sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (scott sutherland) (02/05/90)
Since programs like Turbo Silver and Photon Paint can wrap textures about objects in 3D and 2D, respectively (I know that PP can wrap around "3D" objects, but with TS, you can actually move around the 3D objects). Given this, it is my idea to give my animations a more realistic look by using REAL-WORLD textures for my objects. I have the Texture companion disk from PP, and this IS along the lines of what I am looking for. However, this disk in limited to marble and wood. I had a idea to take my camera and photograph dozens of real textures and digitize them into IFF images which I could use at any time in my animations. Unfortunately, I do NOT have DigiView or any other image digitizer avaiable to me, nor will I have the $$ any time soon. One other option was the cameras which have been advertised which capture images onto a floppy disk. However, to date I have NOT heard of any interfaces which would allow me to get the data from the disk to the Amiga. [IF ANYONE HAS HEARD DIFFERENTLY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I TALKED TO A REP FOR ONE OF THESE THINGS (SONY I THINK) AND HE TOLD ME THEY WERE WORKING ON IT. THEY ONLY HAD A MAC II INTERFACE.) Thus, my only option at this time is to query the net to see if anyone knows of any ftp sites or other sources of IFF "texture" images. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Scott Sutherland sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu
hrlaser@pnet01.cts.com (Harv Laser) (02/08/90)
sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (scott sutherland) writes: > > Since programs like Turbo Silver and Photon Paint can wrap >textures about objects in 3D and 2D, respectively (I know that >PP can wrap around "3D" objects, but with TS, you can actually >move around the 3D objects). Given this, it is my idea to give >my animations a more realistic look by using REAL-WORLD textures >for my objects. I have the Texture companion disk from PP, and >this IS along the lines of what I am looking for. However, this >disk in limited to marble and wood. I had a idea to take my >camera and photograph dozens of real textures and digitize them >into IFF images which I could use at any time in my animations. >Unfortunately, I do NOT have DigiView or any other image digitizer >avaiable to me, nor will I have the $$ any time soon. One other >option was the cameras which have been advertised which capture >images onto a floppy disk. However, to date I have NOT heard of >any interfaces which would allow me to get the data from the disk >to the Amiga. [IF ANYONE HAS HEARD DIFFERENTLY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. >I TALKED TO A REP FOR ONE OF THESE THINGS (SONY I THINK) AND HE >TOLD ME THEY WERE WORKING ON IT. THEY ONLY HAD A MAC II INTERFACE.) >Thus, my only option at this time is to query the net to see if anyone >knows of any ftp sites or other sources of IFF "texture" images. > > Any help would be appreciated. > >Thanks, > >Scott Sutherland >sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu Scott: you don't necessarily have to OWN digitizing/scanning hardware to get the job done. Any big Amy dealers near you? Lots of them have scanners and DigiViews and other stuff you can rent time on to get the job done. I can immediately thing of two ways to get the kind of texture imagery you're looking for: 1) borrow or rent a Canon "Xapshot" still frame video camera. Go take pics of what you need - the Xapshot gets 50 frames on each of its little 2" disks (same format disk as Sony Mavica, but might not be interchangeable file formats ON those disks). Then plug the output of the Xapshot into a PP&S FrameGrabber and play back the pix, grabbing each one and saving to disk as an IFF file in your choice of colors, resolutions, etc. Cameras like the Xapshot and the Mavica have a color NTSC-out jack but that signal has to be processed and converted to IFF before it's any use to you. To do that requires extra Amiga-based hardware like the FGrabber. You could also probably output the Xapshot to a Sunrize "color splitter" and from there into a DigiView and achieve the same goal using DigiView's software, although it'd be slower (since the FrameGrabber can grab in one-pass color but the splitter would have to send 3 separate R-G-B scans to DigiView which would composite them together into a color picture). 2) take pics of textures with your regular camera, get the pics developed and then find someone or a dealer who has one of the Sharp flatbed color scanners and scan them in. I don't know where you live but Creative Computers out here in Torrance, CA. has the big JX-450 scanner which they rent time on. I've got its little baby brother, the JX-100 on loan for a magazine review (and will probably buy it afterwards) and with ASDG's brilliant "ScanLab 100" software this little scanner produces beautiful output. Sure, all of these bits of hardware are relatively expensive when your budget hovers around $0.00 but again check around for dealers who will rent the equipment or rent time on it. [ps.. my review of the Xapshot/FrameGrabber combo with example pics will be in the "Graf/X" issue of AX magazine, and my JX-100/SL100 review will be in their next "regular" issue - also copiously illustrated :-) ] [pps.. if you DO end up with a Xapshot in your hands, look on the bottom of the camera for a small rubber plug.. pull the plug and under it you'll see a *tiny* slide switch. This switch MUST be set to the "interlace" position prior to playback before the FrameGrabber can correctly sync to the Xapshot's NTSC output] UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!hrlaser ARPA: crash!pnet01!hrlaser@nosc.mil INET: hrlaser@pnet01.cts.com