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This is the transcript of the AmigaZone's Wednesday night Graphics &
Video conference, held 18 November 1987, with special guests
Eric Graham, and Ken Offer.
The first portion of this transcript is the opening remarks and
moderated question & answer portion. Eric Graham is using the handle
(*ERICG) and Ken Offer is (*KEN).
(Please note that both Eric and Ken were using terminal software that
forced them to lines less than 80 characters)
========================================================================
(CBM*HARV) WELCOME TO OUR WEDNESDAY NIGHT GRAPHICS/VIDEO CONFERENCE....
TONITE WE HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR YOU...
OUR SPECIAL GUESTS TONITE ARE...:
ERIC GRAHAM, AUTHOR OF SCUPT 3D
CREATOR OF "THE JUGGLER"
AND KEN OFFER, CREATOR OF "KAHNANKAS" AND
OTHER INCREDIBLE ANIMATIONS
ERIC, LET'S START OUT WITH YOU.
HOW YOU CAME TO THE AMIGA, GENERAL BACKGROUND, ETC..
(*ERICG) ok ...
I wrote a ray tracing program in 1966 ...
but there was no good computer ...
to run it on. The only machine ...
<the biggest in Europe> ...
took many hours to make an image ...
and I had to print it out on ...
a teletype. 80 by 66 pixels! ...
I got the Amiga a year ago ...
It wsa the first machine ...
with good enough graphics to ...
do justice to ray tracing...
The Juggler was produced in about a month ...
and on December 26th ...
I started writing Sculpt 3D ...
The difficult part was the interactive interface ...
It was finished in August, and because ...
I immediately started on Animate 3D ...
I haven't even had enough time ...
to play with Sculpt. Ken has had all the fun! GA
(CBM*HARV) THANKS ERIC.....
(*KEN) Sure! And I lov every minute of it!
(CBM*HARV) KEN OFFER? CARE TO TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF
AND YOUR AMIGA WORK?
(*KEN) Well, I am also one of your first Amiga owners, crazy about
this machine from the start. My main interest in computer
(*KEN) my first love is art.
(CBM*HARV) KEN CAN YOU NAME YOUR AMIGA ANIMATIONS FOR FOLKS HERE WHO....
MIGHT NOT KNOW WHICH TITLES YOU CREATED? GA.
(*KEN) I work for Byte-by-Byte, so my opinions are totally my own
My animations are the "Kahnankas", the "RotAmiga"
the "BoingMachine". I have done the sound
upgrade for Movie, and new versions of all the animations
currently exist.
(CBM*HARV) [we'll be uploading BoingMachine into the Club library tonite]
(CBM*HARV) THANKS, KEN
(*KEN) Great.
(CBM*HARV) OKAY FOLKS, QUESTIONS FOR OUR GUESTS?
LET'S TAKE 'EM ONE AT A TIME PLEASE
OH YES...
ERIC AND KEN ARE BOTH...
LIMITED TO 80 CHARS PER LINE...
DUE TO THE TERMINAL PROGRAMS EACH IS USING...
PLEASE DON'T WRAP LONG LINES TO THEM... THANKS.
(CBM*STEVE) Eric....have you considered adding texture mapping for surfaces in...
Sculpt-3d? As in, having an IFF picture defined and telling which object...
object you'd like it mapped to?
(*ERICG) ok ...
Yes, we should have texture mapping ...
available soon, ...
the principal difficulty is ...
the user interface ...
How do you wrap King Tut ...
around an elephant ...
and know what to expect ...
We'll have a good interfacre soon. GA
(CBM*HARV) JRH YOU'RE NEXT
(CBM*STEVE) hehe...understood! Thanks!
(JRH) Eric - Are you using the ANIM standard or adding to the standard
for Animate 3D?
(*ERICG) ok ...
Yes, we use the ANIM 'standard' ...
but have our own op-code, ...
it will be made public as soon ...
as it is frozen. GA
(CBM*HARV) GSARFF, YOU'RE UP. THEN ROGERB, THEN SWALLOW.
(GSARFF) I was just wondering about the movie utility...
why does the disk stay spinning and the light on?
when the animatiornm is running?
(*ERICG) ok ..
It seems to be a bug in the Manx ...
overlay system. It doesn't do it ...
on a hard disk. ...
I will try to find a work around for it . GA
(CBM*HARV) THANKS ERIC.....ROGER B YOU'RE UP
(ROGER*B) Mr Graham, will Sculpt 3D and
Animate 3D support the MC68020 and 68881?
(*ERICG) ok ...
Yes and no ...
The standard ...
version of SCULPT uses the FFP functions ...
for speed, but we have a special version ...
that uses the 020 and ...
881, and it is FAST. ...
There will also be a version for Animate. GA
(CBM*HARV) SWALLOW, YOU'RE UP, THEN CJCARTER, THEN DJJAMES.
(SWALLOW) Could you list some specifications on Animate 3..
...as compared to Silver and the current version of Movie.
(*ERICG) ok ...
Animate is fully interactive ...
You use the mouse to design motion paths ...
which can be hiearchical ...
<wheels within wheels> ...
Also you can perform key frame animation...
Unlike movie, the whole process of ...
generating an animation ...
is done with one mouse click ...
no script files needed! ...
It also has all the features of SCULPT 3D ...
so you can design really complicated ...
objects, not just spheres and ...
other simple shapes. GA
(CBM*HARV) CJCARTER? YOUR TURN
(CJCARTER) Is there any plans to make an anim player that will alow userinput
(*ERICG) ok ...
Not at this time, we seem to fill all ...
available
so there isn't enough to allow the possibility ...
of much useful interation ...
with a movie. GA
(CBM*HARV) THANK YOU ERIC. DJJAMES? FIRE WHEN READY.
