her@compel.UUCP (Helge Egelund Rasmussen) (03/11/91)
kholland@hydra.unm.edu (Kiernan Holland) writes: >Hey, does anybody know how good journeyman is? I just saw a review in >Amiga World about it. Spline modeling is what I like and want. >well see ya. I have only had Journeyman for a few weeks, so I'm still at the learning stage. It is VERY advanced, but unfortunately it has quite a few bugs in the rendering module: I get GURU's when I try to render a picture(!!). However, if I change the picture size to 320x400, it work ok, so I guess that the problem is with the handling of PAL machines. I have told Hash Enterprises about it, so now I'll see how good their customer service is... A new version (1.2) should be released in the near future. I'll probably post a longer 'review' of it when I get the new version. Here is little 'description' of it: Journeyman is delivered on two diskettes, one contain the software and the other contains files which are used when you try the tutorial section of the manual. The manual are good and contain a large tutorial section in which you create a full 80 frame animation of a jumping/bowing worm!! It seems that the tutorial is for the NEXT version of the program, as it is describing commands which doesn't exist in the reference section or in the program. Journeyman consist of 6 programs: Sculpture, Character, Action, Direction, Render and Display. SCULPTURE is a mix of the Imagine 'forms' and 'detail' editors. You create simple objects (called 'segments) here, but assignment of attributes etc. is done in the CHARACTER module. All 'faces' are created of 'patches' which is curved surfaces. Because of this you don't need as many faces as you would use in other 3d programs. The program try to keep a smooth connection between patches, but it is possible to create sharp (peaked) connections as well. You can modify the patches by moving the control-points, and by modifying three parameters (magnitude, alpha-bias and gamma-bias), which define the curvature of the patch. The magnitude decides how flat the patch is; if the magnitude is 0 the patch is peaked at the control point, if the magnitude is very great then the patch is flat. The bias values control the angles of the patch near the controlpoint. You only have two windows, but you can assign these to front, bottom, right, left, top bottom or eye-view as you want. It is possible to edit the object from all these views (including the eye view). One of the very nice features is that you can 'paint' on your object very easily. If you press the 'j' key, you end up in a little painting program. Here you can render your object in shaded view, and it is then possible to paint on the object (for instance you could put make-up on a head!). It is possible to load brushes from other paint programs if you wish, but you can't use more than 32 colors. It is also possible to load IFF brushes from other painting programs. Another thing that you can do, is to draw a face and profile view of your object in the paint program. Then you can change this into a three dimensional object by pressing a key. Because of the spline/patch oriented interface, it is very easy to create smooth objects. In the CHARACTER program, you create characters by connecting the segments created in the sculpture program; it is here that you add attributes to the objects. It has a lot of different textures, and you have a preview feature so that you can see what the texture looks like before rendering. The textures are very nice, but they are also VERY expensive in rendering time. It is possible to set values for: Ambient light, Transmission, Reflection, Roughness, Red, Green, Blue, Sphecular reflection. There is only one slider for each of these (Imagine, I think, has three for Sphecular reflection). Values are from 0 to 100 (Imagine has values between 0 and 255). The ACTION program is used to create motion, it is best compared to the cycle editor in Imagine. Here you can create skeleton motion by keyframing as in the cycle editor, but you have MUCH more control over what is happening. For instance, you can modify curves which show how a object is moving in the X, Y and Z directions over time, and then you can modify it as you want (to create acceleration/decelleration etc.) You can also morph an object, either by moving 'control points' or by changing the curve parameters (magnitude and bias). It is also possible to get a graph of this, and modify this if you want. Finally you can create 'spine' motions. If you bend/turn/stretch a spine in an object, the object will bend/turn/stretch too (and still be smooth etc.). This can be controlled by graphs too. The DIRECTION program corresponds to the Imagine 'Stage editor'. Here you do the same things as you can do in the stage/action editor. You can create spline paths for objects, lights and the camera, and you can use graphs to modify acceleration etc. Focal length, light colors, light bulb widths etc. is also governed by graphs, so you have a lot of control over what is happening. The camera can act as a real camera, that is it can be set up so that things may be out of focus depending on distance (Depth Of Field). All motion is governed by paths and graphs, so you can accelerate/decellerate objects. The 'action list editor' and the 'morph list editor' is where you assign skeleton motion and morphs to the objects. A skeleton motion/morph isn't a part of an object, for instance, you can use