I bought the program some months ago...but never could get it started
and gave up....now I have learnt fractals and am ready to try this
wonderful program again....
It is asking me for a key but the huge amount of numbers I have listed
here is not getting me anywhere.....

Please help!!!!!
I could be listed under Ladymaggic  and I have a huge reference number
here which is not working....

I have answered this privately.


Regards,
Garth

Hi,

I was trying to see how Dirk Monteny did one of his pics, and was able
to come up with at least past of it. Here is the link to my attempt.

http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=1060672&Artist=mr%2Dmessy&Start=1\
&ByArtist=Yes

The questions I have is regarding what appears to be  raised edge on
some of the cubes. This is a 26 holon model with the first two hidden.
The one shape (first holon) is a cube (go figure:) ) with no modifiers.
The second cube is rotated to give the curve.  I am using version 1.502.
I was never able to get rid of  the raised edges. I simply went on to
other projects. Is there anything I can do to get rid of that edge? Its
a cool enough construct that I wouldn't mind adding more parts to it.

Thanks

Hi,
> I was trying to see how Dirk Monteny did one of his pics, and was able
> to come up with at least past of it. Here is the link to my attempt.
>
> http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=1060672&Artist=mr%2Dmessy
> &Start=1&ByArtist=Yes
>
> The questions I have is regarding what appears to be  raised edge on
> some of the cubes.

This is a result of the lighting. Lighting is based on the surface
slope at each point, which is calculated from the surrounding points.
The number of points involved depends on several lighting controls.
Unfortunately, smoothing and some other texture effects come at the
expense of edge artifacts (quite apart from aliasing that can occur on
edges.)

For minimum artifacts and aliasing, you need to set Smoothing to 0 for
all lights (select any light other than ambient, click the Sync button,
and set Smoothing to 0), and also check Fine in the Depth panel.

If the surface isn't smooth enough, you need to either render longer,
or compromise with a small amount of smoothing (but keep Fringe at 0 or
it will thicken the edges). This will be less critical if you are
rendering larger and resampling to reduce aliasing effects, which is
the only way to get really high quality images.


Regards,
Garth

It sure pays to talk to the man that really knows the software :-). I
fought with this for quite a number of hours thinking it was a holon
problem. Never occured to me that it was the result of lighting
settings.

Thanks again Garth!

InQ/Mr Messy

--- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, Garth Thornton <garthst@p...>
wrote:
> This is a result of the lighting.
[ S N I P ! ]
> For minimum artifacts and aliasing, you need to set Smoothing to 0
for
> all lights (select any light other than ambient, click the Sync
button,
> and set Smoothing to 0), and also check Fine in the Depth panel.
>
> If the surface isn't smooth enough, you need to either render
longer,
> or compromise with a small amount of smoothing (but keep Fringe at
0 or
> it will thicken the edges). This will be less critical if you are
> rendering larger and resampling to reduce aliasing effects, which
is
> the only way to get really high quality images.
>
>
> Regards,
> Garth
>

Hi I am new here.

Could anyone tell me how to create chainmail?

Greets,

I create all my xenopics to be at 7200x5400 pixels.

The other day I decided to have a print made full size (24x18 inches @
300 dpi) to check curves for aliasing.

I was expecting aliasing, having read that you have to render large
and downsample 2 to 4 times.

I was pleasently surprised to see that the curves looked totally
smooth! Maybe rendering large takes care of curves aliasing?

vince

my xenodream pics here:
www.moonmadness.ca

so i bought vue...am tryin to get some xd objects to import into
vue...vue will import the following polygon mesh files
dfx,obj,3ds,lwo,shd,cob,pz3 and pzz....but not .pgm files I cant seem
to get any good results with .obj files.
questions.
any tips on getting obj files to show up as rendered in vue?
is there a programme that will convert .pgm files into any of the
above formats?
or any other ideas?
morris on the pix group has had sucess with importing pgm files into
bryce..seems a shame since i just bought vue for $170 and it dosnt
seem to do what i want...
bob ( gateman45)

If you prefer to import your XD fractal as a landscape instead of a
real object, just save the depth map as a TGA file in XD instead of a
PGM. In Vue's terrain editor click the Picture button and open the TGA
file. I just wonder why you would want to do that. All you get is a
landscape that looks like your fractal on top but it looses any detail
at the bottom. That's the same with PGM files in Bryce. All you get is
a landscape. I never had any problems to import XD objects into Vue.
Does your Vue crash when you do that?