(DJJAMES) KEN: where did you come up with the name KAHNANKAS ...
I have a hard time spelling it...
(*KEN) Well, I really did not know what those...
things were called. I use to have a set as a kid...
So. I came up with a name that sounded like what they sound
like. BTW, we have a new sound version of it that "klicks". ga.
(CBM*HARV) CBM*STEVE? THEN ROGER, THEN SWALLOW. GA
(CBM*STEVE) KEN: Were those animations designed using Sculpt-3d and Movie...
or did you use a "preview" version of Animate-3d? ga
(*KEN) Yes, totally through Sculpt and animated through the script command system. ga.
(CBM*HARV) ROGER? THEN SWALLOW, THEN WALRUS
(ROGER*B) Eric,is the blitter utilzed much and how much memory is required
(*ERICG) ok ...
The blitter is used mostly for fast update ...
of the Tri-View...
Both SCULPT and Animate will use all you ...
hae. SCULPT will work on 512K, but really needs ...
1 meg. Animate NEEDS 1 meg. GA
(CBM*HARV) SWALLOW YOUR TURN..THEN WALRUS. GA.
(SWALLOW) Ken--What is the "Sound" upgrade for Movie....
and has it been made available yet? ga
(*KEN) The addition of sound is done in a similar manner...
to the pilbm command file. An additional parameter is given to
movie to specify this file. The file contains a list of
IFF sounds, and a description of how to play those sounds. Foreground and
background sounds are defineable.
The new version of Movie is called "NewMovie"
and is available on the "Sculpt_Anim1_w-sound" and
"Sculpt_Anim3_w-sound" disks, just released into the public domain. ga
(CBM*HARV) WALRUS? YOU'RE UP. THEN STEVE, DJ, OJ.
(WALRUS) Where can I get a copy of Kahnankas that "klicks"? That's the only...
thing that I thought was missing from a fantastic demo. ga
(*KEN) We are sending the disk to Harv. Also I will be passing it
out to members of our local user group and
probably uploading it to the nets, along with
documentation. ga.
(CBM*HARV) STEVE? YOU'RE ON THE AIR.
(AMICUS) <I have it, so I can upload it...>
[*and so he did, it's now in the AmigaZone library]
(CBM*STEVE) First, thanks to both of you for being here!
I love Sculpt-3d!...here's
the question...
Eric: How do Sculpt-3d and Animate-3d interact? or do they? Is
ANimate-3d a "stand alone" package? ga
(*ERICG) ok ...
Animate 3D requires SCULPT 3-D ...
The first thing that you do is merge them together ...
Then you have one <big> ...
program that combines all of SCULPT features ...
with the ability to interactively ...
design animations GA
(CBM*HARV) ERIC - CAN YOU EXPLAIN "MERGE THEM TOGETHER" PLEASE/
(DJJAMES) Merge them together..what a great idea
(CBM*HARV) GA
(*ERICG) ojk...
Both programs ...
consist of lots of cooperating modules ...
so the merge is easy . GA
(CBM*HARV) THANKS. DJ...THEN OJ...THEN ROGER...
(DJJAMES) Eric: I'm not familiar with J compression.
Can you explain it briefly?...
if not...just say so
(*ERICG) ok ...
It is an ...
adaptive system that looks at the ...
images and chooses compression schemes ...
that suit the data. That way ...
you can squeeze a bit more compresiion ...
and a bit more speed on playback. GA
(CBM*HARV) OJSANDS... THEN ROGER IS THE LAST QUESTION IN THE QUEUE.
(OJSANDS) Eric, are there constraints on the length
of an anim? How long is possible?
(*ERICG) ok ...
Only limited by the amount of RAM ...
Currently, if you use floppy disks, that limits ...
(ROGER*B) Mr Graham, how many bitplanes are possible,
and what is next after Animate3
(*ERICG) you to 880K,
We must make it possible to do multi-floppy ANIMs. GA
HAM uses 6 bit plsanes, that is all AMI can handle. GA
(*ERICG) More bells and whistles? What do you want? GA
(CBM*HARV) [WALRUS WILL BE THE LAST QUESTION..THEN WE'LL GO TO OPEN CONVERSATION]
(WALRUS) Will multi-floppy ANIMs be implemented any time soon? ga
(*KEN) We can do 24 bit planes, BTW...
(*ERICG) Let me know if you are ready for them!
Not difficult, just give me a day of free time GA
(CBM*HARV) OKAY THANKS FOR THE EXCELLENT QUESTIONS FOLKS...
THE FLOOR IS OPEN AND OUR GUESTS WILL STAY TILL THEY HAVE TO LEAVE.
-----------------------[end of semi-quasi-formal portion]----------------
THE REMAINDER OF THIS TEXT IS WHAT FOLLOWED THE MODERATED PORTION OF
THE CONFERENCE - I'VE EDITED OUT QUITE A BIT TO MAKE IT A LITTLE MORE
COMPACT.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*KEN) Marcus, a co-worker of mine, and I are thinking
(*ERICG) My 8 day weeks don't have Sundays GA
(*KEN) abouthow to link animations... ga
(CBM*STEVE) Marcus Brooks! What a guy!
(DJJAMES) KEN..something off screen is reflected in the first K....S ball.
(ROGER*B) ERIC what is next after Animate 3D any hints?
(DJJAMES) what is it?
(AMIGA*GREG) How long did t take to generates Kanahakas < on a 68020>??
(AMICUS) I think the splitting of animation files is an important problem that Aegis hasn't really addressed.
(*KEN) About "Kahnankas": 6hrs per frame, and a total of 16 frames...
(*ERICG) Roger, Texture mapping is on the top of the list GA
(DR*GLENN) whats boingmachine like??...do I really want to know?...the best always takes us by surprise
(CBM*HARV) ERIC - DO YOU HAVE A RELEASE DATE FOR ANIMATE 3D YET?
(*KEN) on a 68881/68020 without 32 bit memory. ga.
(MIKE G) is here.
(*ERICG) RSN!
(CBM*HARV) AND OR A PRICE?
(DJJAMES) ANyone know why SHOWANIM won't let you get off it's screen and why
(DJJAMES) it stops the sound
(CBM*STEVE) Ken...do you know if Marcus had a chance to take a closer look at the
(*ERICG) Animate will list at 149.95
(CBM*HARV) thanks
(CBM*STEVE) Ken...bathroom sink scene I sent him?
(CBM*HARV) bathroom sink!?
(DJJAMES) kitchen sink!
(CAD*MAN) ERIC: any plan to add "real
(DR*GLENN) djj..it leaves me wtih a hires type flicker
(CBM*STEVE) Hey, I was working on an animation....
(*KEN) Dont' know about that Steve. I'll ask...
(*KEN) him tommorrow. ga.
(CBM*STEVE) Thanks Ken!....take a look at it...I think you'll like it!
(CBM*HARV) Glenn - get "setlace" utility from library you can turn off interlace without rebooting
(CAD*MAN) dimensions to the user interface
(WALRUS) Dr. Glenn, you need "SetLace"
(DR*GLENN) okey doke
(*ERICG) CADMAN, good idea. I wanted to keep numbers ...
(DJJAMES) eric..do you do run length encoding?
Huffman? LZ? or what for compression?
(CBM*STEVE) I'll tell ya....Sculpt-3d is a blast...it's like having Deluxe Paint in 3d....
(CBM*STEVE) in 3d...
(*ERICG) out of things. The Ami is supposed to use a mouse GA
(CBM*STEVE) hehe
(CBM*HARV) QUESTION FOR THE CROWD - HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE OWN SCULPT 3D?
(CBM*STEVE) YO!
(*ERICG) Dan, Delta compression
(WALRUS) I do
(DJJAMES) I do
(*KEN) I do!
(CBM*HARV) <--me
(AMICUS) <me>
(CBM*HARV) anyone else!?
(WALRUS) everyone who's anyone does
(OJSANDS) borrowed
(MIKE G) should I?
(*KEN) Eric owns one!
(DR*GLENN) tempted...but no artistic ability
(CAD*MAN) I do
(CBM*HARV) HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE OWN VIDEOSCAPE 3D FROM AEGIS?
(CBM*STEVE) mike....you bet you should! It's a blast to play with!
(CAD*MAN) nope
(CBM*STEVE) <not I>
(CHIBOY) Hi, and I own it
(OJSANDS) i do
(CBM*HARV) <-me
(MIKE G) Got D-paint <like it too>
(*ERICG) No artistic skill neede. ...
(*MARK) Sorry, not I.
(WALRUS) yeah, VS too,but that's a hard program to use
(*KEN) I do, and rarely look at it.
(AMICUS) <i do>
(CBM*STEVE) hehe
(BANZI) Evening everyone!
(*ERICG) just like a camera, not a paint set.
(CBM*STEVE) i thought you might jf....hehe
(ROGER*B) New Teks were at out users group
meeting last night loved that toaster
(DJJAMES) sorry...my RETURN key stuck and Telenet blew me away
(ROGER*B) heheh
(CBM*HARV) hello banzi
(CAD*MAN) ERIC: If you add real dimension
<inchs, feet> you would have a great 3d ...
(CBM*STEVE) HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO RUN OUT AND GET ANIMATE WHEN IT COMES OUT?
(CBM*STEVE) OUT?
(CAD*MAN) cad program
(CBM*STEVE) <---- meeeee
(SWALLOW) back
(DJJAMES) 'll order by phone..thank you
(AMICUS) <me>
(*ERICG) OK, will do.
(DR*GLENN) ericg: what is the definition of "ray tracing"?
(CBM*HARV) <--yup
(WALRUS) Roger, describe Toaster if possible
(MIKE G) Steve what is the cost of Sculpt?
(AMIGA*GREG) Would like to see a 68020 board for a 2000 first ,then Anim 3D
(CBM*HARV) video toaster + jelly jet = breakfast
(BANZI) I still have to get Sculpt'!
(*ERICG) Basically, follow light rays ...
(*MARK) Just got here... Have we had any Ray Tracing vs Modeling wars yet?
(*ERICG) for each pixel to see how pright to
(CBM*STEVE) 99.95.....isn't that right?
(*ERICG) paint a pixel. GA
(*KEN) By sculpt, Banzi! You'll love it!
(CBM*HARV) WE HAVE A BUNCH OF GREAT SCULPT PIX IN THE SECTION 5 LIBRARY .
(ROGER*B) Toaster = Real time digitizer with mucho special effects!!!
(*KEN) That was an unbias opinion!
(CAD*MAN) Ray Tracing RULES !
(BANZI) I read a really good article on Ray Tracing recently in some Magazine...
(MIKE G) Guess I should go git it then
(CBM*HARV) AS WELL AS .SCENE FILES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD
(BANZI) Just can't remember which one!
(WALRUS) Rog, what kind of special effects?
(CBM*STEVE) <including a picture of a clock with a boing ball on top by me! hehe>
(DR*GLENN) gee banzi..thanks
(DJJAMES) I saw a MOD-COMP computer doing ray tracings in real time...nice!
