29
February 1999
As these 3DTop-webpages
are becoming quite popular, above you'll see another way of supporting
3DTop. Each time you search with it we'll get a commission, and you have
a Begin-Search-Portal without the buzz, fuzz, and other stuff your eyes
might get tired of.
And..... In
a few days you can download the February 2000 version of 3DTop here also.
22
January 1999, oooooeps (that's Dutch for oooooops), 2000.
It's 2000,
our company is still alive, without spending one cent or minute on the
Y2K-problem. That's nice.
Have you ever
tried using 3DTop as a Live Performance 3D-Animation package ? No ? Well,
some people are doing that by jumping from flag to flag. For these purposes
the newest 3DTop has adjustable speed-limits, which allows you to control
the movement-speed to flags and of yourself. Also features our first human.....
Curious ? You
could buy 3DTop
for $10,- ofcourse. A lot of people went that way before you, secure, with
their Visa or Eurocard/Mastercard.
23
December 1999
Here
is our little end-of-the-year present. Hope you like it, it's the last
try-out version of this 20th Century and there is still much to come, new
things in this version are too much to mention here so these are the main
things
we think you should know about:
- Rotating
objects is now done with the Alt-key instead of the Ctrl-key before. Why
? :
- You can now
look up and down also by pressing the Alt-key while moving around.
- 3DTop will
now automatically investigate applications for 3D-models inside them. For
instance, if you have a shortcut to a program in 3DTop and the program
that the shortcut (or "associated" program) points to, contains a 3D-Model
in it's resource, 3DTop will load that model out of it's resource and uses
that model to display the shortcut. This not only works for shortcuts but
also for "associated" data-files of that program. Of course this only works
when that program has a 3D-model inside it ! So, if you'd like to use that
feature, write a nice and polite email to the makers of your favourite
applications and ask them to take a look at this possibility. There is
a slim chance that maybe someone will listen.
They can download
a sample application , including the sources, that exactly does this here.
Other new stuff,
like the possibility of creating several 3DTop-worlds, can be seen in the
manual.
Have Fun.
16
December 1999
Next week !
Then the last try-out-version of 3DTop of this 20th Century, will be downloadable.
18
November 1999
Next update
in the 3D-Model-import department.
The import-plugin
now features a triangle-strip-detection algorithm which speeds-up model-drawing
considerably. It is done in the true "simpletronics" 3DTop-fashion as you
can see from the source-codes
which is our contribution to the Open-source movement.
A Models complexity
is reduced to 38 to 60% after triangle-strip detection.
5
November 1999
Major update
in the 3D-Model-import department .
You can convert
much more formats, and you can use textures now also! Thanks to a great
shareware 3D-model converter called 3Dto3D. The model-import-plugin can
interface to this program to convert all kinds of formats including their
textures. Things can really look a lot more alive, while keeping the complexity
relatively low. Take a look at this screenshot.
To download
the latest version of 3Dto3D go to it's homepage at http://www.stmuc.com/thbaier/index.html
30
October 1999
-"Bones" (TWFKAJ,The
Wizard Formerly Known As Jean) must really be having fun (the main reason
why we all do this anyway) with making plug-ins for 3DTop. Here is the
next one called "Timezone". He did some research on timezones, earth-rotation,
planets, moons etc. and there you have it: the Earth and Moon, lit by the
sun, dependant of the timezone you're in, the time of day of your computer
and the season you're in. Read more about it here.
-The 3d-model-import-plugin
is also updated, you can now adjust
some options of the "view3ds" 3d-model-converter and you can see how long
it takes for your computer-system to draw a particular 3d-model in a real-life-situation
(Warning: disappointment guaranteed).
14
October 1999
The Wizard
of uz, CJ Jean, updated his "from8-80" plug-in so you can start it more
than once. Go here to read how to do
that.
Seems a busy
month, October.
A week ago
we distributed the 3DTop-"Worlds" version to all registered users also.
It enables them to surf to other 3DTop-Worlds (Folders) from within 3DTop.
The next try-out version will contain that feature also.
11
October 1999
Updated the
3d-model-import-plug-in,
so you can get information on how complex a model is. The display-quality
and -speed has been improved a little bit also.
8
October 1999
The Linux-programming-job-opening
we had earlier, has been taken care of. But if you're interested you can
still apply for a job , anyone who fits into our team will always be welcome.
1
October 1999
We now have
some Dutch Fantasy-Flowers for you to cheer up your desktop. And
yes, they are alive ! You'll have to give them water and they can die as
easily as the flowers you have at home. Read all about it at the plug-in
page.
15
September 1999
The Manual
is Online !
As 3DTop is
progressing nicely, the possibilities are growing endless and a lot of
people are new to this unique application, we decided to put the manual
online. We asked all registered users (except all new ones of the last
three days), who paid for a year of free updates and a manual, for their
approval and they fully support it.
We'll be making
a walkthrough for all new users also. Available soon, together with the
new September try-out version, which is the one that the new online-manual
refers to.
31
August 1999
You're gonna
like this, now it's possible to disable 3dtop temporarily and automatically
when you start particular programs. This will completely free your video-card
and is for when you have applications(games!) that have some problems with
3DTop.
And we finally
have the transparant icons that everybody was asking us for from the beginning
of 3DTop-time.
Next week available
for registered users only ofcourse.
20
August 1999
Updated the
import3d plugin to handle very complex 3ds-models better: the 3ds-to-bmf-converter
now has 30 seconds to convert before the plug-in says "it is enough".
And, as you
can see above, we have a very interesting job-opening.
14
August 1999.
Yes, we're
back from the summer-vacation and now it's time for a new year of 3DTop-developments
and to get underway, here is the July try-out
version:
- File-objects
can now have 3D-model shapes (bmf-only, use the import3d plug-in to convert
from 3ds to bmf).
- You can change
the size of all objects too (Shift+Left mouse button).
- Start a plug-in
by double clicking on a dll.
- Rubberbox
for multiple selection of objects (Ctrl + Change viewpoint, + right mouse-button
for limited z).
We have some
nice new things planned also, we'll tell you when it's ready.
19
July 1999
It's Cucumber-time
again.
This is an
English translation of a Dutch expression, which means that most of us
are on vacation so there isn' t much to report here.
5
July 1999
Found it !
The ancient 3DTop made for the Atari ST, at the time called DTOP (probably
had some problems with filenames beginning with a number). The date says
1985 but that isn't correct, it was made probably around 1990 or so. Completely
programmed in assembler (68000) as everything of us at that time. If you
have an old Atari ST you can have a big laugh by downloading the programhere
and try it. Use at your own risk! It isn't functional at all, just the
first try of something that was put in the freezer until 3D-graphics was
fast
, elegant , stable
and we had some time left. At that time we were making and selling the
Dame (Digital Audio Multilayering and Editing, (c) 1988) , a harddisk recording
system for the Atari ST that was able to edit and mix an infinite number
of 16-bit digital audio channels in fake-time (non-real-time) and record
and playback stereo in real-time to a 20 MByte harddisk with an access-time
of 60 ms. It had a reverb, vocoder, sampler, equalizer , etc too....
2
July 1999
Some free,
no strings attached, advertisement for our great web-host www.simplenet.com
for our simple proggie.
And let us
not forget our local provider www.wirehub.nl
for putting up with the gigabytes of downloads during
the beginning
of this year at the original
homepage.
Here are some
features of 3DTop that we have ready and available for registered users
next week:
- File-objects
can now have 3D-model shapes.
- You can change
the size of all objects too.
- Start a plug-in
by double clicking on a dll.
- Rubberbox
(Good old Atari ST/GEM term) for multiple selection of objects.
Speaking of
Atari ST, we have a very early 3DTop, made somewhere in 1990 for the Atari
ST, lying around somewhere. Must dig that one up and have a big laugh .
25
June 1999
PLOP. A new
plug-in popped out of the hat of one of our employees.
17
June 1999
Heeeere
is May! for all try-outers. Added the keyboard-control-part of the summer-vacation-version
also.
These are things
that were added:
- Your own
personal robot. It will help you with the task of grabbing and moving objects.
Press CTRL and left-click on an object.
- Possibility
of grabbing hold of objects and moving them as you move around.
- Cut, copy
, paste for transferring files to and from the desktop.
- Hide/show
names of multiple objects at the same time.
- Change the
shape of multiple objects at the same time.
- Deleted/Cut
files are now moved to the recycle bin.
- cut/copy/paste/drop
of folders is now possible.
- added an
extra object-item with which you can "anchor" an object, called "Un"moveable.
"Un" because it is still possible to move it when the little dude grabs
it.
- Sky-paper
now uses the background-color also.
- You can now
move around with the cursor-keys on the keyboard. Pressing Shift on the
keyboard while using the cursor-keys will move you left/right and up/down.
- If you drag
an object and then move around with the cursor-keys the object moves together
with you.
- You can use
all the newest plug-ins with this version also.
Have Fun.
12
June 1999
New screenshot
-page is up.
Updated the
3d-model-import-plug-in also at the plugin page. Read
all about it.
And.... the
try-out May-version will be available for download this week !
11
June 1999
By popular
demand we now have some keyboard-control for moving around in the next
summer-vacation-version of 3DTop.
There are some
new spectacular plug-ins on their way also. And the screenshot-page will
be up this saturday.
31
May 1999
3D-model-import-plug-in
is here for registered users of the May-version.
The tryout
May-version of 3DTop with lots of extra's is available soon to you, the
try-outer. The buyer(esse)s have it since some time ofcourse.
19
May 1999
It's going
fast now ! New May-version will include:
- 3dmodel import
(probably as a plug-in at first).
- multiple
icon-selection.
- cut,copy,paste.
- much improved
drag-and-drop which makes sense now you can make multiple selections.
12
May 1999
You can now
buy 3DTop on-line and secure ! Go Here.
11
May 1999
We're working
towards the May-version of 3DTop.
Most important
enhancement will be the introduction of ...., your own personal robot,
who will help you with several tasks.
29
April 1999
New plugin
available from us. look here.
17
April 1999
Here
is the new 3DTop ! All new, shiny and soft. Well, the look and size is
about the same, but under the hood there lies a plugin-structure that makes
science-fiction become true. You aint seen nothing yet.
New pages up
next week include a page that enables you to upload your screenshots or
complete desktops. If you would like to upload them now already go here.
Include your icon3d.dat and all paintings and bitmaps that the desktop
uses. For convenience make a subdirectory for them in your 3dtop-directory
from where you loaded them, and add a readme-file. And please, zip, rar
or whatever all files into one file ! You are allowed to upload "only"
500K. We will add the uploads to a page manually for now.
history-pages
remain online.
A quick manual
can be found here.
A Plug-in-page
is availablehere soon or you can make your own page like these
guys.
14
April 199
This probably
won't interest you, but yesterday we delivered our first in-house-developed
276 MBit/s digital audio link for transferring 128x 24-bit digital audio-channels
at 48 kHz and 6x 5Mbit/s control-signals over 1 coaxial cable to a customer
in Dortmund,Germany. That's what we do also.
10
April 1999
How weird
can your desktop be, to tile or not to tile that is ..... your own choice.
6
April 1999
Here is a screenshot
(1152x864, 134K) of some great new features of 3DTop.
By the way,
didn't we mention that we are working very hard towards a very nice homepage,
with layout also ? Make sure you have the shockwave-plugin for your browser
!
A text-only-version
will still be available ofcourse.
31
March 1999.
We're almost
there. Soon, on this web-page, you can try two weeks for free or buy for
10 Euro's the next commercial version of 3DTop, but if you want you can
buy it "unseen"
now.
You'll get
automatic updates of 3DTop and manual for one year. You can look at it
as a kind of subscription.
New features
already included:
-Full plug-in
functionality (look for examples here).
-Markers with
shortcut-keys.
-Up and Down
movement.
-Floor textures.
-Sky Paper.
-Perfections.
-etc.
 Copyright
1999
|
3DTop
The Official
Home Page
|
|
