#Where's the Mousepad?
52 messages in this thread
When I received my Toaster 4000 in September, there was a little note saying
that if I was good – and sent in my Registration Card – the folk at NewTek
would send me a "Mousepad"…. FREE! I sent it in promptly…..
Has anyone got the promised Mousepad? I have NOT.
Hilary.
Hilary,
I haven't got my mousepad, either… 🙁
Jerry
NewTek must be making naughty fibs!
Hilary
I'll see your mousepad and raise it!
My station ordered the "double-up" upgrade on August 31, and we still
haven't received it!
-Pat "Cruising the North Coast
on Autopilot"
Am coming to the conclusion that the PROMISED Mousepad is a figment of NewTek's
immigination.
I was hoping to get just a little more….. after trying to understand the
terrible Manual which came with the 4000. No doubt that this bundle of pages
was written at various odd times, perhaps when they were not trying to catch
poor Kiki in some dark corner of their playground.
MousePadless…. Hilary.
I hope they are only holding the mouse pads so that they can ship them with an
updated (Correct) manual. I also hope to see this bundle before they release
the VT5000.
No No No it's being bundled with the Update Disk:
LightWave 3.5, (not usable with LightRave)
ToasterPaint AGA
The Missing 1.0/2.0 DVE Effects
The Chroma Key Button
CG Text Transitions
Of course the some of these may not make it to the update disk in time.
So there may be no need to update until VT5000 (aka: the Opal solution).
Joe Maulucci >>> Accadia Electronic Arts
Flying a A4000/040 34RAM!
Any mention of what Enhancements Lightwave 3.5 will have that'll make the
Lightrave owners Care that it doesn't work with it???
Peter (The Great Sidekick),
This was a joke, like the rest of the thread. Most of it was just
collected rumors.
The only real thing I heard from NewTek was that there will be an
update disk (for T4000/3.0) sent out to registered users, and it will
contain the missing effects from System 2.0. You should see it
before the end of the year. (I was told something is being worked
out for the missing 1.0 effects.) I do not know what else will be on
the update.
Sorry, no real info on any type of LightWave upgrade —
BTW — who's on first ;-).
ahhhhh, Thanx for the info. BTW "I" won't be seeing the disk till my
Friend gets it and I get a chance to play with his toaster again. I
am Toasterless
I don't have any official information from NewTek about the next
version of LightWave, but last time I talked to Steve Worley he said
that they're working on support for exteranl textures. (read Essence)
He also mentioned that the idea of including Essence 1 & 2 with the
next upgrade was being considered. No telling what NewTek would be
charging for that upgrade though. I'd like to stress that this is
all an un-official rumor untill proven otherwise. ( hear about all
sorts of interesting rumors when I phone to pester him about the
release date of Forge. (Is it ready, is it ready, is it going to be
ready soon????? How soon???) :^)
What is FORGE???? Is Steve Worley the one writing it or Newtek???
Thanx for the info Jeff.
AMEN! to that Mike….
Hilary.
IS the fictional mousepad the Toaster Start-up frame, or the NewTek Logo?
I have seen a 4000 mouse pad at my dealers shop. It IS the 4000 logo. He has
had one for months, so I wonder when the rest of us will see ours.
-Mike
I dunno about the mousepad, but our station ordered the "double up"
upgrade on August 31, got caught in the maelstrom of last minute
orders, and still haven't seen either hardware or software. Is
NewTek growing the chips by hand, or what?
Hilary,
Funny thing, I was thinking about this yesterday. I haven't got my
mousepad either. Not that I need one – I have 4 or 5 laying around that I
never use.
I'd gladly trade in my mousepad for some new and improved documentation.
Rick – on Autopilot from Vancouver
I should have added "Where's the INDEX"…. The so called Manual – at
least the one NewTek sent to me – has no Index.
It was while hunting among the pages that I came across the little
note from NewTek saying that if I was good – and sent in the Reg.
card I would get this dinky Mousepad.