Christina


--- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, "gateman45" <gateman@a...> wrote:
>
> so i bought vue...am tryin to get some xd objects to import into
> vue...vue will import the following polygon mesh files
> dfx,obj,3ds,lwo,shd,cob,pz3 and pzz....but not .pgm files I cant seem
> to get any good results with .obj files.
> questions.
> any tips on getting obj files to show up as rendered in vue?
> is there a programme that will convert .pgm files into any of the
> above formats?
> or any other ideas?
> morris on the pix group has had sucess with importing pgm files into
> bryce..seems a shame since i just bought vue for $170 and it dosnt
> seem to do what i want...
> bob ( gateman45)
>

Christina - this is a link to a small gallery I threw together to illustrate why
one might want to import an XD PGM file into Bryce. As I've posted several times
in the past, one can be very creative with PGMs. Others have posted images also
using pgms for other than "landscapes".

http://dwains.com/xenodreams/pgm/

Morris
It's all about having fun!

I thought some of the Bryceforum and Fractal-World folks might like in on this
thread also.

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Christina Bartsch
   To: xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 2:27 AM
   Subject: [XD] Re: pgm/obj files


   If you prefer to import your XD fractal as a landscape instead of a
   real object, just save the depth map as a TGA file in XD instead of a
   PGM. In Vue's terrain editor click the Picture button and open the TGA
   file. I just wonder why you would want to do that. All you get is a
   landscape that looks like your fractal on top but it looses any detail
   at the bottom. That's the same with PGM files in Bryce. All you get is
   a landscape. I never had any problems to import XD objects into Vue.
   Does your Vue crash when you do that?

   Christina


   --- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, "gateman45" <gateman@a...> wrote:
   >
   > so i bought vue...am tryin to get some xd objects to import into
   > vue...vue will import the following polygon mesh files
   > dfx,obj,3ds,lwo,shd,cob,pz3 and pzz....but not .pgm files I cant seem
   > to get any good results with .obj files.
   > questions.
   > any tips on getting obj files to show up as rendered in vue?
   > is there a programme that will convert .pgm files into any of the
   > above formats?
   > or any other ideas?
   > morris on the pix group has had sucess with importing pgm files into
   > bryce..seems a shame since i just bought vue for $170 and it dosnt
   > seem to do what i want...
   > bob ( gateman45)
   >






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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Bob,
     One has to render the Xenodreams file as an obj. I am not good at the
program but if I remember correctly the way to do it may be under the
file menu? It does very well with the form, but I have not figured out a way to
transfer materials.

Have a great day
Ralph
----- Original Message -----
From: gateman45 <gateman@...>
To: xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [XD] pgm/obj files
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 03:30:41 -0000

>
> so i bought vue...am tryin to get some xd objects to import into
> vue...vue will import the following polygon mesh files
> dfx,obj,3ds,lwo,shd,cob,pz3 and pzz....but not .pgm files I cant seem
> to get any good results with .obj files.
> questions.
> any tips on getting obj files to show up as rendered in vue?
> is there a programme that will convert .pgm files into any of the
> above formats?
> or any other ideas?
> morris on the pix group has had sucess with importing pgm files into
> bryce..seems a shame since i just bought vue for $170 and it dosnt
> seem to do what i want...
> bob ( gateman45)


--
_______________________________________________

Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number.  -Lycos Yellow Pages

http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC\
=lycos10

Errr,

someone correct me if I'm wrong but you can not transfer material.
An OBJ file is just a 3D mesh/grid of an object/image.
You have to apply texturing in Bryce or Vue after importing the OBJ
file.

Vince
-------------------------------------------------

> Hi Bob,
>     One has to render the Xenodreams file as an obj. I am not good
at the program but if I remember correctly the way to do it may be
under the
> file menu? It does very well with the form, but I have not figured
out a way to transfer materials.

To summarize:

Vue and some other programs don't import PGM files, but do import a
special version of TGA file (16 bit RG encoded targa file), so that is
also available in the Save Depth dialog. Both these formats use 16 bits
for smoother results than 8 bit formats would provide.

For terrain or other building objects, depth maps have an advantage
over mesh export (OBJ). You can get higher resolution and therefore
better detail, and they use less memory and disk space.

