#R4 Fst Prevu
17 messages in this thread
David
I'm not animator productive as yet but heading that way very rapidly! I
doing very well in the editor
and feel that I have made good progress there.
The Perspective Match/ Camera Control in the editor has me baffled. I
cannot control ANY
perspective w/ this thing! It seems too unwieldy; kind of like Threading a
needle while wearing a pair of boxing gloves! Is it me or is it IT!
As for the Fst Prevue in the Keyframer: gripes I've read talk about the
shotcomings like not seeing morphs and other things! What interests me now is
the aspect of this that you brought up to Yost Group about "realtime", openGL,
New cards, SGI…..Waiting to buy your pentium till cards come out…….!
Could you give me some explanation of what you'e talking about so I can pay
close attention in up comming issues of Graphics mags? Maybe you could direct
my reading a little.
This combo of hardware/software is something I obviously cannot overlook!
Thanks, Gary
Rule #1 – Forget the mouse!
You can activate _every_ function within CameraControl without the mouse- all
arrow key and keyboard driven. Much more control, and makes aligning views
fairly easy.
– Phil
Gary:
/__________From your message___________\\
The Perspective Match/ Camera Control in the editor has me baffled. I cannot
control ANY perspective w/ this thing! It seems too unwieldy; kind of like
Threading a needle while wearing a pair of boxing gloves! Is it me or is it
IT! __________________________________________
I spent several hours with this tool as I figured it was the only one in R4
that I could easily put to use in architecture. You are not alone in your
disdain for this new feature. Stupid me, when the feature was announced I
thought that there was to be something automatic about its operation, dah. I
thought I'd draw a couple of lines over a bitmap to represent converging lines
at some vanishing point, maybe add a horizon line and the match would be done
automatically or at least get me close. No way G.A. The best luck I had was
with a wireline model of some of the photographed geometry. I created a simple
model of a room which I had photographed and scanned. Aligning the floor/wall
intersection of the wireframe with the photograph was no easy task and I even
knew the focal length of the lens and where in the room the photo was taken!
Eventually I got something acceptable but there was some obvious misalignment.
So, it is not just you, thought you'd appreciate commiseration. Hopefully,
someone will mercifully offer the secret of Perspective Match's operation.
Bob
Bob
I guess I know how they felt at the county fair! I chased that greased pig
all over the screen!!
I hope what phillip says about keyboard driven will work for me because I
could even use even a crude tool for some of what I need!
Thanks for that, Gary
Bob,
I've found the "perspective matcher" very useful, but only when I started using
the arrow keys and mostly in wireframe mode. It is also pretty useful for
examining smooth shaded objects from all different angles, but you really need
to hide everything that you don't need to examine to optimize the speed of the
viewer. With theses caveats, I think it's very useful for me.
Speed-wise, I think it compares favourably with the Softimage "software"
shading on an Indy (r4400/100mhz/1mb cache). In fact, I'd say it leaves their
software shading in the dust. I'd guess this type of shading is not going to
improve much without hardware-assistance.
I'm using the keyframe previewer quite a bit now, but my biggest beef is that
it doesn't show morphing. I'm not sure how they could leave morphing out, this
is a pretty fundamental part of 3d animation. Bizarre!
>> but you really need to hide everything that you don't need to examine to
optimize the speed of the viewer.
Just a small tip – Select critical objects before entering Camera
Control and use the Selected mode. This allows you to position the
key components of the model quickly and then toggle Selected off to
see the result while still within the module. (I've been using this
techniwu with Chevy and an F16 for months <g>).
Phil,
>> Select critical objects before entering Camera Control and use the Selected
mode. <<
good point. I haven't used selected yet.
The fast preview is fairly useful, I didn't mention any problem with
it. I still think the perspective match aspects leave me wanting for
more. Perhaps I should formulate my desires as a wish list item for
Jonas. I would like to be able to draw a select few lines over a
bitmap background. These lines would be used to correspond to edges
of objects in the bitmap which converge at a theoretical vanishing
point(s). A line would also be needed for the horizon and
mathematically I believe a calculated camera position, FOW, and
target could be derived. Manual fine tuning is already part of the
feature (its the only way it works actually) and could be used to
make minor adjustments. Precision is absolutely required for the
architectural stuff I do. Screw up the proper relationship of a new
building in an existing site and you could get a thumbs down from the
board.
Bob
Bob,
you made some good points. You should formally submit them to the wishlist
section.
I haven't needed that kind of accuracy personally, but I can see architects
wanting it.
<<Speed-wise, I think it compares favourably with the Softimage
"software" shading on an Indy (r4400/100mhz/1mb cache). In fact, I'd
say it leaves their software shading in the dust. I'd guess this
<<type of shading is not going to improve much without
hardware-assistance.
Softimage must be hurting.. I know wavefronts/Explorer preview is
much faster. how much ram do you have? as I am lucky to get 2 FPS
with fast-preview.
Brandon,
>> how much ram do you have? as I am lucky to get 2 FPS with fast-preview. <<
32mb on a Pentium 90. You need to hide stuff or use the selected
feature to optimize the speed of the preview to make it useful.
It sounds like it takes something more than RAM to get anything at
all out of (sic) FAST PREVIEW. It must have been written for a
specific (or group of specific ) type of VGA.
I'm running a 486 DX2 @ 66mhz with 32meg of RAM and a Diamond
SpeedStar 24x with 1 meg. of DRAM. I managed to squeeze 17 fps out
of a simple cube doing a bounce across thirty frames. This cube was
self-illuminated to eliminate any lights, thus as simple a scene as
could be devised. I'm starting to think about that emperor and his
none clothes.
>> The Perspective Match/ Camera Control…
I haven't played much with the 3d editor side of the previewer, as I
have not had the need for that yet, it is the animation previewer I'd love to
see a little more usable.
>> "realtime", openGL, New cards, SGI…..Waiting to buy your pentium till
cards come out…….! Could you give me some explanation of what you'e
talking about…
The only thing I mentioned here (I already got my Pentium :-)…) was a
wish for direct support of the new Glint type chips for 3ds. These are
dedicated 3d rendering coprocessors that are soon to be included in some new
graphics boards by several companies. They will allow you to render previews
and the like in near realtime, with texture mapping, anti-aliasing, etc. But
these cards will only be useful if the software you use directly supports it
(or if the hardware directly supports the software). As for reading, try
computer graphics world, computer pictures, computer artist, 3d artist, etc,
all available at larger newsstands and bookstores.
David
I'm just starting to hear about these "Glint" chips… what's the scoop? Who
developed them? Is 3DS going to support them? What packages will? Where can I
find out more about them?
Thanks,
Michele
>> …hear about these "Glint" chips… what's the
>> scoop? Who developed them? Is 3DS going to support them?
About 3DS support, I would have no clue.
About info on Glint, a Osman Kent [100013,536] stopped here a while
back (don't know if he will read this). But there were several
messages about Glint and he left the contact info below. In general,
Glint is a type of graphics coprocessor chip that could be part of a
graphic board. Osman said, I believe, that it would be shown at
Comdex which is now over, I think, but you can make contact if you
want to.
—————————————————————
Osman Kent wrote:
If you would like to receive information on GLINT and on our ISV
program please call us at
3Dlabs Inc.
408-436 3455 [ask for Neil Trevett]
Thanks for the info on Glint.
Michele
I swear I don't know much at all about these chips, really… I
swear…
All I know is that the Glint is a 3d graphics processor chip
that will be integrated into several reasonably priced (I assume)
graphics cards by various vendors. The chip itself is made by 3D
Labs. A flier I've got from them says if anyone needs info, to call
(408) 436-3455 or fax (408) 436-3458. I'm sure they would be happy to
send info out to anyone interested. PS. I believe these cards are
still 6 months or so away.