wayneck@tekig5.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) (04/05/88)
I getting ready an animation package for the ST. We want to start selling it
this summer. It uses charactor based animation and is fully 3D. This program
is not a cad program and is very different than CAD 3D (a great program) and
is not a ray tracer. Anyway I deciding with programs I should support that
that they will work with the program I'm working on. (Animator:Apperentice
which was written by Martin Hash, I'm adapting it to the Atari ST)
This program requires a paint program to make it really useful. So I'm trying
to get a handle on which paint programs I should support. I don't want to do
more than is needed yet I want to have a reasonable choice for the user.
So far my short term goals are:
1. work well with NeoChrome and Degas
2. work well with Spectrum 512 (this is the program I'll hope my
user use as 512 color displays are really nice for animation)
A few months down the road I want to also be compatible the CAD 3D and Cyber
Paint.
Is that enough are do people need other support. I don't what to support
something that only 1 or 2 people need, yet I want to cover the bases. So
far I'm not impressed with the more than 512 color displays and am steering
away from them. So what paint programs are people using?rjung@castor.usc.edu (Robert Jung) (04/06/88)
In article <2618@tekig5.TEK.COM> wayneck@tekig5.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) writes: > >I getting ready an animation package for the ST. We want to start selling it >this summer.... >This program requires a paint program to make it really useful. So I'm trying >to get a handle on which paint programs I should support. I don't want to do >more than is needed yet I want to have a reasonable choice for the user. > >So far my short term goals are: > > 1. work well with NeoChrome and Degas > 2. work well with Spectrum 512 (this is the program I'll hope my > user use as 512 color displays are really nice for animation) > >A few months down the road I want to also be compatible the CAD 3D and Cyber >Paint. > >Is that enough are do people need other support. I don't what to support >something that only 1 or 2 people need, yet I want to cover the bases. So >far I'm not impressed with the more than 512 color displays and am steering >away from them. So what paint programs are people using? Well, I still stick with NeoChrome, and I *love* it! I can tell you, however, that everybody I know who uses an ST in animation/ art/graphics/demos/etc. use either DEGAS Elite (not the old DEGAS, that's "obsolete") and/or the Cyber/CAD-3D things from Antic. If you've got DEGAS Elite and CAD-3D support, I think you're on solid ground (kudos for Tom Hudson!). Speaking of animation, does anyone in netland know whatever's happened to Broderbund's "Arti Director/Film Director" package for the ST? They've announced it so long ago, and I'm *still* waiting! (Cel animation is the only way to go!) Is this just so much vaporware, or can I still wait on Broderbund to pull through for me? For an $80 art/animation package, that's a steal! --R.J. B-) ______________________________________________________________________________ Bitnet: rjung@castor.usc.edu "Who needs an Amiga?" = == = = == = Power WithOUT the Price = == = ===== == ===== Just because it's 8-bits doesn't make it obsolete. ==== == ====
wayneck@tekig5.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) (04/08/88)
In article <649@nunki.usc.edu>, rjung@castor.usc.edu (Robert Jung) writes: > > Speaking of animation, does anyone in netland know whatever's happened to > Broderbund's "Arti Director/Film Director" package for the ST? They've > announced it so long ago, and I'm *still* waiting! (Cel animation is the only > way to go!) Is this just so much vaporware, or can I still wait on Broderbund > to pull through for me? For an $80 art/animation package, that's a steal! > Thanks for your input. I'm curious to know why you feel that Cel animation is the only way to go. It seems nice for some effects but on the whole very limited or at least very time consuming to do really nice animation. Do you like Cel animation because it is easier to do or it there some other values of it I'm not aware. By the way isn't Aegis Animator about $80 dollars, it is a Cel animator, also isn't Cyber Paint mainly just a Cel animator for about $70. I think the that Cad3D, Cyber Paint, other paint programs, Aegis Animator, Animator:Apperetice (The one I'm working on), raytracers, and special effects packages are just tools in an animators toolbox. In an ideal sitution the animator should be able just to pick whatever tool he wants for whatever effect he is working on and with this picking and choosing build any animation he wants to. Wayne Knapp
rjung@sal1.usc.edu (Robert Jung) (04/08/88)
In article <2632@tekig5.TEK.COM> wayneck@tekig5.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) writes: >In article <649@nunki.usc.edu>, I wrote: >> Speaking of animation, does anyone in netland know whatever's happened to >> Broderbund's "Arti Director/Film Director" package for the ST? They've >> announced it so long ago, and I'm *still* waiting! (Cel animation is the only >> way to go!) Is this just so much vaporware, or can I still wait on Broderbund >> to pull through for me? For an $80 art/animation package, that's a steal! >> >Thanks for your input. I'm curious to know why you feel that Cel animation is >the only way to go. It seems nice for some effects but on the whole very >limited or at least very time consuming to do really nice animation. Do you >like Cel animation because it is easier to do or it there some other values of >it I'm not aware. By the way isn't Aegis Animator about $80 dollars, it is a >Cel animator, also isn't Cyber Paint mainly just a Cel animator for about $70. > >I think the that Cad3D, Cyber Paint, other paint programs, Aegis Animator, >Animator:Apperetice (The one I'm working on), raytracers, and special effects >packages are just tools in an animators toolbox. In an ideal sitution the >animator should be able just to pick whatever tool he wants for whatever effect >he is working on and with this picking and choosing build any animation he >wants to. Oboy, one of my favorite comp.sys.rec.fun.n.games topics! To address your queries/points one at a time: (1) I like cel animation because it's easier, and I get "more" detail out of an animation. Aegis Animator's "metamorphoises" mode, CAD-3D, and other things like that, while they *move* nicely, they don't *look* nicely. For me, it's the little things that make a computer animation fun. CyberPaint is the best in this regard, since I can draw every frame individually, but it's not quite what I'd love to do work with. Given enough cel "pages", you can do quite a lot. I have a friend here who just completed a CyberPaint demo of the "California Raisins", and he duplicated cel animation by drawing components on DEGAS blocks, and animating them indivdually. (This animation will be featured on Antic's upcoming Cyber animation VCR videotape, I hear)... (2) Art Director/Film Director also provides SOUND/MUSIC, which none of the other ST animation programs you mentioned (except for Animator:) offer. I don't need the hassle of having to link up G.I.S.T. with the Cyber programs...I'd like to have everything in one convient package (hey, another tip for your program!). An ability to define my own sounds would be nice, too. (3) You must remember, I'm not a professional animator by any definition of the term. I'm looking for an animation equvalent to Neochrome: Something fully-featured, easy-to-use, and adequate for my purposes. Sure, there are more expensive, detail-loaded paint programs for the ST, but NeoChrome does what I want (and very well, I may add). Similarly, I would like an animation program that's a complete package, offering me enough features to do quality work, but not necessarily swamping me with every trick in the book. The MOVIE MAKER program for the Atari 8-bits is/was the kind of package I'm looking for. Heck, just chain eight or nine two-minute animations together on a disk, and you get a full-featured "movie"...I'm surprised nobody has done anything similar to this for the ST (and that's what FILM DIRECTOR was *supposed* to do!)... --R.J. B-) ______________________________________________________________________________ Bitnet: rjung@castor.usc.edu "Who needs an Amiga?" = == = = == = Power WithOUT the Price = == = ===== == ===== Just because it's 8-bits doesn't make it obsolete. ==== == ====