hatcher@INGRES.BERKELEY.EDU.UUCP (03/02/87)
I found this in comp.sys.atari.st, and am reposting here for your reading pleasure. Doug From ucbvax!decvax!tektronix!reed!omsi Mon Mar 2 03:17:10 PST 1987 Article 1847 of comp.sys.atari.st: Relay-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Path: ucbvax!decvax!tektronix!reed!omsi >From: omsi@reed.UUCP (OMSI) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Stereoscopic Display for ST Message-ID: <5547@reed.UUCP> Date: 28 Feb 87 05:31:40 GMT Date-Received: 28 Feb 87 16:23:44 GMT References: <8702260920.aa24966@ARDEC-3.ARDEC.ARPA> Reply-To: omsi@reed.UUCP (OMSI) Distribution: world Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR Lines: 58 [] In article <8702260920.aa24966@ARDEC-3.ARDEC.ARPA> ekijak@ARDEC.ARPA ("Edmund S. Kijak", IMD-IPAO) writes: ... >MASS MARKET APPLICATIONS FOR LCS 3-D USING THE ATARI 1040ST >Gary S. Yost - Antic Publishing, Inc. ... >Gary S. Yost, Director of Product Development and Marketing, Antic Publishing, >Inc., San Francisco, California > Mr. Yost founded the software division of Antic Publishing, Inc. in 1985, >and is the significant force behind the development of the STEREOTEK 3D display >system for Atari ST computers (in cooperation with Tektronix). Before moving to >Antic in 1983, he was a Research Fellow with the Atari Institiute for >Educational Action Research. In the past year, Mr. Yost has managed the >development of the first Computer Aided Design system that stereoscopically >renders 3D models in color (under $100), and the first stereoscopic molecular >modeling package aimed at the secondary education market towards marketing >high-performance 3D displays to over 150,000 Atari ST owners, and developing >special 3D markets for value added resellers. [small flame...] Gee.. I know the guy who created the glasses for Tek for the ST, but does anybody give him credit? I'd like to be the first. His name is Mark Kimball. He first developed the hardware trying to use the DMA port to control it but he ran into a few problems so he found a way to "write" to the DMA port without having to modify the ST. His first software experimentation with it was drawing 3-d spheres in Forth on a mono monitor. The nice thing about the monochrome on the ST is the refresh rate is about 72 Hz (as opposed to the usual 60 Hz) which made the images seem to flicker less. When Tek invested in color monitors, he picked up CAD 3-D and started seeing if could make Tom Hudson's 3-D really 3-D. Mark created a couple of desk accessories that did the trick. Mark started working with Tom in seeing how the glasses could be worked into CAD 3-D. So the resulting projects came up with things like animations that instead of storing each frame in memory, only the first frame is stored along with just the changes between frames so it takes a LOT less space. One of Tom's latest projects is ray tracing (after he saw Zanth's "Shiny Bubbles") and his latest "masterpiece" combines ray tracing, stereo glasses, and animation, and is called "Steely Boink". This is a fantastic little 15x2 frame stereo animation that is a "room" that is enclosed on each side with an 'animated' picture, with several 'mirrored' spheres moving around reflecting everything. This one you got to see to believe! (I'm lucky because the store that I work at is one of Mark's favorite hangouts). Mark is now experimenting with adding more bit planes to the ST. He mentioned somthing like adding 4 more to low rez so you have 256 colors on the screen at the same time. I have just one flame against Antic. Since they are the distibutor for the StereoTek glasses they have done somthing rotten. Even though they sell the new CAD 3-D 2.0 and the StereoTek glasses to dealers, they are selling the two together at a reduced rate but not selling the "sets" to dealers so they can do the same. So, the store I work at is now talking to LCS (Tek) to buy the glasses directly to cut down the cost so CAD 3-D and the glasses could be bundled together cheaper. (Things are looking promising) - Russell Schwartz ...!tektronix!reed!omsi P.S. Sorry for rambling on so long.