different motion/morphs for the same object. The RENDER program corresponds to the Imagine project editor. Here you add the background color (which can't vary as it can in Imagine), it is possible to add a haze effect to the picture. It is possible to render in Preview mode (=ham), Anim file mode and Iff 24 bit mode. It is also possible to use antialiassing, enable/disable shadows and choose between scanline or raytracing. As I mentioned, I've had a lot of problems with this part of Journeyman. In fact the only way I have been able to use this module is by using the PREVIEW 320x400 mode which work most of the time (nearly everything else crashes the machine!!) The renderer seems slower than the one in Imagine, especially if one are using textures. DISPLAY is just another iff/anim viewer. Overall, I like the program very much. You have MUCH more control over motion etc. than you have in Imagine. It is NOT possible to 'morph' texture parameters as you can do in Imagine. As in Imagine, light sources isn't objects; they are added in the Direction module (= Imagine stage editor). Because of this it is very difficult to create animations with objects holding lamps etc (ie. A man walking with a flashlight). I think that the Imagine renderer is quite a bit better than the one in Journeyman, but as I said, I haven't had that much chance to play with the renderer :-( It is very easy to create smooth objects (human/animal objects) because it is based on splines/patches, and you use much fewer control points than you use in for instance Imagine. The spine and muscle morphing features give much better control of the animation of these objects. Journeyman doesn't have any 'standard' objects (plane, sphere, tube, box etc), so you have to create these by hand when needed. The only advanced command are 'extrude' (ie. no spin, skin etc.). Unfortunately, it isn't able to import Imagine/TS or Sculpt objects into Journeyman, so you have to create all new objects youself. Finally, there is no Journeyman mailing list on USENET :-( :-(, in fact I haven't as yet seen postings from other users of the program. A big plus is, that a person from Hash Enterprises is on the net, and that he is willing to answer stoopid questions. It is really nice to be able to ask questions to someone who really know the program. Just ask if you have further questions about the program... Helge --- Helge E. Rasmussen . PHONE + 45 31 37 11 00 . E-mail: her@compel.dk Compel A/S . FAX + 45 31 37 06 44 . Copenhagen, Denmark
James_Hastings-Trew@tptbbs.UUCP (James Hastings-Trew) (05/30/91)
Perhaps what Hash Enterprises needs to do is to put together a video tape of their software in action. The claim has been made that while the rendering engine is not "state of the art" if one were to compate the ANIMATIONS of Imagine or Lightwave against the animations produced by Journeyman, that Journeyman would win out. OK, let 'em prove it. They co7uld put together a 20 or 30 minute tape of Journeyman demo animation. They could then sell this tape to prospective buyers, say for $12 or so - refundable towards purchase of the whole package. I would personally purchase such a tape to see the program in action before I buy. I am not going to plunk down $500 on a product, sight unseen. Especially after seeing the demo stills that have been uploaded... I would however risk $12 and postage to try it out. If I hate it, I keep the tape, and the rest of my $488 dollars. If I like it, I spend, and they have another customer.
waynekn@techbook.com (Wayne Knapp) (06/01/91)
James_Hastings-Trew@tptbbs.UUCP (James Hastings-Trew) writes: >Perhaps what Hash Enterprises needs to do is to put together a video tape of >their software in action. The claim has been made that while the rendering ... We are putting together such a tape. The only question is to as if we will let it out before Siggraph or not. The animation/rendering is all finished. Also a word about render. I think our render is getting very good. While there is no real "state of the art render" for the Amiga, yet, there are some that are getting pretty good. However there is a big difference between our render and everyone else's (at least on the Amiga.) We render spline surface patches, not polygons or simple shapes. Therefore if you compare our render on very simple shapes we are going to lose. But if you try to render a complex shape modeled with spline patches, the tables turn. First, we can do more complex things because to use polygons requires vastly more rendering surfaces. Many of our characters just couldn't be model with polygons with Amiga software. (PIXAR has done very complex polygon models, so it can be done, but it requires a LOT of computer to do it.) Most of the comments about the renderer relate to people comparing it at the lowest level, and not for the level of rendering it is written for. Another issue is that every little change in the modeling software seems to impact the rendering. However, we have now frozen the modeling with version 1.3 of Animation:Jouneyman. (At least until we go to 2.0.) So now the render has caught up with the modeler. However, I think our tape of "Joyride" will speak for itself. It is now being single framed. So just hold in there.... Wayne Knapp -- waynekn@techbook.COM ...!{tektronix!nosun,uunet}techbook!waynekn Public Access UNIX at (503) 644-8135 (1200/2400) Voice: +1 503 646-8257 Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks