#Cars??? Who needs them
36 messages in this thread
>> Anyone have any other candidates for my Useless IPASes list? 🙂
>> I can't think of ANY effect that would REQUIRE VARY.SXP. Can you?
How about taking your idea a little further?
Who NEEDS airplanes? We have cars. I can get in my car anywhere,
there still are some difficulties crossing the ocean, but normal people
don't need it. And, look, I can get to some places (like my mother-in-law
house)
on my car faster then planes. So, who needs them? Let's banish them. If I don't
use
them, why anybody should?
I can't think of any PLACE where I could not get with my CAR. Can you?
Alex, Video International
P.S. Oh, and who NEEDS cars, when I have a bicycle?
(If anyone knows how to post a Reply to a thread and address it to ALL,
please let me know. I know this is addressed to Aleksey, but it's intended for
ALL, and I didn't want to start a whole new thread.)
Good points on timesaving. That certainly applies to VARY.SXP and Pyros's
Transitions, but not to Python. Python is a pain to work with, builds and
pretty much requires you to set morph targets for Every Single Frame that the
effect will go over (and that can cause memory requirements and .3DS/.PRJ file
sizes to balloon like crazy!), etc. As for bugs in opacity mapping, they're
not that hard to work around: just apply the same wipe you use for the Opacity
Map to the Texture Mask (if the object uses a Texture Map — also set the
Diffuse and Ambient colors to black if this is the case) and Shininess Map.
With the (r3 and "4") Material Editor's wonderful (see, David? I CAN be
positive!) Drag & Drop simplicity of copying existing maps to other
mapping/masking slots, this is trivial.
The point is that these are IPASes you don't NEED. You may still WANT them
but my aim in all of this was to make those who have not purchased them and who
were planning on doing so that there are ways to do the same thing without
them. If they still want to purchase them, fine. But we operate on a tight
budget here, and if we'd known that Python didn't do anything that we couldn't
otherwise do, we wouldn't have bought it. That same money could have bought us,
say, The Script Extensions, or Metareyes, or LenZfx, or something else that
does things we can NOT currently do, quickly and easily or otherwise. If you
don't want to mess with mapping rectangles and animating them but still want
the limited transition effects that the Pyros Transitions IPAS package gives
you, and you have the money to spend on that above and beyond all the other
goodies you want that do things you can't otherwise do, by all means get it.
Ditto for Python (though it's more of a truly useless IPAS since it adds so
much memory and slowness of rendering because of All Those Vertices And Faces
in all those Morph Targets for Every Frame, that it more than overcomes any
advantages of not dealing with animated wipes — and such wipes can be made
with ANY paint program that can paint rectangles, so you don't have to have
Animator Pro!).
As for why I don't use my name here, I probably will soon since it does seem
to be a Forum Rule now. I've talked again to my boss and the owner of this
account regarding this. I don't hide my identity by choice. This is imposed
on me. I don't like it any more than any of you do. But it's not my decision
to make.
>As for why I don't use my name here, I probably will soon since it does seem
to be a Forum Rule now. I've talked again to my boss and the owner of this
account regarding this. I don't hide my identity by choice. This is imposed
on me. I don't like it any more than any of you do. But it's not my decision
to make.<
I don't know if you boss uses this forum, but I think you can set a different
name for each forum.
Tim –
I've changed the forum announcement to ask that members using a company account
simply sign their messages at the bottom.
Anne
Oh.
So you "hide your identity" because you are *told* to.
Hmmm…. can't imagine why…
M&M –
It is now a forum requirement to use a first and last name here in AMMEDIA.
Refer your "boss" to the Forum Announcement and News Flash changed yesterday.
There are many company accounts on this forum used by several people. Common
courtesy to have any member using an account sign their messages.
Pass on to your boss that it is now a requirement under our forum guidelines.
Anne
>As for bugs in opacity mapping, they're not that hard to work around
Nope, nope and nope. Take a look at SPOOL.ZIP, as I suggested, and you'll see
— there IS no work around (even the great G. himself admitted it). Opacity
absolutely cannot do what PYTHON says it will do (remember, I don't own PYTHON
and so I don't know it does what it says).
If you can fix SPOOL (without taking weeks) just using opacity, please please
please upload the results and techniques. I will use them and admit you're
right (otherwise, please be more accurate).
Mike, I just saw your message today after having come back from Labor Day
vacation. What timing! There was NO WAY we were going to download an
over-half-a-meg file at 2400bps and current CIS rates just to make a point.
