CompuServe Thread

#WaveMaker

13 messages in this thread
#92100From: Joe MaulucciOct 8, 1994 11:10 AM
Does anyone know if there will be an update to WaveMaker for LW 3.5? LW crashes when WM sends the scene file directly. I guess it is well known that if you create a scene with WM with LW not loaded, save it. Start LW, load the WM scene, immediatly re-save it, then reload it — then scene file is usable and LW will not crash. I tried calling Axiom but they did not return any of my calls. Joe Maulucci >>> Accadia Electronic Arts AMIGA DTV & DTP BBS 1-716-882-1774
#92108From: John GrossOct 8, 1994 2:20 PM
Joe, Axiom won't be returning any calls about WaveMaker. They no longer have the rights to sell it. There should be a new distributor soon and an update, but for now, the fix is as you stated OR edit the scene file and add "addlight" to the bottom of the scene. Either way, you won't be able to send the scene from WaveMaker. JG
#92141From: Joe MaulucciOct 8, 1994 10:45 PM
John, It is a great product, so I am glad to hear that there will be an update. Thanks for keeping us informed. Joe Maulucci >>> Accadia Electronic Arts AMIGA DTV & DTP BBS 1-716-882-1774
#92156From: Trent K. JohnsonOct 9, 1994 7:33 AM
Actually, that's not bad new at all, since I've heard folks say that Axiom's last Amiga program is the update to PixelPro. I did get their upgrade notice, but said 'pass'… "Row well-and live" -Ben Hur Trent/ReAnimators
#92184From: John GrossOct 9, 1994 1:10 PM
Yea, the last time I saw a beta copy of the latest PixelPro, I wasn't very impressed. They tried to make it do too many things and got away from what pixel should be devoting its energy to…namely importing bitmaps and converting them to 3D objects…. JG
#92226From: Sean HannonOct 9, 1994 11:24 PM
Hi John, While you're on the subject of Pixel Pro, I've wondered if you ever use it in the end-run of object creation, by using the polygon reduction feature to simplify unnecessarily complex objects? Or are you generally able to design things without much polygon excess? I hope to meet you at the VTU expo in L.A. this December. Found some Mileage Plus Awardcheques laying around. I had put out an earlier message regarding the Hawaii event, with my concerns about seminars tending to be geared too much to the Absolute Beginner. Several high caliber people responded with their belief that it would be more about Intermediate or Advanced exchanges, and that the travel distance would keep the dilitantes away. But I was dismayed to see in the recent VTU that there were Beginner classes scheduled for a third of each of day. And if there are a lot of people attending the Beginner classes, they will of course be there filling the seats at the so-called Advanced classes. And that is the problem. It's not that the overall curriculum's goals are too low, it's that a good chunk of the audience is not able to absorb it yet. It's very difficult for an instructor to pursue a well-planned course of advanced techniques when they must machete their way through basic questions. Which you have to answer because they paid mucho dinero for the privilege. This was the problem that Lee Stranahan had to contend with in his "Advanced" seminars, and I suspect this will be the dynamic in Hawaii. Perhaps this "trying to be all things to all people" stems from economic necessity, and that you would not be able to fill the seminars with strictly Intermediate and Advanced artists. Well, maybe not today, but in the near future, I hope for the equivalent of 2nd or 3rd Year French in a LightWave intensive seminar, where the people already know how to conjugate their keyframes. Thanks for letting me grouse in your general direction. Sean Hannon Ad Rats – Stamford, CT
#92333From: Wayne ColeOct 11, 1994 7:08 AM
Pixel 3D is relatively useless on complex objects because of its memeory scheme. There are objects, easily loadable in LW, that Pixel chokes on when trying to load them because it runs out of memory. wmc – via Autopilot!
#92447From: John GrossOct 12, 1994 1:34 AM
RE: Grousing… You bet, The other thing that you have to contend with is that there are a large number of people living in Hawaii that will attend as well. I don't know if this will contribute to the "beginner not paying money to go to Hawaii theory or not. But in regards to that particular thought….even beginners take vacations. Especially when it can be a write off! RE: PixelPRO use. To tell you the truth, I never use it. We've gotten pretty good at modeling "within out budget" meaning we always try to model as light as we can because the shots take so long to render finals. JG
#92547From: Sean HannonOct 12, 1994 8:56 PM
John, Yes, I had a feeling that PixelPRO was not as PRO as it might like to be. Wayne Cole mentioned problems with the program choking up on complex objects. Guess I'll just have to get as good as you guys at economical poly building. Speaking of which, I've been tinkering with metaform somewhat and have come to some interesting first impressions. Your tutorial in LWPRO was easy to follow, and paid off with a nice "ooh" & "aah" from me upon seeing the final double-link object. But further experiments on my part, playing with primitives first, and then the freeform Sketch tool, caused me to step back for a moment and wonder what I had here. This new tool is an artform unto itself! And because it's so VERY easy to create objects with impossibly high polygon counts, it appears that to be truly successful with the tool, you have to be able to envision with the simple clarity of Forrest Gump your object in its nascent form. Any tendency to over-produce in the first stage seems to make for objects in deparate need of a PixelPRO poly reduction. Of course, after finally learning how to create objects "the old-fashioned way" with the help of David Duberman's excellent book on Spline Patch creation, I felt the winds of change a bit briskly. But I am a solid convert to this tantalizing new tool, and I look forward to more articles on how to wield it. Sean Hannon Ad Rats – Stamford, CT
#92603From: Arnie CachelinOct 13, 1994 10:21 AM
A nice guiding concept for making the pre-metaform objects is to imagine the custom shipping crate you would build for your object, sans duct tape. Assume you can't just make a box with big internal foam padding elements, but only get 2 layers of bubblewrap inside the crate.
#92110From: SyndesisOct 8, 1994 4:00 PM
The bug is in LightWave, not Wavemaker. For that matter, the same "bug" happens when you load scenes made by InterChange. The bug is in LightWave! Complain to NewTek!
#92142From: Joe MaulucciOct 8, 1994 10:45 PM
John, Complain me! Well no one will hear it here. Anyways I pass on the info about IC to my report back to my bbs users. Joe Maulucci >>> Accadia Electronic Arts AMIGA DTV & DTP BBS 1-716-882-1774
#92157From: Trent K. JohnsonOct 9, 1994 7:33 AM
Thanks for the info, John… Trent/ReAnimators