CompuServe Thread

>> Program capabilities mainly. << the list is huge, but here are some highlights. might want to check out files in Lib 2 also on product's release. you can also get a product info fax from Autodesk, or contact nearest Adesk MMedia dealer. let me know if you need some phone numbers. it really helps sometimes to see these suckers in action. -24-bit truecolor animation with alpha channel transparency -support for AVI and other popular graphics, and animation file formats -digital paint tools for video and animation -digital sound editing and recording tools -copy/paste/scrape among multiple animations -onion skinning for light table viewing -antialiasing and transparency for all tools -support for pressure sensitive tablets -customization options -online docs hope this helps. -dave

"The only reason I use DOS is for 3DS, oh and FXFighter. [G]" <g> I also have DOS so I can use "LIST.COM". But I get your point. Also, there are others who have voiced confusion about why AAStudio works under Windows, but not Win95 and NT – and I don't know the reason. I don't believe it was deliberate, but it's my guess that the plan for AAStudio started long ago and NT and Win95 were not as important then as now.

>> NT, new? What? Come on they delayed AStudio for six months. NT 3.5 has been around since 8/94. << it's 1am, so bear with me. this post doesn't reflect Autodesk at all. just me. <putting on my customer / end-user / animator / programmer hat> regarding my post to you; i should have been clearer. latest PATCHES of these OS's are still VERY green. checked out any of those new API functions yet in 3.51? all i can say is: "hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. tricky." -said in best "Deep Thought" voice a la HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a programmer, NT was anything but "reliable" when it was released back on 8/94. people seem to have far more patience with the evolution of an OS than the apps that run on them. why was AStudio written for Win3.1? among other reasons, because it wasn't written for Win3.0! <ggg> know that you're preaching to the choir, Tim.. i agree that bugs in any software/OS can be frustrating. after 10 years of following Autodesk software and the software of other companies though… one sees a pattern and flows with it. i credit your statements to be far more profound than a comment on Autodesk alone…. as they address the greater issue of software industry releasings as a whole, and the perceptions customers have when they start counting on "beta" anything. (wonder what beta carrotene is doing to me) >> They should have delayed it another 3 months to relased NT/Win95 versions. With ACAD R13 and AStudio being buggy, ADesk is releasing programs before they are ready. << Tim… has Win95 actually shipped yet? <d&rfc> (btw, long after it has, i'll still be asking this question, just to drive the point home) this issue came up at the Multimedia developers conference too… and the response from the experts was the same… "when "x" ships, "y" will look at releasing "x"-based products… until then, what you all have is a beta copy." <everyone in the room laughed> it's easy to forget that, sometimes. i go to the Microsoft forum all the time and patches get released there on their applications ___by_the_day___! i'm not advocating Holly Hobbie coding by anyone either, but i think i can cut any product some slack on it's x.0 version. after all, if i examine my harddisk, right now (and maybe you might too), everything i have (and count on) for productivity, right now, from every manufacturer, has a number other than 0 after its decimal. including my OSs. imho, this is the nature of software, because it's the nature of people. 😉 it has always amused me too that people can ask why a program at 1.0 stage has bugs or won't run under an OS with a decimal point in its own release name (Win3.11, WFWG3.11, NT3.51,etc.)… remember DOS 4.0… the ultimate OS nightmare from hell? <g> if we can say that Autodesk is releasing software before it's ready… what can we say about Microsoft????? i don't think there's a software package in the universe that doesn't have an "x.0" SOMEwhere on its packaging… you'll always find one under the specs (requirements) or the drivers or the application itself. such is the nature of the beast (being the industry). the Tao of purchasing… philosophizing and silliness aside, i think it is always in the hands of the consumers to "know the right time" to do any purchases. many people hold off on any new product for several months, listening to the praises and complaints of others, assessing if the problem issues raised are issues which apply to them. for many, the reason they tolerate patch after patch is because when the program eventually "gets there"… it's a killer package. for some, the problem issues that _do_ arise don't apply to their type of working environment or product usage, so it's a safer bet. i also try to see the bigger picture. i've been a Wordperfect user for ages, love that macro programming language. mmm hmmm! but i went out and upgraded from Win5.2 to Win6.0 and boy did i pay the price. 4 patches later, they got it ironed out and i'm as faithful to it as i was with Win5.2. been using CorelDraw for years. i can't count the number of patches for release 4.0 alone that i waded through before product became stable. why did i put up with it? any CorelDraw user knows why. it's a gul-darned good package for the price. a company's history of fixing things and supporting things after the x.0 debute is equally important to me for the product's life cycle. finally, i look at what AStudio is providing… there's a lot of "new idea technology" in there. the whole concept of painting over time the way it does has some rammifications on my productivity i haven't even fathomed yet. there's a lot in there for the price. i know the patches will come, i know that the bugs will get fixed (seeing Adesk's patch history), i know it's going to work the way i need it to on the OS i need it to. soon. maybe it "isn't here" yet for some. i paid off my package in the first week by using it to create a single unattended presentation modemed to the client, script and all. second week i had it, we created our first 5 minute-long animation in a single day (unheard of in our office) because we were able to actually see the soundtrack as we drew the animations…. what else even does this? i can stand a few glitches for this kind of capability. after all, i've been putting up with Windows 3.x GPFs for years! <ggg> in a nutshell, for me, it "is here". a product's "readiness" is always relative. this statement doesn't just apply to product developers, but also to customers. i don't work for Autodesk… i use this stuff for a living. i was very ready for it. i still am. any patches at this point just make the program even better. if it takes Win3.1 to run it, so be it. the OS is not the thing. <for me> capability in software is. when AStudio gets to NT and Win95, great. i have waited 7 years for this 32-bit OS to catch up to a 386's potential.. i can sure wait three months for an app to catch up to the 32-bit OS. who's really laggin here… the OS or the app when it comes to truely exploiting the resources we've invested in?? 😉 with no intention to convert your thinking, but happily humming along with my 3.1 version… -dave