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979 lines
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HTML
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Mozilla/4.03 [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.0.30 i486) [Netscape]">
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<META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Michael J. Hammel">
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<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="The Monthly Column of Computer Graphics for Linux Systems.">
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<TITLE>Graphics Muse</TITLE>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY TEXT="#000000" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" LINK="#0000EE" VLINK="#CC0000" ALINK="#FF6600">
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<!--endcut ============================================================-->
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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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<!-- =============================================================
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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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<!-- 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 BORDER=0 COLS=2 WIDTH="100%" >
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<TR>
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<TD><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/gm3.gif" ALT="Welcome to the Graphics Muse" NOSAVE HEIGHT=216 WIDTH=441 ALIGN=LEFT></TD>
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<TD VALIGN=BOTTOM>
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<CENTER><FONT SIZE=-1>Set your browser as wide as you'd like now.
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I've fixed the Muse to expand to fill the aviailable space!</FONT></CENTER>
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<CENTER><FONT SIZE=-2>© 1998 by <A HREF="mailto:mjhammel@csn.net">mjh</A> </FONT></CENTER>
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</TD>
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</TR>
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</TABLE>
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<HR WIDTH="100%">
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<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=2 WIDTH="100%" >
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<TR>
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<TD WIDTH="185"><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/muse-image-map.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="Button Bar" USEMAP="#nav-main" HEIGHT=200 WIDTH=185 ALIGN=LEFT></TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP><B><FONT SIZE=+1>muse:</FONT></B>
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<OL>
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<LI>
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<I>v;</I> to become absorbed in thought </LI>
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<LI>
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<I>n;</I> [ fr. Any of the nine sister goddesses of learning and the arts
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in Greek Mythology ]: a source of inspiration </LI>
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</OL>
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<IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/w.gif" ALT="W" HEIGHT=28 WIDTH=36 ALIGN=BOTTOM>elcome
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to the Graphics Muse! Why a "muse"? Well, except for the sisters aspect,
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the above definitions are pretty much the way I'd describe my own interest
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in computer graphics: it keeps me deep in thought and it is a daily source
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of inspiration.
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<CENTER><FONT SIZE=-1>[<A HREF="#mews">Graphics Mews</A>][<A HREF="#webwonderings">WebWonderings</A>][<A HREF="#musings">Musings</A>]
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[<A HREF="#resources">Resources</A>]</FONT></CENTER>
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</TD>
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</TR>
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</TABLE>
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<BR><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/t.gif" ALT="T" HEIGHT=28 WIDTH=26 ALIGN=LEFT>his column
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is dedicated to the use, creation, distribution, and discussion of computer
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graphics tools for Linux systems.
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<BR>
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<BR>Not much to say this month. I've been very busy working on some
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things for Linux Journal and a few other projects. I did manager
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to get the reviews done that I had promised last month. Well, 2 out
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of 3 of them. That's better than I usually do.
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<P> In this months column I'll be covering
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the following:
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<UL>
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<LI>
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XeoMenu, a Java based menuing program</LI>
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<LI>
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an update on X server support for 3D cards and the X Input Extension</LI>
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<LI>
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VRWave, a VRML browser for Linux</LI>
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</UL>
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<A NAME="mews"></A>
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<BR>
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<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" >
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<TR>
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<TD><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/mews.gif" ALT="Graphics Mews" HEIGHT=53 WIDTH=242 ALIGN=LEFT></TD>
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</TR>
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</TABLE>
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Disclaimer: Before I get too far into this
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I should note that any of the news items I post in this section are just
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that - news. Either I happened to run across them via some mailing list
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I was on, via some Usenet newsgroup, or via email from someone. I'm not
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necessarily endorsing these products (some of which may be commercial),
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I'm just letting you know I'd heard about them in the past month.
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<BR>
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<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=3 WIDTH="100%" >
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<TR>
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<TD COLSPAN="3" WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="#000000"><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" ALT="indent" HSPACE=30 VSPACE=2 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1 ALIGN=LEFT></TD>
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<TD></TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD WIDTH="50%">
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<H2>
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XFPovray 1.3</H2>
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<A HREF="mailto:mallozzir@cspar.uah.edu">Robert Mallozzi </A>announces
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a new version (1.3) of his XForms interface to the ray tracer POV-Ray.
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If you have ever used POV-Ray from the command line, you might find this
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program useful. Check
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<P> <A HREF="http://cspar.uah.edu/~mallozzir/">http://cspar.uah.edu/~mallozzir/</A>
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<P>Source code is available in tgz, bzip2, and rpm formats.
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<P>Robert S. Mallozzi
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<BR>University of Alabama
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<BR>http://cspar.uah.edu/~mallozzir/</TD>
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<TD ROWSPAN="3" WIDTH="2" BGCOLOR="#000000"><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" ALT="indent" HSPACE=1 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1></TD>
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<TD WIDTH="49%">
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<H2>
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XMRM 2.0 (Alpha release)</H2>
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The Institute of Computer Graphics at Vienna University of Technology,
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Austria, announce the release of XMRM 2.0alpha
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<P>XMRM (multi resolution morphing for X) is an image morphing program
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written for XWindows. A special feature of this program, which is not found
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in other morphing packages, is the ability to control the morphing speed
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of details in relation to the morphing speed of big features.
