alexj@unrvax.unr.edu (Jack Alexander) (07/03/90)
HELLO! We are putting together a networked system of color graphic workstations that will be used for giving live presentations for things like conventions, etc. We are looking for some sort of package that will allow us to create animation command files that can be interpreted and rendered real-time. The workstations we are looking at are silicon graphics and sparcstation 1+ (with 24-bit card). Does anybody know of any software out there that does this? We don't need any fancy interface to it -- we can write that. We are under a tremendous time crunch that requires us to purchase the rendering package. We anticipate a typical "animation" to consist of text and graphics, some of which precomputed via ray-tracing, or digitized photgraphs, etc. Any suggestions are appreciated... -- Jack Alexander
daveb@comspec.uucp (dave berman) (07/15/90)
alexj@unrvax.unr.edu (Jack Alexander) writes: > We are putting together a networked system of color graphic workstations > that will be used for giving live presentations for things like conventions, > etc. We are looking for some sort of package that will allow us to > create animation command files that can be interpreted and rendered real-time. > The workstations we are looking at are silicon graphics and sparcstation 1+ > (with 24-bit card). > Does anybody know of any software out there that does this? We don't need > any fancy interface to it -- we can write that. We are under a tremendous > time crunch that requires us to purchase the rendering package. > We anticipate a typical "animation" to consist of text and graphics, some > of which precomputed via ray-tracing, or digitized photgraphs, etc. > Any suggestions are appreciated... > -- Jack Alexander Dear Jack, and other readers - Comments like the one I am making have started terrrrible wars, so let's not do it again here. I don't own my own Amiga (yet). You should visit your local Commodore Dealer, and just give the youngest student salesperson a chance to demo an animation package on one of the high end Amigas. (I am hoping you will find some non-business-like person who is absolutely experienced in graphics). Although the things you might see may not meet 100% of your speed specs, it may suffice, and the cost per station may make it possible for more people to get stations, or to justify some other arrangement. For example, you may get a lab full of Amigas, and only one or two of the very high end stations, if your work needs to be compatible with one of these platforms. There are *many* experts on Amiga animation and 3-D rendering here in Toronto, but, alas, I am not one of them. Some of them work in the same company I do. So that's my tho't... At least look at an Amiga 2000 or 3000. For your application, a co-processor should be in both the Demonstration and in the units you intend to purchase, as it makes a *big* difference in response time. (I say this because you are considering the purchase of Professional Stations, so, the addition of Memory and Horsepower to these Consumer Stations is a reasonable thing). Our company manufactures Hard Drives, Expansion Memory, and other goods for computers, including Amigas. Many of our staff here are in love with their Amigas (others are 'just friends'), many of them into animation, etc. They may not be the high end stations you have in mind, but you could be surprised at how they might fill your needs. Enough said. Best wishes on finding the stuff you need, Jack. -Dave -- Dave Berman 436 Perth Av #U-907 daveb@comspec.UUCP Computer at work Toronto Ontario uunet!mnetor!becker!comspec!daveb Canada M6P 3Y7 416-785-3668 Fax at work