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583 lines
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Graphics Muse
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<BODY text="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff"
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vlink="#fa3333" alink="#33CC33" link="#0000FA">
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>
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"</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!-- =============================================================
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These pages are designed by Michael J. Hammel. Permission to
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use all graphics and other content is granted provided you give
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me (or the original authors/artists) credit for the work and this
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copyright notice is not removed.
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(c)1997, 1998 Michael J. Hammel (mjhammel@graphics-muse.org)
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============================================================= !--><!-- The Button box as a client side imagemap --><MAP NAME="nav-main"><AREA SHAPE="rect" HREF="#mews" coords="20,18 185,40"><AREA SHAPE="rect" HREF="#webwonderings" coords="10,60 185,83"><AREA SHAPE="rect" HREF="#musings" coords="90,102 185,130"><AREA SHAPE="rect" HREF="#resources" coords="70,152 185,180"></MAP>
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<TABLE width=640>
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<IMG SRC=./gx/hammel/gm2.gif ALT="Welcome to the Graphics Muse"
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ALIGN="left" WIDTH="441" HEIGHT="216" border="0"></td>
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Set your browser to the width of the line below for best viewing.
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<!-- The Copyright -->
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<BR><FONT size=1>
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Copyright © 1996 by
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<A HREF="mailto:mjhammel@csn.net">mjh</A>
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<IMG SRC=./gx/hammel/buttons2.gif ALT="Button Bar"
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ALIGN="left" WIDTH="177" HEIGHT="185"
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USEMAP="#nav-main" border="0"></td>
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<td width=463 align=left valign=top>
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<!-- What is a Graphics Muse? -->
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<FONT size=4><B>muse:</B></FONT>
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<OL>
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<LI><I>v;</I> to become absorbed in thought
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<LI><I>n;</I> [ fr. Any of the nine sister goddesses of learning and the
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arts in Greek Mythology ]: a source of inspiration
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</OL>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/w.gif ALT="W" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="36" HEIGHT="28">elcome
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to the Graphics Muse! Why a "muse"?
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Well, except for the sisters aspect, the above definitions are
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pretty much the way I'd describe my own interest in computer graphics:
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it keeps me deep in thought and it is a daily source of inspiration.
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<P>
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<CENTER>
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<FONT size=2>
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[<A HREF="#mews">Graphics Mews</A>]
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[<A HREF="#musings">Musings</A>]
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[<A HREF="#resources">Resources</A>]
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/t.gif ALT="T" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="28">his
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column is dedicated to the use, creation, distribution, and discussion of
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computer graphics tools for Linux systems. My first column, in
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the November issue of Linux Gazette, left something to be desired in
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both content and graphics. As one reader pointed out, I didn't even
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follow my own guideline for making background images. Well, it looked good
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on my system at home. The problem was one of poor time
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management on my part. I finished up the chapters of a web server book I'm
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co-authoring at the end of September, so I had more time to work on
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this month's column. Hopefully the format is cleaner and the content more
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informative.
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<P>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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And, in the future, I'll try to follow my own guidelines.
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="vertical space" ALIGN="left"
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VSPACE="10" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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</td>
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</table>
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stick the image in a table so the image will be the top item on the
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<A NAME="mews">
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<table width=640>
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<tr>
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<td align=left>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/mews.gif ALT="Graphics Mews" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="242" HEIGHT="53">
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</td>
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</table>
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</A>
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<BR clear=both>
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<TABLE width=640 border=0>
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<tr>
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<td colspan=4>
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Disclaimer:
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Before I get too far into this I should note that any of the news items I
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post in this section are just that - news. Either I happened to run across
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them via some mailing list I was on, via some Usenet newsgroup, or via
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email from someone. I'm not necessarily endorsing these products (some of
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which may be commercial), I'm just letting you know I'd heard about them in
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the past month.