(*ERICG) April AmigaWorld? Blush
(BANZI) Just a second Doc, I look for it!
(CBM*STEVE) <my new employer>
(WALRUS) Banzi, was it the Sep/Oct issue of "Computers In Science"?
(WALRUS) That was a good article
(DR*GLENN) thanks eric..I am just trying to figure out
what makes a ray trace so unique..
(BANZI) Walrus --- BINGO! I have it in my hand now...
(DR*GLENN) and so much better that the other animations
(DJJAMES) you mean so lifelike
(*KEN) "reality" = "Kahnankas".
(CBM*STEVE) People's jaws hit the floor when they see that stuff
(CBM*HARV) eye, light, objects, reflections, placement, sense of depth, etc.
(*ERICG) It is a photo rather than a cartoon.
(CBM*STEVE) I'm sure that Eric's work as sold more than a few
(CBM*STEVE) Amigas!
(CBM*HARV) Kahnankas knocks them out of their chairs at user group meetings
(CHIBOY) I saw juggler running on an ST
(JRH) Harv - Are you getting/do you have the "NewMovie" with sound?
(ROGER*B) ONLY AMIGA CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!
(MIKE G) If the stores in my area would show this stuff they'd sell more too!
(CBM*HARV) JRH - I don't have, Mr. Amicus prolly does.
(BANZI) Dr Glenn -- In case you missed it
'Computers in Science' Sept/Oct has an *excellent* article on Ray Tracing.
(OJSANDS) The local video users cant believe it was done on such a small pc
(CBM*STEVE) KEN......Are you working on any new Animations?
(*MARK) I've still to boot my copy of Kanahkas... Lazy me...
(DJJAMES) BANZI -- yes...I saw that
(AMIGA*GREG) How in the world was the banker lamp made in Kanakahs:how long?
(CBM*HARV) Mark! it's great.
(*KEN) Yes, I am... got some goodies in my head...
(CBM*HARV) the "boing machine" is great, you folks will love it
(CBM*STEVE) hehe...Any tips for us novice animators?
(*MARK) There's like 15 demos on 4 disks they sent me... No time!
(*KEN) The lamp was easy. A couple of...
(WALRUS) Mark, you won't believe it
(BANZI) CHIBOY -- What'd it look like?
(*KEN) mirror cylinders and a spin or two... ga/.
(DJJAMES) I gotta get going...have to find some teflon spray for my return key too!
(CBM*HARV) nite DJ
(OJSANDS) Bye Dj
(*MARK) Hi & bye Dan.
(JRH) Bye Dan.
(BANZI) bye DJ
(CHIBOY) From far away it looked really good <grin> but up close was a different story
(DJJAMES) good night Eric..Ken...all
(ROGER*B) BYE DJ
(CBM*STEVE) KEN....Any general tips on animation for us novice animators?
(*ERICG) Nite Dan
(AMICUS) Ken, I'd love to hear more about your techniques for scripting animations for Sculpt sometime... even if Animate is coming soon.
(AMICUS) <Harv, how would it be if I printed this in Amazing Computing?>
(*KEN) General tips.... Well, I can name quite a few...
(CBM*HARV) John - why that'd be real neighborly of ya!
(BANZI) Bye Mike
(*KEN) and maybe I should write an article on it. It is a big....
(MIKE G) bye all
(SWALLOW) Thanks Eric, Ken. 'Night all.
(*KEN) subject. A little long for this conference. ga.
(BANZI) bye Swallow
(AMICUS) Yes, perhaps you should...
(ROGER*B) Deluxe help for Sculpt and Animation
(JRH) G'nite all. Great conference!
(IWC368) is the official conf ober?
(WALRUS) Harv, Boing Machine in library soon?
(CBM*HARV) IT WOULD BE FUN IF SOMEONE REALLY ADDEPT WITH SCULPT....
(CBM*HARV) COULD USE THE "JOURNAL/PLAYBACK PROGRAM"...
(AMICUS) Wrote a book about it? :->
(CBM*HARV) FOR SOME SELF-RUNNING DEMOS OF TIPS'N'TRICKS FOR USING IT!
(CBM*STEVE) amicus....hehe
(BANZI) IWC -- The official conf. was probably over some time ago..
(*MARK) Does that new aegis object editor <or will it> work with Scupt stuff?
(ROGER*B) Thanks Eric and Ken; great conference
(*ERICG) Does Aegis have one?
(CBM*HARV) Walrus - yes tonite, Amicus has the "with sound" version
(*KEN) Harv. SEND US JOURNAL!!!!. ga.
(CBM*HARV) Ken - you don't have it!?!??! okay, you will soon!!
(AMICUS) Ken, you can download it.
(*MARK) Eric, Yes, simplified version, but looks good.
(WALRUS) Wait, Is "Boing Machine" something different from Kahnankas w/ sound?
(CAD*MAN) For those interested, we are going to use Sculpt to show some downtown...
(AMICUS) Mark, so far, the Aegis Modeler 3D has no provisions for working with any other modeling program.
(CBM*HARV) Walrus - totally different
(*KEN) It's probably in our local disk library at
(*MARK) I'm just curious about compatibility is all?!
(*KEN) the user group.... somewhere....
(CAD*MAN) construction ideas, new building etc.
(AMICUS) Of course, you could get InterChange to convert the files... :->
(*MARK) Yes!
(DR*GLENN) whats it got...bouncing amigas?
(WALRUS) Then which one are you referring to?
(CHIBOY) John, I would love it if interchange could make DBW render data files :D
(*KEN) Is JOURNAL on a Fish or Amicus disk? .ga.
(CBM*HARV) Walrus - boing machine is brand new, you haven't seen it yet.
(AMICUS) ChiBoy, I wrote to Wecker to get his file format, and a copy of the program , but he never responded. Perhaps you should tell him, too!
(ROGER*B) Eric do you have a A2000?
(CBM*HARV) Ken - it's on both, I'm pretty sure
(BANZI) CHIBOY -- yes! that would be great!
(*MARK) Ok, what does GA mean? <besides gagging...>
(IWC368) Will a transcrib of the conf be avail??
(AMICUS) Go Ahead.
(*ERICG) No, 1000 and 500 only
(CBM*HARV) Mark - means "go ahead, I'm finished"
(*MARK) Oh.
(*KEN) Ok. We'll do a search on both of them!
(AMICUS) IWC, yes.
(CHIBOY) I will. I devoted weeks of my life to that program before I found Sculpt
(BANZI) ONLY a 1000 and a 500 ! Sheesh!
(WALRUS) GA = God's Amiga
(CBM*HARV) Ken - if you can not find, just holler, I'll send it to ya.
(*MARK) OVER is too difficult I suppose...
(*KEN) Thank's Harv! Will do.
(*KEN) I am on an IBM <arg!> right now....
(*MARK) Burp!
(CBM*HARV) [coff coff]
(BANZI) ACK!
(*ERICG) Shame on you
(CBM*STEVE) Ken....ibm? What's that? hehe
(AMICUS) AT? Where? :->
(ROGER*B) Big Blue
(CBM*STEVE) hehe
(CBM*HARV) ahem.
(*MARK) Awwww, my laptop Toshiba is pretty cool tho...
(BANZI) Big Brew
(CBM*STEVE) We really should stop swearing like this...
(CBM*HARV) [waiting for lap top amiga]
(*MARK) That'll be the day Harv.
(BANZI) [me too...]
(CBM*STEVE) with 9 GIG max
(*KEN) Just put a 500 on your lap!
(IWC368) Lets to to 300 baud so tht the IBM guy can keep up
(ROGER*B) Hi Amicus
(*MARK) Anybody ever stop to think how big a Gigabyte actually is???
(BANZI) Yes -- You too can go broke buying RAM...
(ROGER*B) haha
(*KEN) Hey, what about Sculpt????????????
(CBM*HARV) Ken - we need a good female human Sculpt object to play with!
(CBM*STEVE) ahem
(AMICUS) I'm working on it, Harv.
(CBM*HARV) with bendable joints, long flowing hair..... :->
(*MARK) Lot's of polygons... LOTS!
(ROGER*B) haha
(AMICUS) How about a "human forms" disk for Animate? With skeletons,
hand closeups, etc.
(CBM*HARV) [think of the possibilities]
(AMIGA*GREG) BIG polygons
(*KEN) Hey, the BoingMachine demo took 4 meg to do.
(BANZI) Weird Science...
(*MARK) Mobile too...
(CAD*MAN) Harv : you need a 3D digitizer
(AMICUS) Actually, it gets hard to make objects as dense as a human shape with either Sculpt or VideoScape.
(CHIBOY) haha
(DR*GLENN) hmm x-rated ray trace anims...what next?
(*KEN) It was pretty big and I did NO polygon cutting....
(CBM*STEVE) yeah....have you folks thought of doing a disk with just objects? I asked Marcus about it, but he never responded...
(AMICUS) A laser scanner. That's what the big graphics houses have. Plop the Luxo in front of a scanner, and it's in the data base.
(IWC368) Can anyone put a 3d cartesian coordinate system into sculpt 3d??
(*MARK) What's the longest Anim anybody has seen? <no repeats please...>
(AMICUS) Syndesis will have some object disks.
(*KEN) I am known as Mister Vertex around here....
(*MARK) Seconds that is...
(ROGER*B) Eric do you just use the Manx assem or do you use "C"?
(AMICUS) Mark, I've seen one of about 1,500 frames.
(*ERICG) UYes, we call it script mode
(CBM*HARV) objects! we want objects!
(SCARY) Hey, what's up?
(*ERICG) Mostly C, a little ASM
(BANZI) Hi Mike!
(ROGER*B) roger
(*MARK) Whew, that's 25 seconds?
(*KEN) BTW, if any f you start doing animations...
(BANZI) And *How* much ram?
(CBM*HARV) mark - you mean videoscape stuff too?
(WALRUS) "The City" is 30 seconds lont
(SCARY) Just got home, how'd the conf go?
(WALRUS) long
(AMICUS) Mark, it was a lot longer than that, I think. Tracy McSheery did it with VS.
(*KEN) you should know that the coordinate system...
(*MARK) Anims are Modelling or Ray trace IFF picts, right?
(*KEN) in the coordinate window does...
(BANZI) Mike -- Its going to be in the Lib tommorrow.
(CBM*STEVE) Amicus....playing around with things now....they have to be touched up a bit...a sink with boing balls dripping out of it...
(*MARK) Typing's bad today...@&#&^@*&#^*&@#^@]]
(*KEN) not match the script coordinate system!. ga.
(CBM*STEVE) A fan, etc...
(CBM*HARV) steve - sounds neat.
(AMICUS) Ken, is there a logical correlation?
(CBM*STEVE) Harv...it will be! I might wait for Animated-3d to animate 'em.
(*MARK) Nite.
(*KEN) Gee... I wish I could send a paragraph at a time.
(CBM*HARV) nite mark
(BANZI) Off to the Library -- Night everyone!
(CBM*HARV) nite banzi
(OJSANDS) Bye banZai
(SCARY) gnite
(BANZI) zzzzzzzz.......
(SARGE*) Goodevening All.....I think I'm a little late.
