Hello, trying to make movies! -- can benefit everyone

Hi! We need help.

I am posting on behalf of a fellow I have known for 30 years now. He is very gifted, but is also somewhat learning disabled. He has been working on numerous projects (such that it's like walking into Mr. Ages' Laboratory), but he has run into a bit of a snag that has led to some serious depression, and I don't know what to do to help him.

I have some knowledge of computers (a bit), but he doesn't learn new things very easily. Because he is limited, he has been stuck with an older machine and an older operating system so that he could use Visual Basic 6 and Windows 98SE - - - for the Directx8 API, but he now feels that he cannot get his 3D engine to produce the desired frame rate he needs to generate the scenes he wants to.

I tried purchasing BlitzBasic3D for him and it was exciting until he loaded one of his largest scenes. It seems that parts of it just disappear when tested.

Honestly, there isn't much that runs with Windows98SE anymore, and I hate to see him so sad... He is incapable of learning a new language such as C, and is pretty much stuck with Visual Basic 6 -- not the same as 7 (VB.net).

Does anybody have any suggestions? He says he has a budget of $500 per month for anyone willing to help dig him out if payment is needed.

Windows 98 SE. And Visual Basic 6. I feel like I just stepped into a timewarp into the 90's. I didn't think VB6 was capable of doing DirectX.

Anyway, I'm not sure what help will be useful here. Typically, 3D work is done best with software designed for the task, like 3DStudioMax, Maya, Lightwave or Blender (the last one is free). However, current versions of those aren't going to be available for Win98, so you'd almost certainly need to upgrade his hardware to something recent (probably something running Windows 7). And again, it requires learning new stuff; knowledge of VB isn't necessarily going to help.

I'd say that the most reasonable solution, if he wants to continue developing in VB6, would be to buy new hardware running Windows 7 (preferably with a discrete graphics card), and install VB6 on that. You'll likely need to turn on XP compatibility mode for it to work, but I believe it's doable. Save up 2 months of budget, and he should be able to afford a very capable machine for the task, and I'm almost certain he'll have a blazing-fast framerate on it compared to whatever dinosaur he's using right now. If you want specific hardware recommendations, let me know.

I'd say that the most reasonable solution, if he wants to continue developing in VB6, would be to buy new hardware running Windows 7 (preferably with a discrete graphics card), and install VB6 on that. You'll likely need to turn on XP compatibility mode for it to work, but I believe it's doable. Save up 2 months of budget, and he should be able to afford a very capable machine for the task, and I'm almost certain he'll have a blazing-fast framerate on it compared to whatever dinosaur he's using right now. If you want specific hardware recommendations, let me know.

I was actually thinking something a little more simpler, but I would need to see his system specs. He could simply upgrade to XP: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316639 It would save him some money. With a budget of $500 a month (assuming that includes living expenses), buying a new rig wouldn't be my preferred option.

As someone who is learning disabled (albeit relatively mildly), I feel for your friend. I hope he does okay.

Thank you for your kind responses. I have tried various tech boards, but am looking for more of an understanding situation. I will be happy to provide any information you may need.

Bear in mind that I am acting as his 'mouthpiece' here.

I do already have an XP computer that I purchased for him, but we are both hovering with things up in the air with regards of what to do next.

On one hand, it would be nice if his current machine could be used as well since there are numerous specialized applications (Win98 only, alas) he needs access to. It seems that more performance could be squeezed out if it before moving on to an upgrade.

His current workstation is a P4 3.4Ghz 1GB machine with DX9.0c, Nvidia FX5500 with 256mb. The other machine is a intel core2duo extreme 2.9ghz x6800 cpu with an Asrock 4CoreDual 2 Motherboard and a card that is NVidia that seems maybe 10x faster.

I think that the only priority is that what he writes in must be at least related to BASIC, with preference to VB6. A rewrite of his engine, while undesirable is obviously going to be necessary eventually, but he needs to be able to make alterations, and we've both wondered if there weren't a way to interface with VB with some form of external API.

We have tried many of the free software options already out there, and any of them that can interface with VB6 seem to have numerous flaws, undesirable instabilities, or problems in them for some reason.

As before stated, the possibility of using BlitzBasic3D (purchased) is there, but probably would only be useful on the XP machine since we ran into an apparent polygon limit of some sort and he is really ready to get artistic with his scenes and have much higher polygon counts than the current 140K tri limit that his VB6 engine has (Frame rate degradation). This would also seem to be the limit for BB3D under Win98SE - though research shows that the problem goes away under XP on other people's machines.

The test BB3D source code application and data are available here:
http://sites.google.com/site/mikorians/ArcGBldg.zip

PS: We're also here because the main characters of his easily-up-to-20-full-length-movies are rodential handsome creatures. :D
You wouldn't believe the piles-and-piles of documents, drawings, storylines, gads... It's been a necessary obsession for him to retain his sanity.

Ah... What sort of specialized applications does he use that requires Windows 98? If it's just applications, you may be able to get them running under XP using a compatibility mode, or using a virtual machine (like VirtualBox or something) running Win98. If it's something (like hardware?) that requires drivers, I'm afraid you've probably exhausted your options already, or at least I can't think of anything else to do. In any case, Win98 is the major issue. If you can't get him onto XP (at least) somehow, then your options are necessarily going to be limited. There just aren't people writing anything for Win98 anymore.

Let's focus on the possible. Pretend we're on an XP system for now.
He has 3DS Max 5, but needs to use VB6 for his AI. This is to be a live frame rate application. The most promising thing has been BlitzBasic3D. There's a free demo.

Your little friend there seems to really get around, Simon.
This reminds me of the time the chat rooms went dead except for the robots...
I don't think I'm going to bother posting anything anywhere on any forum ever again.
Now correct me if I'm wrong.
And it's very RUDE to whisper, even if it's silent.

Your little friend there seems to really get around, Simon.
This reminds me of the time the chat rooms went dead except for the robots...
I don't think I'm going to bother posting anything anywhere on any forum ever again.
Now correct me if I'm wrong.
And it's very RUDE to whisper, even if it's silent.

liblinksli Huh?

Your little friend there seems to really get around, Simon.
This reminds me of the time the chat rooms went dead except for the robots...
I don't think I'm going to bother posting anything anywhere on any forum ever again.
Now correct me if I'm wrong.
And it's very RUDE to whisper, even if it's silent.

Are you referring to me? What is this? :shock:

Alrighty then... Please forgive and disregard.
Just checking --- Not my normal policy.
You wouldn't believe the stuff that's happened to me before.

Okay...

As far as everything else goes, beyond getting him on XP (potentially on faster hardware), I don't really have any other suggestions. VB is not my area of expertise, and I don't know of anything else you can use that you haven't found already. You might give VB.net a try (the tools are free, if you get Visual Basic Express), but if your friend is plain unable or unwilling to learn some new language stuff, or the cost of porting over is too great, I'm not sure what else to suggest.

Good luck.

ok. Testing has now resumed, and I'll keep you informed. Where would screenshots be posted?

ok. Testing has now resumed, and I'll keep you informed. Where would screenshots be posted?

Easiest thing would probably be to use a dropbox account (or similar) and share links to the pictures here. Or you can email me a sample of the pictures and I can create an account for you on the fan art gallery.

Here's one of his early drawings.

http://sites.google.com/site/mikorians/Myter.jpg