Anim8or Community

General Category => Anim8or v0.98 Discussion Forum => Topic started by: Steve on March 20, 2008, 02:02:20 am

Title: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on March 20, 2008, 02:02:20 am
I have posted a new preview, v0.97.  It's main feature is a ray tracer called ART (for Anim8or Ray Tracer, naturally!)  Check out the "v0.97 Preview" link in the menu or just click here: http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/index.html (http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/index.html)  Don't miss the ray tracer documentation either:  http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/art_raytracer.html (http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/art_raytracer.html)

Here's an example of just one new thing you can do with it:
(http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/class_dielectric.jpg)
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: blanc on March 20, 2008, 07:14:50 am
hello
Is it possible to combine two class for one material ?

example : glossyreflector and transparent
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: blanc on March 20, 2008, 09:28:31 am
Oops! I spoke too soon!

Actually, glossyreflector + transparent = dielectric ! no ?
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: blanc on March 20, 2008, 09:31:19 am
I was going to forget!
Congratulation to the new version
It is fast approaching the version 1
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: floyd86 on March 20, 2008, 09:42:25 am
Thank you steve. This is what Anim8or needed: again one step closer to perfect realism in anim8or. With this new option our renders will look so cool. Keep up the good work.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Kubajzz on March 20, 2008, 10:42:37 am
Oops! I spoke too soon!

Actually, glossyreflector + transparent = dielectric ! no ?

I don't think so. Dielectric class is quite similar to transparent, but has nothing to do with reflections;

The difference between tranparent and dielectric is how the light interacts with the colorof the material

If you have 'transparent' material with transparency 0, it behaves like clean glass (the material color has no effect); dielectric material with transparency 0 is not transparent - it's almost transparent where the object is very thin and it's less transparent where the object is thick (depending on the UnitDistance attribute...) - that is useful for liquids etc...
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: CobraSpectre on March 20, 2008, 03:35:20 pm
Thank you Steve!

Hmm, released the same day I was going to start surfacing and lighting a Transform entry for anim8or.org...

One question, can objects cast colored, refracted 'shadows'?
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: hihosilver on March 20, 2008, 04:14:07 pm
You're an amazing person Steve ;)
Wonderful job on this release.  We just finished our unit on refractions with mirrors and transparent surfaces in physics and I loved the course.  This kind of stuff is very interesting.  I'll be playing with this all spring break!
:D
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on March 21, 2008, 12:08:10 am
blanc - no, you can't combine materials - yet.  I  plan to add more materials and options to both the scanline renderer and to the ray tracer.  One possibility is to add more complex operateor - like a blend option that would aallow you to combine two or more materials.  Another is to allow various components like the specular hilight to be a general material.  There ar some major design issues I have to work out first including how to present this to users.  Attributes are quite flexible but not very easy to use ao I'd like another technique.

CobraSpectre - No colored shadows yet either but they are in the works.  Caustics are much harder to do (and can take a LOT more time) so I don't think I'll get to them anytime soon.

There ther's the current rendering time.  I haven't done much to speed it up yet.  I hope to be able to at least halve the time for a typical render.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Raxx on March 21, 2008, 12:45:21 pm
Another is to allow various components like the specular hilight to be a general material.  There ar some major design issues I have to work out first including how to present this to users.  Attributes are quite flexible but not very easy to use ao I'd like another technique.

This is more work for you, but easier for us: How about some sort of "Shader Lab" dialog option from the material editor. This dialog would be a wizard of sorts with a preview window, where you can add and mix attributes from a drop down menu and play with values. Press the preview button and the preview window renders a sample (some primitives on a plane or something :P). I think this will make it much easier and faster for new and old users to make custom materials. If you extend the attributes to include all the bump map values and textures and such, you could even replace the entire material editor with the shader version using a toggle for ART materials versus scanline materials.

Just a thought.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: hihosilver on March 21, 2008, 02:48:39 pm
I completely agree with Raxx's idea there.  It would be nice to have a simple pull-down with things like 'class' and 'specular' then a subsection with the different classes they have.  Those would then have input values that you could put in and preview as he said.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on March 21, 2008, 04:35:28 pm
I agree and would have something like that already except that it takes a bit of time to write.  Also since I plan on adding mode ray traced materials it would take more effort to keep updating all that dialog code.  If I wait until the features are more stable I'll have a better idea what to do.  (Plus I wanted to get the ray tracer out for feedback instead of waiting until it was "finished".)

I also want to write a material manager to allow you to move materials between objects, projects, whatever.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: flametiger74 on March 21, 2008, 06:35:59 pm
THIS IS SO COOL!!!!
Question?
You said that your going to make a material organizer, but what about the actual material properties? will they be easy to understand. Like a # from 0.001 to 1 or something like that or something more complicated. B/c I found that in other 3d programs to get reflection is so hard or annoying like in a horrible place in the program (blender) or just with a million properties.
Right now I looked at the 0.97 .exe and all the properties are in the attributes. Now I'm not really sure how that works and when I opened up a sample file with reflection it didn't show or render any reflection.
Thanks
Edit: never mind. I forgot to put the renderer to ART Ray Tracer
But really will it be less confusing to add reflection in a later release.
Also, Can you say any idea when anything stable or Beta will be out.
I can't wait for this to come out.
I'll finally be able to make that water reflection I've been wanting to do.
Thanks! :)
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: hihosilver on March 23, 2008, 12:57:31 am
Honestly I feel this is much more stable than v0.95
There are more bugs that have been fixed in this version, and so far from what I've seen there are no rendering bugs.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: cfive on March 23, 2008, 04:46:38 pm
(0+O) OOH! RAYTRACING! Bet that took a long time! AAnyway, congrats!
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: gzs on March 24, 2008, 10:29:41 am
Hi Steve,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! It's a very nice step!

I'm in love with Anim8or! It is a very compact program with tons of functionalities, and very easy to play with.

Cheers,
Geraldo
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: AlDi on March 24, 2008, 01:21:20 pm
Dear Steve,

I really Like Anim8or.  It is clear and to the point software like VirtualDub video editor and Wax.

I was wondering if you can set up a function to allow invisible objects to receive shadows?

This would be great for compositing 3d to the Real world video.

Right now I make object invisible (casting the shadow) onto material something like what I will be compositing onto.

Then I eliminate the the receiving material through chroma with wax.

Thanks!

Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: hihosilver on March 24, 2008, 09:11:51 pm
AlDi:  If you set an objects transparency and specular values to 0, anim8or will still render the shadows since anim8or doesn't support raytraced shadows (though perhaps it does when using transparency with the ART raytracer.)  But with basic renders you can simply set the transparency and specular to 0 and render out, and you'll get only the shadows.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: 5L1D3R on March 25, 2008, 12:38:53 pm
Wow. Definitely a rendering improvement.  I can't wait to try the new features on some of my existing models. 

Only thing I woud suggest, is adding a "cancel" feature to the render process. ...I was rendering one of the example files you give when I realized it wasn't the example I had wanted to view... I had to wait for the render to complete before I could close it and open the correct file.

Also, have you ever considered forming a development team like the one for POV-Ray to lighten your development load and to speed up the process?   Just curious...
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: floyd86 on March 25, 2008, 12:44:11 pm
When you press esc when rendering (might need to press a couple of times), the render will stop.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: 5L1D3R on March 25, 2008, 01:22:59 pm
Esc works fine with the other render engines but I get no response when using ART.  Maybe it is just because it's so much more system intensive...
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: flametiger74 on March 25, 2008, 06:02:16 pm
Okay
I've noticed that while rendering anything that normally takes a long time, anim8or will switch to Not responding, and only after the render is done will anim8or start responding again.
Now this may be b/c I'm using vista but I'm not sure.
I always make sure to save my work before rendering a medium or large sized scene, b/c if anim8or locks up. Either it won't work anymore or I'll have to wait for it to finish not even knowing what its up to b/c the preview render is frozen.

Also while we're on the topic of rendering, if you set the render preview to off, will the render go faster.

And another question, if you were to go to the process of anim8or in task manager, and set the priority to a higher priority than normal, will anim8or go faster.
I tried it, but I wasn't really sure if there was a change in render time or not. I'll try recording the times the next time I do it.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on March 26, 2008, 01:58:02 am
Flametiger74 - Please post this kind of thing to a new topic.  This thread simply anounces that v0.97 is available.  It is not for bug reports.  (What graphics card do you have?  THis is most certainly a driver problem, possible a badly designed driver.  That's exctly why I added the ability to turn off renders.)
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Kyle-Pittsley on March 26, 2008, 04:35:24 pm
That feature is really cool and it seems very useful. Keep up the great job!
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: AlDi on March 28, 2008, 09:52:22 am
HiHoSilver:

I tried to do what you suggested.  The receiving material still doesn't receive/display shadows while transparent.

 :-[

95c apparently does have Raytracing Shadows under camera options.
 
Thanks,

Aldi
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on March 28, 2008, 04:19:00 pm
Flametiger74 - Please don't continue with this discussion in thes thread.  Post this to a new topic.  This thread simply anounces that v0.97 is available.  It is not for bug reports. 
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: cumesoftware on March 28, 2008, 08:13:54 pm
Finally, raytracing!

Does it handle shadows of transparent objects as well?

Great improvement, by the way!
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on March 30, 2008, 09:14:22 pm
No, shadows of transparent objects are still black.  That may be supported in an update but I still have a bit of code to write for it.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: cumesoftware on April 02, 2008, 12:55:26 pm
I have just one though. I don't agree with the term "dielectric". A dielectric material is any material has the ability to store opposite electrical charges. Most insulators like glass or polyester are dielectric.

Shouldn't the materials be called refractive? I can't associate the term "dielectric" with light.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: RudySchneider on April 02, 2008, 04:00:14 pm
Quote from Wikipedia entry for dielectric:

"Many phenomena in electronics, solid state and optical physics can be described using the underlying assumptions of the dielectric model"
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: cumesoftware on April 03, 2008, 03:20:03 pm
Quote from Wikipedia entry for dielectric:

"Many phenomena in electronics, solid state and optical physics can be described using the underlying assumptions of the dielectric model"
They can be described, but a dielectric is a material that has the ability to store electrical charges. I think the word should not be applied here.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: RudySchneider on April 03, 2008, 10:05:51 pm
My goodness we're stubborn!  Then again, it's obvious you didn't look at the Wikipedia entry for dielectric.  So, I'll quote from there, again:

"Dielectrics ... are not a narrow class of so-called insulators, but the broad expanse of nonmetals considered from the standpoint of their interaction with electric, magnetic, of electromagnetic fields. Thus we are concerned with gases as well as with liquids and solids, and with the storage of electric and magnetic energy as well as its dissipation."  And by the way, light is in the magnetic spectrum.

I'm an electrical engineer, so I appreciate your comfort level with Webster's definition, "a nonconductor of direct electric current," but I prefer the broader, systems-level implications to which Wikipedia refers.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: cumesoftware on April 04, 2008, 09:16:08 am
My goodness we're stubborn!  Then again, it's obvious you didn't look at the Wikipedia entry for dielectric.  So, I'll quote from there, again:

"Dielectrics ... are not a narrow class of so-called insulators, but the broad expanse of nonmetals considered from the standpoint of their interaction with electric, magnetic, of electromagnetic fields. Thus we are concerned with gases as well as with liquids and solids, and with the storage of electric and magnetic energy as well as its dissipation."  And by the way, light is in the magnetic spectrum.

I'm an electrical engineer, so I appreciate your comfort level with Webster's definition, "a nonconductor of direct electric current," but I prefer the broader, systems-level implications to which Wikipedia refers.
I do not always agree with wikipedia definitions, but that doesn't mean I'm stubborn. If you see the origin of the word "dielectric" it means "two electrical poles". By your classification metals are also dielectric, because they interact in a special way with light. Actually, photons loosen electrons from the metal atoms. When the electron falls back to a lower energy level, it sends a photons. That is why metals are so shiny. But they are unable to store different electrical charges because they are conductive.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: RudySchneider on April 04, 2008, 11:11:03 am
Good observation and argument, cumesoft.  And while I don't fully share your views, respect, acknowledgment, and appreciation for different insights and opinions is always a good thing.  Good discourse helps to expand and exercise the mind.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: cumesoftware on April 04, 2008, 12:14:24 pm
Good observation and argument, cumesoft.  And while I don't fully share your views, respect, acknowledgment, and appreciation for different insights and opinions is always a good thing.  Good discourse helps to expand and exercise the mind.
Indeed. Well said.