(OJSANDS) Hi Sarge
(*KEN) Yes. The coordinate system is <North,East,Up>.
(CBM*HARV) hi sarge
(CBM*STEVE) sarge...how was the meeting?
(IWC368) Hi Sarge
(CBM*HARV) <<;>>>
(AMICUS) Ken, I mean between the numbers in the Coord window, and the scripts.
(SARGE*) Steve I thought it was tommorow.
(*KEN) Those are positive coordinates, BTW...
(CBM*STEVE) nope...I think it was tonight
(SARGE*) Steve they were showing ALIVE! to...damn.
(*KEN) Yes. The coordinate system is just offset from
(*KEN) an absolute zero origin in the script mode, instead of
(*KEN) the target, as in interactive mode.
(*KEN) What I do is place a dot where
(AMICUS) Right, Ken. That's what I thought.
(*KEN) I want the target to be, and then I put the
(SCARY) Well, off to the notice area, I'll leave all you pixel pushers now. bye!
(*KEN) target at the absolute origin through a
(SARGE*) Night Scary
(*KEN) small script. "<0,0,0>" followed by "target".
(CBM*STEVE) eric.....you should a "FLIP" command, to switch selected and non-selected
(*KEN) That way I can place the cursor back at the target position
(AMICUS) So the target moves around while you're loading objects, Ken?
(*ERICG) We need some new script commands!
(*KEN) and begin tracing when I am through measuring things. ga.
(CBM*HARV) how about a pulldown menu that knows which objects are loaded...
(CBM*HARV) and click/select all of one object.
(*KEN) No, the arget does not move when you load objects.
(AMICUS) Are you asking for suggestions, Eric?
(*ERICG) Animate 3D has a hierarchical naming system ...
(*KEN) When you load objects, the objects are
(AMICUS) Ah, right, Ken, I see.
(*ERICG) that solve all this.
(*ERICG) Yes, John
(*KEN) loaded relative to the cursor position, with <0,0,0> of
(*KEN) the object being placed at the cursor position. ga.
(CBM*HARV) Eric, Ken, you guys are great. really good useful info tonite.
(CBM*STEVE) A handy way to select different locations in scenes for camera
(*KEN) I suggest that when you are doing your animations that
(CBM*STEVE) shots in Sculpt is:
(CAD*MAN) Some one needs to write a good tutorial book for sculpt !
(*ERICG) You're welcome
(OJSANDS) certainly one of the best conferences in a while, thanks guys!
(*KEN) you load of your objects first, zoom in the tri-view, abnd
(AMIGA*GREG) congrats to both of you!
(CBM*STEVE) just lay out a single path of vertices WITHOUT making any triangles
(ROGER*B) Happy telecomputing; see everyone sunday nite; bye bye. 8-<;^>>
(*KEN) then start up your script file. ga.
(CBM*STEVE) and let the vertices be your camera points
(CBM*HARV) nite Roger
(*ERICG) CADMAN, Cathryn may write the book
(OJSANDS) Bye Rog
(CAD*MAN) sounds good
(CBM*STEVE) When you don't connect the vertices up to make triangles, the
(SARGE*) Since I don't have Sculpt 3D "YET" I'm lost so I'll leave.......................GOODNIGHT Gentlemen.
(*KEN) Of course, I'
(CBM*STEVE) path stays invisible!
(OJSANDS) Bye Sarge
(*KEN) Of course, I'll have to write an article on how to do this
(*KEN) and place it in the Graham's next newsletter.... ga.
(CBM*STEVE) ken....please do!
(AMIGA*GREG) Bye, Harv,>J, Ken,Eric and all the good Amigites here!!! Type at ya later
(WALRUS) ?
(*KEN) By Greg!
(CBM*HARV) OJ - oh yeah?
(*KEN) Or bye Greg!
(OJSANDS) Yeah, gathering info and begging to mail me a copy as soon as possible...
(*KEN) We trust you guys to buy Sculpt.... Of course, everyone has!
(CBM*STEVE) Eric.....will you be answering questions about Sculpt and Animate in the
(CBM*STEVE) message base once you get more time?
(*ERICG) I scan it now. Send me questions
(CBM*STEVE) one of the very first copies of Sculpt....bought it direct
(CBM*STEVE) ERIC....will do!
(OJSANDS) Sculpt is SO much easier to use than VS3D I couldnt believe it!
(AMICUS) OJ, if only more people knew that...
(OJSANDS) VS3D was so premature
(CBM*STEVE) about 2 years premature
(CBM*STEVE) 11 colors....geesh!
(*KEN) I have done a program similar to VS3d, and
(OJSANDS) nice idea, poor execution
(AMICUS) VideoScape bears an amazing resemblance to a PD VAX program.
(*KEN) it runs 4 times faster than VS3d <integer math>...
(CBM*STEVE) AMICUS.......hope my review of Sculpt in AC helps spread the word!
(*KEN) but I wouldn't sell it as it is!!!!!
(CBM*STEVE) AMICUS>..which one is that?
(AMICUS) Not sure what it was called. Heard this from several sources, just repeating the rumor. :-0
(CBM*STEVE) Wonder if the bandito knows....?
(CBM*HARV) or that guy with the big ear.
(*KEN) I may even release it into PD.... Yeah!!!
(CBM*STEVE) Peewee herman?
(CBM*HARV) yay ken.
(OJSANDS) Whoa! what a novel concept ken! :>
(AMICUS) Maybe you could even give it a user interface, then you'd be ahead of VS, OJ!
(OJSANDS) hehehe
(*KEN) Sure, I couldn't possibly want to charge 200 dollars
(OJSANDS) User interface , whats that?
