filip@alberta.UUCP (Don Filipchuk) (07/26/88)
Could anybody on the net please impart to me
their experiences with the SILVER ray tracing/
animation package? I saw it in a store and the
package looked impressive, but was about $220 (CDN)
if I am not mistaken. ouch!
It looks good but seems very expensive. I would
probably go through mail order for this one...
Thanks in advance
Don
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| Don Filipchuk | "... with human females, I must |
| | restrain myself too much. They are |
| University of Alberta | quite fragile." |
| Edmonton, Alberta | |
| Canada | - Lt. Worf -- |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo L. Schwab) (07/27/88)
In article <311@cadomin.UUCP> filip@cadomin.UUCP (Don Filipchuk) writes: > Could anybody on the net please impart to me > their experiences with the SILVER ray tracing/ > animation package? [ ... ] Having recently figured out how a substantial portion of this program works, my comments might be valid. Silver's user interface is icky. Unlike the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, Silver has some excellent underlying functions and features which are covered over with an opaque user interface. It is not entirely unuseable, since I have seen some dynamite stuff created with it, but it certainly isn't easy. I'm really uncertain about this program. I find it very hard to use, but the pictures it cranks out are pure sex; unmatched by current versions of Sculpt or Sculpt/Animate. The version of the manual I have sucks eggs. It is written in a conversational style which makes it easy reading but imparts information in a very haphazard way. It also has no reference section, and no index, making it impossible to figure out what a particular feature does. It also leaves out some information entirely, such as how to select multiple frames simultaneously (you hold down SHIFT). It's also loaded with spelling errors. I am told that there is new and better version of the manual available. The animation facility almost isn't. There is absolutely no tweening. To animate something, you set a cell (a scene description) and render it. Then you move the next cell, move the objects around for the next *frame*, and render it. Then you move to the next cell, move the object around for frame three, and render it, etc etc etc. You can specify all the cells ahead of time, then render them all at once, but you still have to specify the object positions on a frame-by-frame basis. While this *can* be very powerful, when you only have a graphical interface, it is a pain. It is rumored that a tweening version of Silver will become available "some day." However, Silver will still make a good creator of still images, just as Sculpt-3D is. There is only one light source. The camera manipulation is less than obvious. The program also creates a number of files and directories when editing an image/animation, which the manual makes no attempt to explain. Nevertheless, Silver (in particular, Turbo Silver) has some REALLY NEAT FEATURES that aren't found in any other commercial raytracer, such as refraction, and smooth color "fading" on objects. The renderer is also astoundingly quick, being written largely in machine code (I think), using fixed-point integers. In summary, if you can get past the weird user interface, you'll be rewarded with some damn impressive images. And, with the advent of Syndesis' new Turbo Silver Interchange module, you can drag objects from VideoScape and Sculpt into Silver and use them. Turbo Silver is worth a look. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape INET: well!ewhac@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU \_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: UUCP: pacbell > !{well,unicom}!ewhac O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") "Hmm, you're right. Air is made up of suspended meat loaf." -- Josh Siegel