Wonder if the characters at NewTek ever read the stuff in this Forum,
or are thet too busy counting their incomer – and chasing Kiki around
the compound! All the best, Hilary.
Hey, I want my mouse pad toooo! I go through a lot of mouse pads. No,
not that I wear them out, they get chopped up every time I use the
meat chopper. One of these days I will get that mouse. george
Speaking of Indexes how about one table of contents not 5 or 6.
Hey I will raise you 3 mouse pads for one Kiki being chased
around :=)
Shawn
I don't think Kiki will be chased by anyone who she does not want to
be chased by! She is definitely NOT one of those feminist victim
types – more like a Camille Paglia.
Uhm, I'd call Camille a feminist, too…
I'd go with post-feminist!
I don't think you've been singled out…..
A lot of us are waiting for our mousepads. :^(
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
About two weeks ago, I got a call from Newtek. They said they could
not read my serial number on my registration card and needed me to
give it to them over the phone. I asked when the Mousepad would be
shipped and was told it was going out in a couple of weeks.
Well, here it is two weeks later and still no pad. But, at least they
are aware of it.
Oh well, maybe the mousepad is 'in the mail'. :^)
It'd be nice, but I'm not holding my breath (at least they didn't have a
promised ship date to miss, like previous software revisions….8^)
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Have you heard anything about an upgrade to the latest version. At the
Lee Stranahan seminar, Lee said that Newtek was working on one to
correct many of the "bugs". Someone else told me that an upgrade is
suppose to be sent to current owners.
I've only heard speculation, nothing I would even consider concrete.
I'm not sure what 'bugs' they're referring to? I haven't run across
too many – the most annoying being the artifacting that now occurs
when you render in MedRes Anti-aliased as opposed to the old HiRes.
Then of course there's the LightRave 'bug'……:^)
At the Lightwave Seminar in Cincinnati Friday Nov 3rd, Lee also
mentioned that an upgrade would be coming soon for 3.0.
One known bug in the Surfaces Menu, the Refractive Index, doesn't
work properly. (If I remember correctly, Lee was toastin' on
LightWave!) BTW, IMHO Lee's Seminars are excellent. Would be nice to
be able to purchase a copy of some of his seminars.
"as Lee S says, 'you know you've got too much RAM when your kids start
to look thin."
I've heard very good things about Lee's seminars – I just don't have the
cash to spare to go see him right now.
I did check out two of his tutorial tapes about the 2.0 modeler and
surfaces. He was very thorough, and it would probably be great for
beginners. I'm sure he has some cool shortcuts, but I couldn't sit through
all the remedial stuff. Maybe when he comes out with his 3.0 tapes….
I have noticed some weirdness to the refractive index, but I eventually
got it to look right – even if the value was way off. (Now I'm going to
have to go back and fix them when the new version comes out?!?)
'got too much RAM' ?!? Never! :^)
Erik,
Last week I received two of Lee's 3.0 tapes, Toaster Essentials and
Lightwave Essentials. Both are quite helpful for a novice who keeps
burning the toast. Practice makes perfect.
BTW, have you seen the latest from VTU, Lightwave Pro Newsletter. A week
or two ago I received a complimentary copy and decided to subscribe. Some
interesting tutorials on Bones, Bit Mapping, etc. If you're a VTU
subscriber, it only costs an additional $48.
Is there a simple way to convert a brush from PAINT to an object? And
what is the easiest way to load a framestore into CG?
I'd like to see a book on just Lee's shortcuts and Do's and Don'ts.
Also, BTW, a rumor has it that the manual for the 4000 is being rewritten.
Or am I just wishing????
Burning the Midnight Toast
Patrick White
I'll be looking for his 3.0 tapes. I'm sure there's some shortcuts I've
missed up til now. A book of just tips alone would be invaluable.
I also got a copy of the Lightwave Pro newsletter. I thought it was very
cool – esp the articles on displacement mapping. (I still haven't gotten
anything that looks as good as Superman's cape from the Lois & Clark TV
show, though. :^)
The simplest way to convert something from paint to an object is to use
something like Pixeld 3D Pro. If you're talking B/W art, this is best. For
complex images, just map the brush onto a polygon.
I haven't heard anything about a enw manual from NewTek. (Alas, I'm not
one of the cogniscenti, and thus, like you, only find out about these
things when they happen.)
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Ahhhh So I'm not crazy after all. Index of refraction IS WAAAYYYY off!
wmc – via Autopilot!
Patrick,
I attended Lee's seminar and was allowed to tape it. It is not a professional
tape by any means. Just set up a camcord in the back of the room and aimed it
at the screen. But it is watchable and learnable.
I just don't know if I would be violating any laws if I sold a copy of the
tape.
Fred
In what city did you attend Lee's seminar? Just attended the one in KC, MO.
It was alot like the tapes, but it was nice to be able to ask questions. I
would recomend the seminar to almost anyone interested.
-Mike 8-{D}
Mike,
On recomending the seminars, I agree completly with you.
I attend his seminar in Rockville, Maryland. It was back in September.
I just got his complete set of video for the 4000. Started watching Lightwave
Essentials this afternoon. I think the biggest advantage to the tapes is that
he must be able to cover more material. Each tape is about two hours long, so
that's a total of 12 hours.
His seminar was two days with about six hours per day, but that included a lot
of questions and his jokes. I wish that his seminars were longer, but I am
hoping that the tapes will give me that extra information.
Fred
Patrick,
Lee's seminars may not be for sale, but he has an excellent set of training
tapes. I ordered the complete set and just got mine. I've only had a chance to
play one of them, but they are excellent.
He sells the entire set of six tapes for about $260. They are well worth the
price.
Fred
Erik,
I spoke with a representative from Newtek earlier this week. He asked me not to
give out too much information, but I was told that the mousepads will be
shipped shortly.
Fred
Fred,
Regarding the topic of "Where's the mousepad" I'd like to relate my
experiences with NewTek. I purchased the double Upgrade in July when
the Toaster 4000 card and 3.0 software were first made available by
NewTek. I kept my older Toaster card in my Amiga 2000, installed the
3.0 software on it, and purchaed an Amiga 4000, installed the Toaster
4000 card in it and the Toaster 4000 software. Everything was
purchased and installed by a local Amiga dealer who filled out the
installation certificate and returned it to NewTek. I immediately
filled out the registration card included with my Toaster 4000 and
mailed it to NewTek. About six weeks ago I, too, realized I had
never received the promised free mouse mad and called NewTek. I
spoke to someone in Registration at NewTek who told me that she could
only find a registration for my old Toaster card. She said she would
look further and call me back. A week passed and I was never called
back. I called NewTek registration again and went through the
explanations again. I was again told someone would call me back.
Another week went by and no call back from NewTek. I called NewTek
again and the whole scenario was repeated again. Finally, I made
photocopies of my dealers installation certificate for the Toaster
4000 which listed the serial numer of my Toaster 4000 card and a
photocopy of the registration card stub which I had initially sent to
NewTek and sent both of these items along with an explanation that it
was important to me that my Toaster 4000 card be registered with
NewTek and requested verification by mail or phone that this had been
done. That was a month ago and I have never heard from NewTek. Thus
after considerable effort on my part I cannot get verification that
my Toaster 4000 has ever been registered with NewTek — not to
mention I have never received the promised Mouse Pad. Believe me,
one thing NewTek isn't guilty of is giving out too much
information!!!
Tom
I got a call about two weeks ago from Newtek, saying that they could
not read the serial number off of my registration card, because
someone spilled some liquid on it and it smeared.
I bought my 4000 on August 27th.
