CompuServe Messages

The time to apply for beta-testing is 7-9 months before a release. (ie, for R3 that would've been Jan-March of this year… for R4 it'll be Aug-Oct of next year). Right after a release, all we're interested in is recuperation and regrouping. Regarding IPAS programs being difficult to use… I don't mean any offense at all, but (as you said yourself) you're basically spoiled by the interface of 3DS, so you don't have any perspective here. Things like particle systems are so incredibly difficult on SGI systems that they're impossible to use unless you're a C programmer. Our IPAS routines for R2 were the first cut at some very complicated processes. And since the IPAS interface in R2 didn't allow for any graphic feedback or interaction, we had no choice but to represent everything with sliders, buttons, etc. We put a LOT of energy into making the IPAS3 interface in R3 capable of providing a high level of interactivity just for that reason. Again, we try as hard as we can, within a finite release schedule. You seem to want us to do more, and we just can't do the impossible. And instead of doing our own IPAS3 routines right away, we're putting all of our available energy into helping Autodesk make an IPAS3 SDK that'll make development easy for 3rd party developers. Regarding incorporating all this stuff in the core… totally unrealistic. I really wish you'd stop looking at us as miracle-workers, and start having some compassion for us as real human beings. We already work ourselves so hard that we're constantly on the edge of burn-out, just to give our customers as many capabilities to produce high-quality imagery as possible. Do you want us to push so hard that we end up in a nut-house? Or a morgue? If we tried to do what you seem to want us to do, we'd end up in one of those two lovely places. Please, give me a break. I need it. Thanks for the compassion, – G