I must add that if all people had the same pattern of though, the world wouldn't evolve and all ideas would eventually fail at the same time. Because ideas are different, if one fails the other persists, and there is always space for adaptation and always new knowledge to cultivate the mind.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Kyle on April 05, 2008, 04:40:45 am
Wow, youve really outdone yourself Steve. I didn't think anim8or would ever see a real raytracer.
I'm finding myself very lost though, even with the documentation.  I cant figure out how to do simple things such as making the reflection more subtle. (something akin to turning down an environment map value when using environment maps). and I still don't get all these new terms. is there a thread I can go to right now to learn as much as possible about how to get specific results?   I keep finding that using this new renderer makes the lighting way darker to the point where it removes all detail from my pics. makes everything flat.  I know there's something I'm not doing right though.

anyway great stuff from what Ive seen. I think the only major thing left that I'm dying to see from anim8or's renderer is motion blur.
do you for see that ever happening?

oh, and fur ofcourse, but I think we're still pretty far off for that.  but for all I know it may be more achievable than motion blur.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on April 09, 2008, 12:15:00 am
Kyle, I'll be the first to admit that setting the materials up for ray traced effects is clumsy at best.  You need to add "Attributes" of the appropriate names and values.  Download the sample .an8 projects on the ART ray tracer documentation page for some examples:

http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/art_raytracer.html (http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/art_raytracer.html)

I'll be writing some better documentation and possibly making it easier to set the necessary values in the future.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on April 09, 2008, 12:23:02 am
The properties of dielectric materials are well understood in the field of physics.  There are long standing mathematical madels that explain their behavior when interacting with, for example, light.  Thus they are well suited to ray tracing.  Glass, water, quartz, diamond and many plastics are example of dielectric materials that you can use for more realistic models.  Opaque dialectrics like ceramics are best modeled with simpler materials because they are much faster to render.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Kyle on April 09, 2008, 03:55:28 am
yeah, Ive downloaded a couple of the sample files, but even after analyzing them and trying to recreate the attribute values/classes, I still don't get any type of reflection. no idea why.  Ive only been able to get them to work by copy and pasting the sample materials and modifying them to my liking.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: lawrence on April 12, 2008, 02:00:26 pm
Nice work Steve, I'm going to try and make some test renders when I get the time.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: mcheccyb on April 13, 2008, 04:00:30 am
kyle, this one took me a while to figure out as well.

The main attribute i use is reflection, if you type in specular underneath then the reflection amount is affected by how high the specular value.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Steve on April 17, 2008, 01:06:28 pm
mcheccyb, yes, this is what it is supposed to do.  From the notes on the ray tracer page: "The [specular->reflection] result is multiplied by the materials specular weight, Ks..."
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: startrekfan001 on May 08, 2008, 08:37:26 am
OMG i just watched the file size of anim8or, just 2mb!!!! WITH a friggin' RAYTRACER included!!

steve, marry me.

:D seriously tough, awesome. thanks for those really cool features. i'm busy making jewelry, i never was able to do it before. this is awesome. finally nice refraction in my renders.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: behrouz on May 10, 2008, 05:01:33 am
Yeah this raytracer's great, i think the next thing that anim8or needs now is one of them particle generators so you can do proper hair and fire and stuff like that
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: startrekfan001 on May 12, 2008, 04:10:02 am
Yeah this raytracer's great, i think the next thing that anim8or needs now is one of them particle generators so you can do proper hair and fire and stuff like that

terranim8or.......
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: xalener on July 30, 2008, 12:34:36 am
Sure, If you want to over-load your computer...
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Tanzim on July 30, 2008, 05:41:28 am
If you have a good computer then everything should be fine.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Mikesly on August 04, 2008, 10:34:59 pm
that walk cycle tutorial makes the figure move wierd one of the legs move faster than the other one
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Aarangend on August 05, 2008, 12:41:06 am
Woooooooooow... I dont understadn the whole glossy/reflection thingy like at all... I feel like an idiot
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Mikesly on August 05, 2008, 01:06:28 pm
well i dont know. if you talking about the material they had a mesh with 2 colors on it light blue and dark red
(Mikesly)
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: xalener on August 05, 2008, 02:24:45 pm
If you have a good computer then everything should be fine.


Well I don't. And If I had the money to buy one, I probably wouldn't be using anim8or.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: mcheccyb on August 07, 2008, 08:15:34 am
I have a good computer - and i use anim8or.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: thecolclough on August 07, 2008, 11:40:54 am
I have a good computer - and i use anim8or.
same here - although i didn't have to pay for my machine, it was a birthday present.

but i can't be bothered to learn a new program, so i'd stick with anim8or even if i was a bit richer ;D

- colclough
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: VBSmiles on August 17, 2008, 07:57:20 pm
All I can say is OMFG!!! ;D ;D :o :o :o

I've been away way too long. Just happened to browse a couple old sites and was wondering how things was going here. Never expected raytracing capabilities. Makes me wonder what other things I've missed.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: xalener on August 22, 2008, 11:29:20 pm
What I mean is, If I was rich enough to have a really good computer, I would heve never been looking aroung on google, desperately searching for a good free app.

If I could have afforded a new computer, I'd also have gotten a not-free CGI prog.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: 3D Joe Wiltshire on August 23, 2008, 12:22:27 pm
Just a word to mikesly, i know they're cool, and flashy looking, but please, try not to use marquees too much... i had to sit there for about 2 minutes reading 2 sentences... not helpful.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: KiwiNM8OR on August 28, 2008, 06:42:43 am
I've posted this elsewhere But I feel as if I should post it here as well as a "preview" of one my current new favourite feature glossy reflector

(http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1013/test11abbbbbbhqp5.th.jpg) (http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test11abbbbbbhqp5.jpg)
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Suppastar on September 04, 2008, 02:07:24 am
I didn't know where to post this?

Any new's on a new update (0.97c), Haven't heard anything for a long time?
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: VBSmiles on September 05, 2008, 09:08:39 pm
I've posted this elsewhere But I feel as if I should post it here as well as a "preview" of one my current new favourite feature glossy reflector

Wow, pretty creative KiwiNM8OR! I was thinking something along the line of Bruce Lee myself  ;D
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: KiwiNM8OR on September 07, 2008, 05:59:13 am
Cheers VBSmiles They're easy to construct too. Glossyreflector can seem to only reflect up to about 10 reflections (at least so far). But that wasn't an issue for my example due to the curvature of the mirrors and FOV of the camera so I did not need as many reflections to achieve the effect. Cheers.
Title: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Steve on September 10, 2008, 03:01:48 am
The next preview called v0.97c is ready.  It's dated September, 2008 and adds:

1. Autosave,

2. Time slider control for Scenes and Sequences,

3. Global lighting intensity setting for user lights,

4. New 2, 3 and 1 large + 3 small viewport modes,

5. Lots of bug fixes including two major ART rendering problems.

Read the update on the v0.97 Preview page for details and be the first on your block to try it out!

http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/index.html

Steve
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Kubajzz on September 10, 2008, 04:00:41 am
Thanks a lot! I haven't tried the new features yet, but they look great!

(special thanks for that "GetNumEdges()" thing...)
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Tanzim on September 10, 2008, 07:50:23 am
Thank you so much man!
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: lynn22 on September 10, 2008, 09:09:30 am
Splendid job Steve !!

The scrollbar on the timeline, the lights settings, the correct render of the UV textures and most likely some I still have to discover. :)

I had rendered some parts of my Xmas animation already but I will start all over again it's more than worth the time.

Thank you so much !
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: neirao on September 10, 2008, 09:28:55 am
Thank you Steve,

Congratulations!!

Neirão-Brazil
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Paulo on September 10, 2008, 03:18:54 pm
So nice ;)
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Monex on September 10, 2008, 04:46:42 pm
Thanks Steve, it's great :D
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: thecolclough on September 10, 2008, 05:17:16 pm
just tried it out - the timeline scrollbar is awesome!  ;D

however: i tried a render with volume shadows, and whereas in 0.95c they used to show up, but look scratched, they no longer show up at all in 0.97c.  not sure which is worse...  :-\  well, the new release is very good in all other respects, but i have to say, i still think working volume shadows would be the best anim8or update ever.  0.97d, perhaps?  ;)

anyways, i'll second everyone's thanks for all the work you put into this app - you're awesome, steve 8)

- colclough
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: floyd86 on September 10, 2008, 05:52:25 pm
  well, the new release is very good in all other respects, but i have to say, i still think working volume shadows would be the best anim8or update ever.  0.97d, perhaps?  ;)
- colclough

What about global illumination? However, yet again a great release. Not that much new, but every new release is a good thing to me ^^.
Just tried out some ART renders which used to have bugs and they render fine now.
Great work! Keep it going!
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: onespirit5777 on September 10, 2008, 10:30:39 pm
Steve, you make me feel guilty for having such an awesome program for free. Is there any thing I can do to help.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: bamman62 on September 10, 2008, 11:37:27 pm
Very nice! I also see that default, untextured models seems to turn out much cleaner than it used to. Are there any plans to update the editing mode's mesh display? (having a hard time describing it). And also the option of auto-refreshing textures.

Sorry to bother you with suggestions, but I have a few more :P. Normal and bumpmap support, AniCloth (Anim8or's own version of nCloth), some fluid support, and lastly a customizable interface.  :D
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Tanzim on September 11, 2008, 06:55:09 am
bamman62, nice ideas, I agree with the auto-refreshing of textures, and normal maps. Cloth, and fluids will probably take Steve awhile to do, so there most likely at the lower end of his list.
Next time, can you start a new thread?

BTW: bumpmap is supported.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 11, 2008, 08:53:43 am
Love the timeline slider Steve, absolutely fantastic.  The way the view changes in real time as you move the slider gives a high level of control over animations, much like the way traditional hand drawing animators would have a cell between each finger on one hand, and they would flick backwards and forwards through them to test the motion.

I haven't yet had the chance to put 97c through its paces fully, but if the texture and background panorama issues have been sorted out I am a very happy bloke!  Cheers Steve.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: bamman62 on September 11, 2008, 05:54:08 pm
bamman62, nice ideas, I agree with the auto-refreshing of textures, and normal maps. Cloth, and fluids will probably take Steve awhile to do, so there most likely at the lower end of his list.
Next time, can you start a new thread?

BTW: bumpmap is supported.

I have a thread :P I just posted some more important ideas here.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: thecolclough on September 12, 2008, 08:17:07 am
just taken the new version for another spin - this time i found the aspect ratio / movie resolution presets panel, and i'm loving it.  ;D  oops... *pays royalty to mcdonalds for using their catchphrase* :P

could i suggest adding a few more presets in the next release?  5:4 720x576 (PAL fullframe), 16:9 1024x576 (PAL widescreen), 16:9 1280x720 (720p HD), and 16:9 1920x1080 (1080p HD).  also, you mistyped the label on the first 4:3 preset button, it should say 320x240 (which is a 4:3 ratio, and is what actually displays in the boxes), rather than 320x200 (which would actually be 8:5).

on the subject of rendering, i have another little suggestion for 0.97d: when rendering an image larger than the workspace, whether still or video, it would be good to have scrollbars, so we can move up and down and/or side-to-side, and view all parts of the image, rather than being forced to just see a cropped segment from the centre of the image.

and when rendering video, i liked the old-style progress bar, where you could see overall video progress, rather than the current setup, where it shows progress on the current frame only, and restarts on each new frame.  could we either have an option to pick which we prefer, or (even better), have both at once for video renders?  just a minor thing, that one, but it'd be appreciated by at least one user...

;)

- colclough

*edit*  do you plan on making the aspect/resolution presets also affect still renders too in a later version, or just video renders?
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: lynn22 on September 12, 2008, 01:35:48 pm
Quote
do you plan on making the aspect/resolution presets also affect still renders too in a later version, or just video renders?

If not presets for all sizes in still renders than maybe a saved preference, i.e. when using a set of sizes they get saved with the file for future use.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Steve on September 12, 2008, 10:13:00 pm
OK the still image size is now part of the project settiings.  I've left it as a separate value from the movie rendering size.  That way you can render a quick image without disturbing the movie's settings.

V0.85 and earlier showed the progress of the entire movie as opposed to a single frame.  I couldn't decide which was better but maybe your right - you need to know both.  I'll see what I can do.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Tanzim on September 13, 2008, 01:12:20 am
How about 2 bars, one shows the current frame, the other shows the entire movie?
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: thecolclough on September 13, 2008, 07:49:23 am
How about 2 bars, one shows the current frame, the other shows the entire movie?
that's my ideal-world scenario.

steve, going back to the still-image resolution... (yeah, going there again...), maybe you could keep the actual resolution as a separate setting, but you could have the aspect ratio tied in to the movie?  eg. if you've set the movie resolution to 16:9 in 0.97c, then when you go to render a still, it still comes up at the default 400x300.  maybe you could set it so that the default for new projects is always 400px wide, but the height changes depending on aspect ratio, so if you set the camera to 16:9 then the default still size would be 400x225?

hmm, am i making any sense at all here?  probably not... :P
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Steve on September 13, 2008, 07:58:49 pm
OK I've made a few more changes - you can click-drag on the image to move it around the window.  This works while it's rendering if you have Multithreading enabled otherwise it only works when it's finished.  For movies and still images.  I'va also added a few more preset sizes.  I'm still not sure what I want to do with respect to linking movie size or aspect ratio to still image size.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: onespirit5777 on September 16, 2008, 08:15:43 pm
I would like to be able to render 8000x8000 or larger with a minimum of 150dpi because I print my work on canvas. I know it would take a long long time to render something this large but it wouldn't be the first time. The fractal program I use lets me go as much as 10,000x10,000 if the calculations are not to advanced. It will glitch sometimes and render twice that but with no AA and I don't have a program I can load a file that large and perform a AA to it to make it smooth. I have the source code for the program but I don't know C+ otherwise I could fix the problem.

