#MakePath 2.0
27 messages in this thread
Clint,
You guys have done it again. Just when I think I have enough memory out
comes a new version of Vista. My 4 Meg A3000 is in dire need of memory
enhancement suddenly. Do you own stock in some chip manufacturing
companies by chance?
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Don:
No, we don't own stock in the memory companies, but at Ami-Expo we
found ourselves placed directly across the aisle from Memory World. <grin>
Unfortunately high-end graphics tends to eat memory like crazy, and so does
'reality simulation'. We have trimmed things now though so that at the
lowest resolution VistaPro will run in about 2.5 megs, but the Huge DEM's
and hi-res 24 bit stuff looks so neat that I can't imagine anyone actually
trying to run in the lo-res modes.
Clint <VRLI>
Clint,
When I asked if you owned stock in memory companies I failed to
mention also the 24 Bit display board manufacturers and high speed chip
manufacturers.
PS. With all the hoopla lately regarding virtual reality and the
new movie that's been released based on virtual reality do you guys get
royalties everytime your name is mentioned? %^7.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Don:
No stock, no royalties. <sigh> I guess I gotta keep working for a
living. (If you call playing with VistaPro all day long, work! <grin>)
Clint <VRLI>
You may have no idea how bad they've got you now that you have tried
VistaPro2! I have 12meg of fast ram and 2meg of chip ram. I still run out
of ram using VistaPro when I use "huge" dems and superbitmap screen sizes.
Lotsa fun tho. B)
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
Mark:
We're not immune to the problem ourselves. <grin> I wanted to do a
1536x968x24 bit image rendered from a Large landscape, and my 10 meg 3000
couldn't cut it. I had to settle for a mere 1024x768x24. <sigh>
Clint <VRLI>
Clint,
I don't really regard the memory thing as a problem but rather as a
feature you can use if you have a bunch of memory. You can do modest things
with a modest amount of memory and outrageous things with gobs of memory.
At least memory is at its cheapest ever right now. I paid $168 for 4 meg a
few weeks ago. Lessee….how much did I pay for the 256k memory expansion
that went in the front of my A1000 in 1985? ouch!!
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
Mark:
I remember paying $75 each for 256×4 bit static rams back when I got
my Altair in 1975. Now 1 meg x 8 SIMM's are $39.95. That's 8192 times the
memory for 53% of the price. I wish other price changes were as friendly.
<grin>
We try to give the low end user something that they can enjoy using
until they can beef up their system, but there are still some customers out
there that just don't understand that they can't generate the beautiful 24
bit pictures on a 512K 1000. <sigh>
Clint <VRLI>
I didn't yet have the computer bug in 1975. All I had done was a few lines
of Fortran on the college computer via punch cards. Yech! I didn't have the
funds for and Altair anyway. Computing power is certainly several orders of
magnitude cheaper now.
I'm sure you get your share of whiners when they fail to produce a picture
just like the ad with their minimum configuration machine. At least your ad
states minimum memory and strongly suggests an accellerator. I thought only
gamers or people without funds still had only 512K or even 1meg.
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
>>>> "I thought only gamers or people without funds still had only 512K or
even 1meg."
There are those if us with no funds BECAUSE we don't have 512K machines.
😉
Michael
….from the north coast
That's the way it worked for me. First I had some money but not enough
hardware. Now I have more hardware and a lot less money but its more fun to
play with the hardware than the money. P^)
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
An elegant re-statement of the sixties maxim:
Hardware will get you through times of no money better than money will get
you through times of no hardware…
Regards, Whap!penned…
Pat @Oxxi (310) 427-1227
Mark:
I wish we could produce pics like that on a 1 meg system. <grin>
Actually I think I got the computer 'bug' back when I was 7 reading some
early 50's pamphlets describing one of the big vacuum tube computers, I
can't remember which one anymore. I decided I wanted my very own "machine
that thought" and started taking apart radios and TV's in order to see if I
could figure out how I could build one. The Altair hit 18 years and many
TV's later. <grin>
Clint <VRLI>
Jo…
What you suggest would be very easy for any of the authoring programs like
AmigaVision to handle. You could customize it with IFF's of the things you
want your child to see/hear and then add/change/delete those items as your
child develops.
At first the program could be set to hot key to pictures of the immediate
family and that person's name… ie: HIT "D" and get a picture of 'daddy',
with the text daddy underneath, and the speach file 'daddy' coming from the
speaker.
Michael
….from the north coast
Michael:
Did this get directed to the wrong person or am I just totally
lost? I'll check back in the previous messages and see if I can figure out
how we got here. I know little to nothing about authoring systems.
Clint <VRLI>
opps… sorry about that Clint! tat message was for Jo Brock who was
talking about authoring stuff.
I don't know how I sent it to you… prolly moved to a message you wrote by
mistake and then REPLIED to it.
Sorry!
Michael
….from the north coast
Michael:
That's OK. With my memory as bad as it is, I was worried that I'd
completely spaced a conversation. It was a relief to know it was your
mistake and not mine. <grin>
Clint <VRLI>
I didn't really get the computer bug until I suddenly decided I needed a
C64 in about 1982. I tore a bunch of radios and other home appliances apart
as a kid and read all the Sci-fi I could find but the computer came later
for me. Now I am pretty much hopeless. Just ordered a Supra V.32bis 14.4k
modem today, Oh yeah.
Speaking of toys. Suddenly everybody I know is getting a CD-Rom drive.
It seems like DEMs are a perfect choice to put on one of those babys. Come
to mention it, Mike S. could use one of the giant star catalogs on CD-Rom
as a database for his program with a little bit of work. I got a drive a
couple of months ago and it is hungry for good Amiga applications. The
Voyager discs are excellant!
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
Mark:
We are definitely looking into CD. For a small company like we are,
the equipment costs for doing CD work are a bit steep, but once the
investment is made, making new CD's is quite reasonable.
Let me know when you get your modem. As soon as they are shipping I'm
going to make the company get me one. It'll pay for itself in a couple of
months with the amount of ul/dl'ing I do.
Clint <VRLI>
I guess putting a CD together for the first time might be pretty
daunting but you guys could handle it. At least you have a DAT for sending
the data to the mastering facility. I think the Hubble Guide Star CD might
be something Mike S. could get working with DS.
Supra did start shipping last monday. I'm not sure when my source will
get enough stock to ship my order. I figure it will put a big dent in my
Telcom bill too. I'm glad I didn't buy a USR Dual Standard 6 months ago!
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
Mark:
Unfortunately, I've got to get my DAT repaired. I think the drive bay
it's in gets too much heat from the drive below. It's currently read-only,
won't let me write to it.
Clint <VRLI>
How much you pay for that Supra V.32bis 14.4K modem? And where from?
Nick
Nick,
It seems to be selling for $309 from a number of sources. I ordered from
Creative Computer as I thought they might have some clout with Supra. I did
see a little better price from CSN (used to be Abel Supply) and if it was
in plentiful supply I would have ordered from CSN. They almost always have
the lowest price.
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
Mark:
One of the applications I was just thinking about today would be a program
that would allow a user with a CD-ROM to be able to convert audio CD's
(CDDA discs) into 8svx samples without using a digitizer. It would be sort
of a conversion program from the format they're now stored on the disc to
the Amiga's 8svx format directly without having to resample them using
normal sound digitizers, and so would eliminate one step where a loss in
quality is possible.
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
Mike,
Would that application require a special file system handler to access
the digital information on the CD Audio disk? Sounds like a great idea;
just transfer the digital information and translate it. Wow, and you
mentioned it in public! I wonder if it is being done at the end-user level
on another machine. Certainly CD production facilities would have the
capability to directly read the CD audio format. I noticed that the the ISO
9660 format is similar to audio in that it used a time code to locate data
on the disc. Sounds like a very useful professional application.
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677
Mark,
What kind of Amiga are you using… an A3000? I thought my A3000
was fast until I started getting into rendering trees. I started a 50 pic
animation with trees at the Grand Tetons at midnight and at 7:30 AM it was
still rendering although nearly finished. I had to leave the computer on
when I left for work. I've done 100 pic animations without trees in just a
few hours.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Don,
Yes, I'm using an A3000/25. Trees do slow the thing down especially if
you turn the tree density up. Of course almost everything looks better when
you turn the polygon size down, texture up, trees, clouds, rivers, lakes
and kitchens sinks on. I always seem to find a way to bog the machine down.
Don't forget to use hi-res superbitmaps to slow it down even more. P^)
….Mark Sterling 74335,1677