#Rend24 isn't
22 messages in this thread
I see you are a Rend24 users. Can you give me any recommendations
about getting it to work. I've tried it with an Amiga 2000 and an
A4000. With the 2000, I get distortion on every other frame. I've
tried Ham and 16-color; with and without palette lock, always at half
height and half width.
With the 4000, very weird things happen during rendering unless the
palette lock is on. With the lock on, it renders fine, but everything
crashes when I try to play the anim. (Used Ham8 on the 4000).
Getting frustrated. Do I have a bad copy of Rend24 or am I being dense
about something?
Thanks
Barbara
Hmmmm. I would definitely check to make sure you are using the latest
version of both Rend24 and Viewtek.
I'm using Rend24 v1.05a and Viewtek v1.05, and I haven't had any
problems like the ones you describe. (I've found that Rend24 and
AutoPilot don't like to share the RAM disk, though. Whenever I'm
editing a reply in AutoPilot, and Rend24 begins processing a frame,
there's a good chance my system will lock up. If I leave Rend24 on
it's own, it works just fine?!?)
You do have Rend24 set for Max colors in HAM8 mode? Also, I had trouble
playing back HAM anims on the 2000 if they were rendered on the 4000 – I'd
guess that HAM on the 4000 uses a 24bit palette or something. How much RAM
do you have?
Wish I had an immediate solution. I can assure you that it does work just
fine – once you get it working.
Good Luck!
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Well, I've made some progress. I stopped trying to play the anim
through Rend24 and used ViewTek instead. I gathered from your
messages (thank you very much) that that is the route to go. The
anims now play back without the exotic technicolor stripes.
However — I find that the first frame looks good (HAM8, lores, no
lace, half width, half height) but all subsequent frames look as if
they have fewer colors, bands of pixels appear. When I look at the LW
frame though ViewTek, the type (I'm doing a test using the NewTek
logo) looks crisp and black. But under Rend24, the black letters have
some grey at the borders. It seems to me that the rendering is not
consistent.
I am using Rend24 v1.05 (no "a") and ViewTek 1.04. Those are the
latest available online here that I could find using filefinder. Any
idea where to get later revs? I doubt if RAM is a problem, I went for
the full motherboard on the 4000 and have 18MB.
As to your advice about the Double-up, all very sound, and that's
just what I'd like to do. Unfortunately, my major project right now,
the one that was to leave me awash in cash, has been delayed a couple
of months. So in the meantime I have to struggle along, scrounge
pennies to feed my starving children etc. and try to be very sensible
by NOT buying a new Toaster. But I also need to do a quick and dirty
opening sequence for a small job I can't put off. The more trouble I
have implementing the "cheap" solution via Rend24, the greater the
likelihood of me running screaming from the room clutching Toaster
2.0 and thrusting it into the arms of the waiting postman for transit
to Topeka.
Thanks very much for your help.
Barbara
It was a recent upload, so it might not show up in the Amiga File Finder
yet. Try going to Amiga Arts Library 14 (I think – Graphic Utilities), and
just BROwse until you find it. It should show up fairly quickly.
If you're working with text, you're gonna get hosed by the need for edge
detail. LoRes HAM8 is best for 'real world' images, not high detail. Your
choice of display mode & size should reflect the specific needs of the
animation. For this quick-n-dirty job: are you doing flying logos,
animation, or what? Can you genlock the output and put the animation over
another bkgd? Try to design over a solid color bkgd – no gradients,etc.
If you're doing flying logos, you might want to consider HiResNoLace, and
try other display modes like 256 color. If you can keep the motion of the
animated objects real slow, then you might be able to get away with the
higher display resolutions.
'I doubt RAM is a problem.' Ha! You can NEVER have enough RAM. I've got
18MB in my system also, and I still don't have enough RAM to render my
animations out in the Toaster MedRes Anim format. (Aaaarrgh!)
Good Luck,
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
You're quite right to take to me task about the RAM. I dream fondly of the
time when I can load 'er up with more, more, more RAM. But having messed
about for years with 9MB, moving up to 18MB is rather a treat. But with
all the other stuff I want to buy (plus handling those starving children
etc.) RAM is down the list aways.
I've already seen the problem with lack of edge detail in the text. That
was going to be the next thing I worried about. All I want to do for now,
like everyone else on the planet, is flying logos. Hey, they sell. For
this test I'm doing, the background is a framegrab shot of some soft-focus
clouds. They come up well in HAM. But the text is lousy. (I output from LW
in medium-res, that's correct for video is it not?)
I had a go at HiResNoLace and 256 color. That works much better, but
there's still some distortion of the text. What I'll do now, I think, is
another test in Lightwave using the actual logo. In stretching and
squishing the NewTek logo during my testing I may have distorted it there.
(But I'm still getting bands of grey that don't show up on the LW frames,
although they're much reduced using HiRes and 256 color.)
I'll also experiment with your suggestion of a plain background and
genlocking over another background. It's another step, but if the output
is better, it'll be worth it.
BTW, I saw in an earlier post of yours that you're underwhelmed with the
anim output from the T4000 and feel Rend24 is just as good. Does that mean
that both are mediocre or am I jaded because of my trials and tribulations
in getting Rend24 to work well? 🙂
Thanks for all your help,
Barbara
Have you considered selling one of those starving children? :^)
(That way you could buy more RAM! :^)
Sounds like you're on the right track with the logo animation. It'll just
take some trial-n-error to get it right. (A benefit of rendering the logo
over black is reduced file size, and you'll have more colors available for
the logo itself. With more colors, some of the artifacting may be
reduced.) BTW, you are using anti-aliasing when rendering from LW?
As for my being underwhelmed with the T4000 Anim, that stems mainly from
the fact that I have as yet to get a scene to render in MedRes – it was
not documented in the upgrade lit that you need another 6.5 MB ontop of
everything else to render these anims out. The output is DEFINITELY
superior to Rend24, but Rend24 _works_ and it is much more flexible in its
ouput options. (Though it's also a bit buggier.)
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
My husband says to tell you we're not selling any of the children
until they're a bit plumper. So, that puts off the RAM purchase for a
while. 🙂
About RAM, when I was exuberantly putting in the order for the 4000 a
couple of months ago, I enquired about RAM over 18MB. This was met by
total astonishment from the local dealer. Seems noone had ever asked
for more before and they didn't know what to do. I gather one gets
more through additional cards, but who makes them? Whose is best and
how much do they cost? I figure, when it comes time to do the deed, I
may as well order direct rather than go through my uninformed dealer.
Thanks again for the help. I plan to be a rendering fool over the
week-end as I need to deliver a demo on Tuesday.
How can your starving children be getting plumper? :^) I have heard
good things about this Fastlane Z3 SCSI-II controller for the 4000,
it has something like 8 SIMM slots, and if you use only 16MB SIMMs
you can go up to an extra 256MB of full speed (ToasterAnim ready)
RAM. I guess it's kinda pricey though – $600+ for the card alone
(Don't know if that comes with RAM, or anything.)
Oh, we do feed them. That's why I can't afford any more RAM! Thanks
for the info on the RAM expansion. I shall file it away for future
reference, and occasionally ponder the prospect of 256MB (wow!) RAM
with reverential awe.
You're fattening the kids up? Not using the Jeffrey Dahmer cookbook I hope …
There's a product out there called GigaMem which converts unused hard disk
space into Ram. I haven't spoken to anyone who's used it but I read a positive
review about it.
Steve [on the Hudson]
This innocent discussion re my childrens' health is getting out of
hand! Thanks for the info on GigaMem. I saw a review on it too and
it seems interesting. Will probably follow it up sometime.
DKB will be shipping the DKB 3128 Zorro III memory board for the
A3000 and A4000 by Sept 1 1993. The DKB 3128 is a memory board that
allows you to add upto an additional 128Mbytes of 32 bit FAST ram to
you system. It uses upto four industry standard 72pin SIMM modules in
four different sizes, and also allows you to Mix-n-Match the
different SIMM sizes at the same time. The smallest SIMM size it
allows is the 4Mbyte module that is used in the A4000.
I will be posting a press release early next week on the DKB 3128,
as well as a few other products that will be announced and/or shown
at the World of Commodore show in Pasadena Sept 10-12.
Sounds cool! Thanks for the info.
So, you guys gonna stick a SCSI controller on that board too? :^)
BTW, good move to allow the mix-n-match of SIMM sizes. The Fastlane card
requires a custom PAL for 16M SIMMs, and you can't mix 16MB SIMMs with any
other sizes.
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Thanks for the information. Do you have any prices?
Barbara,
Suggested retail price for the DKB 3128 is $374.95 without memory. As
usual, street prices are likely to be lower.
Dean
DKB Software
I only know of one Ram Expansion card for the 3000/4000 and BARE it
costs $350
Thanks for the info, I know the RAM will cost lots 'o bucks …
hopefully though it will speed things up enough to justify the cost.
Always something to spend the pennies on …. I'll get in touch with
Jerry Hatchett about the tape, thanks. Just as soon as I finish the
rendering I'm currently _doing_!
Howdy Barbra, don't forget to join our Merry Band(Amiga Gang) when next we
meet via US SNAIL on Tape.
I've been lurking around here for a while, and watched with interest
the progress of the Gang Tape. I even enquired about ordering it.
But, in typical fashion, I've never got around to getting a U.S.
funds postal order and sending it off (I'm in Canada). I must ask the
fellow who was doing them if it is too late, because I would like to
see it, inertia notwithstanding.
Thanks for the invite to join the merry band: if I have something to
proffer I surely will, but I think it will be a while yet before I
emerge, blushing, from the shadows.
In the meantime, I enjoy, and learn from all the banter between you
lot.
Jerry Hatchett is the man to see about the Tape. remember thge best way to
learn is to do.
What software package came with ViewTek 1.05? I just got it recently
and was the first time I saw this version (I do a LOT of board
cruising). It's making me nuts trying to figure this out. Anyone
know?