Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!celia!neil From: neil@celia.UUCP (Neil Richmond) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.graphics Subject: Re: Imagine Message-ID: <965@celia.UUCP> Date: 27 Mar 91 23:02:29 GMT References: <91076.234200ACPS1072@Ryerson.CA> Reply-To: celia!neil@usc.edu (Neil Richmond) Organization: Rhythm & Hues, Inc., Hollywood Lines: 27 I had a demonstration of Imagine yesterday. It was, I confess, the first time I saw it. There were some nice things, but it could use a lot more. One thing, is that I was wrong about the motion descriptor. You draw a path and Imagine takes the number of frames you give and fits it to the path. No keyframes! No splines! Big disappointment! But it is a useful way of planning a path of action, just limited. They should implement some spline functions. The object editor is VERY NICE. It shows the most work of the two modules. One nice thing is the abilitity to use magnets to model. Its too bad that they don't allow you to use the magnets in the animation module. It would make it much more powerful. I think it is short sighted to depend on morphing to do all your character animation, like facial expressions. It means you have to make targets for each expression. Take a word like h-e-l-l-o. There are at least 3 or 4 targets there. Now take a sentence and figure out how many targets there. Add sentences together to make a dialogue and you have a lot of targets that you have to make and store. Now if they used multi-level interpolation, you could get away with less targets, but you will still have to make quite a few for a story with dialogue. I have got to go. But I was impressed with a number of the features. neil -- Only 3202 shopping days left till the next millenium! Neil F. Richmond INTERNET: celia!neil@usc.edu Rhythm & Hues Inc. UUCP: ...{ames,hplabs}!lll-tis!celia!neil)