The largest file I have is about 960mb and its a bmp file so time to render isn't something I'm worried about.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: headwax on September 16, 2008, 09:04:52 pm
There was a program around that let you render your still in quarters. Have a search for it.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: floyd86 on September 17, 2008, 10:41:38 am
There was a program around that let you render your still in quarters. Have a search for it.

I searched for that program a while ago, but the site seems to be removed by the maker (mongoose?). So if anyone has a copy, please post it.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: VBSmiles on September 18, 2008, 06:07:28 pm
I would like to be able to render 8000x8000 or larger with a minimum of 150dpi because I print my work on canvas. I know it would take a long long time to render something this large but it wouldn't be the first time. The fractal program I use lets me go as much as 10,000x10,000 if the calculations are not to advanced. It will glitch sometimes and render twice that but with no AA and I don't have a program I can load a file that large and perform a AA to it to make it smooth. I have the source code for the program but I don't know C+ otherwise I could fix the problem.

The largest file I have is about 960mb and its a bmp file so time to render isn't something I'm worried about.

sorry bub. dpi (dots per inch ) isn't a determining factor, ppi (pixel per inch) is. 150 ppi isn't very high quality ( in terms of photography anyway . 300 ppi is a better choice. )
why would you want a 53" x 53"  photo anyway? Even at 300 ppi you are talking about a 26" x 26" photo. ( 2 1/2' x 2 1/2') My semi professional camera at full resolution is only 3504 X 2336 ( magazine quality @ 300 ppi)

Note that ppi AND dpi are related to some degree, but somewhat independent from actual photo size in terms of resolution. A 300 X 300 will look great at 300 ppi, but it would be a pretty small photograph ( 1 inch x 1 inch ) If however you print this ppi on 150 dpi, you are doubling your size to 2 inches ( still small :)  with less quality)

HOpe this helps. I'll get more info for you if needed.

Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: onespirit5777 on September 20, 2008, 12:03:59 pm
Yes ppi not dpi - That is what I do when trying to get a bigger print. 150ppi is not the preferred for a good print but at least it is something to work with.

300ppi is really the min for a good print.

My bad on the dpi - I do know better

Thanks for the reminder.
Title: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Steve on September 21, 2008, 05:47:54 pm
V0.97 is a slight update.  It fixes a couple of annoying bugs and adds a thing or two that you might find useful:

Main Bugs Fixed:

#097-019 - ART AA renders are too bright.
#097-021 - Importing Object with Same Name can Crash.
#097-022 - Copying Modifiers without a Bound Shape Crashes.

New Fetures:

Still image render size is saved with a project so so you don't have to reset it each time you reload a project.

Click-drag to move large images around in the render window.

RayDepth attribute sets max depth rays are traced in the ART ray tracer.

AmbientOcclusion attribute enabled global use of background for ambient lighting component.

See the v0.97 Preview page for details (and to get your own copy:))


Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: neirao on September 21, 2008, 06:25:14 pm
Steve..

fool question..

in the page for download, is write..."Download v0.97c Preview Executable"

.97C" ...

ok!

 thanks for this new version.. :D

neirão - Brazil
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Steve on September 21, 2008, 07:27:43 pm
Thanks, I've fixed it.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: VBSmiles on September 21, 2008, 09:38:28 pm
( Might want to emphisize that AmbientOccluder is a scene attribute)
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: thecolclough on September 22, 2008, 05:40:17 am
wow, another update already?  cool.  i'll have to grab a copy and have a play with AmbientOccluder later today!  am i right in thinking that's basically the same thing as Clay Rendering, or at least a similar idea?  or am i barking up the wrong tree... ::)

- c
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: floyd86 on September 22, 2008, 12:03:40 pm
Nice update steve! Keep the good work coming.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: bamman62 on September 22, 2008, 06:06:45 pm
Wow, I really like the new version :)
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: lynn22 on September 22, 2008, 06:30:03 pm
Many thanks Steve, another great step forward.

AmbientOcclusion : my next project, a grainy, old fashion black and white "movie"
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: KiwiNM8OR on September 23, 2008, 08:19:39 am
( Might want to emphisize that AmbientOccluder is a scene attribute)

Also RayDepth is also a Scene attribute for those who do not know as I found out by trial and mostly error. All good though.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: 3D Joe Wiltshire on September 26, 2008, 12:15:49 pm
Oh, and another thing i've noticed similar to the 97c instead of 97d, the "News" box up there:

"News: The v0.97c Preview is now available!  See the "Anim8or v0.97 Preview" Forum for details."
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: PC3DStudio on September 29, 2008, 05:41:12 pm
Steve,
 The ART RAY Tracer still dosn't work with tha Alpha Channel. :(
 Otherwise great new version of Anim8or. GREAT PROGRAM!!!! :) :D
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: kreator on October 01, 2008, 04:09:22 am
I found a bug!... Importing .obj with mtl files anim8or immediately crashes.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Steve on October 02, 2008, 01:35:30 am
kreator, please post bugs as a new topic (with a meaningful subject :)) I can't repro this.  Can you send me your .obj and .mtl files that crash?
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Guilherme Amorim on October 02, 2008, 09:33:30 am
Steve, will you add boolean difference in some future version of anim8or?
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: VBSmiles on October 13, 2008, 01:11:32 am
Steve, will you add boolean difference in some future version of anim8or?

booleans are cool, but they are terrible for character modeling
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Guilherme Amorim on October 14, 2008, 11:44:01 am
Yes, but if this can be used in a scene, it's can be really useful, I think
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Project Test Chamber on October 16, 2008, 03:42:24 pm
KiwiNM8OR that image was awesome, great stuff.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Guilherme Amorim on October 17, 2008, 01:37:22 pm
My favorite is dielectric

It's great to make scenes with water

The thing that took more of my admiration is that the things in the oposite side of the point of view follow the form of the object in the middle, like in the picture, the needle-ball seems flat under the water


Who has more experience can make a great scene!
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: VBSmiles on October 17, 2008, 08:11:08 pm
cool render Guilherme. dielectric is my favorite also ( 2nd to specular reflection which renders much faster )
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Guilherme Amorim on October 17, 2008, 09:58:23 pm
Yes specular reflection's better if there's nothing under the water, and if used wisely in any scene, can reach in a very realistic render!

ART Ray Tracer is great!!
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: KiwiNM8OR on October 18, 2008, 12:20:33 am



Who has more experience can make a great scene!

I wish! That's an excellent use of dielectric; never thought of using it for water. Got me thinking now...

I'm not too sure on how to pronounce your name Guilherme Amorim but I think it's fair to say in Anim8ion Land that odd is in and the norm is out.
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: Guilherme Amorim on October 18, 2008, 01:04:14 pm



Who has more experience can make a great scene!

I wish! That's an excellent use of dielectric; never thought of using it for water. Got me thinking now...

I'm not too sure on how to pronounce your name Guilherme Amorim but I think it's fair to say in Anim8ion Land that odd is in and the norm is out.


I think that water is the most beautiful thing to reproduce, though it's a hard element to reproduce in scenes, I hope someday someone discover a easy way to reproduce it and make it seems real!

Quote
I'm not too sure on how to pronounce your name Guilherme Amorim but I think it's fair to say in Anim8ion Land that odd is in and the norm is out.


lol
That's true!
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: $imon on February 03, 2009, 04:52:15 pm
Not really sure where I would post this.. just wanted to say that it appears to me that the 'radius' settings for a spotlight in the advanced settings, dont seem to make any difference. I would expect that if i set this to a low figure, the light would only travel so far, but no matter what i fill out the results are always the same. Maybe its supposed to be like that? But it seems to me that what goes for a local light would also go for a spotlight..

I dont think there is another way to limit the distance in which a spotlight lights a surface eh?

Just thought I would point it out, as it might be an error.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: EmSN on June 04, 2009, 12:59:21 pm
Wow, this is terrific!  I have been "out" of 3d modeling for way too long, the latest version of Anim8or I have is 0.95.  I am definitely updating it now; keep up the great work, Steve!
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: R3dknight on August 23, 2009, 09:25:38 pm
Woot.

This one is better and way more stable then the 0.96 version (which crash more often) on XP

on my Ubuntu system
it runs pretty well on wine.

it still have the same redraw bug (or probably refresh bug)
can this be fix? or can we have a work around?
please????

Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: xalener on November 14, 2009, 12:26:45 am
*phwew*

It's been a long time.

Any word on new features being worked on?
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: dajean on November 16, 2009, 05:27:09 pm
Not  yet, hopefully Steve will give us a nice surprice before Christmas
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: rellik420 on November 17, 2009, 01:48:49 am
the only thing on my christmas list is IK and exporting animations. i hope you pull it off Santa Steve
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: xalener on November 17, 2009, 05:44:27 pm
IK and animated textures.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: TheRetroZombie on November 29, 2009, 07:00:12 pm
i like the new version
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Dager on December 29, 2009, 09:43:32 am
hey steeve, can you put on next version a exchage shotcuts? ;D
and.. zoom in and zoom out are better (in my opinion) on mouse wheel.
waht you think?
(http://<a href="http://img689.imageshack.us/i/32180285.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/5301/32180285.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://img604.imageshack.us/content.php?page=blogpost&files=img689/5301/32180285.png" title="QuickPost"><img src="http://imageshack.us/img/butansn.png" alt="QuickPost" border="0"></a> Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!)
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: Dager on December 29, 2009, 09:49:18 am
hey steeve, can you put on next version a exchage shotcuts? ;D
and.. zoom in and zoom out are better (in my opinion) on mouse wheel.
waht you think?
(http://<a href="http://img689.imageshack.us/i/32180285.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/5301/32180285.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://img604.imageshack.us/content.php?page=blogpost&files=img689/5301/32180285.png" title="QuickPost"><img src="http://imageshack.us/img/butansn.png" alt="QuickPost" border="0"></a> Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!)
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: SirBluDanes on January 17, 2010, 06:24:55 pm
Hi Steve,
I ust downloaded 97c to my new laptop that uses windows 7.  I was able to extract the file but when I click on it nothing happens.  Does it run uner Windows 7?
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: xalener on February 27, 2010, 12:20:46 am
This isn't looking good. I leave for a full year and NOTHING has changed.
Title: Enhancement Wish List from a Newbee
Post by: hf003 on March 05, 2010, 06:41:39 pm
Anim8or is a great program Steve  ;D. I worked with this tool for the past couple months. I love it, but also wish it had some more features. So I just wanted to let you know what I think would make it better for me. Some of these items others already mentioned, in that case, just add my vote to their wishes. Other items may be hard or impossible to implement, I understand. Yet others may have easy workarounds. If so, please let me know. Thanks for letting me try Anim8or for free.

>>General:

1. It would be nice to have an option to automatically load a project from (and save a project to) individual files.
  - For example. Create an object that is used in multiple projects. Each time the object is changed in one project, the changes automatically get reflected in the other projects.
  - This should also improve autosave performance, as only the file of the item being changed needs be updated. - I have to turn autosave off for large projects, as it annoyingly freezes my environment while saving.

 
2. It would be nice to have the ability to export and import materials to .an8 files.
- For example, I create two objects with a particular material. Then I want to change the material for the two objects in the same way. Not easily done - easiest way now is to copy and paste the material in the exported objects’ files.

3. It would be nice if only user-friendly information is stored in the .an8 files. In particular, store actual angle information like that used in the UI, rather than the little understood quaternion information which is not used in the UI.

4. It would be nice if the viewpoints could be saved and restored when the application is closed and restarted for each item in all modes.

5. It would be nice to be able to save some "User" viewpoints so they can be recalled as desired.

6. Maybe an option to "lock" the Grid when the viewpoint is changed to user so the grid does not rotate along with the object (grid often interferes with what needs to be seen). Otherwise, have a button to easily turn Grid on/off.

7. When rotating the viewpoint (User viewpoint), the axis orientation indicator (Lower left corner) disappears. It would be nice if the indicator would remain visible in the corner, rotating there to reflect the current orientation.

8. Hover over button "help".

9. More short-cut keys and buttons.


>>Object Editor:

10. It would be nice if a singly selected point's coordinates be shown in the status line (Rather than double clicking a point to get that information). In general, just more status line information would be nice.

