#PAR
32 messages in this thread
I've got the PAR up and running but can't seem to startup in any directory
other than \DPS_PAR, no biggie but it IS in my dos path.
I also get a scrambled display when I quit the PAR screen, something to do with
video sync?
TGA files act as if they are being copied to an ANI file but the file has a
size of 0. What am I doing wrong in that department?
When I run Partest it runs fine until the loading of the par.hex file then it
fails the load and locks everything.
I wet my pants everytime I look at the final output but I think I've got the
solution to that figured out<g>
Thanks TedB
!^NavFont01F0007MGHHHD6C50F
Par.exe needs it's ini file to start, Ted. You really neeed to start it from
the PAR directory (Believe me, I found out the hard way<g>.
What exactly are you doing to get the 0 size file?
-Alan
Alan
I've been selecting a series of TGA's in the dos directory then picking on the
copy arrow. The PAR reports each file as it's transfered and writes an ANI file
(prompts for the name) but the file size is 0.
Greg posted some suggestions which I'll try later this AM. Thanks
TedB
!^NavFont01F0007MGHHGE6DA0F
I had this same problem and it turned out to be that the driver was
being loaded before the network software which was overwritting the
drive assignment. One way to check this is to try to access the PAR
drive directly. If you get a message like "drive label not found"
then its not accessing the drive. Why your able to transfer the files
is that your local system sees the files on the other system but has
no where to send them. The answer is to load the PARINIT and PARDRV
after your network. Then everything should work fine. If you're not
using a network the problem could also be DBLSPACE which checks for
networks. The PAR looks like a Network drive to your system. The
only solution here is to remove DBLSPACE.
John
Thanks for the info! It turns out to have been the Par—>Dos switch in
preferences not being set to TGA as Pyros the Flame had suggested. Thanks,
Greg.
I downloaded the new .HEX file today and that took care of that problem but the
graphics are still scrambled after exiting the PAR screen.
Is there a way to select a series of TGA's on the dos side other that single
picks or "all". I can create a subdirectory for TGA's only but "shift-pick"
and/or wild cards would be nice. huh?
The PAR—>DOS switch not being set to TGA is a new one on me. I'll
have to see if I can scramble mine. I till have the old .HEX file but
am going to load the new one. I have yet to download 1.8
The TGA selection is a problem. So far no work around, but then I've
had mine working only 2 Days, after spending last weekend entirely
messing with a Seagate. I learned alot though.
>> as Pyros the Flame suggested. <<
I've heard Greg called a lot of things but a "Flame"?!
No, I don't think so. <g>
How about Pyros the Torch? Nah, makes him sound like an arsonist! <G>
How about Greg P., that's my favorite. 🙂 or Mr P.
-JE
>> Pyros the Flame
>> Pyros the Torch
>> Greg P.
>> Mr P.
Call me what you want, just don't call me late for dinner!
Signed,
What's his name.
>> Call me what you want.. <<
How about a man with a good sense of humor. 🙂
-JE
Greg and All;
I have been following this thread for a while, and I have some comments and a
questions. I am drooling over the thought of a PAR. Not wetting my pants yet
as someone has, <g> but;
I have two 240 Meg IDE drives on my computer. Both use Stacker. I only have
about 100 megs free for rendering, and this is very limiting.
Somewhere, I read or heard that DOS (I have DOS 5.0) will only support up to
two 540 megabyte drives if they are IDE. If this is true, I would be limited
to (540 x 2) – (480 x 2) = 120Mbytes additional space for the PAR. If this is
wrong, please correct me.
So, If I purchase a PAR, am I going to have problems with accessing it because
of DOS?
If I purchase a PAR, can I use it as another Drive, and render directly to it,
thereby giving me 500, or 1000 or 2000 MBytes just for animation?
Can I use a standard VHS or S_VHS recorder to record from the PAR, or do I need
a special one.
What about all this TBC (Time Base Correcter?) stuff. Do I need that?
Do you still have them "in Stock"? I need to sell a transportation device
before I can buy it, but it is getting close.
Thanks,
Dennis
Dennis:
The IDE drive on the PAR is not a DOS device, so it has nothing to do with DOS
limitations. I have two 1.7 gig disks on my PAR right now, talk about a
non-linear editing system! That's almost 30 minutes of animation at the
highest quality!
Yes, you can render directly to the PAR instead of your hard disk, assuming a
stand-alone system. If you are rendering to a network, there is another
utility called NDUMP.IXP you would want. With either, you don't need much hard
disk space at all!
You can record the PAR output on any tape deck whatsoever. It has composite,
Y/C (SVHS), and also BetaSP or M-II component outputs.
The TBC is only used for rotoscoping (live video input). Not used for output
at all.
Stock is so-so. Depends on when you order it!
Greg Pyros
Is there a sample tape for the PAR that shows output quality? I hear all the
raves about it and I haven't seen it how it looks, and I am intrigued.
>Is there a sample tape for the PAR that shows output quality? I hear all the
raves about it
>and I haven't seen it how it looks, and I am intrigued.
Email me your address and format for the tape (BETA SP, S-VHS, VHS), and I will
send you one!
David White
Computer Products Manager
Digital Processing Systems
Greg;
>> Yes, you can render directly to the PAR instead of your hard disk,
Thanks!