(*KEN) for a script mode entry program.... :>
(OJSANDS) <lessee, open two Cli's then run VS3D... put it all in VD0: >
(CBM*STEVE) yeah....I read somewhere today <prolly the message base> that
(AMICUS) I'm working on getting other programmers to do modules for InterChange.
(AMICUS) I got the Aegis Draw module going last night.
(CBM*STEVE) Aegis said the Mac II is the future of desktop video.
(CBM*HARV) saw something called "cyber paint" on a Mega ST on TV last night
(OJSANDS) Not until they get video out of it
(AMICUS) Jim Kent of Aegis Animator did Cyber Paint.
(CBM*STEVE) ojs...hehe
(*KEN) Remember, people on the Mac II are not as
(AMICUS) CAD 3D on the ST is quite good. Ahead of current Amiga stuff, really.
(*KEN) tolerant as people on the Amiga.... :<
(CAD*MAN) Mac II power with LOTS of price $$$$
(DR*GLENN) mega st on tv?
(CBM*HARV) glenn - yes on "The Computer Show"
(CBM*STEVE) And with Aegis doing it....maybe they'll port VS3d to the MAC...
(CBM*STEVE) those folks are used to not having many colors...hehe
(*KEN) VS3D on Mac II.... Arg!
(OJSANDS) serve them right
(OJSANDS) Ken, can they use the RotAmiga demo? :>
(*KEN) No, Aegis can not use my demo without asking me!!!!!
(OJSANDS) I've always wanted to see a Juggler demo on the IBM that drops the balls
(DR*GLENN) what is rotamiga.....i think i issed that
(CBM*HARV) glenn - the apple/leaf/amiga logo, where the logo rotates...
(CBM*HARV) ..through the apple and the leaf flutters
(CAD*MAN) IBM computers have no ba.. never mind
(*KEN) What do yall think about Aegis taking credit for our demos?
(OJSANDS) Didnt realize they had ken
(*KEN) We requested that they not do that, but still they persist!
(OJSANDS) Tacky move on their parts
(*KEN) If they use mine.... I want BUCKS $$$$$$!!!!!!!
(AMICUS) <incoming phone call... I should go... see you all later!>
(DR*GLENN) do we have rotapple in the the libs...no pun intended?
(CBM*STEVE) see ya JF!
(CBM*HARV) see ya Amicus
(*KEN) And I don't givve them permission!
(OJSANDS) better place a copyright in it somewhere Ken
(*KEN) It has one on the startup screen!
(CBM*STEVE) yeah, that's why I bought DigiPaint....so I can put my name in my
(OJSANDS) Then sue!
(CBM*STEVE) Sculpt-3d creations
(*KEN) Movie puts up a copyright notice!
(CBM*HARV) Could the next rev. of "Movie" have a "loading...wait" or something...
(CBM*HARV) instead of just a black screen?
(*ERICG) good iidea
(*KEN) Does NewTek have the overscan update done yet???? Hmmmmm......
(DR*GLENN) no rotten apples here?
(CBM*STEVE) KEN.....don't know...I hear that CBM is going to standardize what
(CBM*STEVE) "OVERSCAN" means in 1.3.....I've been doing just "FULL" size
(CBM*STEVE) pictures until then
(*KEN) List the new things you want in Movie and I'll try to implement them
(*KEN) if I have the time....
(CBM*HARV) Eric / Ken...have you guys seen any/all of the Badge Killer Demos?
(CBM*HARV) if so, any favorites?
(CBM*STEVE) KEN>....more examples of your work....hehe
(*KEN) Yes, we got the Badge demos.... Great, huh!!!
(*ERICG) only nemesis, it was good
(*KEN) hamm
(CBM*HARV) Check out "Amiga Does it Better", one of the demos. It's really cute.
(DR*GLENN) its cute...kahnakas is good
(CBM*STEVE) <clap clap>
(OJSANDS) author, author!
(CBM*STEVE) <artist artist>!
(CBM*HARV) i liked the way ken signed "kahnankas" on the books binding
(CBM*STEVE) hehe
(*KEN) Eric can you tell us more about Animate 3-d
(*ERICG) what would you like to know
(CBM*STEVE) Sure be nice to have a "create this text as sculpt-3d objects" program.
(CBM*STEVE) What kind of features will it have?
(AMICUS) <Sure would, Steve>
(DR*GLENN) i liked the green covered light on kahnakas...notice them all over the place now on tv...library desks etc
(*ERICG) Anyone can make a font of solid objects in SCULPT
(*KEN) Explain importation of IFF backgrounds into Animate
(CBM*HARV) draw an A and extrude it, yes?
(*ERICG) Animate supports IFF backgrounds and foregrounds.
(*ERICG) Yes, Harv
(CAD*MAN) a font .. collection of objects ?
(*ERICG) Now you can put Digiview clouds in the sky and ...
(*ERICG) animate in front of real photos
(CAD*MAN) great
(*KEN) You know the most exciting part about Animate is
(*KEN) the hiearchieal structures.
(*KEN) <SP>!
(*ERICG) If only we could spell it!
(CBM*STEVE) move one thing and the attached objects follow along...right?
(*ERICG) That's right, but you can ...
(*KEN) You know, the arm moves with the body, etc....
(*ERICG) chain motion paths together to easily ...build really
(*ERICG) complicated movements.
(*KEN) I can't wait to get ahold of a frame controller and
(CBM*STEVE) Good! I've been having a hell of a time trying to get this
(*KEN) do some really neat animations on videotape.... They are expensive....
(*KEN) We are working wih some people now on supporting a possible
(CBM*STEVE) Fan to rotate it's blades and osicilate
(CBM*STEVE) at the same time....
(*KEN) future frame controller....
(*ERICG) Trivial to do in animate ...
(CAD*MAN) I have 1 meg, will I be able to do anything with animator...
(CBM*STEVE) It's been driving me nutso......
(CBM*HARV) steve - ribbons tied to the blade guard and flutter in the breeze?
(CBM*STEVE) eric....good!
(CBM*STEVE) harv...yes
(CBM*HARV) :->
(*ERICG) An oscillating fan could even be a library object ...
(CAD*MAN) or will i need more memory for larger objects ect.
(DR*GLENN) well night for me...nite all...nice conf...enjoyed watching....<from the amateurs viewpoint>
(*ERICG) just drop in in an animation, whenever neede
(CBM*HARV) nite Dr. Glenn!
(*KEN) How about motion blur on the blades of a tri-plane????
(CBM*STEVE) eric....that's neat!
(*KEN) Neat, huh!
(CBM*STEVE) glass disks
(*ERICG) Motion blur is included
(OJSANDS) Gotta run, videotaping in surgery tomorrow! Thanks alot Eric, Ken! Bye All!
(CBM*STEVE) who did those planes I saw in the Sculpt-3d demo?
(CBM*HARV) nite 0ran
(*KEN) Bye QJSANDS!
(*KEN) Marcus did the Tri-Planes and I did the F-15....
(OJSANDS) great Conference! Keep up the good work.
(CBM*STEVE) Very nice work!
(*KEN) <And I did the F-15 within 24hrs of getting Sculpt 3D>.
(*ERICG) Did you sleep?
(*KEN) And the Tri-Planes were done off of a Sopwith plan set.
(*KEN) Of course, I later added the landing gear and the clear canopy....
(CBM*STEVE) and the little guy too, right?
(CBM*STEVE) ;->
(*KEN) The first ru of the jet is on the Sculpt manual back cover.
(CAD*MAN) well got to go, good night all - GREAT CONFERENCE !!
(*KEN) Well, I don't know. They keep me awfully busy around here. I will try!
(CBM*HARV) nite CadMan!
(CBM*HARV) glad you enjoyed.
(CAD*MAN) Thanks ERIC & KEN
(*ERICG) It was rendered on a 500 with 1 meg
(CBM*STEVE) Ken....good! It's great having you folks here!
(*KEN) Anytime CAD*MAN
(*KEN) How much memory do you have????????
(*ERICG) 1.5 meg on a 1000
(*KEN) As big as you can create, we can store!
(CBM*STEVE) 1 meg on the 1000, 1 meg on the 2000 soon as it gets here....
(CBM*STEVE) I have to get running! Thanks for being here Eric and Ken!
(CBM*HARV) nite Steve.
(CBM*HARV) Eric, Ken, was great to have you guys here. great conference.
(CBM*STEVE) Nite harv.....night all! <Steve Gone>
(*KEN) If you have a 500, you can buy a 2 meg Byte-Box for cheap!
(*KEN) It will even run on a 1000, if you have something to prop it up.
(*KEN) I wrote the graphical memory test software, that shows you
(*KEN) wherer the bad chips are!
(*KEN) <Just bragging hereer..... >
(PENDRAGON) Hi I just got here a couple mins. ago. I got a couple questions for EriZY I may, I hope I'm not repeating any but I most likely am.
(*KEN) What did you think of that little gem of a box, John?
(*ERICG) ok
(CBM*HARV) Pendragon - keep your lines under 80 cols due to Eric's VT100 term
(PENDRAGON) OK
(*KEN) Eric, let me send you a copy of AmigaTerm that line wraps!!!!!
(AMICUS) What box?
(PENDRAGON) On Sculpt is there going to be an up grade that lets us limit compute time
(*KEN) Byte Box!
(*ERICG) I,ve got the source for VT100, I should just fix it
(AMICUS) Oh, its cute.
(*ERICG) Pendragon, I missed the last part
(*KEN) Why waste the time????
(MCCOMM) I hope that I will see a transcript soon...
(PENDRAGON) lets us limit compute time per pic
(*KEN) I have already wasted my time to enhance AmigaTerm!
(*ERICG) I'm always trying to make it run faster...
(*KEN) Dave Wecker's program does allow time limiting, but
(*ERICG) another few months should pick up a factor of 2 or more
(*KEN) he pulls some tricks to do it....
(*KEN) That is a nice feature though....
(PENDRAGON) Eric the other question is on Animate 3D
(PENDRAGON) Eric will it let us cycle with in a set of pics.
(*ERICG) Yes
(*KEN) Is that color cycling that you are talking about PENDRAGON?
(PENDRAGON) Eric, thanks for the answers. Great program Sculpt is!!
(*KEN) Or just picture cycling?
(PENDRAGON) *Ken, no. To cycle thru a set of pics to lenthen the animation
(*ERICG) Really object cycling
(*KEN) Just clarifying....
(*ERICG) It supports loops and back and forth animations
(*KEN) Plus background and foreground sounds <in the player, anyway>
(*KEN) BTW, does anyone know if Sculpt, or any other packages, are heavily pirated?
(*KEN) I hope not.... I like to think of Amigans as honest people.
(CBM*HARV) pirates are mainly game-hungry animals
(*KEN) That's true...
(*KEN) BTW, I have been experimenting with the sound stuff
(*KEN) and I have discovered an interesting way to make
(*KEN) echoing sounds by playing the same sound
(*KEN) in four different channels at different time offsets.
(*KEN) Once you start adding sounds to your animations you discover
(*KEN) all sorts of sound making stuff around the house....
========================[ fin ]===================================
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and my be reprinted in part or in whole only upon receipt of
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