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feldon34 · 03-22-2003, 09:34 PM

Originally posted by Quick Death
can you explain the Advanced Settings: Blankspace and calculate normals?

Well, these are not really Fish Picker questions, but hidden features which have been in the Aquarium since 99K (if not earlier). The reason they are hidden will soon become apparent...

"Blankspace" is the registry name for "animation stabization", or Ctrl-S.

Early on in the development of the Aquarium, some users reported stuttering/skipping in the Animation. Further, it was discovered that pressing S to bring up the Fps/Resolution Display miraculously stabilized the animation. This was especially apparent on many earlier GeForce and TnT Riva cards.

However, many people expressed a desire for smooth animation AND the ability to hide the Fps/Resolution Display. The solution was Ctrl-S, which does the same thing as S but draws it in either the background color, or in a transparent font. However it does it, this has been a lifesaver and has been the first recommendation to any customer who has 'stuttering' animation.

If you want to toggle Ctrl-S permanently, you must press Ctrl-S, SPACE, SPACE to tell the Aquarium to write that change to the registry (which writes in "Blankspace").

Marine Aquarium 2 adds a layer of complexity to Ctrl-S. In all prior versions of the Aquarium, the CPU has "raced" at 100% usage even if no other task needed that CPU time. You can imagine that this generates a lot of heat on a 2000 MHz PC, especially since only 3-10% CPU is really needed to generate 60fps of smooth animation!!!

This "100% racing" has also been the cause of various lockups. And was a serious problem for laptop users, especially those with loud fans that only kick in when the CPU is running very warm.

Fortunately, that is all in the past, as MA2 does everything it can to use only the % of CPU necessary to generate 60fps (or whatever setting you choose) of smooth animation.

So how does this relate to Ctrl-S?

The neccessity of Ctrl-S seems to have been reduced, and more importantly, S and Ctrl-S race the CPU at 95-100% even in MA2 !

In short, Ctrl-S has always been and should continue to be a "hidden" feature needed only if there is instability in the fish animation.

Now what was the other one you asked about?

calculate normals

Maybe I should let our resident expert on CalcNormals, Cliff Addy, answer this. Here's a brief:

With CalcNormals turned off, assumptions about the amount of light hitting each part of each fish are made. With CalcNormals turned on, no assumptions are made. Even the slightest turn of a fin can either catch a glint of light or suddenly be in shadow. Actually, I think the effect can be a tad too strong at times.

By default, the Aquarium comes with CalcNormals turned *off* to maximize smoothness/performance.

Press N to experiment.

03-22-2003, 09:34 PM	#8
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,938	Originally posted by Quick Death can you explain the Advanced Settings: Blankspace and calculate normals? Well, these are not really Fish Picker questions, but hidden features which have been in the Aquarium since 99K (if not earlier). The reason they are hidden will soon become apparent... "Blankspace" is the registry name for "animation stabization", or Ctrl-S. Early on in the development of the Aquarium, some users reported stuttering/skipping in the Animation. Further, it was discovered that pressing S to bring up the Fps/Resolution Display miraculously stabilized the animation. This was especially apparent on many earlier GeForce and TnT Riva cards. However, many people expressed a desire for smooth animation AND the ability to hide the Fps/Resolution Display. The solution was Ctrl-S, which does the same thing as S but draws it in either the background color, or in a transparent font. However it does it, this has been a lifesaver and has been the first recommendation to any customer who has 'stuttering' animation. If you want to toggle Ctrl-S permanently, you must press Ctrl-S, SPACE, SPACE to tell the Aquarium to write that change to the registry (which writes in "Blankspace"). Marine Aquarium 2 adds a layer of complexity to Ctrl-S. In all prior versions of the Aquarium, the CPU has "raced" at 100% usage even if no other task needed that CPU time. You can imagine that this generates a lot of heat on a 2000 MHz PC, especially since only 3-10% CPU is really needed to generate 60fps of smooth animation!!! This "100% racing" has also been the cause of various lockups. And was a serious problem for laptop users, especially those with loud fans that only kick in when the CPU is running very warm. Fortunately, that is all in the past, as MA2 does everything it can to use only the % of CPU necessary to generate 60fps (or whatever setting you choose) of smooth animation. So how does this relate to Ctrl-S? The neccessity of Ctrl-S seems to have been reduced, and more importantly, S and Ctrl-S race the CPU at 95-100% even in MA2 ! In short, Ctrl-S has always been and should continue to be a "hidden" feature needed only if there is instability in the fish animation. Now what was the other one you asked about? calculate normals Maybe I should let our resident expert on CalcNormals, Cliff Addy, answer this. Here's a brief: With CalcNormals turned off, assumptions about the amount of light hitting each part of each fish are made. With CalcNormals turned on, no assumptions are made. Even the slightest turn of a fin can either catch a glint of light or suddenly be in shadow. Actually, I think the effect can be a tad too strong at times. By default, the Aquarium comes with CalcNormals turned off to maximize smoothness/performance. Press N to experiment. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman