#Bloody Animator Pro
19 messages in this thread
Can someone please explain to me the reasoning behind denying all memory
management to Ani Pro. I have 16Mb of memory which must be allocated as
extended to Mannequin. I also run Windows (I evaluate programs for
Computer magazines and most of them are Windows nowadays). I see NO reason
why Ani insists (according to your documentation) that I do not have a
reasonable sharing of memory for my products.
I am further sick of the fact that I can create apparently invisible files.
I have spent an afternoon creating a gingham background for a 3D studio
animation. I saved the file as a .CEL and now retrieve an apparently blank
screen. the current colour was not and is not black, and the setting is
opaque, not glass.
Just what statistics do you base your product design on that you assume
Animator Pro will be the only product run on PCs using the product, and
that the configuration can be created to suit only that file. I have
spoken to many animators while writing a feature on the subject and NONE of
them use Animator Pro products exclusively.
I'm not surprised at the occasionally bilious comments that appear on the
network. Working with Autodesk products is an unpleasant experience made
needlessly difficult for some perverse reason.
ALi
Ali: I just saw your flame against Animator Pro, and had to throw in my two
cents. We are professional animators, creating computer animations for
broadcast, film, and computer based playback. We run Windows and Ani Pro
with the same configuration for our computers. If you cannot figure out
how to do this, send me your config.sys and autoexec.bat files and I will
advise. If you wish to create a background in Ani Pro for 3D Studio, save
it as a GIF file and wou will not have to go through the extra step of
defining a window for a CEL, which it appears you are not doing properly.
In answer to your sentence that "none of <the animators> use Animator Pro
exclusively", that is absolutely correct! I would be hesitant to recommend
ANYONE who used one product exclusively for a professional project.
It just doesn't make sense. We use Ani Pro "exclusively" for creating
animated texture maps for 3D Studio, and many opacity maps and small
textures. However, we also use TIPS, TEMPRA, HIRES QFX, and PHOTOSTYLER
when the tools in the program would make our jobs easier. When I build a
house, I could use only a screwdriver, but a hammer sure comes in handy for
a few things!
I have been using Autodesk products for over 8 years (version 1.7 AutoCAD)
and have rarely seen a company CONSISTENTLY come out with such high quality
software. I just read that they are now the Fifth largest software company
in the world (+/-), and you don't get that way when "working with Autodesk
products is an unpleasant experience", as you mentioned.
Perhaps, if I may be so bold, as to suggest a more thorough reading of the
manual and going through the tutorials that ship with each product before
having such a serious tirade in public would be warranted. There are MANY
extremely happy users of these products, many of the best ones who read
this very BBS, willing and anxious to provide assistance to anyone needing
it, if the question is phrased properly. Autodesk requires its own people
in product support and management to read this board, and the support for
the products is absolutely phenominal! The other support you have open to
you,
.. continued…
is your local dealer. There are, of course, varying levels of quality
there, but any one of them should be able to tell you how to save a CEL
file in Animator Pro properly.
Sorry for MY long tirade, but I just get frustrated at times listening
(reading?) unjust accusations about products that work quite well for
their INTENDED use. (remember the screwdriver!)
Greg Pyros
Greg
Don't worry too much – Americans are lucky, they don't come across too many
Australians but when they do the experience can be un-nerving. Nobody in
the world can do anything that Australians will approve of – not even
Australians and especially not Brits, Kiwis or anybody related to them and
Americans are often considered honorary Brits!
Grahame (Londres (a suburb of EEC)
Grahame: Thanks for the info! I'll try to keep it in mind! And that's the
first time I've been referred to as an honorary Brit! Bloody good! Greg
My point is that since logically no one uses Ani Pro alone, there should
not be the kind of prohibitions listed in the manual, to which I referred.
I am in the process of rebuilding after substantial upgrades. I have
Windows 3.1, QEMM, Ani Pro and 3D Studio, plus utilities and a few Windows
products that I have received from suppliers for review. There is 16 Mb
available for use, however Mannequin (which I also have) requires
configured memory, hence QEMM. It's a DOS 5.0 system and I would like to
run mirror and deletion tracking.
I did use a GIF file as the background for my animation (which looks nice
so far), but the CELs that I saved load as if I had a glass effect
selected, which I haven't. I have completed all but the last lesson of the
Ani Pro tutorial (critical boredom threshold won the day). I am still
struggling through the 3D studio tutorial even though my review was
published 2 months ago!!
Ali
Ali, what sections of the manual are you referring to. You make it sound
like there are great ugly warning and limitations stated about memory
configuration and so forth. I have dozens of very demanding packages all
running on my machine, all with one configuration. No problem. That
includes AAPro, 3D Studio, Windows, AutoCAD, Renderman, Manequin and many
other packages. Multiple video cards, cd rom drive, two sound cards, etc.
None of this is a problem; one optimized configuration under QEMM and DOS
5. Please let me know what manual and what page numbers you are referring
to.
The Installation and performance guide states:
"Extended or expanded memory memory has been allocated through one or more
statements in your config.sys file. You musrt remove any statements in
your config.sys file that allocate either form of memory. A typical
statement would look like this: device=c:\cemm.exe 1024 auto.
Ali
Ah, I suspect what it was meant to refer to was brain-dead memory managers
such as cemm of emm386, not to QEMM or 386^MAX. I'll take this up with
tech pubs. Thank you.
I write tech documentation myself. Can I suggest that if you are going to
keep Phar Lap that you index references to it? I'm giving up on the Ani
Pro manual and going to try setting up 3DS to allow for ani pro. The
configuration instructions there are even more difficult to understand.
I have several times changed the default paths through the configure pull
down menu option but it keeps resetting, who knows why.
Thanks, Ali
<<Can I suggest that if you are going to keep Phar Lap that you index
references to it>>
I'll pass that along to the Tech Pubs group. But references to phar lapp
settings are almost never needed with Ani Pro, since it simply works on
nearly all machines as is. No changes required.
<<I have several times changed the default paths through the configure pull
down menu option but it keeps resetting>>
Try deleting the AA.CFG and DEFAULT.SET files and try it again. That is by
no means usualy behavior.
Ali,
I have had no problems running AAPRO along with Windows, 3D Studio,
Wordperfect, AutoCAD 10/11/12, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum. I have 300
megs of executables here, where any one of them can operate without a
reboot to modify the config.sys and autoexec.bat!!
AAPRO will recognize various memory settings and is more flexible (as are
other Autodesk programs) than most other software regarding memory
management. I usually find that it's other programs' specific requirements
that cause more trouble than software from Autodesk.
Have you had your dealer install the software for you, or check your
installation? If you bought AAPRO at a discounted price, you've also
purchased the privilege of having to read the manuals to figure it out
yourself. On the other hand, if you paid a good price to a good dealer, he
will immediately deny you the right of having to read the manual!!
-Jeff
Ali,
"I agree with Greg!" <g>. I also use and sell systems that include
AutoCAD, Animator Pro, 3D Studio, and Windows (I even run Mannequin). I
use a single configuration that allocates memory where needed, using the
full 64M in each machine. In my opinion, your complaints are unjustified.
A good dealer can certainly provide a setup to satisfy you.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Kevin: I can't believe all the messages I've received on my little speech
the other day. Could we start an "I agree with Greg" movement? Ross
Perot, move over! BTW, 100% of the messages were positive. Thanks for your
support! Greg
but the MANUAL says take out the memory managers. I have error messages
which, according to the manual require the removal of QEMM from the
config.sys.
Ali
Using QEMM I have no problems running AniPro, 3D Studio and Win3.1 all with
the same CONFIG file.
Ali – Sorry about your frustration with AniPro. As others have mentioned,
it shouldn't be that difficult for you to get it configured. You can post
your config.sys and autoexec.bat here (un-formatted, please) and we can
take a look.
R@A