I started a thread down in the Play Room, but probably many of you don't visit that area of the Forums often.

I'd like to ask for some feedback on a way of presenting images of Harbour Lights products.

Here's one of Fort Tompkins NY. Do you have any problems viewing this? Do you think this would be useful to you to preview a new product or look at an old retired piece?

Spring at Fort Tompkins NY

Click on the image to stop the rotation. Then you can drag your mouse across the image left and right to rotate it manually.

At the bottom left, there are a pair of left and right-pointing arrows. Clicking on these will start the rotation either left or right.

Clicking on the next pair of arrow heads will zoom in to the picture or zoom out.

The final thing - kind of hard to see - is a speed control. Drag the vertical line either left or right to slow or speed up the rotation.

This animation is composed of 20 separate images.




[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 05-05-2002).]

John I didn't see anything and I am using Netscape Comm. 4.76. Is this a general problem or is it me?

Chuck

------------------
bigdragon

Hey John, I just tried the Fort Tompkins link and it worked perfectly. No problems at this end of the country.

It is a wonderful way to view a new or older Harbour Lights sculpture.

Bob

Hi John. It does not work for my Netscape 4.78 either. It does, however, work with my IE 5.50. Will let you know about my Netscape 6.0 which I have set up under another OS.
Jim
Johnson

John,

Everything worked fine here. no black frames, rotated finr , etc. I've got IE 6.0 in my computer.

Looked great to me.

Dennis

JOhn,

Worked fine here.

Bert

John,

It works with IE6.0 on my system so it must be a netscape problem.

Chuck

------------------
bigdragon

I think it's a version problem. You may need version 5.0 or higher on your browser - Netscape or IE.

Browsers can be downloaded free.

Looks good on my IE. Maybe put the rotations to music with the speed influencing either the speed of the music or which song gets played.

[This message has been edited by Mitch (edited 05-06-2002).]

I can open the page on IE 5.5 but no picture in the graphic box.

It doesn't work on a Mac using either browser (I will test it using Mac OS 10 tonight).. it doesn't work on any version of Netscape I have tried so far at work on my PC.. I will test it using AOL's browser on Sue PC tonight, but I doubt it will work using AOL either..

I suspect it is a Microsoft thing... I didn't even use the e word in front of Microsoft....


[This message has been edited by engbrady (edited 05-06-2002).]

It worked on my PC here in CT. Kind of a neat idea but alittle feedback:

1. a larger image would show more details
2. a higher resolution image (same reason)
3. the "zoom in" becomes very pixelated
4. lighting which will not throw shadows (ie under the trees, etc.
5. try to put each lighthouse in each image on the exact same axis (use a vertical axis which goes through the center of the ventilator/lightning rod on the top of the lanternroom)

I am guessing that these types of images will use quite a bite of memory and so would not be too practical for all.

You are always trying to improve the site John, and keep it fresh.

Thanks!!!! for ALL you do.

Ron
(CT Keeper)
[This message has been edited by RFoster (edited 05-06-2002).]

Excellent feedback, Ron.

#1 & #2 are limited by the total file size of the 20 images used for this. I'm not sure if that's a problem with my 384K of RAM or the software.

Fixing #1 and #2 would yield better resolution for zooming in (#3).

#4 can be solved by the use of a different lighting set up - such as a bounce umbrella with Lowell light 300W halogen. (I need to invest in that.)

#5 - the turntable I bought to try this out was $4.95 from from Target - a lazy susan very cheaply made and a bit wobbly. I was aiming to get the ventilator ball exactly centered on the middle point of the turntable -- but it's not easy to exacly position it.

Since the center of gravity of the piece doesn't fall below the ventilator ball, as the wobbly turntable is rotated, the offset weight tips the turntable and the ball appears to move around in the movie image.

I'm looking at a more techno 15" turntable that has detents so the amount of movement between shots is highly controlled @ $120.

I think the problems people are having seeing this image has to do with the version of Java they are using in their browser. The viewer for this image requires the most recent. I've added a link below to the place to get that update.


[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 05-06-2002).]

[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 05-06-2002).]

[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 05-06-2002).]

[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 05-06-2002).]

some JAVA scripts only work with IE...

Pick the correct Java version from this page:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download.html

Mac users may find help at the panoweaver site:
http://www.easypano.de/index.htm

Thanks, John, I will try them out tonight...

Hi John. Just tried it with Netscape 6.0 and Windows XP. The browser automatically downloaded a plugin called Java 2 Runtime Environment, installed it and runs the modeling program.
Jim
Johnson

It worked for me except the picture goes black and then returns. Frankly it's ok but Paul's excellent photos are nicer, imo.

Looks great to me John. I just got a new computer with Windows XP and the latest IE.
Now I just have to learn how to use it! I get the black frame every once in a while too.

Dale

I can't view this rotating photo on any Browser known to Mac. Here's the error message I get:

Java Exception: java.lang.NullPointerException -
Stack Trace:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at java.awt.Toolkit.createImage(Toolkit.java)
at ModelViewer.b(ModelViewer.java)
at ModelViewer.a(Compiled Code)
at ModelViewer.start(Compiled Code)
at com.apple.mrj.JManager.JMAppletViewer_OLD.doAppletStart(JMAppletVie

Thanks, Scott.

Hi!
I think this is an awesome feature!
...but I have to agree with Ron about the photo quality...from zoomed out, not so bad...but when you try to zoom in, you start seeing all of the pixels, instead of the lighthouse details.
I have IE 6.0 on 2 computers...and 5.5 on the other...works fine with all...doesn't work as great with phone modem connection...cable modem and T1 line work great!

------------------
KRISTIN ERIN SCROOPE
kristin@scroope.net
http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/lhlist.htm
http://www.LILighthouseSociety.org

In general it looks good. I get the occasional blackout like some other folks, but that is more of a reflection on my computer's age. I would possible try to set the default rotation speed slightly slower, if it isn't a big deal- that thing is spinning like Dorothy's house in Oz! Thanks for all the work in putting it together...

John,

Every thing worked as you said.