[Alan Lorence]

In the OpenGL page of the preferences dialog (from the View menu), check the “do not use texture RAM for bg images” option, then click OK to close all windows.

Does that fix the problem?

Can you load any background images or movies at all?

Wait, I just remembered — the demo version may have a problem with background images that are not 640×480. Try resizing that image to 640×480 in your favorite paint program and see if that will display.

(Let me know)

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

Elvis is right — it’s not system memory that is the issue, it’s video memory.

Here are some tips to maximize your performance:

1) have a very small library loaded. I suggest “blank.iel”.

2) make your movie as small as possible — 256×256 is ok, but I’d stay away from 512×512 or bigger. Don’t include a lot of wasted space in the movie. If it’s of a person walking (you indicated something like that), then crop it to its smallest size — 128 wide by 512 tall for instance.

3) Import it as greyscale as opposed to full-color. This will save MUCH memory.

4) If you really don’t need a 2-minute movie (3600 frames?), then use as short as possible.

The only way to know what the upper limits are is to try it.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

I’d rename the Oct emitter library (or move it), then start pI3. It should ask you to select a valid library file — select one that you know was working before.

If the problem still occurs (I’m not sure why the Oct lib would cause problems), you can try running with software rendering by holding the SHIFT key when you launch pI3. If the problems go away, it’s an OpenGL issue.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

Have you tried saving the pI3 output as a TGA sequence instead of an AVI?

Also, if you’re rendering from pI3 with your AVI in the background, turn it off and render only the particles. When you load interlaced background footage in pIllusion, it deinterlaces using line doubling.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

We’re still working on it. I’m not giving a release date — when it’s ready, you’ll know.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

By “8-bit” do you mean 8-bit per color channel, or 256 color? pIllusion is limited to 8-bit per channel, so doesn’t support higher color depths. If you’re using the Mac version, any 8-bit per channel QuickTime movies should load, but the Windows version does not support QT in this version.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

First, use “Reset Default settings” from the Start – Programs – particleIllusion 3.0 menu.

If that doesn’t fix the problem, use “run with software rendering” from the same menu.

If that does work, then it’s a video driver issue, and you need to either get the latest drivers. Get them from NVidia’s site.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

I’m not sure exactly what effect you’re going for, but I think you want to use the “Area Emitter Masks” feature in particleIllusion 3. You may also need to use a couple of different emitters: one for the “sparkles” that form the text, and one (or more) for the initial explosion.

The explosion emitter(s) are simple — no “masking” required.

To make the text sparkles, you’ll need an image file of the text with an alpha channel. Then create an area emitter, open the emitter properties dialog for the stage emitter and check the “mask emitter with images” option, then click the “options” button and select the image to use as a mask.

You may need to increase the “number” property after masking the emitter.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

Whenever I have a question about what the alpha channel looks like in pIllusion, I’ll load the image on a layer, then turn on transparency for that layer. Then I’ll select a crazy background color and see if the alpha channel is what I expected.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Alan Lorence]

Make sure you’re using the latest version. Check the downloads page for updates.

I’m not seeing the problem that you are, unless I just don’t understand it.

Can anybody else duplicate this problem?

Alan.
wondertouch