#Ron Scott QFX NT !!!
19 messages in this thread
Hi John,
>> is there a demo version… <<
There used to be but I don't know what the current situation is.
Best thing I can do is give you the number and you can talk with the
receptionist and she'll send you some literature. And if you've got any
particular qssential features of the DOS
version.
I could write quite a bit about the differences but a short synopsis would be
that PhotoShop is more of a print photo-compositional / photo retouching
program and QFX is a video / animation paint program. They both handle print
where PhotoShop has a definite edge but when it comes to animation and targa
files, or merging other formats and creating alpha channel etc., 5 point
gradients, spline and raster painting etc. QFX rules! As Gary Angle said.
Because it does it all (pretty much…) instead of having Corel Draw and
PhotoShop and Fractal Painter, Composer etc. And with the NT version you can
use all your PhotoShop plug ins like Kai's and so on. So its great and it
simplifies my life enormously. I've checked them all out and spent a fair
amount of money in the process, so hopefully some of you who have thought about
it but considered it too expensive just to test out can benefit. And Ron has
been running a real bargain opportunity for those going to thon't know how long its
good for and he may offer it again at Siggraph depending on how well its
recieved. You can check…
And the number is… 713-529-5868 Let me know if you get it or have some
questions that might be more relevant from an animators standpoint.
John
non-print use. Great to see NT 16bit plug-in support, and multithreading..
Works in Win/Win32s mode, but not as well. He's got a usable demo available
too. Can't wait. Competitive upgrade price is still 1/2 off, with proof of
ownership.
Too bad it doesn't do keyframable objects-> animation. That would make it even
more invaluable.
One thing I wonder is about a dongle/NT/3DS. I assume it has a dongle, being
pretty specialized, etc. Do you have any problems with 3DS and other dongle
based programs? I've heard varying things about NT/dongles, not sure what to
believe.
JNJ
Hi John,
Glad to hear you're excited! Also glad to hear they have a working demo… I
wonder if it can be uploaded in the Ammedia library… I'll see if its not too
large.
>> One thing I wonder is about a dongle/NT/3DS …. <<
Good news there as well, Version ee.
Let me know how you like it. The NT version has a slick new interface which for
old QFX hands is different and takes some getting used to. But you have the
advantage there as you won't know any different. <g> Its really a great
program, hope you like it.
John
John,
I'm glad you got me interested. I've always heard about it here and there, but
not really worked up enough to track it down. It looks like a great tool, and
at around 400 something, a great deal. I don't have a recent version of Corel
Draw, and don't have Composer (but was looking for it!), and noo this would fill multiple functions. Dongle free is also a good
thing. They're certainly a hassle for programs under 1k. Can't wait to try it
out. Sounds like a killer NT port, but only running WfWG for now. (hopefully
an Intergraph/NT setup soon.)
I wasn't sure on your comments about tablet support.. does the Kurta XGT
6×8 (Wacom's pen is too light) How does NT run with Mouse/Tablet combination?
Also, does Painter 3 run well in NT?
JNJ
>> I'm glad you got me interested. <<
Yeah well, me too. Its like I go through all this stuff and finally weed
through all the nonsense and feel like it would be really nice to spare someone
else some of this grief and expense. The timing for QFX is perfect because the
pricing is way down, its not dependent on a Targa or a Vista board anymore, it
does more, its more in step with what we do; more than any other "paint"
program out there, and things have changed alot all around. People don't use
framebuffers like they used to, and capture streams of video and use scanners
more etc. which is why Animator Studio should find a good market eventually.
However not being an NT port is going to limit its success for the time being.
All in all though you need a fast efficient paint program and QFX fills the
bill very well. It'll be interesting to see what Ron develops for streams of
video which to my mind is the logical next step.
Anyway I digress. On the tablet thing its mostly a concern for NT users. Wacom
is the only one currently supported with a specially written driver by Ron
himself to support pressure sensitive Wacoms if you can believe it. Seems like
if NT is going to be a graphics workstation OS that this would be one of the
things they need to take care of pronto. I really don't know except from what
Ron has written on it. I find it very odd.
I've got two Wacoms and I like them alot but I understand that some people like
more heft in their pens.
Windows will handle what Windows handles and that is one owhether Ron will even support
it. Last I heard he was supporting 5 OS and didn't want to know about writing
display or tablet drivers ever again if he could avoid it. <g>
>> Sound like a killer NT port… <<
Oh yeah… Ron really got into it. I think he likes NT. <g> But you'll ws for the time being.
Later,
John
>I didn't ask about Win95
He said it will run, not sure on tablet support though.
>Ron really got into it. I think he likes NT. <g>
It seems so.. he sure let me know about the deficiencies of "a popluar
multiplatform paint tool" in an NT environment. I knew it already, but glad to
see him go on about everything. multithreading, 16bit plug in support, etc
which most tools don't have. (PP/NT has multithreading though, but is only in
v4.) Can't wait to play with it. NT should be soon.
JNJ
John,
>> Can't wait to play with it… <<
I'll bet and while you're at it, check out creating ramped Alpha channel which
can then be used for compositing or as a mask… really slick and with
"Smart-Fill" tm its like Photoshop's wand for selecting areas which can then
have whatever alpha value you want applied. Blended Alpha as well… fun stuff.
🙂
As far as Photoshop goes I really like it. Its a very professional package and
aside from some of its technical limitations as far as NT goes; I have noticed
that its quite a bit slower than QFX for instance, it does what it does quite
well. If QFX NT wasn't available I'm pretty sure that most of my "paint" work
would be done with it. As it is however, its a luxury which does some things in
a complimentary way with QFX. Its also the industry standard in its area and I
like having that frame of reference in hand. Its also taught me quite a bit
about print which while not particularly relevant at this point, it does open
up other options. So I discount it, just don't find it a mandatory program
under the circumstances.
As you mentioned it would be nice if it had splines for 2d animation, I thought
I'd mention that it does have a grid which can be snapped to and its a pretty
easy thing to save out images for motion. I typically wouldn't do this for more
than 15 frames anyway so from that standpoint its really not difficult to
simulate a 2d animation package with batch rendering. In alot of cases its
simply much faster to paint by hand anyway.
Hopefully you'll get it eekend,
John
Hey John, got the demo yesterday. I really like it. I played a good bit with
it, but forgot to bring it to work! <darn> but got painter and an Art Pad to
distract me from a looming deadline instead. 🙂 (my brain's fried)
I'm sure I'll have q's for ya later. 😉
JNJ
>> but got painter and an Art Pad to distract me…. <<
Yeah Painter is a good distraction alright. KPT is my favorite. I can spend
hours and hours sometimes creating textures. I've been using alot of radial
gradients lately… can't imagine why. <g> I have yet to get KPT for 3DS. Its
at the top of the list. Actually after that I think I'm pretty well set
software wise… for the time being…
Yeah right. <g> Actually that SCAPEL program looks pretty interesting….
there's a demo in the lib if you haven't see in. Seems like a fair price too.
I've heard "they" ? were working on a dissimailar object morph IPAS as well.
That could get pretty gnarly.
Let me know of the QFX. I may or maynot have the answer as I haven't worked all
that much with the Windows version but its pretty similair to the DOS in terms
of the feature set and if nothing else it'll give me an excuse to explore some
more. 🙂
John fellow member of "Driven by Distraction" <g>
>Yeah Painter is a good distraction alright. KPT is my favorite.
Hehe, distractions distractions. I don't really get into KPT that much.. and
really don't see a use for it in 3DS when you can just use the Windows version,
and save it as a bitmap. But hey, I don't spend all of my life with 3DS
onscreen. It's probably useful for those who don't want to quit, and run
windoze (or especially NT) just to get at it. I do play with the texture tool
a fair amount though. It's cool, but I really need to master Gradient before I
can get the coloring I want in texture. Soo many things to learn, so little
time.
I don't think I've seen Scalpel, I've been really busy lately (oh yeah, gotta
get to work on that project.. naah.) I don't plan on any more IPAS' until R5
unless needed directly for a project. I've spent too much money as it is.
(says the boss <g>) But he's just a miser. Things are going well. Anyways,
I'll let you know more about QFX later on. (need freetime)
>"Driven by Distraction" <g>
Sounds like a band. 🙂
John "Needs to get to work" Jordan.
>> wonder if it can be uploaded in the Ammedia library… I'll see if its not
too large.
Would be really great !
I heard about the Photoshop upgrade….. What about Photostyler ?
Michael
Michael,
>> What about Photostyler… <<
I think Photostyler was listed, along with Composer, Photoshop, Corel Draw etc.
I'll try to find out… no promises but I'm going to call about the demo for
the library and I'll ask. Maybe monday if I'm still tied up.
John
John-
did you ever find out about a demo version of QFX for the library?
Anne
Hi Anne,
>> did you ever find out about a demo version of QFX for the library? <<
Yes I did, it'll be delivered snail mail. With any luck, was shipped today.
I've read the forum guidelines text file; is there anything else I should be
aware of? Do I need to get a release from Ron Scott? He's sending the demo, its
o.k. with him but as this is a little different than uploading one's own
meshes/files etc. I want to be clear on what is required.
Thanks,
John
John –
I would think that your stating in the library description that you are
uploading with specific permission and knowledge of Ron Scott that should be
enough – as long as you are sure he knows it is being uploaded as a demo.
Anne
Anne,
>> stating in the library description that you are uploading with specific
permission and knowledge of Ron Scott… <<
Sure that's no problem. Actually after I posted you a note I got a call from
Amanda, his assistant and they are delighted as they have been pursueing a
closer working relationship with Autodesk in support of this market. She asked
that I upload it as she didn't feel quite proficient enough to upload it
herself. (I can relate, I don't always get it right myself. <g>) Ron Scott Inc.
does have a CIS account so if it would help, I'm sure Amanda would be willing
to post you a note in this regard.
Thanks,
John
John –
Yes a note from Amanda on Ron Scott's UID giving permission for the upload
would cover everyone!
Anne
Hi Anne,
>> Yes a note from Amanda on Ron Scott's UID… would cover everyone! <<
Great! Consider it done. I'll call tomorrow and give her your CIS#. Amanda will
probably be contacting you before I get the Demo. I expect you'll know when I
upload it but if by chance you haven't recieved permission from Amanda or Ron,
please let me know and I'll see what I can do to get it taken care of. I expect
however that one of them will reply promptly.
Thanks much, you assistance is much appreciated.
John
Anne,
Please let me know when you've recieved word from Ron Scott inc. that they have
given their permission to upload the Windows / NT QFX Demo program. I spoke
with Amanda yesterday and she said she'd be contacting you shortly. I can
upload the Demo when I have an acknowledgement from you.
Thanks,
John