Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucsd!nosc!crash!hrlaser From: hrlaser@crash.cts.com (Harv Laser) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Imagine raves (long) Message-ID: <6656@crash.cts.com> Date: 1 Jan 91 23:09:50 GMT References: <6653@crash.cts.com> Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA Lines: 81 In article <6653@crash.cts.com> bobl@pro-graphics.cts.com (Bob Lindabury, SysAdmin) writes: >In-Reply-To: message from spworley@athena.mit.edu > > >That kind of tutorial we don't need. We need to know the conventions behind >what we are doing. How to do it and what the requirements are would be alot >more helpful. Hopefully Victor Osaka will do his own "Beginner's Journey in Imagine" book as he did with Turbo Silver last year. Victor has what it takes to gently guide one thru the intracacies of these complicated programs. I'll ask him what his plans are w.r.t. another book and anyone wanting to know more about Victor's "Turbo SIG" just as to grab a copy of .info magazine #36 soon as it hits the stands. > >As for the auto-trace and slice...forget it. I've tried it several times with >a very complex object (the continents of the world) and Imagine will just not >slice them. I finally got enough ram to do the operation (7 megs) but now I >keep getting the frustrating "an edge is too close to an edge or a face is too >close to a face" message. Yeah, great. After about 35 of those messages I >gave up. This is after about 10 minutes of processing on a 68030/88882 >machine! It give you no indication of where this edge might be or how far >into this "slice" you are so you have absolutely no idea where this error may >be coming from. I've been successful with slicing on a few occasions and unsuccessful on many others. Don't try to slice two complex objects together. With 9 Meg of RAM (well.. about 8 Meg free) I tried slicing an extruded corporate logo into a relatively simple "apple" object and watched screenx's RAM meter go down...down...down... waiting for the impending crash'n'burn as Itotally ran out of memory.. when I got down to 0K CHIP and 14K FAST Imagine threw up a "not enough RAM" message and gave up on the slice operation and gave me all my memory back. Scary. The problem with a routine like this, as explained to me by Mr. Mike @ Impulse is that there's no way to know how much memory a slice is going to require till the software starts doing it. I dunno if I just needed a few more K to accomplish the slice I was trying to do, or a few more MEG. There's no way to tell. So start with real simple slicing stuff till you get some kind of feel for how much ram it takes and run something like screenx or other tiny menu bar memory meter, pull imagine's screen down a squinch, and watch how much RAM the slicing prodecure takes as it progresses. > >I've decided to purchase Pixel 3D to do my auto-tracing and facing but now I >can't seem to find anyone who has this package in stock or is even able to get >it in stock. An excellent piece of software. (I reviewed it for AmigaWorld a couple issues back). Hunt around for it.. it's out there. Make sure you get nothing older than version 1.1 of Pixel 3D. This is, in my opinion, the best 2D IFF > 3D Object auto-tracing software for the Amiga that's out there so far. w. > >As for the comparison of Imagine and Lightwave, I will have to say that the >Lightwave interface makes most of what you are talking about very simple. The >Interface on Lightwave is far and away much better than the Imagine interface >as far as ease of use. It's also MUCH MUCH better for scene design. You can >move the camera around in real time and see the camera's view in the >perspective window in real time! That is the way to place a camera! > I gotta admit that from what I've seen of LightWave, Allen did one helluva job on the interface and I echo your sentiments and wish I could get LightWave as a free-standing renderer without the $1600 "dongle" :-) >I would like to be part of the Imagine mailing list when it does become >organized. I will be more than happy to share my experiences with the program >as well as my objects with others. Count me in! Join Victor Osaka's "Turbo SIG" if you haven't yet, Bob. Even if you can't make the West LA monthly meetings, the newsletter alone is worth the dues. Harv Laser {anywhere}!crash!hrlaser "Park and lock it. Not responsible." People/Link: CBM*HARV