CompuServe Messages

G- 1) The hardcopy doc's – very good, high nines (a low score here or there from the Ukranian judge <g>). 2) On-line help – this could be good but ONLY if all the information is obtainable. As many others have already said, the primary benefit from on-line is the abiltiy to search for phrases & key words – this would be a boon. The current help format, well, it isn't, since it's more of a header description and isn't available for each component/option/dialog/toggle of the system. It's implimentation with the Alt key/mouse does would seem to work a lot better then the blind & time consuming search for topics method though – maybe in the future the combination puts you into the help list @ that subject point? 3) Nothing from the hardcopy should be totaly replaced by on-line (it's just too hard to "curl up in bed" with a computer). As has been said, people all learn differently – the ideal is to present diverse tools to reach users in varying ways. The one area that would obviously benefit from on-line would be animated command/procedure descriptions. The ability to SEE a morph, bend, taper, roll, motion-blur example could be very insightful, and very cutting-edge (probably another award winner for the 3DS doc's). Many of these could be basic wire-frames to conserve size & playback speed. 4) Not on-line: anything that is very text-intensive. I'm sure that I am not the only one who's eyes glaze over trying to read extensive amounts of phosper text. But after saying that, one would still want to be able to scan for that text's key words/phrases. Hmmm, I guess it should all go in. 5)(implied) Hard-copy manual suggestions: COLOR, especially when trying to convey lighting/material/color concepts (having color equivalants on-line would be a 2nd-choice alternative). I can't otherwise complain about the manuals except to say that more discussion on underlying concepts is needed and would be very benefficial to all users. 6)(implied) On-line help format suggestions: I'm torn about the CD route. On one hand its very slick and able to hold +600 megs. On the other hand it would replace the WCTK (unless one had 2 CD drives) and make the help index un-editable & un-updateable. Although I hate to say it, the AutoCAD concept of an ascii help index that is compiled for speed does have its advantages. An alternate might be an editable help "index" that 3DS checks and points to any additional help files (from users, IPAS routines, or your own updates). This would allow the core 3DS help to be compiled/protected yet added to. – Phil p.s. Although all of what has been suggested and said on this thread would be somewhat useful and even fun, please don't detour programming resources from the interface/rendering code because of it!<g>. Given that trade-off, I would MUCH rather learn "on-line" by trial and error than sacrifice on the 3DS's overall evolution and constant improvement.