Scope4D Vis plugin BETA

[Tropics]

This is the beta version of my new plugin, a 3D visualization. Please help me test it :)
It uses extremely detailed meshes, particles and pixel shaders. OpenGL 2.0 is required, so you need a good graphics card (GeForce Ti 4 or better, ATI 9200 or better) and up-to-date drivers.

If you get an error message, please give me as much info as possible (the EXACT error message, your graphics card, driver version).

More Info: (removed)

The plugin installer: (removed)

[Tokelil]

Works fine for me. :) (Radeon 9800P)
Is the time between changing objects a random time or based on the music? Anyway to increase/decrease particle count and time before they wanish?

Nice to (finally) see some more QCD visuals. :)

PS: QCD crashes for me when I disable the plug-in in the preferences.

[Tropics]

thanks for testing :laugh:
very nice to see it actually works on ATI cards. i was not 100% sure as i only have access to two nvidia cards.

every time a beat has been detected, there is a 4% chance of changing the object.
particle count/vanish rate are variables which could be configured theoretically. i'll add entries in the ini file for you to play with in the next beta :)

[acozz]

pics? I can't run it with my card.

[Rex_Mundi_Incarnit]

Awesome visual mate! Works great here (ATI RADEON 9600XT)! Getting 100fps too at resolution see pics. Just one concern: The visualisation won't go in internal visuals mode, just external. Maybe you want to check that out. In addition, perhaps you might want to try some more variations on the theme. Anyways i give you two thumbs up. :cool: All this time ive been here at the forums i cannot remember anyone else making visuals.

pic1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/RMI/quinnware/scope2.jpg

pic2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/RMI/quinnware/scope1.jpg

[Tropics]

QCD crashes for me when I disable the plug-in in the preferences.
yep that is a nasty little bugger which i simply can't find. i already found two other bugs searching for that one ... at least it doesn't crash any longer here (kinda workaround) but somehow everything doesn't clean up properly so you can't start it up again after disabling and enabling again.

Awesome visual mate! Works great here (ATI RADEON 9600XT)! Getting 100fps too at resolution see pics.
really? i thought i capped it at 50fps ... i'll look at it again ...

Just one concern: The visualisation won't go in internal visuals mode, just external. Maybe you want to check that out.
that is only partly true. the plugin "works" when accessed from internal vis as it does when launched from external vis. it always needs to open an extra window because of its 3d functionality, which can't be used otherwise. so, i'm sorry, it will never appear inside qcd's skin.

In addition, perhaps you might want to try some more variations on the theme.
what do you mean by that exactly? if you mean more objects, i intend to release it with at least 3 objects. i'm not very good at modelling though so help would be appreciated there. if you mean doing different things with the objects (or if you mean something completely different) please elaborate on it, i'm kinda out of ideas. on the other hand, i keep looking at it for hours, so i'm kinda happy with it the way it is ;)

[Tokelil]

My guess is he is looking at the framerate listed in preferences -> Settings -> Visuals... Im getting 32 fps on my A64 3200+@2150 MHz and a slidly overclocked Radeon 9800P using Fraps. Funny thing is that resolution doesn't change anything. (Neither does 6xAA and 16xAF) And my CPU is running at < 5%... Whats holding it back? (If indead it should run 50fps)

[Tropics]

i'm not sure. pixel shader performance should be an issue, but that would also have an inpact when changing the resolution and/or antialiasing. i'll integrate an fps counter for the next beta and see what i can find out.

[Rex_Mundi_Incarnit]

More objects, more particles, particle fountains, maybe an analogue wave analyser in the background. Whatever you think you can create. I for sure have not the slightest idea how to make a visualisation. :ponder: :knocked-o

Tokelil, you are correct. I get 32 fps max (using fraps), no matter what resolution. In the preferences window it is wrong, there i get 90 - 100 fps and the resolution reported is always 654*483 :puzzled:

[Tropics]

i don't get it. i actually get up to 50fps when something else is using the graphics card. for example when 3d studio max is running or i have a web page open that has flash elements :paranoid:

[Rex_Mundi_Incarnit]

32 fps is good mate, i dont care for more :apple:

[Tokelil]

Im getting 32 fps (peaking to 33 sometimes) whatever I do... Not that it isn't enough. It is just weird and something must be "wrong".