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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VSPACE="10" HSPACE="10" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1"></td>
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<tr>
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<td width="50%">
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<H4>New version of Pro MovieStudio driver available
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on Sunsite archives</H4>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">Wolfgang
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Koehler has released the 3.0 version of his PMS-grabber
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package to the sunsite archives. This package provides a driver
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and X application for grabbing frames from the Pro MovieStudio
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(aka PMS) adapter by Mediavision. Depending on when it
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is migrated to its final resting place, the package can be obtained
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either from
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<A HREF="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/incoming">
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ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/incoming</A>
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or
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<A HREF="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/video">
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ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/video</A>.</td>
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<td bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" WIDTH="0" HEIGHT="0"></td>
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<td bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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WIDTH="0" HEIGHT="0"></td>
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<td width="49%" valign=top>
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<H4>ImageMagick Library updated</H4>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">A New revision of the
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<A HREF="http://www.wizards.dupont.com/cristy/ImageMagick.html">
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ImageMagick Library</A>, version 3.7.7,
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was released this past month.</td>
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<td colspan=4 bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" WIDTH="0" HEIGHT="0"></td>
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<tr>
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<td width="50%">
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<H4>Netscape Tcl Plugin released</H4>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">The
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<A HREF="http://www.sunlabs.com/tcl/plugin">
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Tcl Plugin 1.0</A>
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was also released this past month. This is a Netscape plugin
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that allows web page authors to write Tcl based applets for
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your web pages.</td>
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<td bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" WIDTH="0" HEIGHT="0"></td>
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<td bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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WIDTH="0" HEIGHT="0"></td>
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<td width="49%" valign=top>
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<H4>Digigami looking for testers for MovieScreamer tool
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</H4>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">There
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is now a conversion tool for creating Quicktime videos.
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Digigami is looking for Unix Webmasters to be Beta testers for its
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<A HREF="http://www.digigami.com/MovieScreamer-info.html">
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MovieScreamer</A> multi-platform, 'Fast-Start' publishing
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and conversion tool for QuickTime(tm) movies.
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'Fast-Start' QuickTime movies are standard 'flattened' movie
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files that have been 're-organized' for playback over the
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Internet (or corporate Intranets).</td>
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<tr>
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<td colspan=4 bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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VSPACE="5" HSPACE="10" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1"></td>
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<tr>
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<td colspan=4 bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" WIDTH="0" HEIGHT="0"></td>
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<tr>
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<td colspan=4 bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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VSPACE="5" HSPACE="10" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1"></td>
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<tr>
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<td colspan=4>
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<H4>Did you know?</H4>
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</A>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">There
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is a font archive, complete with sample renderings of the
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fonts, available at
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<A HREF="http://www.ora.com/homepages/comp.fonts/ifa/os2cdrom/index.htm">
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http://www.ora.com/homepages/comp.fonts/ifa/os2cdrom/index.htm</A>?
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The ftp site for the fonts is at
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/os2/fonts/">
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ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/os2/fonts/</A>.
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<P>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">A
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large list of general graphics information is available at
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<A HREF="ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/">
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ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/</A>.
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Look under /theory, /math, /faq and a host of other subdirectories.
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There is a lot to wade through, but just about all of it has some
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value, including information on shading and object sorting.
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<P>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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<A HREF="http://werbach.com/barebones/">The Bare Bones Guide to HTML</A>
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is a useful resource for people who need to find the correct
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HTML syntax for HTML 3.0 or Netscape based web pages.</td>
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<tr>
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<td colspan=4 bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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<td colspan=4 bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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<tr>
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<td colspan=4 bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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VSPACE="5" HSPACE="10" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1"></td>
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</table>
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<P>
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<A NAME="musings">
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<table>
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<tr>
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<td>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/musings.gif ALT="Musings" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="247" HEIGHT="52">
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</td>
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</table>
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</A>
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<BR clear=both>
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<TABLE width=640>
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<tr>
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<td valign=top width="44%">
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<A NAME="lmg">
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<H4>O'Reilly releases <I>The Linux Multimedia Guide</I>.</H4>
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</A>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/i.gif ALT="I" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13" HEIGHT="34">
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recently picked up my copy of <I>The Linux Multimedia Guide</I>
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by Jeff Tranter. This text covers a wide range of material related
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to the creation and use of multimedia files with respect to the
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Linux operating system. The text is approximately 350 pages,
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including source code listings for a number of sample multimedia
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applications which are discussed in one chapter of the book.
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As usual, O'Reilly provides copies of the source from their ftp site.
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<BR>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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When I first found out about this book I thought "Rats, Jeff beat
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me too it." Much of what Jeff covers is listed in my own Linux
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Graphics mini-Howto. However, there are quite a number of items
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not covered by the LGH (as I call it), such as audio, a bit more
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detail about video formats and tools, and programming considerations
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for various hardware (CD-ROMs, joysticks, and sound devices), which
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make the Linux Multimedia Guide a good addition to the O'Reilly
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family of Unix books.
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<BR>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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The text is divided into 5 sections:
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<OL>
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<LI>Introduction to Multimedia
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<LI>User's Guide
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<LI>A Survey of Multimedia Applications
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<LI>Multimedia Programmer's Guide
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<LI>Appendices
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</OL>
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The first section introduces
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the reader to the various concepts involved with multimedia such as the
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CD-ROMs, image file formats, and sound files. The chapters here are
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generally brief but the one on audio is quite informative. There is
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a discussion on audio file formats as well as a comparison of a few
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of the popular sound cards available for Linux.
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<BR>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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Section two opens with a discussion on hardware requirements for
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doing multimedia on Linux systems. Most of this section centers on either
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the CD-ROM driver or the Linux Sound Driver (now known as OSS).
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There is also a short chapter on the joystick driver.
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<BR>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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The second longest section, A Survey of Multimedia Applications,
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covers applications for the
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various forms of multimedia. There are chapters on sound and music
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applications, graphics and animations applications, hypermedia
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applications, and games. The last chapter, on games, seems a bit out of
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place. There are games implemented as network applications using Java,
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JavaScript and the new Tcl/Tk plug-in for Netscape but this chapter
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doesn't cover these. This section is very similar to the LGH in that the
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chapters provide the program names and URLs associated with them (if any).
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The number of items covered is less than the LGH, but there are better
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descriptions of the applications in the book.
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<BR>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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Chapter fourteen opens the fourth section, the Multimedia
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Programmer's Guide. This section is the longest in the book and
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covers all the devices discussed earlier. Other chapters in this section
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cover some of the available toolkits available to multimedia developers.
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There is one chapter which contains three sample applications.
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<BR>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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In general I find the <I>Linux Multimedia Guide</I> a good reference
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text with a moderate degree of developer tutorials. Unlike many of the
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books available for Linux this text provides detailed explanation on the
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various programming interfaces, a useful tool beyond the simple "what
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is this and where do I get it" that many of the Howto's provide. The
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only drawback that I can see is that, like most of other Linux texts, this
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text does not provide a users perspective on any of the tools listed. If
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Linux is to ever go beyond a developer's-only platform there will need to be
|
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detailed users guides for the various well known applications.
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</td>
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<td bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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WIDTH="0" HEIGHT="0"></td>
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<td bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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<td bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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<td valign=top width="53%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
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<table>
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<UL>
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<LH>
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<A HREF="more-musings.html">
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<B>More Musings...</B>
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</A>
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</LH>
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<LI>Creating GIF Animations
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</UL>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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VSPACE="5" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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</td>
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<tr>
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<td bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 valign=top>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1"></td>
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<tr>
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<td valign=top cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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VSPACE=5 WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1"><BR CLEAR="both">
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<H4>Textural Creations</H4>
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<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
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<IMG SRC=./gx/hammel/n.gif ALT="N" ALIGN="left"
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HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="24" HEIGHT="27">ot
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|
long ago I got email from a reader of my Unix Graphics Utilities
|
|
page asking this:
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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|
I am just getting into the graphics scene and I have POV-Ray (for linux)
|
|
and a few other programs. I know how to create an image with a
|
|
modeller but how do apply texture and color to it?
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|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
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|
My answer was simple enough: It depends on what modeller you use
|
|
and what renderer you use. POV-Ray for
|
|
Linux doesn't have a modeller. You have to feed it a text file which
|
|
contains both shapes and textures and POV-Ray will render (draw) it. There
|
|
are 4 modellers that I know of for Linux: AC3D, AMAPI, SCED, and Midnight
|
|
Modeller. SCED allows you to preview your image using various renderers.
|
|
AC3D has a built in renderer, as does AMAPI. All three will output files
|
|
that can be used by a number of renderers (such as POV-Ray, Radiance,
|
|
PolyRay, RIB formats, etc). Modellers create shapes that are
|
|
independent of the tools used to render the image.
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
|
|
HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
|
|
Modellers are great for creating shapes, but the textures applied to those
|
|
shapes depend on what renderer you use. POV-Ray has its own set of
|
|
commands that it uses for determining how a texture will look on an object
|
|
in a scene. Commands for creating textures are different for other
|
|
systems, like the procedural language (an actual programming language)
|
|
used by BMRT (which conforms to the Renderman
|
|
specification - i.e. the formats used by Pixar and their tools).
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
|
|
HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
|
|
So, the answer to the question is: it depends on what renderer you use.
|
|
For POV-Ray you need to learn the command syntax for describing textures.
|
|
If you can find a copy, pick up "Ray Tracing Creations" 2nd edition by
|
|
Chris Young and Drew Wells. It may be out of print. This text has a good
|
|
reference for the 2.2 version of POV-Ray. Although the texture commands
|
|
were expanded for the 3.0 version, you can still create 2.2 based textures
|
|
by providing the "#version 2.2" command in your POV-Ray source file.
|
|
In this way you have a handy reference for learning how to create textures
|
|
in POV-Ray. You still have to do this by hand, though. I've heard rumors
|
|
that there may be a 3.0 text eventually, but I don't have any word if that
|
|
is true or not.
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
|
|
HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
|
|
As far as setting the textures from within the modeller, well, I don't
|
|
think any of the modellers do that for you. You still have to manually set
|
|
the textures (SCED allows you to do so from within the modeller, but I'm
|
|
not sure the others do) using the command language of the particular
|
|
renderer you're using. The reason for this goes
|
|
back to what I said earlier: the format of the texture commands depends
|
|
on what renderer you use.
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
|
|
HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
|
|
Its best to think of modelling and rendering as two separate tasks. If you
|
|
want to preview your models you still need to run the renderers separately
|
|
(except for SCED which will launch the renderer for you, but it's still a
|
|
separate program - the renderer is not part of the modeller).
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif ALT="indent" ALIGN="left"
|
|
HSPACE="8" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
|
|
I know this is confusing. It was for me too. In fact, I gave up on
|
|
modellers and now create my images by hand (I use vi to edit
|
|
the .pov and .inc input files for POV-Ray). I've only recently started
|
|
to look seriously again at modellers.
|
|
</td>
|
|
</table>
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<A NAME="resources">
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>
|
|
<IMG SRC=../gx/hammel/resources.gif ALT="Resources" ALIGN="left"
|
|
HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="246" HEIGHT="57">
|
|
</td>
|
|
</table>
|
|
</A>
|
|
|
|
<BR clear=both>
|
|
The following links are just starting points for finding more information
|
|
about computer graphics and multimedia in general for Linux systems. If
|
|
you have some application specific information for me, I'll add them to my
|
|
other pages or you can contact the maintainer of some other web site. I'll
|
|
consider adding other general references here, but application or site
|
|
specific information needs to go into one of the following general
|
|
references and not listed here.
|
|
|
|
<BR clear=both>
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.csn.net/~mjhammel/linux-graphics-howto.html">
|
|
Linux Graphics mini-Howto
|
|
</A>
|
|
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.csn.net/~mjhammel/povray/povray.html">
|
|
Unix Graphics Utilities
|
|
</A>
|
|
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.digiserve.com/ar/linux-snd/">
|
|
Linux Multimedia Page
|
|
</A>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<A NAME="future">
|
|
<H2>Future Directions</H2>
|
|
</A>
|
|
Next month:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>What I use the Gimp for - a users story
|
|
<LI>The IRTC - A raytracing competition for the fun of it
|
|
<LI>Review: The AC3D Modeller
|
|
<LI>Book Review: Jim Blinn's Corner - A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline
|
|
<LI>...and lots more!
|
|
</UL>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:mjhammel@csn.net">
|
|
Let me know what you'd like to hear about!</A>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<center><H4>Previous ``Graphics Muse'' Columns</H4></center>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue11/gm.html">Graphics Muse #1, November 1996</A>
|
|
<P><HR><P>
|
|
<center><H5>Copyright © 1996, Michael J. Hammel <BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 12 of the Linux Gazette</H5></center>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
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