CompuServe Thread

#Turbo Silver

7 messages in this thread
#120796From: Shalom KelmanApr 24, 1988 7:04 PM
Greg, I have been trying to get up to speed on Turbo for the last 3 days. I hadn't used Silver for about 4 months so I reread the original manual with the 1.1 update and the turbo update. Unfortunately I'm still lost in some areas. Does grouping still work? I can't seem to get a line connected from the hotspots of objects that are suppose to be grouped. Is it possible they are grouped for translations etc. but no longer show the purple line? I am still mystified by the wrapping IFF files. Since you have alot of experience in this area could you EMail me the procedure? The animation functions work fine. Following paths and designating parents and offspring is a bit easier to understand than it is in Animate3d. There is no real key frame animation for metmorphosing objects which is present in Animate. I am really excited by the claimed increased tracing times in silver. The availability of Foust's conversion program will make it easier for me to obtain heads and eyes from those I have from sculpt. I have made some nice animations of eye movements with sculpt and animate which I will upload one day ( once I figure out the upload procedure). Best regards, Shalom/ex
#120815From: GreG Tsadilas/SYSOPApr 24, 1988 9:50 PM
Shalom, the old docs won't help much if any for use with Turbo Silver. I have not received an "official" Turbo Silver so I don't know what docs were included. By official I mean a Final Release Version, I'm still using the last of the beta's. Nevertheless, this is the procedure for grouping: Press on the <Shift> key to enter Multi-Pick mode. While holding down the <shift> key, select the Parent object you desire first, then any children you desire for that object. They will ALL become selected, so you know they are chosen. Release the <shift> key when you have no more objects to group. All is left now is to select GROUP (RAmiga-G), the lines will be drawn to connect children to parent. Right, there is no morphing of objects. The only things that can be controlled are movements, rotations, and scale (relative or absolute). I will Email you information on mapping IFF pics correctly. It's very easy once you understand how to use the WRAP/FLAT-X/Z attributes. Yes, I was impressed with the speed increase very much. For example, I rendered a Robot Arm and hand, a toolbox, and a monkey wrench, using Interlaced Overscan Ham, in 2 hours 7 minutes. I have also succesfully used Vscape objects in Silver also. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. There are many differences in Turbo Silver, and many time-saving techniques that I have found. I would be more than happy to share them. Regards, GreG
#120952From: Shalom KelmanApr 25, 1988 11:24 PM
Thanks for the speedy response (as usual). I spoke to Mike (from Impulse) today and he was extrememly helpful. My problem in grouping was chosing RAmiga-G before selcting the objects (as instructed in the first Silver manual). There was no mention of the changed procedure in the new manual. I agree with Mike that the best way to teach people how to use graphic and animation software on the Amiga is through teaching Videos (either tape or on the Amiga). Difficult concepts that are alomost impossible to understand from a manual become rather simple when shown by a knowledgable user. Again thanks for the Email on IFF mapping. I tried several times today with no luck until I re-read your message. I think I understand it now and will try again. I will definitly pick your brain on this program. I really like it now and think the user interface is neater than Sculpt animate. Thanks for the help. Shalom
#120968From: GreG Tsadilas/SYSOPApr 26, 1988 2:07 AM
Glad to be of help Shalom. Yes, they are very helpfull there at Impulse. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. You will also be pleased to know that your Sculpt creations will be able to be ported to Silver in the future. Regards, GreG
#121094From: Shalom KelmanApr 27, 1988 6:47 AM
Greg, I finally suceeded in mappping the tile texture IFF file to a sphere! Now I need to experiment with diferrent sizes for the axis and different kinds of wraps. So far I've only used flat x and flat z. Do you have any suggestions on how to control the size and ratios of the IFF picture by selecting the appropiate dimensions of the axis? Regards, Shalom
#121145From: Henry LowengardApr 27, 1988 6:22 PM
GreG, I have had little luck with Turbo Silver. I find it crashing inexplicably and often. For some reason, I haven't got color to stick onto "Custom" objects. The additions to the shape editor have a real "tacked on" feel to them, and building a free-form object is much, much more painful here than in S3d. The manual has continued in its non-technical style, with many typos and poor editorial decisions. Impulse mailed, as a favor, an index to the freshly out of date manual as a gift. Well, they Do try harder… and their digitizer sounds good… but I was hoping I'd eventually get something stable enough to work with. Are you sure it doesn't morph? what other reason for the obscure "Point ordering" function, other than to synchronize point numbers for morphing? Many questions could ba answered by simply uploading a complete,non-trivial example of a silver animation .Cel series (I think it's .Cel. This too was never documented.) The unconverted JHHLowengard
#120818From: GreG Tsadilas/SYSOPApr 24, 1988 9:59 PM
Shalom, some further thoughts on grouping. If you merely want to attach several objects to form one object, you can do so. The only difference here is that you will NOT be able to manupulate the sub-parts of the object, nor will you be able to un-attach them easily. The funtion I am referring to is JOIN. It works the same way as GROUP does. Keep in mind that with JOIN, the first object you select will keep it's AXIS, while the rest will lose it, and become one with the first. This is ideal for creating single large and complex objects, from smaller and simpler ones. GreG