#ADI Drv Dev
7 messages in this thread
I'm an ADI developer and have written 4.2 hardcopy render drivers,
but can't get firm info on whats needed / available to
test/develop/tweak them for 3D studio… Anyone know what its all
about? (I gather that for R3 a straight 4.2 driver will (should?)
work)
Thank heavens you've arrived! We could use a rendering hardcopy
device for 3DS! However, there are a number of pitfalls. First of
all, 3DS is compliant with ADI 4.1, not 4.2 for the hardcopy
rendering devices (Gary, correct me if this is wrong, please).
Second, it is quite common for ADI drivers to be written for AutoCAD,
but very little for our multimedia side. The person in charge of
multimedia developers is Chris Allis, at 415/491-8272. I am not
familiar with the resources you'll need. It might be a combination
of AutoCAD and Multimedia developers, we'll find out. Give Chris a
call.
Actually, we're also working on 3DS Hardcopy ADI Drivers… I was
curious about how many people actually wanted them, as we were doing
the drivers more for internal use. We plan to support an HP DeskJet
550C and someone has asked for a driver for a DesignJet 650C. Would
anybody else be interested in a 24X36 3DS output @ 300 dpi, 24 bit
color at a cost of MAJOR disk requirements and LONG LONG rendering
times?
Barely a week goes by when someone on this forum doesn't ask for a
printer driver for 3D Studio.
Many thanks for your reply. Re 4.2, James Carrington also thinks its
4.1 for R3 (now!). I will try to talk to Chris Allis today, but
gather he is more likely to be interested in IPAS than drivers. Also,
I think Mark Sage may be able to help, but hear that he is on
holiday, thus, since I now know what Gary's role is I am trying to
mail him, but in case I fail (I have not yet got his e-mail name or
id) pls could you forward/mention this to him and ask him for any
comments or helpful advice.
At a meeting prior to the release of R3, printing issues were brought
up and Gary was not opposed — Jack (who has answered this thread) is
also a strong proponent.
In Product Support, we receive enough calls that makes printer output
a very important issue. What dilutes its impact is: 1) ADI is
generally an AutoCAD-driven spec 2) There are some very good
workarounds for printing — create a Targa file, for instance, and
use another product to print it.
I just got off the phone from someone trying to render with an IBM
4079. Their RHPADI driver works with AVERENDER, but we've not been
able to get it to work with 3DS. The HP 3DS RHPADI driver for the
DesignJet 650c — I can't get it to work, and my last contact with HP
said that they couldn't get it to work either. (This may have
changed.)
The need is there! If you can make sure people know about you (say,
by becoming a registered Multimedia developer and published in
Autodesk's catalogue (Chris Allis 415/491-8727), it would be worth
it.
Also, Mark Sage is a good resource (and extremely fine fellow!) at
415/332-2344×4249. Talk to him about your ambition. Thanks for the
proposal!
I can't see what could I want 3ds to print when I have specialized
applications that can get the most of our printing system and link us
with press systems. My world runs on RGB, but most of them runs now
on CMYK. I really don't need printing from 3ds, specially when 3DS is
a part in my creative process (an either when it's a simply -not for
real press- architectural project, I allways get the image in
specialized graphics programs for hand work). Well, just an opinion
🙂