steve@usna.UUCP (Steve Satterfield <steve@usna>) (10/19/84)
We have just installed a Matrix model 3000 frame buffer camera connected to an Adage (Ikonas) RDS300 frame buffer. Has anyone out there written any programs for controlling this device from the host computer? Now for a more general question. How do you handle a lot of users using a camera? We currently have only a 35mm format and want to use it for a graphics class. As the students generate images we would like to collect enough for a roll of film and then shoot them all at once. Essentially, we would like to 'spool' the images. We are considering developing a command: sic - Spool Image to the Camera. The student would generate an image on the Ikonas and the issue the sic command. The command would then perform 1) Read the Ikonas image memory and create a run length encoded file. 2) Store the RLE file in a spool directory. 3) Send mail to the person in charge of the camera. When enough images are spooled, the camera person would shoot the roll of film, develop it and mount the slides. Additional functions sic could perform include: a) With the addition of a parameter to the command, it would write an identifying string on the image before spooling it. This parameter should probably be optional and include an optional position parameter that would indicate to put the identification string at either the top or bottom of the screen. b) Since frame buffer images can get rather large, a lot of users creating a lot of images could fill a file system. Thus the command should do something to limit either the number of images or the amount of storage used. Alternately, item a) above could be done in a separate command prior to executing sic. An additional command to preview the spooled images might be useful to the general user. Maybe it could be named psi - Preview Spooled Images. Then of course a command for the camera operator which would scan the spool directory, write the RLE files back to the Ikonas and shoot the camera. And a command to clean up the spool directory would be useful. What about the future. We plan to acquire additional frame buffers, cameras and host computers all connected via local area network. How does this idea fit in a distributed environment? Maybe add additional parameters that that specify the source frame buffer (the one to read back and create a RLE file) and the destination camera. Have I missed anything? Has anyone solved these problems? Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Steve Satterfield Computer Aided Design and Interactive Graphics Group U. S. Naval Academy Annapolis, Md. 21402 (301) 267-4413 decvax!brl-bmd!usna!steve seismo!usna!steve umcp-cs!usna!steve