But this very day CIS _finally_ saw fit to bless Shreveport, LA with a 14.4
node to take us out of the Dark Ages and into the Rennaisance Era (see GO
PHONES / Network Announcements / Recent Additions — they got the phone number
wrong and we had to figure out the right one) — about bloody time since
Shreveport is the second largest MSA in Louisiana, the largest city in a 150+
mile radius, home to numerous industrial and computer-related firms (including
a GM plant, the home offices of Frymaster [makers of the fryers used in
McDonalds and other fast-food chains to fry french fries, apple pies, onion
rings, and the like], the home offices of Softdisk Publishing [which spun off
Id Software, creators of DOOM among others!], our own company, etc. etc. etc.),
yet CIS (and, until recently, everyone else including TymNet,
TeleNet/SprintNet, and STILL AOLnet and GEIS) treated us like the Nation's
Largest Hick Town! And it'll be nicer still once CIS sees fit to usher us into
the Modern Era of 28.8 — no doubt when the rest of the country has moved on to
the Postmodern Era of ISDN or some such..
Anyway, with us FINALLY being able to download files at reasonable cost, I
did go ahead and downloaded SPOOL.ZIP. I'll take a look at it. But if the
problem is what was described earlier (the ends of the bitmaps showing up as
solid), then the solution is simple: click the [S] button on the Opacity Map
listing and set the U Scale to, say, 1.01 (from the default of 1.0), to push
the ends of the bitmap just past the ends of the object.
Hi M&M,
Please have your employer review msg#188508, addressed to the M&M account by
Anne.
I'll repost it here, in case you've missed it.
——————————————————-
M&M –
It is now a forum requirement to use a first and last name here in AMMEDIA.
Refer your "boss" to the Forum Announcement and News Flash changed yesterday.
There are many company accounts on this forum used by several people. Common
courtesy to have any member using an account sign their messages.
Pass on to your boss that it is now a requirement under our forum guidelines.
Anne
——————————————————————————-
——————–
Please comply.
jonas[adesk]
Dude/Dudette,
>> As for why I don't use my name here, …my boss and the owner of this
account… <<
As was suggested to you months ago, get your own personal account. It's
pretty cheap, and there's more to CIS than AMMEDIA.
Paul S.
Paul, see my reply to Mike about CIS _finally_ doing what I told them would
be a prerequisite for me to get my own personal account (namely, treating
Shreveport like the moderate-sized MSA it is rather than as some hick town out
in the boonies by FINALLY giving us a 14.4kBps node rather than the 2400 we've
had for years — the 14.4kBps node had been promised to us since NOVEMBER of
last YEAR and was supPOSED to go into effect in JANUARY!). Because of this, I
will indeed be getting my own CIS account some time in the near future, but
probably not for AMMEDIA use. I'll still use the company account for that
since that's what my employer mandates.
M&M,
>> Because of this, I will indeed be getting my own CIS account some time in
the near future, but probably not for AMMEDIA use. I'll still use the company
account for that since that's what my employer mandates.
Well, you've pretty much turned everybody in the forum off by refusing to use
your name with the excuse that your boss won't let you, and now you tell us you
won't use your personal account to access this forum. There's NO WAY your
employer can say you can't log onto this forum unless you use his account. Did
you forget you're living in America?? C'mon; CIS has lowered the rate to $9.95
a month, which includes access to this forum. Are you really so cheap that you
won't come to this forum on your own time?? Why have you used every excuse in
the book to keep from acting like a normal person and using your name?? It
looks to me like you're unwilling to take responsibility for your own messages
by hiding behind your boss's account.
WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM ???!!!!
John
Well, my employer does prefer me to use the company account for company
business, but there is a more important reason I won't be here under my
personal account. That's because it will be _my_ _personal_ account, and I will
use it for _my_ _personal_ benefit. As much as I like 3DS, it's my job, not my
hobby. I will instead use my personal account for things like Comics, SF, etc.,
as those are among my hobbies. I'll only call in on my personal account from my
home computer, which does _not_ have 3DS installed. When I get home from a
long day at work, the _last_ thing I wanna think about is 3D Studio or any
other product that we use at work to do our jobs. Home time is _my_ time! <g>
My employer has been convinced to allow me to sign my messages as it is the
new policy. Therefore, it's time to introduce myself here publically:
My name is Joel Rea and I have been involved in computers since the late
1970s, having cut my teeth on a DEC PDP-8/e at age 16 while at college. Having
discovered that, I changed my major from Pre-Med to Computer Science. In the
early 1980s I helped program two then cutting edge graphic adventure games for
the Apple ][+ (later ported to the IBM PC, Commodore 64, and Macintosh) called
"The Quest" and "Ring Quest" (both originally published by Polarware/Penguin,
and the latter later published by Origin Systems). My primary contributions to
them were in designing a text-compaction scheme and the semi-intelligent
English command parser. I later spent several years as the senior (and for
quite some time the sole) technical support person at Softdisk Publishing,
pioneer of disk magazines. That involved knowing all major personal computer
operating systems and hardware, _and_ all conceivable problems of every program
Softdisk ever published (and they did an average of ten programs per issue, one
issue per month each for the Apple // family, Macintosh, IBM PC, and Commodore
64, plus a quarterly for the Commodore 128, plus specialty magazines for PC
advanced games [ID Software got their start working for Softdisk on this
project, called The Gamer's Edge], Mac desktop publishing, PC business apps,
etc. — and I had to know them _all_ off the top of my head! All the way back
to Softdisk #1 published in September 1981!). Earlier I had worked with my
current employer, Marion Marks, at a computer dealership named Computer S.O.S.,
where my main job was custom programming for our customers. He remembered me
when he decided to form a computer animation firm and invited me to work with
him and I jumped at the chance, and here we are.
In addition to computers (all aspects, not just animation) and comics and SF
and fantasy, etc., my interests include music (especially MIDI), religion,
politics, etc. (Come to think of it, those last two may explain why I've come
across as somewhat opinionated around here… <grin>)
— Joel Rea @ M&M Communications Concepts.
Joel –
Thanks for the bio and for signing your name.
Anne
Joel,
>> My name is Joel Rea and I have been involved in computers since the late
1970s, having cut my teeth on a DEC PDP-8/e at age 16 while at college.
Thanks for finally coming public! You have a very impressive set of credentials
and experience that I'm sure will be welcome here. A lot of us were just
wondering if there were some ulterior motive for not identifying yourself, but
you've cleared that up, for which I'm sure everyone here is thankful; it makes
it much easier to respect your opinions. And I can understand your keeping your
personal account separate, now that Marion has let you use your name on this
account.
Again; thanks for filling us all in.
John
>>When I get home from a long day at work, the _last_ thing I wanna think
about is 3D Studio<<
What a shame!
>>My primary contributions to them were in designing a text-compaction scheme
Hey maybe you should revive that code and use it on your postings…
Sorry Joel that was snide and unnecessary of me but it just popped into my
brain and I couldn't resist it.
It's a strange thing but _strong_ postings when signed can be accepted as
"opinion" and a jumping off point for debate (OK some people can't resist
flaming back but well "Now't so quare as folks"). However and anonymous message
has an "Ex-Cathedra" ring to it which almost everybody finds offensive.
A warm hearted welcome to the debate.
Grahame (who also got started on a PDP8, anyone remember FOCAL)
Yes, I do remember FOCAL. Do you remember TECO? How about SABR and RALF?
OS-8? The various EduSystems? DECtape? 🙂
<< When I get home from a long day at work, the _last_ thing I wanna think
about is 3D Studio or any other product that we use at work to do our jobs. >>
Oh my goodness, this is the first time I've ever heard anything like this.
Mark
Sad, isn't it?
-Alan
Hi Joel, nice bio,
For those of us in the dark e.g. (Matt and Greg), what do M&M do? Animation
house etc,
I have enjoyed your mail here for ages, and belong to the "Remember 3D
Studio is a programme not a religion" club,
Keep up the mail
Matt n' Greg
-Mike Allen
I'd like to join that club! What are the dues? <g>
Seriously, 3DS is a _tool,_ not a way of life. So long as it remains the
best tool for the money to do the tasks we need it to do, we will continue to
use it and support it and even sing its praises. But it is not and never will
be my life.
As for what M&M does, we do a lot of things including animation, A/V post
production (in real time thanks to our ImMIX TurboCube w/3-D DVE option), other
forms of computer-assisted design, multimedia development including programming
of kiosks, etc.
— Joel E. Rea, M&M Communications Concepts.
Joel,
How do you like the Turbo Cube's 3D DVE board? The guys here don't really use
it that much. (except for page turns, etc.) Making 3D boxes is a time
consuming process, even for the TurboCube! We stumped some of the demo'ers at
Video Expo on recreating the cubes done on the demo video. <g> It really needs
some automation for creating complicated moves, like Abekas' or some of Sony's
3D DVE's.
JNJ
Agreed. But there is something to be said for being able to do even simple
3D DVE moves in real time in a non-linear editor. Granted, it doesn't even
come close to the Video Toaster in terms of flexibility of transitions, but
then again the Toaster isn't designed to be a dedicated NLE (though with some
add-ons it can perform acceptably in that calling).
> When I get home from a long day at work, the _last_ thing I wanna think about
is 3D Studio <
Well, you obviously haven't seen MAX. I saw it this week (Video Expo- NYC) and
was really blown away. (Great demo- Frank D.) It's really something to be
seen. The text and screen shots are a dim reflection of what how it runs. I
am truely impressed.
JNJ
I did not get to go to SIGgraph this year, so no, I haven't seen MAX in
action. I don't care how good it is, though. I'll rave and drool all you
could possibly want during working hours. But when I get home it's time to
read some novels and comics and watch Babylon 5 and call friends and write
letters (E-Mail, of course), etc. etc. etc.! (Not to mention such
less-important things as supper and sleep…) <g>
Seriously, some here seem to think that 3DS (MAX or otherwise) is all one
needs to have a completely fulfilled life. I don't. I don't think that of
_any_ piece of software or hardware. Or any story or TV series or comic book.
It's called being "well-rounded." 🙂
I do, however, choose to make my living working with 3DS. And yes, I do
have a choice in the matter (since I first started working at a small computer
store here, I have never been unemployed for more than four hours at a time).
I quit another enjoyable job in programming to do this animation stuff. That
should tell you something about how much I like 3DS. 🙂
Joel,
Certainly, a balance in life is important, and no software is ideal, but MAX is
certainly cool enough to get my "off hours" attention. 🙂
JNJ
>> FINALLY giving us a 14.4kBps node rather than the 2400 we've had for years
<<
I'm still slugging away here at 2400 myself. 🙁
Paul S.
Yes you may have 2800, but you have probably got more Pentiums in your office
than I have teeth! LOL,
P.S. London is now 28,000 and has ISDN in December!
Matt 🙂
-Mike Allen
Alex:
>> Who NEEDS airplanes? We have cars. <<
ROFL! My sentiments exaclty and you reminded of a Poi Dog Pondering (quirky
alternative band combining a variety of influences including Hawaiian and R&B
– I highly recommend any of their CD's) song:
From Poi Dog's CD "Wishing Like a Mountain, Thinking Like the Sea":
The song = 'Ancient Egyptians'
(A love letter to Jonathan Richman)
"All around the world, a long time ago,
People would walk where ever they had to go.
They didn't have car keys, and the didn't have roads,
They didn't have those ugly convenience stores or Texacos,
In fact, all around the world, a long, long time ago,
People would walk wherever they had to go…
You get to know things better when they go by slow."
———————————————————-
– Bob Ritger
Bob
Love the Poi Dog Pondering cut! But what about Dire Straits' "Bug":
"Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the Bug……."
Gary(splat)Angle AIA w/ self-abusive DNA
>I can't think of any PLACE where I could not get with my CAR. Can you?<
Hawaii, Australia, Greenland. Depending on where you live.
>>>I can't think of any PLACE where I could not get with my CAR. Can you?<
Sorry, Tim!
It was supposed to be ironic.
And there was passage in my message about Hawaii and Australia too.
>>I can get in my car anywhere,
>>there still are some difficulties crossing the ocean, but normal people
>>don't need it.
Tim,
My car was in Hawaii, and now its in Arizona. It wasn't carried by an
airplane during any part of the trip. And it can't even swim.
I think this is a great thread, look at all the things covered so far. IPAS
routines that can be worked around. Why those IPAS routines are useful. Member
names in postings. And the need for air transportaion. What more could we ask?
-Matt (Active Media Graphics)
Y 50 /g fM/
you could transport you car by boat though, kind of UPS it, so it is possible
to get there although somewhat expensive,
A better bet for "Car can't get there" is the Moon, Mars or Pluto! 🙂
Matt 🙂
-Mike Allen
Top of mount Everest, now that'd be bit of a bugger to drive up ROFL,
(Ow, my sides hurt!) 🙂
Matt…
-Mike Allen