For those of you who might have out of date information, this is where we are:
Specular International
479 West Street
Amherst, MA 01002
Tel: (413) 253-3100
Fax: (413) 253-0540
Sales: (800) 433-7732
LAST MINUTE NOTES
QuickTime
Infini-D requires QuickTime™ to be installed when running on a Power Macintosh. QuickTime is shipped with all Power Macs. The installer will install QuickTime if you are using a 68k machine so you can save and play back QuickTime movies.
Animation Assistants
Animation Assistants in Infini-D 2.6 are now implemented as plug-ins. This will allow 3rd parties to create new assistants and add them easily. To add a new Animation Assistant simply drop it in the Animation Assistants folder. You will then need to quit and restart Infini-D. The Animation Assistants folder must reside in the same folder as the Infini-D application. The name of the folder must NOT be changed.
Infini-D's Memory Partition
Infini-D ships with a default memory partition of 4MB (or 4000k). While this is fine for most basic work, you will need to increase it for more complex tasks. To increase the memory partition:
• Select the application in the Finder. Note that you cannot adjust the memory configuration while the application is running.
• Select “Get Info...” from the File menu.
• Under System 7.0 or 7.0.1, set the “Suggested Memory” to a higher amount (8000k for example.)
• Under System 7.1, set the “Preferred Memory” to a higher amount .
• Close the window. The application will use this memory configuration when you next launch it.
It is important that you do not set Infini-D to use every last bit of available memory – there needs to be some left over for the system. If you have a 12MB Macintosh, for example, you should not set the memory higher than about 8 or 9MB.
Virtual Memory & Power Macs
While the virtual memory scheme of the Power Macintosh has been improved, it does not perform very well with memory-intensive programs like Infini-D. With this in mind, it is highly recommended to use real RAM instead of virtual memory whenever possible.
QuickTime & Power Macs
Infini-D on the Power Macintosh requires that QuickTime and QuickTime PowerPlug be installed. If Infini-D is set to use all available memory, the system will not be able to load QuickTime and Infini-D will not run. You will usually get an error that says "Quicktime.lib could not be found." When this happens, you should decrease the memory partition for Infini-D using the method described above.
The Power Macintosh Modern Memory Manager
Occasionally, when in the middle of rendering, some files will claim there is not enough available RAM. If this occurs, try turning off the Modern Memory Manager from the Memory Control Panel.
Background Images
Background images in Infini-D use a large amount of memory. This should be kept in mind while working. It may be easier to add a background image just prior to rendering if you are creating a long animation.
Working with Large Monitors
Infini-D requires more RAM to display large windows in millions of colors. If you are working on a large monitor (16” or greater) in Millions of colors, we recommend raising the memory partition of Infini-D to 8 megabytes or more.
The “SMART WINDOW PLACEMENT” Option
In Infini-D 2.0.1 and earlier, dialogs and windows such as the Surface Composition dialog and the Workshop would automatically appear on the monitor that would either give the best performance or would look the best. For instance, the Surface Composition dialog would search for a monitor with 24-bit color and the Workshop would look for the monitor at the lowest resolution (1-bit or 8-bit.) This feature is known as SMART WINDOW PLACEMENT.
In cases where the user had a monitor or video card attached to their computer, but the monitor was not on, Infini-D would still place dialogs and windows on these
monitors. This obviously created problems. To correct this, Infini-D now has
an option to turn off SMART WINDOW PLACEMENT. To turn this option off (it is
on by default), go to “Preferences...” under the Edit menu. You will find a check
box for Smart Window Placement. With this item unchecked, all windows and
dialogs will appear on the monitor with the menu bar.
Scrubbing
Infini-D's Sequencer has a feature called "scrubbing" that allows you to see animation in real-time as you move the World Time Marker. To "scrub" in Infini-D, simply move the World Time Marker. Infini-D will use the Preview mode to show your animation as you move the Marker. Note that scrubbing works both forwards and backwards. Scrubbing is most useful for seeing and working on just a section of an animation. The best performance for scrubbing and animation previews is achieved when the monitor is set to fewer colors (i.e., 1-bit or 8-bit color.)