James Hebert is the person who I spoke to about the mouse pad. He
asked me not to reviel our entire conversation, but told me that I
could say a package was on the way from Newtek and they wanted to do
everything in one shipment.
He did say that there were no plans for new documentation. So, I guess
we are stuck with the current manual.
Let's see what the mail brings within the next month and how truthful
Newtek's information is.
If it comes true, that's good news. I can only hope that my Toaster
4000 is actually registered with NewTek. I have made five phone
calls and sent a letter trying to make certain that it is registered
with no response from NewTek. I might also add that although I
returned my rebate coupon to Commodore in early August, I have never
received the $100 rebate from Commodore that we were supposed to
receive as part of the NewTek-Commodore power-up program for those
simultaneously purchasing an Amiga 4000 and the Toaster 4000. Right
now, I am having less than fond thoughts about Commodore and NewTek
and carefully watching video developments on other platforms. The
only thing keeping me on the Amiga is that I love the operating
system, the multi-tasking capability, and still feel it is the best
platform for video. However, customer service from Comoodore is
totally absent, and NewTek seems to be moving in the same direction.
I am also waiting for my $100 rebate. I though I was the only one who
got the coupon with my system. You are the first person who told me
he also had such a coupon. Maybe it will all come as a holiday gift.
Mousepad, rebate, and upgrade.
It's been awhile since you posted this (out of town for Turkey Day, ya
know), but you might be interested to know:
I was waiting for my $100 rebate from C=. I bought my C= 4000/040 from
TENEX, and did the double upgrade direct through NewTek.
Just the other day, I got a letter from C= saying that the $100 had been
credited to my 'dealer' – TENEX!
Looks like I'll be talkin' to TENEX come this Monday!
Hope you have better luck…..
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Oooooh, I _impatiently_ await my mousepad.<G> :^) (Actually, now that
I've got 2 systems, a second pad would be nice…) Any mention of a
manual update to go along with it? :^)
Erik,
That was the first question I asked, and I was told that there are no plans to
redo the manual.
Fred
Fred,
Ah the Oath of Non-Disclosure — Did you explain that the info would
be passed on their *own* forum <lol>?
Joe,
I asked if anyone monitors this forum. I was told they just don't have enough
people to log on.
I was really amazed when I asked the question last week on this forum as to who
is the SYSOP. I thought all Compuserve Forums had to have a SYSOP. Who checks
to see if a message is about to scroll and forwards it to the person via
E-mail?
What's <lol>? I thought I had all of the acronyms figured out.
Then again, you wonder when someone tells you something that is suppose to be
kept a secret, why he would tell it to you in the first place. Maybe I was
suppose to disclose everything I heard, but I did promise not to so, I will
honor my promise.
Is this what espionage is all about?
Fred
Each vendor is acts as the sysop of their own section.
-sja
Me too,
No pad for do Mieces or is that Mouses?
Shawn
The Paw
Silent Paw Productions
Hilary,
After reading your message, I called NewTek and asked where the heck my mouse
pad was. They indicated that they were storing up all the cards so they could
send them out at the….ha ha……same……ha ha ha…….time! HHHHHAAAAAAA
HAAAAAHAAAA
=8)
Sorry, I couldn't resist. But I really did call and that really was the over
all response that I got.
You have done a mighty and profound service in the cause of "Pads for
Mice to Move on" – Mathew. You now deserve at least TWO Mousepads in
recognition of your bravery in talking to NewTek. A faint rumor came
to me of late. Kiki has a group of young ladies who are armed with a
"MousePad Cutter" (Somewhat like a cookie cutter). They have a
gigantic roll of undercarpet type foam rubber, and are busily trying
to stamp them out. A hitch occured after 100,002 had been cut out. It
was discovered that due to the DNA of Amiga mice, they would not
conform to the surface. So….. I suppose it is back to the drawinmg
board for NewTek. Keep the pressure on…. we will prevail!
Hilary.