Dennis <Hope to order soon> Fenske
I'll give Greg a break: He'll send you a spec sheet.
The PAR drive is specially formatted so you use the full cap of the drive. No
dos limits of 540 meg. You can see the drive as a dos drive letter in DOS I
don't know whether you can use it as a regular dos drive for executables but
that would be an interesting experiment to try. You can use any VCR to record
the PAR output. It does output just like any other video device like a
camcorder or VCR but also has some professional outputs like Beta SP and MII.
FYI, there are new bios equipped IDE cards that allow for full drive capacity
formatting beyond the dos limit of 540 now too.
The TBC IV from DPS has a special link to the PAR that allows for real time
frame grabbing from any video input. Can be used for rotoscoping, special
effects like slo mo and DVE effects as well as limited non-linear editing.
>> I am drooling over the thought of a PAR. Not wetting my pants yet as someone
has, <g> but;
Don (now potty trained) Landis <BG>
Don:
>> use it as a regular dos drive for executables but that would be an >>
interesting experiment to try.
Don't bother! The software will not let anything on the drive that is not a
PAR animation or still, or a Targa file.
>> I'll give Greg a break: He'll send you a spec sheet.
Thanks!
Greg Pyros
Don;
Thanks for your reply. This thing sounds too good to be true.
Dennis <wearing a bib to catch the drool> Fenske
>>PAR wild cards…
Wild Man Ted! I think everyone agrees about this need and I'll bet it'll be
changed soon. For now, I've been either 1) copying from DOS using the wild
cards in the copy command, or 2) rendering to separate subdirectories for each
animation segment, then using the ALL button. Good toy, huh?
J K J
Another trick is to just create a subdirectory on the same drive and
use a utility to 'move' the files there with a wildcard. Since a
'move' only changes the header for the file on the disk and doesn't
actually touch the data, it is quick and painless, and you don't have
to adjust the rendering directory on all your networked systems. Then
use the ALL button.
Xtree! Xtree!
Speaking of xtree, didn't they get bought out by Central Point? What
is the future of xtree, now, anyway? They aren't going to kill it,
are they?
Yep. The DOS Xtree had one more upgrade but that was it. Sad story as
all these great DOS tools died out and nothing in the Windows
environment gets even close. I still think this Windows thing is a
Chinese conspiracy scheme. We managed to create a very elegant and
efficient alphabet with which we were able to easily communicate for
the past couple thousand years. Interacting with computer was a
simple matter of typing easy and simple commands. Now we have to live
in an Icon world having to remember thousands and thousands of
confusing little stupid pictures. To do simple tasks, what used to
take a couple of keystrokes now takes countless clicks here and
there, making your hand travel miles pushing that stupid mouse
around. Ok, ok… 'nough carping around…
*sigh* Oh, wel. I guess I will have to live with xtree 3.0 until DOS
dies. I have yet to find anything that works as well in windows, even
xtree for windows.
It all reminds me of studies done at the Primate Center in Arizona.
It took them years to teach an Orangatan to hit the picture of a
banana to actually get a banana. Let's see….. what did that
stylized banana look like????
Gus,
>> I still think this Windows thing is a Chinese conspiracy scheme. <<
I personally think its a conspiracy of the educational system <g>, but that
aside I agree with you comments regarding Windows etc. 100%
-JE
Wait Wait Wait Wait Wait Wait WAIT-A-MINUTE!
Are YOU, Gus J. Grubba, telling me that CP ain't planning on continuing the
XTREE/DOS line anymore?
Say it ain't so!
Heck, I even run DOS XTREE from Windows, rather than use the Win version!
Dave
Thanks John, this is the best thing to hit computing in a long time!
!^NavFont01F0007MGHHG38993E
Mr Ted:
>> set to TGA as Pyros the Flame had suggested. Thanks, Greg.
Anytime! But watch out for the flame jokes here in Southern
California, Smokey the Bear may come by and douse me!
Greg,
I was informed that it's not Smokey the Bear, it's Smokey Bear.
Nik
Ted:
The PAR programs need to find their initialization parameter (*.INI) files, so
you need to be in the PAR directory to run them. Just write a batch file to
change directory to there and run!
I've never seen the scrambled display when leaving the PAR program. Are you
using internal or external genlock?
How are you copying the Targas over? Through DOS or the PAR app? Try the
other one to see if you can narrow down the problem!
If you are still having a problem, feel free to call Burt or Chris in our
office to help you through it!
Greg Pyros
Ted: I'd like to know more about this scrambled display you're getting. I got
the same thing using my cirrus logic VLB card when I first started using the
PAR. I since switched back to my old standby the #9gxi and haven't had the
problem since. I lost vertical sync and would have to do a hard reboot to
correct. I thought it was a local problem and that is why I never mentioned it
before. Can you describe more fully your card and the exact nature of the
scrambled screen. We may have had the same problem. DPS should know if it is
caused by their software compatibility with certain vga cards.
When I quit DPS the screen either turns to a series of white triangles
(apex down) on a black screen or, at times, a full screen of white
triangles on a blue screen.
The card is a new Viper VLB with the first set of drivers recently released.
Qemm excludes a000-c7ff in that makes any difference.
TedB
!^NavFont01F0007MGHHGF97EB3
That's pretty wild video. I only lost vertical sync but haven't had any
problems since removing the VLB card. Back to ol'#9.