinder 1. Create circle in shaper for the shape to loft 2. Create shape to fit as follows: Draw top and bottom horizontal lines(2 vertex each) Draw vertical sides as a step function(3 troughs along the way) The two vertical sides are mirror images…
#RENDER FAST
Message #29836
COULD ANYONE PROVIDE ME WITH A ROUGH IDEA OF THE EXPECTED DECREASE IN 3D STUDIO (VERSION 2) RENDERING TIME WHEN CHANGING FROM A 33 MHZ 386 WITH 387 PROCESSOR TO A 50 OR 60 MHZ 486 ? THANKS