Marine Aquarium 3 Rumors and Speculation - Page 19

ESHIREY · 01-05-2007, 03:51 PM

I'm here. Not as often as I want to be. But that's because I go to see my son everyday.

Sergiales · 01-06-2007, 04:55 AM

Ed, you are infinitely more active than me here, just compare the difference of posts between you and me

Nice you can see your son everyday.
Happy new year!

Surferminn · 01-06-2007, 08:56 AM

May your son is feel better every day.

ESHIREY · 01-06-2007, 09:52 AM

Thank You

Yodelking · 01-18-2007, 01:05 AM

Jim, any news update for us?

I thought it been ages since you last told us how it's going, but checking back this thread I realised it wasn't that long ago I read it..

What ever happened to the "chat with Jim"? I have a faint memory that we talked about this recently but I haven't seen it since (or I just missed the chat...)

feldon34 · 01-18-2007, 08:29 AM

We haven't had a chat in eons. I hope to do one by the end of the month.

Tiny Turtle · 01-18-2007, 09:07 AM

You were just waiting for a request?

feldon34 · 01-18-2007, 10:19 AM

A topic worthy of chat.

Tiny Turtle · 01-18-2007, 11:20 AM

Highlander · 01-27-2007, 04:45 AM

hi ,

is there any news for the new version ?

Jim Sachs · 01-27-2007, 07:53 AM

Working on a moving coral on the far right of the screen, but hit a snag with the lack of decent Lightwave-DirectX plugins. I need thios to save Lightwave animations, but the only one out there is DStorm, which is a Japanese product with no English translation.

Tiny Turtle · 01-27-2007, 05:01 PM

Guess you could try Linguaphone...

Highlander · 01-28-2007, 01:42 AM

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

Working on a moving coral on the far right of the screen, but hit a snag with the lack of decent Lightwave-DirectX plugins. I need thios to save Lightwave animations, but the only one out there is DStorm, which is a Japanese product with no English translation.

hire a little japanese

feldon34 · 01-31-2007, 11:38 AM

What did you use to save the fish animations in Aquarium 99L+?

I know it's two frames of animation which I am guessing you exported as 2 separate objects and pasted the vertices into the first file. I'm quite familiar with the fish format in your product. Boredom.

Jim Sachs · 01-31-2007, 11:10 PM

Yes, there's no animation saved at all. It's simply two meshes - one straight and one bent left. The bent right mesh is created from the left mesh as the program loads. But in the 3.0 version everything moves, so I need a way of saving complex animations in DirectX format. This has been a problem for several years, and I was hoping that someone had written a useful plugin by now, but they haven't.

Lightwave Modeler has a morph utility that allows you to distort an object through any number of steps, and this gets saved with the object. It would be great if the DirectX plugin saved this data as a DX object with the animation included. The DX SDK has a great example of a DX animation -- a mesh of a girl with a walk-cycle included. So all the pieces are there, they just need a programmer familiar with both file formats to merge them into a plugin.

feldon34 · 02-01-2007, 12:12 AM

I'm sure that everyone who wants to save out of Lightwave into DirectX format writes their own utilities, since no 2 people want the same things in their DirectX file.

I really think this is something that Prolific should be helping you with. I can't believe Prolific hasn't done the math and made introductions and opened up lines of communication between you and Newtek. With stiff competition from 3D Studio Max (Autodesk), Maya, and SoftImage, Lightwave is getting squeezed out as the "hobbyist" 3D modeler and would probably bend over backwards for you as far as writing a utility like you are asking for, in exchange for a little marketing and publicity. The right people simply haven't been contacted.

Jim Sachs · 02-01-2007, 01:07 AM

This has actually been discussed quite a bit in the various Lightwave forums. The consensus seems to be that Newtek is only interested in animation for movies and video, not game development.

memilm · 02-01-2007, 02:55 AM

what about the freeware program blender?
I have read that you can import lightwave files and also export to directx...

djmac · 02-02-2007, 08:30 AM

After a few months not being here in the forums I have this question:
Has the release-date of 3.0 something to do with Microsoft DreamScene? (I thought about MCE 2005 Goldfish Aquarium)

@Lightwave-Probblem:
That's why I love 3DS Max (which has other issues of course :-))

feldon34 · 02-02-2007, 08:52 AM

DreamScene is a new feature designed for Windows Vista Ultimate users that enables them to display high-definition video content as their desktop background.

Jim does NOT support running the Aquarium as a background. He is appalled at the idea of having a bunch of icons on top of the Aquarium.

And Jim is developing the Aquarium to run at LEAST on DirectX 8, 9, and 10, on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, and possibly Windows 98. He certainly doesn't want to marry himself to only Windows Vista Ultimate with a 512MB video card which is what DreamScene seems to require. Once again Microsoft "develops" something with ridiculous hardware and software requirements that 3rd party apps and Macintosh OS have been doing for 5 years on much leaner systems.

P.S. Goldfish Aquarium is a different artist.