11. The ability to duplicate a morph target (With a different name) so it is easy to create branches of morph targets.

12. The ability to change any particular morph target to be the default object.

13. Mirror morph targets along with a mirrored mesh.

14. Warn user if an action would result in morph targets getting corrupted/lost.

15. The Pivot Adjustment feature (Object/Axis) fails to snap to grid when Snap to Grid is selected.

17. Would be nice to have a mode where the multi-selection tool does not deselect previously selected items.

18. Would be nice to have an option to hide points/edges/faces that are behind others.


>>Figure Editor:

19. When the bone creation button is selected in Figure editor, it does not stay selected to add multiple bones. User always has to reselect the button for each additional bone created.

20. It would be nice for the bones in the Figure editor to move freely by default.

21. Bone mirroring.


>>Sequence Editor:

22. When changes are "undone" (using undo button) to bone movements in Sequence editor, the bone gets unselected. Usually, the same bone needs be moved again, thus needs to be reselected.

23. It would be nice to be able to easily "Select All" bones in sequence editor to "Copy" all keys for all the bones of a figure. This would be handy when a particular figure's position is desired in multiple frames. It seems like "Select All" does nothing here.

24. It would be nice (if possible) for the Gimbal Lock issue to be resolved in Sequence editor like it is in the Figure editor.
   
25. There is also another bone rotating issue in Sequence editor that has nothing to do with Gimbal Lock that I think has already been hacked to death in these forums.


>>Scene Editor:

26. It would be nice if the "world" line of the hierarchy list indicates if keys are used for a particular frame. If the list has many elements, the only way to determine if no keys are used for a particular frame is to scroll through the list. As such, it is easy to miss and delete frames where keys did exist.

27. When switching between modes, often things get unselected.
  - For example, I try to coordinate bone movement in a particular scene frame with a particular sequence frame. When I switch back and forth between the Scene editor and Sequence editor, I always have to reselect the bone and push the Key button.
  - When trying to coordinate object parameters like size/position to fit scenes, the object is always unselected when switching back to the Object editors.

28. It would be nice to see more control over the Scene mode's Graph Editor's Scaling parameters. If I want to adjust the values for a short period of time of a lengthy animation, It would be nice if I could just show that short period of time in the Graph Editor. This way, the Graph Editor's size can be reduced to see better how the animated objects are affected as the parameters are changed in the Graph Editor.

29. It would be nice to see an option for the Graph Editor to automatically update the animation's current frame depending on the point that is currently selected in the Graph editor.

30. Maybe be able to adjust the radius of a Panorama Background? – I am thinking that could improve rendering performance and/or resolution of the image?


>>Script Editor:

31. Add a Function to allow launching external programs (like morphenvy, etc...). That way, popular external programs could be setup to act as if they were integrated with Anim8or.
 
32. Add Functions to convert quaternion info to and from just angle information (not really necessary if quaternion information is not visible to end users like it is now in the .an8 files).

Let me know if I should elaborate on any of these items.
Thanks again,
Harry

Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Kubajzz on March 06, 2010, 12:31:13 pm
I agree with most of your requests, those are the small things that would make our lives so much easier... However, some of your wishes are definitely not going to be fulfilled.

#3:
There are at least 2 very good reasons why this is a nonsense.
First, it's never a good idea to change the file format unless absolutely necessary. Every such change brings problems with backwards compatibility... Why do you think so many people hate Microsoft? (hint: .doc vs .docx)
Second, why the hell does the .an8 file need to be user friendly? In fact the .an8 format is very user friendly compared to most other file formats, but it's primary purpose is to store data for Anim8or, not for the user. Anim8or (just like any other 3D program) uses quaternions internally because they are very easy to use from programmer's point of view (compared to human-readable angles). That's why quaternions are stored in the .an8 file...

#9:
I am not entirely sure what you mean, but most of tools/buttons in Anim8or have an equivalent keyboard shortcut defined. This might be what you are looking for: http://www.anim8or.com/manual/a_shortcuts.html (http://www.anim8or.com/manual/a_shortcuts.html)

#12 - #14:
I think something must be wrong with your workflow process.
When you change an uv-mapped and textured mesh, you have to redo the texture as well.
When you have a skinned figure and you change the original mesh, you have to redo the skinning.
Now ask yourself - why should morph targets be different? Just make sure you finish the basic mesh and then start working on your morph targets...

#29:
I don't agree with this one. In many cases I want to edit a keyframe in graph editor without switching the currently displayed frame.

#31:
This is very complicated... Even if it was possible to launch an external program from an ASL script, it wouldn't help much. What do you think would happen once the external program is launched? If the program edited the currently opened Anim8or project, there is no way to make the changes appear in Anim8or. You would have to save the changes in the program and then restart Anim8or and this really doesn't speed up the process...

#32:
Check the RPYToQuaternion() function, I believe it does exactly what you need. Also there is also a formula that allows you to convert a quaternion to axis and angle (and vice-versa): http://www.anim8or.com/smf/index.php?topic=2218.msg16310#msg16310 (http://www.anim8or.com/smf/index.php?topic=2218.msg16310#msg16310)

Like I said, I agree with most of your requests... I especially like #10, I never thought of that but you are right that it would help a lot. And #27 is quite high on my wishlist!
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Water Music on March 07, 2010, 01:10:26 am
#17 -> RMB, w/ single- or multi-select
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: wacky blend on March 07, 2010, 07:35:48 am
Hello Steve,

Being a spoiled Blender brat, could you make the GUI just a bit more flexible?  I would like to see some color options at least.  I like working in a gray neutral background.  Being able to customize (remap) the hot-keys would be nice too.  That feature is just coming out in Blender 2.5 beta, so I still can't even do that with my current 2.49 version.  Other than that, I think you're doing a wonderful job working by all by yourself and I could never compare your work scale to the entire Blender Foundation.  ;D

WB
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: hf003 on March 09, 2010, 01:32:23 pm
Hi Kubajzz,
Thanks for replying to my lengthy post. I understand some of my suggestions may not be worth the effort.
In any case, let me try to explain where I am coming from.
 
#3. You are right, it is impossible to significantly change a file’s format and still be backwards compatible. I guess it all depends on what is more important. As for why I like to see the file format be user friendly is simply because I often manipulate the data in the files. For instance – If I want a row of objects in my scene that are perfectly aligned, it is much easier (now) to just create the data text manually and pasting it in the file. Then load the file into Anim8or. This way the coordinates and orientation data of all the objects are all right in front of you making it easy to adjust the values. Alternatively, using the Scene Editor, only a few objects’ coordinates and angles can be seen at any given time. If accuracy is not an issue, then the Scene Editor works great as it is. As for me, I hate Word docs because they are cryptic, while I cannot remember having issues with backwards compatibility. But then, that may just be me.

