[Bug: Awaiting Feedback] Triple monitors resolution seems off and no panning?

[brodie]

Hello, I know some people have mentioned the panning issue (my triple monitor setup does not pan, is this a known bug now confirmed?) However, I want to see if my resolution is correct or not. When I push 's' it sure shows 1680x1050 for every monitor, however, the fish and coral look rather large. I have posted a screen shot of my triple monitors and then one when viewing the screen saver on one monitor. Notice how the big piece of coral by the bubbles doesn't go off the top of the screen? I have upgraded to latest evga gtx 280 drivers as well as reinstalled direct x. The screen saver looks so much better on one monitor. The fish/coral/everything seems to be the proper resolution. It's fine and very high quality.

If you go to http://www.serenescreen.com/product/maquarium3/ and see that multi-monitor picture, the coral to the left of the bubbles doesn't go off the screen either.

[feldon34]

Welcome to the forums!

I believe Marine Aquarium 3 is designed to be 2 1/2 screens wide. So it would have to be zoomed in to fill your 3 screens and thus would not have any panning. Even on 2 displays (or two 16:9 displays), I believe the panning effect is rather minimal.

I don't know the circumstances under which the screen snapshot at SereneScreen.com was taken.

[brodie]

Okay. I'm not as knowledgeable as others here regarding the development of this therefore I don't understand why it can only be 2 1/2 screens wide. That doesn't make sense to me. Anyways, is there a way to have it not zoom and just not fill up all three of my monitors (i.e. - have black bars on the sides or something)

I guess i'm confused on why a screensaver designed for multiple monitors can only go 2 1/2 screens wide

you are completely accurate though - when I have the screen saver on only two monitors, not three, it looks just fine! Is there never going to be a way to have it on three monitors without zooming?

Also, how am I able to post some screen shots in this thread like others have to show exactly what i'm talking about?

Thanks for the rapid response!

[Ralph]

Originally posted by brodie:

Also, how am I able to post some screen shots in this thread like others have to show exactly what i'm talking about?  

The screen saver is a fixed size, you can spread it out over as many monitors as you like... but it will not stretch and at its full width there is no panning.

To attach pictures.. respond to any message or start a new one but go "advanced".. at the bottom of the screen is a "select files to be Attached to this Post" button... follow the prompts.

Perhaps as a new member you do not have permissions to do this yet

[Jim Sachs]

The width of the tank is roughly 3 normal screens or two widescreens. If you display less than that width, then the program allows you to pan back and forth to view the remainder of the tank. If you need to stretch it even farther, the program will attempt to zoom in to fill the whole display width with the available scene.

[brodie]

Will there will be no ability in the future to have the screen saver over three widescreen monitors without zooming? I was always a dual monitor boy growing up but, my friend definitely had a point when he said looking at two bezels in the middle isn't all that great I now run triple monitors and would never go back. Regardless of what happens with this screen saver, I've used it since the start of v2.6 and love it and tell everyone about it.

[cjmaddy]

The multi-monitor picture at the bottom of the SereneScreen.com site is not a true multi-monitor screen shot. it is two separate single screen shots.
There is no repetition of any detail when MA3 is spread over two screens in a dual monitor setup.

This is not a bug. It is what happens when the width limit is over reached. - If MA3 was 3½ screens wide, the same would happen if you had 4 monitors.

[feldon34]

Originally posted by brodie:

Will there will be no ability in the future to have the screen saver over three widescreen monitors without zooming?  

The Aquarium is a piece of artwork.

If you wanted it to use 3 monitors without zooming, what would you want on the left and right? More empty gravel? Or more pieces of coral, which artist Jim Sachs would have to create (which could take months) that only very few people would ever notice.

If I went and bought a painting, but wanted a taller or wider frame, I think I would have a hard time convincing the artist to add more stuff on the sides or top and bottom.

[Edgar]

Try organizing your monitors so that one of them is on top or bottom. That should zoom it and give you panning room.

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EDIT: It seems the forum trims the spaces I have in the beginning of the line or spaces doesn't get the same amount of spaces.

[brodie]

I just love the look of the screen saver but don't want to have to zoom because it's so sweet in quality without zooming.

I understand that the width of the tank is 2 1/2 screens wide but many people nowadays have triple monitor setups, or even more. I wouldn't mind just plain gravel or more coral, I just don't want to have to zoom so I can see the tank in it's full glory

Wouldn't you want to make the tank two, three or four screens wide? Having the width of the tank 2 1/2 screens wide seems kind of odd. But again, I have no idea what goes on in making the environment other than it's hard work I'm sure!

How hard would it be to make it three screens wide by adding more gravel or possibly the same coral piece just resized or something? I wonder if it's possible for me to run two instances of MA3 on a total of 3 or 4 monitors without zooming seeing how I actually have a television it's just not by my 3 computer monitors.

If the option to "render the same image on all monitors" could be done on just two monitors but not all, that would be cool but probably hard.

I don't mind not having any panning. If you checkout my pictures you can see why I would just love to have the ability to have MA3 across 3 monitors without zooming.

[Ralph]

I think you are missing the point of the panning feature. By panning an illusion is created that implies a 3D effect. As the screen pans one can see parts that were previously hidden which gives a feeling of depth of field. To create this effect the camera pans back and forth, the image of the tank is stationary.

Once the image stops panning... what you see is what you get. Nothing wrong with that... and it makes a fine static screen saver. ...but Jim has sweat blood to get the camera and all the related parts to show without gaps / holes.

We are also seeing slightly less than the full width of the screen saver in the current version... there is undeveloped real estate on both sides that will have creatures that live in that environment... to be activated when Jim get finished with the other 40 odd things he is currently working on

[Jim Sachs]

Ralph is correct - The word "Panning" is really a misnomer in this case. The camera is actually dollying, or trucking, from side to side. Panning is simple, you just rotate the camera and the background image might as well be 2-dimensional, because all the objects maintain their positions in relation to each other. With dollying, foreground objects go by much more quickly than farther objects, exposing areas previously unseen behind them. Dollying rapidly back and forth with the arrow keys is the neatest effect the program can do.

Spending another year on additional background objects just isn't going to happen. If I made it 3 widescreens wide, then people would ask for 4 screens wide. It's a black hole of wasted energy. The tank is plenty large enough for all the creatures I have planned to have room to play in it.