#Anim7 or Anim8
42 messages in this thread
Can anyone tell me if Anim-8 is considerably faster than anim-7? I have pro
blems with the speed of my animations in anim-7 mode.
I personally have had ALOT of trouble ATTEMPTING to use Anim-7 format and
so stick to Anim-8, it may be INFERIOR but at least I don't get
Artifacting Crud onscreen when doing Overscan anims. Till that problem is
overcome I'll stick to Anim-8 and View 3.6
Peter & Eugene,
Anim 7 is supposed to be faster. Have you tryed ViewTek 1.05. It now
plays OS DCTV anims fine on my 4000. On the 4000 I HAVE to specify a 30
fps playback or it will play back TOO fast. BTW Peter, make sure to hit
the "c" key if you play any anims assemble in Dpaint or any other program
that adds the two "looping" frames. Hitting the "c" key tells VT that it
is a continious anim and GETS RID OF the "Crud" we were experiencing.
…AutoPilot Engaged…
-Paul-
Is ViewTek 1.05 on this board? I can't find it (if it is here)?
Oops I think I got it off Genie. I'll check my cataloge. If it is not here
I'll upload it.
Time passes. . .
I just checked my cataloge and VT1.05 IS in the library here. Search for:
VT105.LHA
…AutoPilot Engaged…
-Paul-
Paul have you ordered the 3D ROM yet? I just spoke with John Foust who
tells me he is down to 4 copies already and is awaiting his Stock from
SIGGRAPH.
No, I have too many other things (Brillance, Imagine 3.0, a CD rom drive!,
a HD for Emplant) in line for my $$$. Besides if I had all that stuff I
might be temped to use those models instead of building my own, and if I
am going to get really good I HAVE to build, build, build! I should have a
nice collection to contribute to the next edition so I get that one for
free :).
BTW LaCie is having a close out sale. I just ordered a LaCie 170meg
Quantum external for $249.
…AutoPilot Engaged…
-Paul-
Thanx for the info. My 3DROM came today and so far there's some TASTY
models on there.
The "c" key works sometime and other times it didn't so I gave up on
Viewtwek/Anim-7, will try again with the new version of Viewtek. Thanx for
the info
Peter: Do what Paul suggests, and get Viewtek 1.05. It has fixed _all_ my
problems playing back HAM8 anim7s on my 4000.
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
What kind of speed are you getting on Anim7 ham8 anims? I have A1200 with an
accelerator (030) and 4 megs of fast. I made few animations in Dpaint (AGA) in
ham8 mode (640 by 400) and converted them to anim7 mode. The speed I got was
real slow, about 10 frames a sec max. What do you think? Anyway I can increase
the speed?
I'm getting rates of 20-30 fps, but that's in LoResOverscanNoLace mode
(376×240), and the deltas between frames are very low.
I'd say your problem was the resolution you used. HiRes interlace is
really overkill for HAM8 modes. You'll get much better animation rates if
you shrink the 640×400 anim down to 320×200 (or400) – just make sure the
images are anti-aliased when you scale them (this is an option in DPaint,
I believe.)
When you design your anims, try to make sure that the motion between
frames is kept low. Avoid doing things like scrolling or panning the
background, as this will wreak havoc with the delta compression scheme,
and result in huge anims. It is best to have a few isolated elements
moving over a stationary bkgd. While not very exciting, it _will_ playback
smoothly.
I have found that lores nonlaced anims look quite good, and are more than
acceptable for most purposes. Since VHS has a maximum resolution of around
240×480 lines, any benefit of higher resolutions will be lost, and most
people won't notice the fact that its non-interlaced. (They're more likely
to notice a jerky playback speed. Which is what you'd get with a higher
resolution animation.)
Another benefit of LoRes NonLace anims is that they are generally much
smaller, meaning you can get more frames in the same amount of space, and
you _might_ even be able to use the new feature of Viewtek which allows
you to play back anims direct from hard disk. (As an example, I created a
1000 frame HAM8 anim, and it only took 15MB of storage. While 15MB may
seem big, 1000 frames is alot of animation! :^)
Finally, make sure you're using Viewtek. Version 1.05 has fixed any
problems with unlocked palettes you may have noticed.
In closing, I'd like to ask for some feedback. Try these tips out, and
tell me if you notice much of an improvemnt. I am finishing up an article
on this very subject, and would like to make sure my tips actually _do_
work! :^)
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Well, guess what? Your tips did help. I created a small animation in Dpaint in
HAM8 320 by 400 (40 frames) It has a locked backround (from Scenery Animator)
and a an object (plane) moving across the screen. I than converted the
animation using Viewtek1.05 into Anim7 mode. When I played it back I the speed
was about 30-35 fps (nice). I then hooked up my A1200 to the VCR and recorded
the animation. When I palyed it back on VHS tape I did notice a difference
between an interlaced animation and the one I created but it was very small.
Thanks for you help, it helped. And by the way, Viewtek1.05 has major
improvements over ViewTek 1.04, (especialy on oversc an anims)
Many thanks for the prompt response! Glad to have been of help!
Have fun! (BTW, what's the highest res you can get to run at 30 fps on
your system? _And_, what kind of accelerator are you using?
Thanks!
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
I have M1230XA from microbotics, runing at 40 MHZ. The max rate I got so far
was about 35 on HAM 8 anims in 320 by 200 with an animation of 30 fr
Thanks for the response, but your message was cut off…..
What sort of results do you get when there're big deltas between the
frames?
Thanks,
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
When the deltas are big my animatin slows down, then if the deltas in the
animation decreas the anim speeds up again.
I heard there a program called Animation: Stand, which makes pans, zooms,
tilts, etc. for 2d anims. It's from Hash Enterprises, who make Will Vinton's
Playmation nowadays. Do you know if it's still around?
BTW, I'm STILL waiting for my free DPaint IV, and its made me furious!
L8r
Dic,
Hash has been pretty much out of the Amiga market for some years now. The
only way to get the program would be to find an old copy somewhere, or
call Hash direct. Although Martin updated his softwares for some time
after essentially quitting the market, there is no guarantee that the
software will support AGA, or even WB 2.x
//Jonathan,
\\//via AutoPilot
I don't know where you got your information but Hash Enterprises is
still in the Amiga market. The latest version of their software is called
Playmation V 1.48 and is available on Amiga, IBM, and MAC. They have a
BBS for support (206)574-5619 .
Steve Peters
Steve,
They are not in the Amiga market for what we were discussing, which were
Hash's modular animation products. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.
//Jonathan,
\\//via AutoPilot
I got a demo of Animtion Stand _years_ ago from Hash enterprises. That's
the last I heard of those guys until a few months ago, when the relabled
Playmation came out… I've as yet to use Playmation, so I wouldn't know
where to have you call. (Check out one of their ads, maybe?)
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Article?
Article?
The kind people read?
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
Yes, I'm doing a story on Anim hints and tips for the standard Amiga
display modes.
Got any hints or tips you'd like to share with the world? :^)
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Quick Tip—–Don't bet on the Races(Stolen from the Flinstones)
sorry couldn't resist. A good BASIC tip is Learn about Lighting before
going Crazy animating.
I don't have much room to fill. If I started getting deeply into
composition techniques, it could be a multi-part story! :^)
ahhhh, well good luck on the writing assignment. Mayhaps thou
shoudls't look into writing for VTU, or is this who you ALREADY are
doing THIS writing for????? Might help thee thru thy Lulls in
Business eh wot?
>Yes, I'm doing a story on Anim hints and tips for the standard Amiga
>display modes.
I noticed that you posted results of only HAM8s but is the story you
are writing going to include HAM6,16,8, ect..?
I _will_ mention other modes, especially with respect to ECS machines.
In most cases though, I've found that the best results arise from
using HAM modes exclusively. The limited color resolution of the
non-AGA amigas was always a major problem. The problem with using 16
color mode is that by the time the image is dithered, you end up with
giant anims and lots of data to push around. With a non-dithered HAM
anim, the individual frames are smaller w/o the dithering, and the
deltas between frames are dramatically reduced. Using HAM allows a
higher frame rate, and possibly even interlace mode (if the deltas
are small) at 30fps – the higher frame rate, and smoothness of
playback is more important than sharpness anyway.
Now, if Ben would ship IM R/t, maybe I could try creating some nice
looking 16 color thumbnail anims. (:^) But, as it stands my
recommendation will be to steer clear of anything but HAM modes for
most purposes. Keep On Toastin' Erik Flom
>I _will_ mention other modes, especially with respect to ECS machines.
Good to hear. I can't stand it when authors basically ignore entire
markets simply because they are bias. If you can I am sure lots of
people can use advice that can be used regardless of the mode or
chips they have.
>Now, if Ben would ship IM R/t, maybe I could try creating some nice
>looking 16 color thumbnail anims. (:^)
I keep forgetting to send in my warranty card so I can upgrade to R/T,
I think I am going to do that right now. :^)
Erik, I agree that non-interlaced animations will play faster, but
isn't interlacing required when laying an animation to video tape. I
understood that if non-interlaced is used that the resultant video
will not be stable when used for dubbing later on. Could a program
like Lacer be used on HAM anims? Appreciate you lending your advice.
Hmmmm, I hadn't considered the prolem with dubbing the anim output.
First generation playback always looks OK, but I bet it _would_ look
etter if you used something like 'Lacer'. I'll have to experiment
with that – I'm not sure if Viewtek would over-ride that or not.
Sorry I can't offer any help, but thanks for a good question! (More
later…..)
Will try it, my Local BBS has Viewtek 1.05 but I hesitated to DL it.
/s
Hi, Peter!
Are you upgrading to Imagine 3.0 soon? I plan to send in my money around
the end of this month.
I can hardly wait to see what Impulse's version of 'Bones' is like! Not to
mention all of the other goodies such as 'Particles'!
ViewTek 1.05 seems to be working better than before, so give it another
shot.
-= Vance =- Image Master
Flying high on Black Belt Systems' Imagemaster!
I called Impulse a few weeks ago and PRE ORDERED Imagine 3.0 for the Amiga
and for the IBM/Clone. I'm Anxious to get it as soon as possible. I also
ordered a 3D ROM from John Foust Today for $214.95 including Next Day Air
shipping. Can't wait to get that CD of 3D Models. I'm sure in the near
future the price will drop but for now I WANT IT.
Just started a Toy selling Business to help pay for my Computerized TOYS
Going to give Macey's some competition with the toys, eh? *8)
Being married, it'll be awhile before I can get extra toys like a CD-ROM
drive, etc.
I'll just have to bide my time with what I have, for now.
-= Vance =- Image Master
Flying high on Black Belt Systems' Imagemaster!
I was lucky enuff to get my CDROM for "FREE", when I bought my A3000 CBM
was running a Promo where you got a "FREE" CDTV.
Macy's competition, naaaaaaa, Most of my goodies are Collectable toys for
Adults not for kids hehehehehehe
Well, at least you're equipped to produce your own commercials… "C'mon
down, to Honest Peter's Adult Collectible Toys Emporium!" heh heh *8)
-= Vance =- Image Master
Flying high on Black Belt Systems' Imagemaster!
By Adult I mean most kids wouldn't Pay the prices for these goodies not
that they were Sexually oriented. Thats not a Bad idea tho, have a 13" TV
and a VCR playing Animations/Commercials to attract folks to the Table.