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<P>Check out the XMRM homepage:
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<BR><A HREF="http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/ca/mrm/">http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/ca/mrm/</A>
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<P>For a few animated GIFs visit the Online manual:
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<BR><A HREF="http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/~xmrm/">http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/~xmrm/</A>
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<P>For download got to:
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<BR><A HREF="ftp://ftp.cg.tuwien.ac.at/pub/linux/xmrm/">ftp://ftp.cg.tuwien.ac.at/pub/linux/xmrm/</A>
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<P>Greetings, The XMRM-Team <<A HREF="mailto:xmrm@cg.tuwien.ac.at">xmrm@cg.tuwien.ac.at</A>>
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<BR> </TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD BGCOLOR="#000000"><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HSPACE=1 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1></TD>
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<TD BGCOLOR="#000000"><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HSPACE=1 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1></TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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<H2>
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FREETYPE 1.0 The FREE TrueType Font Engine</H2>
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Copyright (C) 1996-1998 The FreeType Development Team
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<P>The FreeType engine is a free and portable TrueType font rendering engine,
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available in ANSI C and Pascal source code. It has been
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developed to provide TrueType support to a great variety
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of platforms and environments.
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<BR>
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<BR>Notice that FreeType is a <I>library</I>. It is not
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a font server for your preferred environment, even though it
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has been designed to be the basis of many high-level
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libraries, tools and font servers.
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<P>It's a clean-room implementation that is not
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derived from the original TrueType engine developed by
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Apple and Microsoft, though it matches it regarding rendering
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quality. To our knowledge, it's the only royalty-free complete
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TrueType engine available.
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<P>For more information, please visit the Freetype web site at:
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<BR><A HREF="http://www.physiol.med.tu-muenchen.de/~robert/freetype.html">http://www.physiol.med.tu-muenchen.de </A>
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<BR><A HREF="http://www.physiol.med.tu-muenchen.de/~robert/freetype.html">/~robert/freetype.html</A>
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<BR> </TD>
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<TD>That's it. Not much in the way of announcments this month.
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I had a few more, but lost them pasting them into my XPostitPlus program.
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That's the first time it's crashed in that manner - where I lost the data.
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Bummer.</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD COLSPAN="3" WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="#000000"><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HSPACE=1 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1></TD>
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</TR>
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</TABLE>
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<!--
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-- Did You Know Section
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-->
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<H4>
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Did You Know?</H4>
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...there is a OpenGL widget for GTK? Take a look at <A HREF="ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gtk/contrib/glgtk-demo.971104.tgz">ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gtk/contrib/glgtk-demo.971104.tgz.</A>
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<BR><!--
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-- Q and A Section
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-->
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<H4>
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<B><FONT SIZE=+0>Q and A</FONT></B></H4>
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<I>Q:</I> <I>How do you use anti-aliasing with POV-Ray?
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Do higher values cause more anti-aliasing?</I>
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<P>A: Ron Parker responded on the IRTC-L discussion list:
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Whenever POV-Ray detects a sufficient change, the <I>threshold</I>, in
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colour from one pixel to it's neighbour, it will calculate the in-between
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color pixels by shooting multiple rays into the scene, rather than just
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one, to determine the colour. The higher the "+A" number is (from
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0 to 1), the more rays will be shot into the scene, and the smaller a difference
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in colour from one pixel to the next will be needed to cause the anti-aliasing
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to be brought into effect. Anti-aliasing is triggered when the threshold
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between two pixels is reached. The number of rays is controlled by +R,
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and the "spread" is controlled by +J. Setting +A0.1 will trigger
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on smaller color differences than +A0.3, so it actually anti-aliases more
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than higher values of +A. All this is the description for +AM=1.
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Adaptive supersampling (+AM=2) works somewhat differently.
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<P>For more information, see section 6.2.5.4 of the POV documentation.
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<P>Ron Parker * <A HREF="mailto:parkerr@mail.fwi.com">parkerr@mail.fwi.com</A>
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* <A HREF="http://www2.fwi.com/~parkerr">http://www2.fwi.com/~parkerr</A>
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<P><I>Q: I took an image to a printer today who requested that I bring
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back the image when I have increased the resolution from 72 pixels/inch
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to 300 pixels /inch. I cant locate how to do this with the GIMP. Any pointers?</I>
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<P>A: You can scale the image, but that will decrease the quality
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of the image. The best way to deal with images you plan to print is to
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plan to <I>create</I> them using the correct resolution. For example,
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if you want an 8.5" by 11" image at 300pixels/inch:
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<UL><B><FONT SIZE=-1>width: 8.5*300 = 2550 pixels</FONT></B>
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<BR><B><FONT SIZE=-1>height: 11*300 = 3300 pixels</FONT></B></UL>
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So you need to start with an image window that is 2550x3300 and work from
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there. Keep in mind - doing this sort of image manipulation (with
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such large image sizes) is better suited to:
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<OL>
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<LI>
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faster CPU's.</LI>
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<LI>
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tons of memory</LI>
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<LI>
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lots of disk space</LI>
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</OL>
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As to "can I convert from 72 to 300 pixels from my original image": yes,
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use the scale option (image->scale) and set the correct size. But
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remember - scaling up will reduce image quality, especially going from
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72dpi to 300dpi.
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<BR>
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<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="#000000" NOSAVE >
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<TR>
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<TD><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HEIGHT=3 WIDTH=1></TD>
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</TR>
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</TABLE>
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<H2>
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Reader Mail</H2>
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An unnamed reader sent the following information:
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<UL>I've recently written 3 Perl scripts which help to distribute the task
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of rendering with povray between several CPU's. One script is for
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SMP (multiple processor) machines. It will break an image into halves
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and start a separate process for each. This utilizes both CPU's in
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a dual processor machine, and nearly halves the rendering time. The
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other two scripts work together to utilize multiple machines on a network.
