CompuServe Thread

#Rendering Programs?

9 messages in this thread
#186530From: David J. MarksAug 22, 1995 11:18 AM
>> Whoa! Someone was listening! <g> << Despite listening, I have a question about something I may have missed regarding the concept of the modifier stack… Since the mesh complexity is now a variable in the modifier stack, how will vertex-level manipulations play out?
#186667From: Yost GroupAug 22, 1995 7:47 PM
You apply an Edit Mesh modifier to the stack, which gives you all the sub-object stuff. In our demo, we build the battlements of a chess rook using the Edit Mesh modifier. At the end of the demo, we deactivated the Edit Mesh, and all the editing disappeared, leaving the cylinder. By the way, that chess rook demo could have been done using a cylinder imported from 3DS — as long as it contained enough segments for the editing. The result would have been exactly the same, except that you wouldn't have been able to go back and adjust the radius, height, and segments. – J
#186781From: David J. MarksAug 23, 1995 10:10 AM
>> You apply an Edit Mesh modifier to the stack << Thanks for the reminder. It's just beginning to sink in exactly how much new stuff you showed in the demos. – Dave
#187346From: David R. SwobodaAug 25, 1995 11:30 PM
Hi, I'm really excited about this new ability in MAX. Is this "UNDO/REDO" information stored in the same file as the geometry, or is it seperate? If it's all-in-one file how much does this add to the files size of a really BIG project. Can you turn this off if the file sizes get Too massive? Some of my 3DS files are 2-8MB now. I make lots of changes over time and with this feature, I will CHANGE EVEN MORE! Just curious. -David. >>>You apply an Edit Mesh modifier to the stack, which gives you all the sub-object stuff. In our demo, we build the battlements of a chess rook using the Edit Mesh modifier. At the end of the demo, we deactivated the Edit Mesh, and all the editing disappeared, leaving the cylinder. By the way, that chess rook demo could have been done using a cylinder imported from 3DS — as long as it contained enough segments for the editing. The result would have been exactly the same, except that you wouldn't have been able to go back and adjust the radius, height, and segments. – J<<< -David Robert Swoboda
#187395From: Yost GroupAug 26, 1995 12:22 PM
The Stack data is not really "Undo/Redo" (though it can be used for that). Each object has its own stack, and they're stored in the scene file. As to size, I haven't done any benchmarks yet. You'll have the capability of collapsing the stack on any object, which will eliminate the entire construction history of the object. (Of course, this will be a one-way operation. Once you collapse the stack, you can't go back and access the applied modifiers.) – Jack
#187433From: alec jasonAug 26, 1995 6:10 PM
Just curious, Jack, In bytes, how large is a long stack (say, 40 modifiers)? Alec Jason
#187548From: Yost GroupAug 27, 1995 7:26 PM
Alec, we're still _months_ away from shipping. I don't want to get into benchmarking at this point. Besides, it wouldn't really tell you much. It would depend on the kind of modifiers, the type of object you start with (parametric, patch, mesh, etc.), what the object might be converted to by the various modifiers, etc. (I don't think I've ever even put 40 modifiers on a stack.) – J
#187712From: alec jasonAug 28, 1995 3:08 PM
I didn't think I was asking for a benchmark. What I was interested in was the manner in which Max will save the modifiers. Some graphic programs with "undo's" will save a copy of each of several versions of a file and therefore the file will quickly grow very large. I wanted to know if each modification is saved as a discrete object (like a morph target) or is just the modification _data_ saved? Alec Jason
#187476From: David R. SwobodaAug 27, 1995 2:44 AM
Thank you, Jack. >>>benchmarks yet. You'll have the capability of collapsing the stack on any object, which will eliminate the entire construction history of the object. (Of course, this will be a one-way operation. Once you collapse the stack, you can't go back and access the applied modifiers.) – Jack<<< -David Robert Swoboda