[Tropics]

new release, beta 2. the links in the first post have been updated.

i was able to fix the "disable plugin in qcd preferences bug". note to self: never wait for a thread to finish in the REASON_PROCESS_DETACH notification, you'll wait forever ;)

many other enhancements and bugfixes are also included. you can edit the Scope4D.ini file to get more or less particles :biggrin:
the decay settings are not yet editable.
no new objects or effects for now, that'll be in beta3 (or the release maybe, if no new bugs come up).

the 32fps bug is still in. of course you are right tokelil, that means there is something wrong, and i won't release the plugin before i find it. i'm kinda out of ideas though. you can display the framerate using the 'f' key now.

have fun, and thanks for testing :cheerful:

[Tropics]

screenshot of the new spaceshuttle, the particles also got new fancy textures ;)

http://www.tropictech.de/software/scope4d6/scope_spaceshuttle.jpg

[Tokelil]

Well the fps is around 46-50 both with fraps and the internal counter now...
Looks cool! Cant wait for some one to make some models with lots of ligth sources...
Some ideas: Make particle count etc. custom per model. (Models with lots of light sources would probably look better with less particles compared to ones with less light sources)
Would be cool if 2 different particle counts depending on speed. So when it moves fast more particles would be made.

Anyway, looks better with more particles IMO :)

http://qcd.noer.it/upload/scope1.png
http://qcd.noer.it/upload/scope2.png

[acozz]

Maybe I'm wrong, but the internal vis window is just a device context, so shouldn't you be able to draw anything, OpenGL or otherwise, into it?

[Tropics]

yes and no. the point is, in order to draw to a window using opengl you must select a so called "pixel format". once you have done that, all calls to gdi will fail. so you can only use opengl OR gdi to draw to a window.
the only way around would be to draw to an off-screen buffer, which can then be copied to the internal vis area using gdi. i'm not convinced that makes sense though, as the internal vis window is so small you could barely see anything.

[Tropics]

Would be cool if 2 different particle counts depending on speed. So when it moves fast more particles would be made.

actually, that's already the case. in every frame, every light source has the possibility to generate [Amount] particles, as set in the ini file. the propability to generate one of those particles is 0.4+power, where power is a value between 0 and 0.5 which depends on the volume of the music. the propability is evaluated independently for each particle.
so in short, there are more particles when the music is loud. you can see that effect by pressing 'p' which shows you the total particle count, among other things.

[Tropics]

i found the 32fps bug. it is actually a problem with how windows gives timeslices to applications ("granularity"). will be fixed in the release. don't think your computer is not good enough even if it doesn't reach 50 fps, mine is always between 46 and 49 although it could reach about 350 using a special build without the fps cap.

i'm now working on some more variety, and if no more bugs come up, it will be released soon.

[Tropics]

released, can be downloaded from the vis plugin section: http://www.quinnware.com/list_plugins.php?plugin=143
again, thanks for your help! :)

[Rex_Mundi_Incarnit]

You're welcome :-) I gave you a good rating too :cool:

EDIT: ah crap i just tried to go fullscreen, but it wont because the message appears that it is loading models and then the window goes away. If i go external visuals first, and then fullscreen all hell breaks lose :(

[Tropics]

did you use the built-in fullscreen function? you shouldn't ... when you see the window with the scope models dancing around, just press space to go fullscreen.

[Rex_Mundi_Incarnit]

did you use the built-in fullscreen function? you shouldn't ... when you see the window with the scope models dancing around, just press space to go fullscreen.

Ah right. cool :cool:

[Tokelil]

It would be nice if the models could be but in a subdirectory so they dont mix with all the other plug-ins.

[Tropics]

by the way, i got a newsitem on http://www.opengl.org :beer: :biggrin:

[Tokelil]

Nice! :cyclops:

[Tropics]

you have been heard! ;)

an update has just been submitted, it'll just need some hours to get through the submission queue.
there are two values available through the ini file that modify the movement. set both to 2.0 if you want to blow your brain ;)
in the changelog i forgot to mention that it turns vsync off if the needed opengl call is supported.
the directory structure has been changed as requested, all files are in a subdirectory now. the installer won't delete your old files though, so you have to do that yourself!

have fun :beer: