CompuServe Messages

Bernie, I like some of your ideas…I've had them as well. There are some things that you mention that can already be done. >> 6-Speaking of textures, how about a little box, something like the color swatch box, in each and every texture requester that would show you what the textures will look like? << Already slated for inclusion when the interface is bumped up to 256 colors. >> 8-Automatic screen updates when editing paths. Often I want to move, size or shape paths in relation to other objects–only problem is, all the other objects have disappeared! << That can get very ugly and slow in complex scenes. Try this…select the path or object you want to edit. Then Multi-Select the objects you want to be redrawn. Then…edit the object. Now when you are in points mode…any refresh will contain the other multi-selected objects. >> 9-Why can't I group/ungroup objects in the stage editor? This drives me crazy! >> Each object is loaded as a seperate object in the Stage. If you decided to ungroup an object in the stage, a new actor position would have to be added to the Action Editor screen for that now new object. Ok…thats no problem. BUT, you would also have to then save each of these new seperated objects to your HD so that when you opened up this project at some later time, each now seperated object can be loaded. This procedure of saving objects seperately is done in the Detail editor…where all of the object editing features exist. >> 10-Imagine should inform users, in both the project editor and when quickrendering, if they do not have sufficient memory to render a scene! This feature is especially important for the new user, who, not being used to Imagines quirks, might think there is something wrong with the program when only half the scene renders. << It does this if you really go far beyond your memory capacity. What needs to be done is to inform the user that some of the scene will not render due to memory limits. >> 13-Also, Imagine won't let me change the name of a quickrender to anything else–why? If I change it from the default (QRENDER, I believe) I get an error message. << You must specify the path where you want the QRENDER image to be saved in your PREFERENCES editor. Once a path is given…Imagine will allow you to rename your qrenders. >> 15-Here's a weird suggestion: a light intensity function you could turn on and off, which, when on would display a series of concentric circles around lights in the stage to show light intensity at that distance from the light. The distance between the "rings" would increase or decrease as you raise or lower the brightness of lights, or as you click on/off on diminish intensity. The rings could represent the intensity range for a light, from 0-100% in, say, 20% intervals. (5 rings) Or you could just have one or two rings for each light, showing the optimum range for objects to be in (or maybe you can think up a better way). This would help in placing lights, which can be a hit or miss affair. << IT'S IN THERE…Click on LIGHT LINES in the STAGE. This will give you a visual cue as to where the lights are shining. The "rings" for intensity are not needed for anything other than the DIMINISH intensity lights. All other lights light up the scene evenly. As for "optimum" distances to place lights…there is no such thing. People have different tastes as to what "look" they want & like. >> 16-The ability to do a stage pencil test in a solid or color shaded veiw. You can do this in the project editor, but this means a FLC file I don't want on my HD. Besides, in the stage you can view a pencil test at different speeds, stop and view individual frames, and instantly make changes to the project. << IT'S IN THERE. In the stage you can make an anim in SOLID or WIREFRAME mode. If you want solid you must be in SOLID mode. Then select the make anim selection from the menu (Last menu selection). When played you can view it in the stage, step through it, stop it, etc. There is also an Onion Skin feature in the stage. >> 17-In the Project editor: WHILE RENDERING, how about, IN ADDITION to showing the percentage of the current frame completed, showing the total time it took to render the previous frame? << You can find out how long any image took to render by clicking on the frame, and selecting INFO. >> 18-Other file formats for backdrop pictures? Or even brushmaps? BMP, TGA and GIF would be nice. << Imagine reads TIF uncompressed, TGA uncompressed, IFF (compressed and uncompressed), LBM (compressed and Uncompressed) for Backdrops and for brushmaps. >> 19-Last, but probably most importantly, ONLINE HELP! The last menu item should be a help menu, with a table of contents listing every single Imagine function and a brief description on how to use it. Not, of course, as a substitute to a thorough manual! << Online Help, many more requestors, etc. I'd want to pass on that…maybe in a Windows version only because it's expected to be in there. Why not just read the manual, rather than cluttering the HD with help files, and bloating the software more? If one did they'd know that TGA files can be read, that LIGHT lines are there, that you can make pencil tests in the stage, that you need to select an object to change it's attributes, etc. <g> Sorry…that was kinda snippy. Hope I answered some of your questions. -GreG