Note: you usually want to use the option to set the base to the back of
the object when saving depth maps, otherwise the terrain may be on top
of a cliff, depending on the object shape and the view settings. For
terrains it works best to render from above, but for other objects you
need to render from the approximate direction that you will see it from
in Bryce/Vue etc.

In Bryce you usually have to take them into the terrain editor and clip
the base plane, unless it will be buried below the ground plane.

XD doesn't currently export materials or colors for depth maps or
meshes.


Regards,
Garth

Hi Vince,
> The other day I decided to have a print made full size (24x18 inches @
> 300 dpi) to check curves for aliasing.
>
> I was expecting aliasing, having read that you have to render large and
> downsample 2 to 4 times.
>
> I was pleasently surprised to see that the curves looked totally
> smooth! Maybe rendering large takes care of curves aliasing?

It mostly comes down to resolution. On screen you are typically viewing
somewhere between 72 and 125 dpi, with 96 being the most common on a
PC. At 300 dpi aliasing is much less noticeable (equivalent to a 3x
downsample for screen viewing), and printing can reduce it further,
depending on whether it is inkjet or continuous tone technology and on
what the printer drivers do in the way of filtering/dithering etc.

Also, the larger the print, the further away you tend to view it. Once
you get to about 36x24 inches you are usually a yard/meter back and
that helps too.


Regards,
Garth

Hi,
> Could anyone tell me how to create chainmail?

The easiest way for an approximate effect is to use the Gridcub
metamorph on whatever shape you have, with a high Scale value.

For a more authentic effect, though harder to control the shape, use a
torus constructor followed by tilexy or tilexyd. The torus will need
Reorient checked and some holon rotation to get the overlapping right.

For the best result, I would use a torus followed by a metamorph to
warp it into something like a real chainmail link (not sure which one;
it would take some experimenting). Then I would use an extended holon
to do the tile, plus another metamorph to warp the tile into something
resembling body armour.


Regards,
Garth

That are some cool images, Morris! I really like them. :) I can see
why it can be more useful in special cases to export a fractal
rather as a PGM/TGA depth map instead of exporting it as a free
object.

Bob wanted to know how to convert a PGM file to a format like OBJ or
3DS and such so he can import it into Vue. That's why I said why not
rather export it as an OBJ file right away. There is no way in my
opinion to convert a depth map file format directly to a 3D object
file format but I may be mistaken. However, as I said, Vue can
import TGA depth maps as Bryce can import PGM depth maps, so there's
no problem at all.

Take care,
Christina
http://teena.biz


--- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, "Morris Smith" <mds97@c...>
wrote:
>
> Christina - this is a link to a small gallery I threw together to
illustrate why one might want to import an XD PGM file into Bryce.
As I've posted several times in the past, one can be very creative
with PGMs. Others have posted images also using pgms for other
than "landscapes".
>
> http://dwains.com/xenodreams/pgm/
>
> Morris
> It's all about having fun!
>
> I thought some of the Bryceforum and Fractal-World folks might
like in on this thread also.

Thanks, Christina. I've never saved a depth map as a TGA. Having too much fun
with PGM. Will have to try that and compare the two.

BTW, I have visited your web site several times and always marvel at the
wonderful art you have created.
I recommend anyone viewing this message who hasn't toured it, do so.

Morris
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Christina Bartsch
   To: xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 3:17 AM
   Subject: [XD] Re: pgm/obj files - Christina


   That are some cool images, Morris! I really like them. :) I can see
   why it can be more useful in special cases to export a fractal
   rather as a PGM/TGA depth map instead of exporting it as a free
   object.

   Bob wanted to know how to convert a PGM file to a format like OBJ or
   3DS and such so he can import it into Vue. That's why I said why not
   rather export it as an OBJ file right away. There is no way in my
   opinion to convert a depth map file format directly to a 3D object
   file format but I may be mistaken. However, as I said, Vue can
   import TGA depth maps as Bryce can import PGM depth maps, so there's
   no problem at all.

   Take care,
   Christina
   http://teena.biz


   --- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, "Morris Smith" <mds97@c...>
   wrote:
   >
   > Christina - this is a link to a small gallery I threw together to
   illustrate why one might want to import an XD PGM file into Bryce.
   As I've posted several times in the past, one can be very creative
   with PGMs. Others have posted images also using pgms for other
   than "landscapes".
   >
   > http://dwains.com/xenodreams/pgm/
   >
   > Morris
   > It's all about having fun!
   >


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In Vue you have to use the TGA as it can't read PGM. If you use
Bryce I would prefer PGM because I don't know if a TGA comes out the
same in Bryce as it comes out in Vue. It looks colorful and wild in
a graphic program while it imports as a perfect grayscale depth map
in Vue.

Awww! Thank you so much for your nice compliments, Morris. You make
me blush. I'm very happy that you enjoyed my website. :)

Christina


--- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, "Morris Smith" <mds97@c...>
wrote:
>
> Thanks, Christina. I've never saved a depth map as a TGA. Having
too much fun with PGM. Will have to try that and compare the two.
>
> BTW, I have visited your web site several times and always marvel
at the wonderful art you have created.
> I recommend anyone viewing this message who hasn't toured it, do
so.
>
> Morris
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Christina Bartsch
>   To: xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 3:17 AM
>   Subject: [XD] Re: pgm/obj files - Christina
>
>
>   That are some cool images, Morris! I really like them. :) I can
see
>   why it can be more useful in special cases to export a fractal
>   rather as a PGM/TGA depth map instead of exporting it as a free
>   object.
>
>   Bob wanted to know how to convert a PGM file to a format like
OBJ or
>   3DS and such so he can import it into Vue. That's why I said why
not
>   rather export it as an OBJ file right away. There is no way in
my
>   opinion to convert a depth map file format directly to a 3D
object
>   file format but I may be mistaken. However, as I said, Vue can
>   import TGA depth maps as Bryce can import PGM depth maps, so
there's
>   no problem at all.
>
>   Take care,
>   Christina
>   http://teena.biz
>
>
>   --- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, "Morris Smith" <mds97@c...>
>   wrote:
>   >
>   > Christina - this is a link to a small gallery I threw together
to
>   illustrate why one might want to import an XD PGM file into
Bryce.
>   As I've posted several times in the past, one can be very
creative
>   with PGMs. Others have posted images also using pgms for other
>   than "landscapes".
>   >
>   > http://dwains.com/xenodreams/pgm/
>   >
>   > Morris
>   > It's all about having fun!
>   >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

sometimes, in my excitement to get to the bottom of a new project i
skip the reading of the destructions...Id like to thank all who posted
replies to my q's on pgm files...

that said...what i am tryin to do is import files from xd into vue..
ive had some sucess with the .obj export mesh business and can with
some tweaking get a grid to look like a grid..torii are a different
story(they export with a bunch of detail that i dont want)..and two
holon fractals are a nightmare..this is what ive gleaned so far:::
  set render at 800x600 (settings in main window)..then export
mesh..anything larger is a ram killer...ive gotten results with tri's
up to 300k..then its krash city
set mesh grid to 120...i dont know why...but it seems to help
use volume instead of surface and check fill...
triangulation escapes me..anyone explain it in laymans terms?i just
left it alone
mesh filtering ive tried all of them on the same image and dont get
the reasoning...cept that it uses another step..
the simplify boxes are another mystery...what does simplify do? and
what is the reasoning behind the different settings//

well thats what i know(or rather what i dont know)
any help would be appreciated..
bob gateman45

Came across this image taken by shuttle astronauts from orbit, an unusual
and very beautiful example of fractals from nature. Be aware that its a VERY
big image!

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ISSArt/Images/10124_lrg.jpg

Maybe we can have an equivalent holon in the next release?!?!
:-)

Nick Stevens - http://www.starbase1.co.uk/graphics.htm



--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/142 - Release Date: 18/10/2005

Hi Nick,
> Came across this image taken by shuttle astronauts from orbit, an
> unusual and very beautiful example of fractals from nature. Be aware
> that its a VERY big image!
>
> http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ISSArt/Images/10124_lrg.jpg
>
> Maybe we can have an equivalent holon in the next release?!?!
> :-)

Nice - don't tempt me!

Actually I think you'll be pretty happy with what the new metamorphs do
for rocks and landforms, and also with the background generator, which
does a good job of sea, sky and other textures.


Regards,
Garth

Hi Bob,

About mesh export...

>  set render at 800x600 (settings in main window)..then export
> mesh..anything larger is a ram killer...ive gotten results with tri's up
> to 300k..then its krash city set mesh grid to 120...

Mesh export is a separate process, so you don't need to render it as a
picture first. The advice about setting render size to 800x600 is just
in case you've already rendered larger, in which case you need to free
that memory up.

How much RAM do you have? 256MB should be enough to do meshes up to
about 1.5m triangles, working with grid size between 160 and 300 or so.

>i dont know
> why...but it seems to help use volume instead of surface and check
> fill... triangulation escapes me..anyone explain it in laymans terms?

Surface gives smoother results but doesn't work well for objects that
are too intricate or have thin surfaces (they get holes in them).

So you often have to use the Volume method. Always use Fill to reduce
the number of triangles (unless you want a hollow object for some
reason), and let it render long enough for the fill to work.

> just left it alone mesh filtering ive tried all of them on the same
> image and dont get the reasoning...cept that it uses another step.. the

Mesh filtering smoothes out some of the bumps that you get with the
volume method, so you need it.

> simplify boxes are another mystery...what does simplify do? and what is
> the reasoning behind the different settings//

The triangulation makes a lot of triangles. You want the largest grid
size that you can use without running out of RAM, to get better detail.
Simplifying then reduces the triangles. Clicking the Simplify button
just calculates the order to reduce them. Then you adjust the Quality
control to reduce the number of triangles, before saving the mesh. You
can always cut it down by half or more without any visible difference,
and often by a factor of 5 to 20. The default settings are the best.


Regards,
Garth

well,

I have a P4 2.8 Gz with 4 Gigs of RAM, although that motherboard
architecture only about sees 3.25 Gigs.

I can "only" render at about 7200 x 5400 pixels.
More than that and I get the message in Xenodream that i'm maxing out.

Photoshop as well doesn't seem to care much about images larger than
this.

Is this normal?

I'm not complaining, far from that!
I can do 24 x 18 inches pics at a 300 dpi resolution with images of
that size.

vince

Hi Vince,
> I have a P4 2.8 Gz with 4 Gigs of RAM, although that motherboard
> architecture only about sees 3.25 Gigs.
>
> I can "only" render at about 7200 x 5400 pixels.
> More than that and I get the message in Xenodream that i'm maxing out.

From some other feedback, I suspect that once you have more than 2GB
the memory calculation in XD 1.5 is not accurate. I suggest trying
larger renders, and ignore that message until you find a size where
disk swapping gets to be a problem. You should be able to do 12000x9000
comfortably enough.

> Photoshop as well doesn't seem to care much about images larger than
> this.

If you mean it has no problems handling much larger images, that's
true, partly because it is rare to use several layers at full size (to
compare with XD's use of rendered pic, lit pic, depth map, shadows and
maybe background pic), and partly because it accesses the pixels
sequentially and not in random order like XD's rendering process.

> I'm not complaining, far from that!
> I can do 24 x 18 inches pics at a 300 dpi resolution with images of
> that size.

I can recommend 36 x 24 inches at 200 dpi if you are ever tempted.


Regards,
Garth

tnx garth for all your help!  :)

vince

Vince,
Here is a little know fact.  Microsoft Windows has an architected limit
of 2 GB for each application run under Windows.  Thats per appplication.
So if you have 4 GB in  your machine only 2 GB will be assigned to XD
when it runs.  The rest can be assigned to other applications.  This is
a Windows limitation.  Adobe (Photoshop) has found a way arround this by
starting a second application under the covers and then using it like a
RAM disk.

  This is the main reason why most motherboards have a limit of 4GB of
RAM (per processor). Multi-processor motherboards are still stuck with
this limit.  There are lots of people complaining about this. I have not
heard if Microsoft is going to expand this in the next version.  There
is a special application note on Microsoft's web site that explains how,
if you are running under a debugger, you can get 3GB.  It is an
unsupported command line switch for developers only.



--
James Dunn

www.ImagesByJamesDunn.com

--- In xenodreamers@yahoogroups.com, Denanjums <denanjums@s...> wrote:
>
> Vince,
> Here is a little know fact.  Microsoft Windows has an architected
limit
> of 2 GB for each application run under Windows.  Thats per
appplication.

That make senses. I first upgraded to 2 Gigs of Ram where i could see
a difference. A upgrade to 4 Gigs of Ram showed no improvments in the
maximum size of the renderings.

Tnx for the info james.

btw, very nice pics on your website!  : )

vince

4G is the limit of addressable space for a 32-bit system. (2^32 =
4,294,967,296) It's not so much a Windows limitation as a 32-bit
limitation. Applications are written and compiled to use a single 32-bit
value as a memory address, so in order to expand the range of addressable
memory, you have to change the size of the values used to store memory
addresses (e.g. to 64-bit). This is not as simple as flipping a switch,
because it can have a sort of ripple effect and cause all sorts of other
things to have to change as well.

The 2G limitation is because, within the 4G of memory space that an
application can "see", some of it has to belong to the operating system, so
that the application can talk to the operating system efficiently. In
32-bit Windows, memory is partitioned as 2G for applications and 2G for
Windows. (This doesn't mean Windows uses 2G of memory, it just means that
each application can only use 2G at a time; two applications could each be
using 2G, just a different 2G!)

The utility you mentioned can change the partition so that an application
can use 3G and Windows just 1G, but the problem with that is some
applications just can't handle it. The reason they can't handle it is they
make some assumptions about addresses. A 32-bit number can be unsigned (so
it represents a value from 0 to 4,294,967,295) or signed (so it represents
a value from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647). A convenient way for
applications to deal with memory is to treat addresses as signed values;
anything positive belongs to the application, and anything negative belongs
to Windows. This convenient method only works if the partition is 2G for
applications and 2G for Windows; if you change the partition with the
utility, you're invalidating the assumption, and that may cause the
application to behave erratically and crash.

Motherboards have a 4G limit because adding more memory requires extra
circuits, additional complexity in memory access, etc. It is not an
arbitrary limit but an engineering issue, and there's little point if your
processor and operating system can't support more memory than that anyway.

64-bit is the next step, with processors from AMD and Intel now able to
handle vast amounts of memory. (64-bit addresses allow 16 exabytes of
memory--that's 18 quintillion bytes, or four billion times as much memory
as current 32-bit systems.) But Windows has to be converted to handle
64-bit memory addresses, along with all of the device drivers for all the
video cards, sound cards, etc. and that is an enormous task. Microsoft
already has a beta version of 64-bit Windows, but the full transition will
take several years. (Anybody remember the transition from 16-bit Windows to
32-bit Windows? Ten years ago?)

                                      /    Damien M. Jones
  http://www.fractalus.com/gallery/  \\  dmj@...
  (personal gallery of fractal art)  /

In other  3D apps I can set up multiple cameras and render the image in
sections that have max resolution in each image.  I can stitch them
together in Photoshop.   Bryce gets around this issure by rendering to
disk (but slowly).   XD, unlike Bryce does not appear to use a scanline
algorithm, thus cannot write a finished line to disk in order -or can
it.  Garth, would the ordered render method be capable of rendering to
disk instead of memory?

--
James Dunn

www.ImagesByJamesDunn.com

I have a suggestion for a sort of challenge / collaborative project -
the Xeno Clock!

I got the idea poking around the web, when I came across the Giant
Nixie Clock, here:
http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/clocks/nixie/

As explained on the page, it uses a Java clock, where you provide a
background image, and pictures for each digit, combined into a strip.
Full details here: http://www.xanasoft.com/djclock/
It's free for non commercial use.

You can probably see where I am going here!

If we combine efforts, to get a set of digits done in XD, and combine
them in a strip, hey presto, one Xeno Clock!

Now there are going to be a few constraints if this is to work well.
As its GIF, there is a limit on the colours used, so if a wide
variety of colours goes in, it won't look so good when they are
reduced to 255. Therefore I suggest we agree a rough pallette, say
metallic silvery / gold / copper  colours on a black background.
(Though there's no reason we can't go for more than one set, a light
background set might look better on some web pages...)

We will also need a common size, I suggest a similar size to the
Nixie clock is good - any bigger and it won't display well on smaller
screens, too small and you won't see the details on the Xenopics. So
I suggest 80 pixels wide by 110 pixels high is good.

I also suggest that we agree up front that anyones digits can be used
in anyones clock. (Though of course if you are feeling ambitious you
could do a complete set yourself, with 100% consistent lighting!)

Anyone else game for this?
Nick