01-05-2007, 03:51 PM	#361
ESHIREY Smilie Dragon Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Lebanon, PA Posts: 4,725	I'm here. Not as often as I want to be. But that's because I go to see my son everyday. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

01-06-2007, 04:55 AM	#362
Sergiales Software Engineer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Spain Posts: 266	Ed, you are infinitely more active than me here, just compare the difference of posts between you and me Nice you can see your son everyday. Happy new year! Sincerely, Sergio. Last edited by Sergiales; 01-06-2007 at 07:02 AM.

01-06-2007, 08:56 AM	#363
Surferminn Senior Puddle Jumper Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: California Posts: 6,017	May your son is feel better every day. Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes.

01-06-2007, 09:52 AM	#364
ESHIREY Smilie Dragon Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Lebanon, PA Posts: 4,725	Thank You Thank you for taking the time to read this.

01-18-2007, 01:05 AM	#365
Yodelking yodeler Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Staffanstorp, Sweden Posts: 294	Jim, any news update for us? I thought it been ages since you last told us how it's going, but checking back this thread I realised it wasn't that long ago I read it.. What ever happened to the "chat with Jim"? I have a faint memory that we talked about this recently but I haven't seen it since (or I just missed the chat...) Yodelking - För god att kolsyra!

01-18-2007, 08:29 AM	#366
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	We haven't had a chat in eons. I hope to do one by the end of the month. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

01-18-2007, 09:07 AM	#367
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	You were just waiting for a request? Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

01-18-2007, 10:19 AM	#368
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	A topic worthy of chat. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

01-18-2007, 11:20 AM	#369
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

01-27-2007, 04:45 AM	#370
Highlander Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Antwerp - Belgium Posts: 87	any news for the new version hi , is there any news for the new version ? Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups !

01-27-2007, 07:53 AM	#371
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Working on a moving coral on the far right of the screen, but hit a snag with the lack of decent Lightwave-DirectX plugins. I need thios to save Lightwave animations, but the only one out there is DStorm, which is a Japanese product with no English translation. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

01-27-2007, 05:01 PM	#372
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Guess you could try Linguaphone... Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

01-28-2007, 01:42 AM	#373
Highlander Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Antwerp - Belgium Posts: 87	Originally posted by Jim Sachs: Working on a moving coral on the far right of the screen, but hit a snag with the lack of decent Lightwave-DirectX plugins. I need thios to save Lightwave animations, but the only one out there is DStorm, which is a Japanese product with no English translation. hire a little japanese Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups !

01-31-2007, 11:38 AM	#374
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	What did you use to save the fish animations in Aquarium 99L+? I know it's two frames of animation which I am guessing you exported as 2 separate objects and pasted the vertices into the first file. I'm quite familiar with the fish format in your product. Boredom. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

01-31-2007, 11:10 PM	#375
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Yes, there's no animation saved at all. It's simply two meshes - one straight and one bent left. The bent right mesh is created from the left mesh as the program loads. But in the 3.0 version everything moves, so I need a way of saving complex animations in DirectX format. This has been a problem for several years, and I was hoping that someone had written a useful plugin by now, but they haven't. Lightwave Modeler has a morph utility that allows you to distort an object through any number of steps, and this gets saved with the object. It would be great if the DirectX plugin saved this data as a DX object with the animation included. The DX SDK has a great example of a DX animation -- a mesh of a girl with a walk-cycle included. So all the pieces are there, they just need a programmer familiar with both file formats to merge them into a plugin. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-01-2007, 12:12 AM	#376
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	I'm sure that everyone who wants to save out of Lightwave into DirectX format writes their own utilities, since no 2 people want the same things in their DirectX file. I really think this is something that Prolific should be helping you with. I can't believe Prolific hasn't done the math and made introductions and opened up lines of communication between you and Newtek. With stiff competition from 3D Studio Max (Autodesk), Maya, and SoftImage, Lightwave is getting squeezed out as the "hobbyist" 3D modeler and would probably bend over backwards for you as far as writing a utility like you are asking for, in exchange for a little marketing and publicity. The right people simply haven't been contacted. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

02-01-2007, 01:07 AM	#377
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	This has actually been discussed quite a bit in the various Lightwave forums. The consensus seems to be that Newtek is only interested in animation for movies and video, not game development. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-01-2007, 02:55 AM	#378
memilm Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: germany Posts: 259	what about the freeware program blender? I have read that you can import lightwave files and also export to directx...

02-02-2007, 08:30 AM	#379
djmac Registered Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 5	After a few months not being here in the forums I have this question: Has the release-date of 3.0 something to do with Microsoft DreamScene? (I thought about MCE 2005 Goldfish Aquarium) @Lightwave-Probblem: That's why I love 3DS Max (which has other issues of course :-))

02-02-2007, 08:52 AM	#380
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	DreamScene is a new feature designed for Windows Vista Ultimate users that enables them to display high-definition video content as their desktop background. Jim does NOT support running the Aquarium as a background. He is appalled at the idea of having a bunch of icons on top of the Aquarium. And Jim is developing the Aquarium to run at LEAST on DirectX 8, 9, and 10, on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, and possibly Windows 98. He certainly doesn't want to marry himself to only Windows Vista Ultimate with a 512MB video card which is what DreamScene seems to require. Once again Microsoft "develops" something with ridiculous hardware and software requirements that 3rd party apps and Macintosh OS have been doing for 5 years on much leaner systems. P.S. Goldfish Aquarium is a different artist. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman