IM R/T Bugs, cont.
10 messages in this thread
More Important Bugs
The Multiframe Sequencer gives up after image 3. It just quits and says that it
"Could not find image file". ("Help" offers a toothless "check the directory").
This happens despite the fact that the directory for the image files is the
same, and in the case of an animation is the identical file that has been used
for the first few frames. A major hindrance.
The IM R/T file reader won't read any Brilliance animation files, of any sort
— even the supposed standard Op-5 byte format. It just chokes and says that
there's any error. Who's at fault? Digital Creations or IM? I don't know. I'm
just unhappy.
I was quite unhappy about AppAssist until I discovered that context sensitive
help was available by pointing at the button and pressing the help button.
Some minimalist documentation is needed to get people started. Also, an online
tutorial is badly needed to showcase IM functions. Otherwise, people will
bypass the format in favor of other packages that have conventional
documentation. ONE major purpose of documentation for new users is that it
allows them quickly to ascertain the "potential" of the package. Having said
this, I think AppAssist is generally very well tied to IM, and is far better
than the indexed help I've used in Windows or on other systems.
Regarding the sequencer "giving up" after frame three; that
"toothless" comment is reasonably appropriate. If you expect more,
tell me what it is you expect instead of namecalling, eh? It'll be
considerably more useful. I'll pass along the bug item tomorrow.
As for as brilliance anims… since we CAN read std anims, it looks
like something is different there from Brilliance; however, send one
(a Brilliance anim) to us, and we'll see just what it is and do our
best to make it work. EMAIL or snailmail is fine. Fault isn't the
issue, at least, not yet.
More ApAssist docs are now shipping (as will continue indefinitely).
More generl info is suppied, as are more tutorials (I guess you
didn't find the morphing tutorials yet). We've even embedding
tutorials tha will go to IM R/t and DO the example for you, from
inside ApAssist. Fun. :^)
I have to agree with John Black's comments about getting started
in IM, there should be some kind of primer on paper. I purchased IM
last week and having never used the program before, was like a lost
wet puppy. I had no clue as to how to run the program, I kept going
through the index reading and reading and getting no where.
It wasn't until I looked at your WoW image (which I thought was
great) and read the read me file on how you made the image. I saw
open buffer, the light blub came on….
I do like the ApAssist system, but one has to have a basic idea of
what one is doing before it can help. This might be my fault but when
printing out a page the right side is cut off….
We're currently shipping docs that contain getting started info. We
just hadn't gotten to that yet in the version you have. We're still
actively expanding the scope, as well as the content, of the manuals.
Sorry for your rought start. We'll make it better!
I'll upload an animation from Brilliance this weekend to your BBS. I
appreciate you taking a look at it.
The "toothless" comment was tongue in cheek, so to speak — don't take it as a
slam. That particular help file just didn't give me any additional clue beyond
the error message.
I tried one of the help files which ran a demo. That's definitely a first for
online help and a big plus. I think it was the asterize I tried. Some sort of
simple printed "here's all the neat things you can do with IM" could still help
the novice feel instant appreciation for all the horsepower at his disposal. Or
using ApAssist, you could make it quick live demo.
JEB
The docs are beginning to contain things like "Here's neat stuff you can
do". We're cooking it. :^)
As for the anim, great – I'd like to know just how/why we're choking on
it.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
Which version of IM R/T do you have John???? I have 1.03 and have NO
PROBLEMS with the Multiframe Sequencer. Tho I haven't tried doing any
400 frame anims lately. But the 120 Frame Test Anim I did yesterday
worked fine. Even IM R/T 1.0 worked fine for me in that respect.
Different Amiga's different problems I guess.
I have 1.03, I think. I'm using an Amiga 4000, '030, with a floating point chip
with 10 MB ram. I don't know why it picked on frame #3, but it did it
consistently, even after I exited and restarted IM. The 400 item list I created
to be processed was created by mistake. Most users will never encounter that
trap. So its not a major item. Its just one of those things that new users tend
to find out by virtue of stumbling around a bit in the normally uninhabited
crawlspaces of a program.
Overall, Black Belt has done a very nice job of upgrading the program.
JEB
There is no longer a 400 item length limit. :^)
Thanks for the kind word, there.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
I am amazed. Other folks have had the hanging up on frame 3 problem
but I have never encountered it. Hope thsat Ben can get a fix for
you. Good Luck