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The server script tells each client script how much of an image to render
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(also sending the .pov file and any necessary files to each client).
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<P>These scripts were created using Perl 5.004, Linux 2.0.32, and POVRay
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3.0. I'd be honored if you would like to include a link from your excellent
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graphics site to my page at <A HREF="http://www.frozenwave.com/~hixson/projects.html">http://www.frozenwave.com/~hixson/projects.html</A>.</UL>
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<FONT COLOR="#993300"><B><I>'Muse</I></B>:</FONT> I really need to
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update the LGH and UGU pages. Anyway, if any of my readers tries
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these scripts, let me know what you think of them. I don't have any
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multiprocessor boxes, although I do have a network. I just don't
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have time right now to experiment with these scripts.
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<P><A HREF="mailto:slogan@cts.com">Syd Logan</A>, Senior Software Engineer
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@ NetManage, Inc., writes:
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<UL>I was perusing an old copy of <A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com">The
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Linux Journal</A> in preparation to do an article or two for them on the
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X Image Extension when I came across your article in the November 1996
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issue. This isn't so much about the article, but I just thought I'd drop
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you a line to make you aware of my home page which is devoted to XIE at
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<A HREF="http://www.users/cts.com/crash/s/slogan">http://www.users/cts.com/crash/s/slogan.</A>
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Feel free to point any queries you may hear about or receive regarding
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XIE or XIElib to my home page, or to me directly at <A HREF="mailto:slogan@cts.com">slogan@cts.com</A>.</UL>
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'<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">Muse: </FONT></I></B> Thanks for the
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note. While working for Xi Graphics I had read the XIE specification
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and wondered why it hadn't been used much. Perhaps it's like X Input
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- it just needed a market to drive its use. Well, the exposure Linux
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will give X Windows may be that driving force. We'll have to wait
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and see.
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<P><A HREF="mailto:tvaughan@mail.diac.com">Thomas Vaughan</A> writes:
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<UL>My work involves writing code in Iris GL and OpenGL. I am particularly
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interested in accelerated 3D graphics, as I just bought a ViRGE 3D accelerator
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for my home PC which runs linux 24 hours a day. I have played with
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Mesa, but there is apparently no real free hardware support yet.</UL>
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<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> No free support,
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but <A HREF="http://www.xi.com">Xi Graphics</A> has recently announced
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ViRGE 3D support in their commercial Accelerated X server.
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<UL>The GGI project sounds interesting, but I don't really know whether
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it's worth investigating seriously yet.</UL>
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<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> I don't really
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like the idea of GGI, partly because I don't think sticking the graphics
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driver in the kernel is a good idea but also because I don't want to see
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the desktop interface splintered into seperate camps. X is just really
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coming into its own on the desktop and I'd like to see it continue.
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<UL>At work my supervisor has, on my advice, just made a capital request
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for a graphics card based on the 3D Labs Permedia chip which comes with
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accelerated OpenGL support for Windows NT. In the back of my mind,
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I am hoping that I can convince people at work to give linux a serious
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look as a low-cost alternative to the SGI platform. After all, even with
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GNU/Win32, the NT platform is not nearly as nice as real Linux. Unfortunately,
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however, this seems just a little out-of-reach at the moment, because of
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the apparent lack of 3D hardware support on Linux. Any news on this
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front would be heartily appreciated, and I would love to write bug reports
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and use either machine as a test platform.</UL>
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<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> I got a similar
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request from <A HREF="mailto:anand@noodle.med.yale.edu">Anand Rangarajan</A>:
|
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<UL>I noticed that SuSE <A HREF="http://www.suse.de/XSuSE/XSuSE_E.html">http://www.suse.de/XSuSE/XSuSE_E.html</A>
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has developed a bunch of drivers for the ELSA Gloria family of 3D graphics
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cards. Will their drivers accelerate Open GL or Mesa? Also, these drivers
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are free and will be integrated into the XFree 4 release.</UL>
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<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> Well, I thought
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it was about time I did a little survey of the various graphics card vendors.
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See the <A HREF="#update_servers">X Server Update</A> article below.
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|
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<P><A HREF="mailto:mjensen@metronet.com">Marc S. Jensen</A> writes to the
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<A HREF="http://www.gimp.org">GIMP User mailing list:</A>
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<UL>When I run xscanimage, it complains about my system not having a /dev/scanner
|
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device. So, here's my question: What do I do to my Red Hat
|
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5.0 system to get a /dev/scanner device installed. I'm using an Adaptec
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2940 SCSI adapter, and my kernel is compiled with SCSI support. What's
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wrong here?</UL>
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<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> Assuming your scanner
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is the only deviced attached to your scsi card:
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<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=-1>ln -s /dev/sga /dev/scanner</FONT></B></CENTER>
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<P>and you're all set. If you have more than one device connected
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to the scsi bus (re: cable) then you'll need to figure out which one of
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the /dev/sg[x] devices maps to your scanner. Then link that one to
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/dev/scanner.
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<P><A HREF="mailto:jlbec@ocala.cs.miami.edu">Joel Becker</A> also wrote
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to the GIMP User mailing list:
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<UL>Just a quick question. What is a reccomened drawing tablet, for
|
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best use and easiest XInput setup? I think I heard the Wacom ArtPad
|
|
thrown around here. Also, what is a good scanner to work with SANE?
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I mean ease of setup as well as quality of image.</UL>
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<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> Can't answer about
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the tablet, but I just happened to install a scanner recently. I
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bought a Adaptec 2940 SCSI card and a UMAX 1200S scanner. The Adaptec
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dropped right in on my Pentium 200MMX board with no hardware config necessary.
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The RH 4.2 distribution I use already had the necessary scsi module prebuilt
|
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in /lib/modules (the module name is aic7xxx.o). I ran <B><FONT SIZE=-1>insmod
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aic7xxx</FONT></B> and up it came.
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<P>The scanner I chose from the list of scanners I reviewed last year for
|
|
my <A HREF="http://www.graphics-muse.org/muse/muse.html">Graphics Muse</A>
|
|
column in the Linux Gazette. I first tried a 610s, but it only worked
|
|
in greyscale modes. So I exchanged it for the more expensive (about
|
|
$250) 1200s. Works quite well with the Umax drivers. Image
|
|
quality is excellent. I've been scanning hardware (twisted pair and
|
|
thinnet cables), and my hand once, and the scans were quite good although
|
|
very dark. I just brightened them up with xv and the GIMP and all
|
|
was well.
|
|
|
|
<P>However, I haven't tried the scanner and drivers in conjunction with
|
|
SANE.
|
|
|
|
<P>Marco Iannacone wrote:
|
|
<UL>First of all I want to say thanks for all the great stuff you wrote
|
|
(and still write) about Linux & Graphics.</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> No problem.
|
|
<UL>Since a friend of mine uses Photoshop on Mac, I wanted to show how
|
|
powerfull is Linux, so I installed RedHat 5.0 on a Pentium 166 with 64Mb
|
|
of RAM, with a Matrox Mystique. When I showed him GIMP he was REALLY
|
|
impressed but he found it quite slowly compared to Photoshop. I told him
|
|
that the reason was probably that XFree86 was using the generic SuperVGA
|
|
driver since it doesn't have a native driver for it.</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> Possibly, but that
|
|
would only make a difference in screen updates. The majority of the
|
|
GIMP's processing is done before it updates the screen.
|
|
<UL>Is that true or maybe GIMP is only slower that Photoshop?</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> Define "slower"?
|
|
Slower loading the same file? Slower in computing a new brightness
|
|
or contrast? Slower how?
|
|
|
|
<P>What he might be talking about is the use of tiles, which may appear
|
|
to update slowly, wherease in Photoshop they may all appear almost at once
|
|
(I've never used Photoshop, so I don't know if this is true or not).
|
|
So before I can answer "is GIMP slower than Photoshop" I need to know by
|
|
what means you've been measuring the two.
|
|
<UL>More than this I was not able to open any GIF, JPG or TIFF coming from
|
|
Photoshop... do you know the reason?</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> You may not have
|
|
installed the proper image libraries. Download the <A HREF="ftp://ftp.ctd.comsat.com/pub/linux/ELF">libgr</A>
|
|
package and install it, then try again. You may want to build the
|
|
GIMP from the sources, after you install the libraries in the libgr package.
|
|
Or, if you installed GIMP from one of the distributions (Red Hat, Debian,
|
|
etc) you may want to verify you installed all the graphics libraries that
|
|
came with that distribution too.
|
|
|
|
<P><A HREF="mailto:ta3153@turkuamk.fi">Tero Auvinen</A> wrote:
|
|
<UL>In a past Graphics Muse you wrote:
|
|
<UL>...from the archive of shaders from Guido Quaroni. This archive includes
|
|
shaders from the RenderMan Companion by Steve Upstill, from Texturing and
|
|
Modeling by Ebert, Musgrave, et al, Larry Gritz, and various other places.</UL>
|
|
Where could I get this semi-wonderous package? Found one link from BMRT
|
|
homepage, but it was defunct (anonymous ftp access denied). If you'd happen
|
|
to have it somewhere, I'd appreciate a copy, otherways I'll just go and
|
|
grab everything from the aforementioned fellows homepages etc.</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse: </FONT></I></B> If the link from
|
|
Larry's page (<A HREF="http://www.seas.gwu.edu/student/gritz/bmrt.html">the
|
|
BMRT home page</A>) is not working I'm not certain where this package can
|
|
be found. Try the Renderman Repository: <A HREF="http://rmr.spinne.com/">http://rmr.spinne.com/</A>.
|
|
<UL>Also hmm, I might've missed it, highly possible, but I remember that
|
|
you 'promised' a 3 part BMRT special, seen 2 so far(issues 15&17),
|
|
maybe in march issue?</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> No, there wasn't
|
|
a third part. I wanted to do one but I'm not that experienced with
|
|
it and I had too many other things come up. I've never had a chance
|
|
to go back and revisit it.
|
|
<UL>Re: Modellers: I can't seem to find one GOOD one, if it's nice
|
|
to look and use at, then it won't export RIB, or does it in a silly way,
|
|
using polygons and whatnot, one'd prefer RMan primitives huh? Sure I can
|
|
do the basic primitives in a non-wysiwyg way, the ascii way. But anything
|
|
more complex, no thanks.</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> No modellers are
|
|
available for Linux which export RIB primitives. All of the ones
|
|
I know of export polygons only.
|
|
<UL>I've been thinking of getting another computer, running only MSWindows,
|
|
networked together with Linux, I could edit [3D models] using Rhino or
|
|
equivalent free Win95/NT modeler and render in Linux. (oh yeah, now there's
|
|
Win32 port of BMRT even...but Linux I will NOT leave, Windows generally
|
|
drives me nuts). Only if I had the money.</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> You couldn't pay
|
|
me to run MS on anything. But that's just me.
|
|
<UL>You happen to know what Larry uses for modeling? (besides Alias on
|
|
SGI sighs..)</UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse:</FONT></I></B> I think he's got
|
|
some big boxes, SGI's and Sun's probably. I'm sure Pixar feeds him
|
|
well. On Linux he may be using AC3D (as do I). It's a pretty
|
|
good modeller, but still exports everything as polygons only. It
|
|
does import 3DS and Lightwave files, though. That's quite useful for
|
|
using the canned models from the various model sites and CDs that are available.
|
|
AC3D - <A HREF="http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/users/andy/ac3dlinux.html">http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/users/andy/ac3dlinux.html</A>.
|
|
|
|
<P><A HREF="mailto:marsel@lex.infi.net">Marsel Osipov</A> writes:
|
|
<UL>I am starting a project called Virtuoso. It's a 3D Modeling/Animation/Rendering
|
|
package for Linux. I am sure that I would not be able to create
|
|
a high quality package by myself, so if you would like to join, visit my
|
|
home page for more info. <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/7705/">http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/7705/</A></UL>
|
|
<B><I><FONT COLOR="#993300">'Muse: </FONT></I></B> We can never have
|
|
too many modellers.
|
|
<BR>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<HR WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<BR><A NAME="webwonderings"></A>
|
|
<BR><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/webwonderings.jpg" HEIGHT=57 WIDTH=246>
|
|
<H2>
|
|
XeoMenu 1.1</H2>
|
|
One of the problems with pages based around standard HTML constructs is
|
|
the inability to easily modify navigation aides. A navigation aid
|
|
can be a set of text links, a set of images with individual links or it
|
|
can be an image map using hot spots for links. These tools allow
|
|
readers of a page to move around a Web site easily. Properly done,
|
|
they can remove the linearity (the hierarchical structure) of a Web site
|
|
and allow the reader to move freely between pages.
|
|
|
|
<P>Adding an text links is fairly easy to do and updating them simply requires
|
|
editing the HTML. But text links lack pizazz. Images used as
|
|
text links are better, but aside from using JavaScript to do image rollovers,
|
|
the images are fairly static. They lack the feel of a real user interface.
|
|
Image maps are no better and, in fact, don't even allow rollover changes
|
|
as easily making them even more static than individual images used as links.
|
|
|
|
<P>Fortunately, issues such as this is part of why Java exists. Java
|
|
allows for more programmatic interfaces. These interfaces can take
|
|
on the more familiar menu-based interfaces that readers will be accustomed
|
|
to. Although it can be argued that such interfaces are not any better
|
|
than static image maps, for the sake of this article we'll assume that
|
|
menuing systems are a good thing.
|
|
|
|
<P><B><FONT COLOR="#CC6600">XeoMenu</FONT></B> is a simple Java program
|
|
from Patrick Chan at Xeo (<A HREF="http://www.xeo.com">www.xeo.com</A>)
|
|
that overlays a menuing system over an image in a Web page. The program
|
|
is run as an applet and is used by embedding it within HTML source code.
|
|
Readers can retrieve a copy from <A HREF="http://java.sun.com:81/share/classes/menu/source/source.html">http://java.sun.com:81/share/classes/menu/source/source.html.
|
|
</A>Java source code is included, along with an example HTML file, sample
|
|
images, a users manual (a sort of man page in HTML) and the compiled Java
|
|
byte code. There is also a second version of the code, called horizMenu,
|
|
that permits menus to be layed out horizontally instead of vertically.
|
|
Since I can't seem to get Java working on my Red Hat 4.2 system (neither
|
|
through the javac compiler nor through my version of Vibe - something about
|
|
my CLASSPATH is not set up right I think), I won't be able to provide information
|
|
on compiling the source in this article. If I do get javac and/or
|
|
Vibe working, I'll start talking about how to compile Java programs.
|
|
If anyone has a write up of what I need to do to get my stock RH 4.2 version
|
|
of the Java compilers working, please drop me a line.
|
|
|
|
<P>To use XeoMenu you need to first create an image that contains two parts:
|
|
The menu as it is displayed without the mouse over the image and the image
|
|
as it would look if the mouse were over different parts of the original.
|
|
For our example, we'll use the following image:
|
|
|
|
<P><IMG SRC="./gx/hammel/xeomenu-1.gif" HSPACE=5 VSPACE=5 BORDER=2 HEIGHT=200 WIDTH=300 ALIGN=LEFT>
|
|
The image is divided into 2 halves. The left half is the image as
|
|
it displays without the mouse over it. The image is actually going
|
|
to be subdivided into a top (Linux) and bottom (Gazette) section.
|
|
The right side, then, shows how each section will be displayed when the
|
|
mouse is over that section. For example, if the mouse is over the
|
|
word Linux in the image then the blue Linux text will be displayed.
|
|
By default, the red colors (the left half of the image) is displayed.
|
|
|
|
<P>Now, in order not to annoy readers without Java support, you need to
|
|
move to the <A HREF="xeomenu.html">next section of this article,</A> which
|
|
will show how the Java application is used and what it looks like when
|
|
it runs. You will need a Java compatible browser to view this part
|
|
of the article.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<BR clear="both">
|
|
<A NAME="xeomenu-summary"></A></H4>
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
Summary</H4>
|
|
This was just a simple example. XeoMenu itself comes with a more
|
|
sophisticated example, but there is no real explanation (ie documentation)
|
|
of what is going on in the code. Hopefully, between that example,
|
|
the user manual, and this article you'll be able to do something useful
|
|
with XeoMenu. The <A HREF="http://java.sun.com/applets/index.html">main
|
|
applet page</A> for Java.sun.com shows an example of the horizontal
|
|
version of XeoMenu running and it's quite slick. Although the interface
|
|
uses a fairly large number of optional parameters and the format for menu
|
|
descriptions is less than ideal, it is still a useful tool that takes only
|
|
a little getting used to in order to make a very usable menu-based interface
|
|
for your Web pages.
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<HR WIDTH="100%">
|
|
|
|
<P><A NAME="musings"></A>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" >
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/musings.gif" ALT="Musings" HEIGHT=52 WIDTH=247 ALIGN=LEFT></TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="#000000" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HEIGHT=3 WIDTH=3></TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=3 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="49%" NOSAVE>
|
|
<H2>
|
|
<A NAME="update_servers"></A>X Server Update</H2>
|
|
I've been doing this column now for over a year and writing
|
|
for Linux Journal on and off for another year. In that time
|
|
I haven't really addressed one of the more obvious topics related to doing
|
|
graphics on Linux - the X server. Part of the reason for that is
|
|
that I don't have the resources to test a bunch of different server configurations.
|
|
If I got paid to do this it would be a different story, but this column
|
|
is born from whatever time and system resources I can spare each month.
|
|
|
|
<P> Still, I get requests fairly often asking for information
|
|
about what 3D video cards are supported under Linux and which ones support
|
|
various hardware extensions such as the X Input Extension. Most of
|
|
the questions specifically ask "which are supported under XFree86".
|
|
But some readers ask about support in general, either free or commercial.
|
|
|
|
<P> Well, I thought it was time I sent a query to the various
|
|
vendors and find out where things stand. The email I sent was fairly
|
|
generic. It read as follows:
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<ADDRESS>
|
|
Do you have any information which I may use in my column related to your
|
|
current or planned support for 3D hardware acceleration (specifically related
|
|
to OpenGL/Mesa, but not necessarily so)? What about support for alternative
|
|
input devices via the X Input Extension. The GIMP, and its X toolkit
|
|
Gtk, both make use of X Input if available and I expect many other tools
|
|
will do so as well in the near future.</ADDRESS>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>This query was sent out around the 12th of this month to <A HREF="http://www.xig.com">Xi
|
|
Graphics</A>, <A HREF="http://www.metrolink.com">Metro Link</A>, <A HREF="http://www.suse.de">SuSE</A>,
|
|
and the <A HREF="http://www.xfree86.org">XFree86</A> project. I received
|
|
responses from all 4, however Metro Link did not receive my query immediately
|
|
and so their response came in too late for this article. I will cover
|
|
Metro Link's response next month. Please note that this article
|
|
is intended to <I>list</I> which servers support what features/devices
|
|
and is not intended to explain how to use those features.
|
|
|
|
<P>The responses have been edited to remove what appeared to be editorial
|
|
comments, where recognizable. I will refrain from editorializing
|
|
on these responses in this article as well.
|
|
|
|
<P> The first reply was nearly immediate and came from <A HREF="mailto:hohndel@suse.de">Dirk
|
|
H Hohndel</A> at SuSE. He sent two emails, one as the Vice President
|
|
of The XFree86 Project, Inc. and one as the Lead Developer, S.u.S.E. GmbH.
|
|
Dirk wears both hats, and therefore his comments are considered official
|
|
responses, one from each organization. Both responses were direct
|
|
and to the point. First his XFree86 response:
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="95%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE>Well, XSuSE and XFree86 are mostly identical. As far as legally
|
|
possible, all work done on XSuSE is integrated into the next XFree86 version.
|
|
XFree86 in itself focuses on the X Window System and 2D support for the
|
|
different cards. While they are not actively pursuing 3D support, they
|
|
are in contact with several groups working in that area.
|
|
|
|
<P>I do not speak for Metro Link, but I can tell you that Metro Link and
|
|
XFree86 are in very positive cooperation on the 2D side of servers.
|
|
Metro Link donated lots of code to XFree86 recently, and Metro Link and
|
|
XFree86 are working together on many aspects of the design of our future
|
|
X servers.
|
|
<BR> </TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE></CENTER>
|
|
Because Dirk's response came quickly, and because responses from the other
|
|
vendors provided more detailed information, I thought I should offere XFree86
|
|
a chance to expand their reply. When asked to comment on architectural
|
|
details and XFree86's relationship to the commercial vendors, Dirk responded:
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="95%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE>Why would I bore you or anyone else with architectural details
|
|
that no one really cares about.
|
|
<BR> </TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE></CENTER>
|
|
He followed up his XFree86 reply with a response from SuSE:
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="95%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE>SuSE is working on hardware 3D support, but there is no release
|
|
date for that, yet.
|
|
|
|
<P>The 2D drivers from SuSE are intended to be integrated into XFree86-4.0,
|
|
but we are currently running into some legal problems with that for one
|
|
of them (3DLabs GLINT), as some of the docs are under NDA and we have not
|
|
been able to get the permission to release sources, yet. We are working
|
|
on it, though. All the other drivers from SuSE have already been
|
|
included into XFree86-3.3.2</TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE></CENTER>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>The other replies came from Xi Graphics. Both Thomas Roell, President
|
|
of Xi Graphics and technical architect for their servers, and Jeremy Chatfield
|
|
responded.
|
|
|
|
<P>Thomas wrote:
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="95%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE>Our next generation X-Server will support additional new input
|
|
devices for the XInputExtension. The extension itself is supported since
|
|
Accelerated-X 4.1. Planned devices are mainly CAD oriented input systems,
|
|
like Tablets, Touchscreens and Space-Balls. As for Hardware 3D, you
|
|
can bet that the next generation will have that.</TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE></CENTER>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>Jeremy Chatfield followed up with the following (edited partially for
|
|
length):
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="95%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE>Accelerated-X 4.1 supports the XInputExtension, using a small
|
|
and fixed list of devices, with very limited device management. Future
|
|
releases will support a wider range of devices.
|
|
|
|
<P>We've been evolving Accelerated-X ever since 1994, to take advantage
|
|
of 3D hardware acceleration. Examples of the technology introductions
|
|
and the reason for needing them for 3D support:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Memory allocation and buffer management. 3D uses a lot of memory.
|
|
Standard malloc() (as of 1994, when we started this work) did not permit
|
|
programs to decrease in size, tended to thrash memory when freeing and
|
|
sometimes when allocating, and exhibited other behaviors that were not
|
|
suitable to long running processes with a mix of temporary and long term
|
|
storage in a wide variety of data sizes. We do things like lazy buffer
|
|
allocation, only allocating stencil buffers when needed, and so on.
|
|
This improves speed and reduces system impact, seen in total Server size,
|
|
and paging demand.</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE></CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<CENTER></CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<CENTER><A HREF="#next-column">-Top of next column-</A></CENTER>
|
|
</TD>
|
|
|
|
<TD WIDTH="1%" BGCOLOR="#000000" NOSAVE><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HEIGHT=3 WIDTH=3></TD>
|
|
|
|
<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="49%" NOSAVE>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD><LH><A NAME="next-column"></A><B>More Musings...</B> </LH>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="vrwave.html">VRWave 0.9</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<BR>--</TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD BGCOLOR="#000000" NOSAVE><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HEIGHT=3 WIDTH=3></TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE>
|
|
<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="95%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Coprocessor locking. When using the host processor, graphics engine
|
|
and 3D engine, all writing in the same memory areas, and when using both
|
|
system memory (via AGP) and graphics board memory, fast and correct mutex
|
|
locking is essential. [Without locking] this will cause problems
|
|
when all three processors (or more) attempt to handle the same memory.
|
|
We have continued to refine our mutex locking for several years, though
|
|
this is not visible in any product other than multihead, at present. </LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Asynchronous I/O When X Servers with high levels of hardware acceleration
|
|
are handling buffered drawing requests, keyboard and mouse input is put
|
|
into the end of the queue. This results in sluggish response, and
|
|
in mouse and keyboard data being handled in bursts. Mouse acceleration
|
|
can be triggered inappropriately, so mouse motion becomes very hard to
|
|
control, and sequential single button clicks can be misinterpreted as double
|
|
clicks. We introduced the "Velvet Mouse" mechanism to permit input
|
|
even while the Server was in heavy rendering, as will be typical of 3D
|
|
dynamic applications. </LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Overlays. Many 3D applications on workstations rely on the presence
|
|
of overlays. [Overlays] also benefit from the memory management and
|
|
other architectural changes in Accelerated-X.</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE></CENTER>
|
|
Xi Graphics recently announce support for ViRGE 3D (see the <A HREF="http://www.graphics-muse.org">February
|
|
1998 Graphics Muse</A>).
|
|
|
|
<P>Beyond these two vendors, there is also 3D hardware support available
|
|
for Mesa for the following video hardware:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
3Dfx Voodoo - Cards based on the 3Dfx Voodoo chipset (such as Diamond Monster
|
|
3D and Orchid - Righteous 3D) are supported under Linux and Windows 95.
|
|
Look <A HREF="http://www-hmw.caribel.pisa.it/fxmesa/index.shtml">here</A>
|
|
for the latest info. This is the best supported 3-D hardware for Linux
|
|
at this time. </LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
3Dfx Voodoo Rush (rendering into window) - Supported under Windows. Linux
|
|
support is underway. </LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
GLINT-based boards - Look <A HREF="http://fantasia.eng.clemson.edu:80/~adamsk/glint_index.html">here</A>
|
|
for the latest info. </LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Cirrus Mondello - No longer supported- download Mesa 1.2.8 if you're interested
|
|
in this driver. </LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
This information was taken directly from the <A HREF="http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~brianp/Mesa.html">Mesa
|
|
Web pages. </A>I ignored any cards for which Linux was not mentioned
|
|
except the Cirrus Mondello. I don't know if it's for Linux or Windows.
|
|
Also, I don't know exactly how Mesa makes use of this hardware without
|
|
actually being part of the X server. You will have to investigate
|
|
the Mesa pages and its links for more information in that area.
|
|
|
|
<P>So, now you should know as much as I do with respect to 3D and X Input
|
|
support from XFree86/SuSE and Xi Graphics. In summary, most of the
|
|
3D work seems to be planned and under development, but no word on when
|
|
the support (at least for wide spread 3D support) will be available.
|
|
Neither XFree86/SuSE nor Xi specifically mentioned any 3D boards being
|
|
supported, although Xi did have the announcement for the ViRGE 3D last
|
|
month. Xi stated they support the X Input Extension in their Accelerated-X
|
|
4.1 release. Although XFree86 didn't mention it, I know that X Input
|
|
is supported in their product as well. Don't forget: I'll be
|
|
covering Metro Link's responses to my query next month.
|
|
|
|
<P>I should mention again that I have worked for Xi Graphics in the past,
|
|
and in fact worked with both Thomas and Jeremy at Dell computer and with
|
|
Jeremy at Information Foundation (a USL source code licensee back around
|
|
1993 or so). I have made every attempt to remove all editorial comments,
|
|
both my own and any from the respondents, from this article.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
Contact Information</H4>
|
|
<B>XFree86</B>:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Announcements: <A HREF="news:comp.os.linux.announce">comp.os.linux.announce</A>
|
|
and other announcement groups</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Web site: <A HREF="http://www.xfree86.org">http://www.xfree86.org</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Support: <A HREF="mailto:XFree86@XFree86.Org">XFree86@XFree86.Org</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Business: <A HREF="mailto:BOD@XFree86.Org">BOD@XFree86.Org</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<BR><A HREF="http://www.xfree86.org"></A> </UL>
|
|
<B>S.u.S.E</B>.:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Announcements: <A HREF="news:comp.os.linux.announce">comp.os.linux.announce</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Web site: <A HREF="http://www.suse.de/XSuSE/XSuSE_E.html">http://www.suse.de/XSuSE/XSuSE_E.html</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Support: <A HREF="mailto:x@suse.de">x@suse.de</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Business: <A HREF="mailto:x@suse.de">x@suse.de</A></LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
Dirk reports: In both cases we try to keep the web pages up to date
|
|
and XFree86 has a FAQ online that contains workarounds for known bugs.
|
|
|
|
<P><B>Xi Graphics</B>:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Announcements: <A HREF="mailto:accelx-announce-request@xig.com">accelx-announce-request@xig.com
|
|
</A>with the one word message "subscribe"</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Web: <A HREF="http://www.xig.com">http://www.xig.com</A></LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
User-to-User mailing list: <A HREF="mailto:accelx-users-request@xig.com">accelx-users-request@xig.com</A>
|
|
with the one word message "subscribe"</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Email: <A HREF="mailto:sales@xig.com">sales@xig.com</A>
|
|
- automated initial response, but a human reader.</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Phone: +1 800 946-7433 (US), +1 303 298-7478 (Int'l).</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Fax: +1 303 298-1406</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
Jeremy added: We keep the web site up to date.</TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
</TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="#000000" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" HEIGHT=3 WIDTH=3></TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" >
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/resources.gif" ALT="Resources" HEIGHT=57 WIDTH=246 ALIGN=LEFT></TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
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>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0 COLS=2 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
|
|
<TR NOSAVE>
|
|
<TD NOSAVE><A HREF="http://www.csn.net/~mjhammel/linux/lgh.html">Linux
|
|
Graphics mini-Howto</A>
|
|
<BR><A HREF="http://www.csn.net/~mjhammel/ugu/ugu.html">Unix Graphics Utilities</A>
|
|
<BR><A HREF="http://www.digiserve.com/ar/linux-snd/">Linux Multimedia Page</A>
|
|
|
|
<P>Some of the Mailing Lists and Newsgroups I keep an eye on and where
|
|
I get much of the information in this column:
|
|
|
|
<P><A HREF="http://www.gimp.org">The Gimp User and Gimp Developer Mailing
|
|
Lists</A>.
|
|
<BR><A HREF="http://www.irtc.org">The IRTC-L discussion list</A>
|
|
<BR><A HREF="news:comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing">comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing</A>
|
|
<BR><A HREF="news:comp.graphics.rendering.renderman">comp.graphics.rendering.renderman</A>
|
|
<BR><A HREF="news:comp.graphics.api.opengl">comp.graphics.api.opengl</A>
|
|
<BR><A HREF="news:comp.os.linux.announce">comp.os.linux.announce</A> </TD>
|
|
|
|
<TD><IMG SRC="../gx/hammel/gmuse.jpg" HSPACE=10 HEIGHT=270 WIDTH=190></TD>
|
|
</TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
<A NAME="future"></A>
|
|
<H2>
|
|
Future Directions</H2>
|
|
Next month: Unknown. I've got some prior obligations
|
|
(paying ones, that is) that I absolutely <B><I>must</I></B> get done.
|
|
And soon.
|
|
|
|
<P><A HREF="mailto:mjhammel@csn.net">Let me know what you'd like to hear
|
|
about!</A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<HR WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<DIV ALIGN=right><FONT SIZE=-1>© 1998 <A HREF="mailto:mjhammel@csn.net">Michael
|
|
J. Hammel</A></FONT></DIV>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<center><H4>Previous ``Graphics Muse'' Columns</H4></center>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue11/gm.html">Graphics Muse #1, November 1996</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue12/gm.html">Graphics Muse #2, December 1996</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue13/gm.html">Graphics Muse #3, January 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue14/gm.html">Graphics Muse #4, February 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue15/gm.html">Graphics Muse #5, March 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue16/gm.html">Graphics Muse #6, April 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue17/gm.html">Graphics Muse #7, May 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue18/gm.html">Graphics Muse #8, June 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue19/gm.html">Graphics Muse #9, July 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue20/gm.html">Graphics Muse #10, August 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue22/gm.html">Graphics Muse #11, October 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue23/gm.html">Graphics Muse #12, December 1997</A><br>
|
|
<A HREF="../issue25/gm.html">Graphics Muse #13, February 1998</A>
|
|
<P><HR><P>
|
|
<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, Michael J. Hammel <BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 26 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1998</H5></center>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
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