As for number #9, I guess I was thinking of the Edit->Locate, Edit->Rotate functions. Seems these are used enough to warrant shortcut keys or buttons. Actually, some of the Edit options are used enough where it would be nice to have buttons for them. I often turn the grid on/off, so a button to do that would be nice as well.

#12. This one may be difficult to do. What I was thinking is what if after I add many Morph Targets to an object, I realize the default look for the object should be one of those Morph Targets. If I can simply change the default form of the object, I could save myself a lot of work. Maybe experienced people would never make this mistake, so this may not be worth implementing.

#13. Mirror morph targets along with a mirrored mesh?
If I create a symmetrical object, it is often easier to create half, then mirror the object. The same can be said with symmetrical morphs (Am I wrong?).

#14. Warn user if an action would result in morph targets getting corrupted/lost?
Maybe this comes from not knowing the tool very well. You are right, the workaround here is to finish the mesh first before adding morphs. Again, that may be easy for someone experienced. Unfortunately, what I found is when I begin adding morphs, sometimes I need to tweak the original mesh. Then deleting a point corrupts the morph targets. I once converted a mesh to Subdivision (not knowing any better) and you know what happened. A simple warning would have been appreciated.

#29. You may be right, it may be better the way it is. I was just looking for a user selectable option here to do it either way.

As for #31. I guess you may be right. I understand it could depend on the programming tool that is used. I have done this quite easily using MS Visual Studio. And you are also right, it would only be useful if we can easily reload the manipulated files. I am not sure how this can easily be done. Perhaps the script could have a function do that automatically somehow (Not sure if it would be possible to sense when a third party app closes or if a file has changed)?

Anyway, these are all just suggestions, as I actually think Anim8or is great already.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: bamman62 on April 01, 2010, 09:07:19 pm
 #3. I don't think there would really be a major concern over backwards compatibility considering that it is a completely free program. Import would be able to open older files, and there shouldn't be any issues for downloading the version that would run the newer files.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Kubajzz on April 02, 2010, 01:05:46 pm
I don't know how difficult it is to change the file syntax, but I believe it is difficult enough to be avoided whenever possible. For example several common identifiers in the .an8 format are misspelled ("ambiant", "parameteric"), but Steve didn't change them, because there was no really good reason to do it. Again, the .an8 format is primarily designed for the Anim8or parser and I don't think the parser does care of proper spelling.

The .an8 format is not fully backwards compatible, if you try to open a new .an8 file in a very old version of Anim8or, it will most probably fail because there have been a few breaking changes over the years (new material and texture settings, subdivision shapes, morph targets, painted weights, controller scripts...), but all these changes were necessary...
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: $imon on April 12, 2010, 04:22:26 am
I have a bug that would be nice if it could be gotten rid of; when I join a lot of objects (more than.. 20 maybe?) The combined object won't cast shadows in a render.
I'm not completely sure how to recreate the problem, since it doesn't always have the same result. i will fiddle around with it for a bit.

Now I can avoid it by dividing the large object up in smaller parts again (select > Detach Faces), but by doing that I lose the edge-information (smooth/creased)

So fixing either one would solve the problem. Hope you have time for it Steve! Thanks so much.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: daniel99 on April 19, 2010, 10:57:09 pm
Maybe the next version will have some render speeder. Unfortunately, rendering in AO take a lot of time for everybory, I have a very decent conputer, but still... I have to wait about 3 hours for a 10 seconds render.
When i make render tests, waiting time is bad, because sometimes we have dead line time.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: Novi1new on April 25, 2010, 11:21:47 pm
Awesome! After this preview I can now use Anim8or on my computer running Vista. Thank You Steve.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: hf003 on April 26, 2010, 12:27:42 pm
Just a thought on Rendering issues. What I have seen is that using lights and shadows greatly slows down the rendering. I do all my test renderings without shadows. Then add shadows to the final cut. I do not see any way to "globally" turn shadows on/off other than commenting out the relevant lines of the .an8 file with an editor. It would be nice if there was a way to globally control lights/shadows using the GUI if the rendering cannot be sped up when such are used.
Title: Re: v0.97d Preview Ready
Post by: hihosilver on April 26, 2010, 05:01:08 pm
hf003:  Go "View>Preferences..." and uncheck the "shadows" parameter under the 'File Output' section.  It will globally turn off all shadows
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: cooldude234 on October 08, 2010, 10:53:17 am
I stay for a full year, AND NOTHING CHANGED!
Ah well at least some people are doing some nice renders.
Title: Re: v0.97c Preview Ready
Post by: davdud101 on November 03, 2010, 04:58:25 pm
bump much? jk, me too. Where's steve? anyone in contact with him?
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: cooldude234 on June 08, 2012, 04:47:39 pm
Art has alpha
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: neirao on October 09, 2013, 08:14:56 pm
Steve, :'(
the file.zip/link is broken!!
i try remove the dot in 0.97f, but no work to!!
when i make the download the "anim8or_v097f_preview.zip"
have only 1kbyte!!  ???

Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: RudySchneider on October 09, 2013, 09:49:56 pm
neirao --- What browser are you using?  Windows Internet Explorer sometimes has issues with ZIP files.  Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox don't have that problem.

By the way, did you click on the link below, which Steve posted in the first message of this topic string, rather than the direct download link that appears in the topic "New preview with XP fix ready: v0.97f?"  That one didn't work for me, either.

http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/files/anim8or_v097d_preview.zip
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: neirao on October 10, 2013, 09:54:16 am
Thanks Rudy :)
but the version "D" i have...
i need download the last version "F" working for winxp ok!
i use the FIREFOX BROWSER...
im go try mader the downloader in another browser..

thanks!!
Title: Re: v0.97 Preview Ready (With ART Ray Tracer!)
Post by: VBSmiles on October 23, 2013, 07:59:24 pm
neirao --- What browser are you using?  Windows Internet Explorer sometimes has issues with ZIP files.  Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox don't have that problem.

By the way, did you click on the link below, which Steve posted in the first message of this topic string, rather than the direct download link that appears in the topic "New preview with XP fix ready: v0.97f?"  That one didn't work for me, either.

http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/files/anim8or_v097d_preview.zip


Im not sure of the problem but I'm thinking its the download itself. My friend downloaded it and it acted corrupt or just wouldnt run. I sent them my own download of it and it now runs fine for him. as far as I know he uses chrome. ( what I use )