Aladdin 4D 6.0 Technology Preview Video

[Ral-Clan]

Great news.  I was using Aladdin 4d trying to teach myself how to use the wirebend tool just before I read this post.

Please release an updated Classic OS version as well (at least bugfixed).

[Ral-Clan]

It quickly got to 10,000 views on this news item. So now we are not releasing the video until we reach 100,000 views.

This may be a joke (it's hard to tell because it's not really funny).  But whether or not it is, you're succeeding at making your customer base (me included) irritated with your company (and I'm probably one of the few remaining real Aladdin4d users).

[Ral-Clan]

I couldn't have said it better than Boot_WB.  He was spot on with his comments.

There may or may not be more than one person involved.
You constantly refer to DiscreetFX 'labs' (which I presume is either your mom's basement, or a spare bedroom).

I always get a chuckle when they talk about "DiscreetFX Labs" too.  I WANT DiscreetFX to succeed - I WANT there to be a new Aladdin4d (which I will pay for).  But no need to put up a false front.  No need to be embarassed that it's just one programmer working on Alladin4d from his house with a bag of Doritos beside the computer.  We know the Amiga is now a small cottage industry.  Deron Kazmaier (Pagestream) admits he works from his home (he has a blog about it).  Jens Schoenfeld doesn't talk like he has a team of lab-coated technicians and a white room.  Even Greg Gorby (original Alladin4d developer) talked about working from his home office by himself (when the Amiga market went bust).  But we all still admire these guys because they have delivered.

Good Luck to DiscreetFX, and please don't take Boot_WB's message as a bashing - use it as constructive criticism.  I wish you all the best!

[Ral-Clan]

@ral-clan

Well it's good that you admire Deron Kazmaier, he is the programmer of Aladdin 4D 6.0 and is paid for his services. Deron is a great guy but since I can't program in C only he truly knows what is taking so long.

Oh interesting.  At least I know there is a good programmer on the job.

Have you ever though of contacting the other programmer that worked on Aladdin4d under Greg Gorby?  I think his name is Devon Graham.  I have conducted some online searches to try and track him down but he's about as hard to find as Greg Gorby is!

[Ral-Clan]

@ral-cal

Thanks for your great suggestions and thank you for being a good customer. I did not know about Devon until you mentioned him so have never attempted to contact him.

Yes, this programmer introduces himself (along with Greg Gorby) at the beginning of the Aladdin4d video tutorial Greg released in the late 1990s.  I *think* his name was Devon Graham, but the video will confirm it.

He was mentioned as being on staff as programmer in the old Aladdin's Lamp newletters and eventually had to be laid off I think (or he moved off to another job) when the Amiga market started to go downhill.

I'm sure Greg can confirm, and maybe he still has contact information for Devon.

EDIT: In the newsletter (3rd quarter issue 4) Devon states that he is the "technical support representative".  Maybe he was also a programmer?

[Ral-Clan]

I'm working on the final editing so the video should be up later this afternoon/evening. I have made everyone wait so long the final product better be DAM good. While you wait please enjoy this classic Aladdin 4D video by its original creator Greg Gorby.

http://www.archive.org/details/Computer_7

Oooh!  I have been looking for this Computer Chronicles episode for a while!  Thanks for linking to it!

[Ral-Clan]

Thanks for posting the video.  I'm guessing three things from what I see:

- the rendering engine isn't finished yet
- looks like the horizontal to vertical aspect ratio hasn't been fixed yet for 1:1 pixel screens.  This is a problem when using the current Aladdin4d 5.0 on RTG screens.  It was originally programmed for Amiga native chipset mode screens where the pixels weren't square, and when you run it on RTG square pixel screens the vertical dimension of objects in the editor screen is slightly squished.  You can see this most clearly when the shuttle is viewed head-on in the demo video and is "banking" at 45 degrees (although it's possible the aspect was messed up in encoding the video for YouTube).
- It also seemed that rotating the object in the editor (with the keypad) is rather slow compared to on a real Amiga RTG screen (and at least when running under WinUAE).  I would have expected it to rotate a little faster on a modern machine.

Other than that I'm looking forward to the final version.  Despite the software's age it really is nice and is capable of some very nice results.  It may not be Blender or Maya but it is not trying to be, either.  It is still complex enough that you could spend years before you'd use it to it's full potential.

[Ral-Clan]

Good work. Blender is free though... Thats a tough price to beat but perhaps if this is ported back to amiga os and morphos it will have some more value there...

Well, Aladdin4d does have the advantage that it's not as complicated as Blender (therefore maybe easier to use / faster learning curve).

It is also much less resource intensive (it can run on a 1mb machine I believe) so smaller systems will benefit that could never run Blender.  Because of this I don't know why DiscreetFX doesn't make the classic Amiga OS version a priority - since Blender won't run on those systems they won't have competition.  In fact, Aladdin4d will be the only 3d modelling application still supported and being developed for Classic Amiga systems - so they would have a bit of a captive (although small) market.

But this market is automatically expanded by the minimig and Natami (if and when the Natami comes out). Also the FFPG (?) Arcade system, the MMC Arcade box thingy and that C64 cartridge thingy that can emulate a classic Amiga....oh....and UAE as well.

Heck, now that I think about it, it makes a LOT of sense to develop a Classic OS version of the upgraded Aladdin4d (probably easier too as the code already exists for the 68K version).  Probably not monetary sense, but I'm not sure any OS development of this software will make anyone rich.

[Ral-Clan]

Can you be the first one to spot the color digital video effect in this video and tell us what famous black & white DVE it's a remake of? Be the first one and win a lifetime of upgrades to Aladdin 4D.

I'm guessing it's the legs that are swinging by.....and this looks like it's inspired by a Toaster wipe?

[Ral-Clan]

You are the winner ral-cal, a lifetime of free Aladdin 4D upgrades for you.

Holy Crap!  That's great!

[Ral-Clan]

actually the winner was me:

"...you mean these legs??"

but you can keep your prize;)

You got the legs, yes.  But I think you also had to guess the second part: what classic Amiga video effect was it based on.  It was the Video Toaster wipe effect.

[Ral-Clan]

@ ral-clan:
which is also pretty obvious, even though i couldnt know for sure. never owned vt. but then im not likely going to become a customer so i do not need lifetime updates. have fun!

Yeah I agree it was pretty obvious.  I guess they didn't want to make it too hard.  

Thanks, I'll actually probably use this as I already purchased the original Aladdin4d software.