Frequently Asked Questions
When I click on a segment of an Animoid, why is the selected segment not always the segment
I tried to pick?
The segments (e.g. arms and legs) of an Animoid overlap. So, when you click on the
3D Canvas to pick a segment you sometimes get close to more than one segment. The program
then has to guess which one you really wanted.
Try to click on any part of your desired segment that is furthest from other
segments. (You can even click near your segment - you don't need to hit it.)
Zooming in can help.
If all else fails, use the Selected target pulldown menu to pick a segment - rather
than clicking on the segment.
Why don't the Animoid Characters have much detail?
How do I submit an entry for a competition?
Once your Animoid is complete and you have saved all your changes,
just press the upload ( )
icon on your ANIMOIDS program (File, Upload) to start the upload.
How do I return to the client home page?
At any time you can press the Start button on the toolbar
of the ANIMOIDS client program to restart the client home page.
If you have browsed onto animoids.com from your ANIMOIDS client program,
you can click the
ANIMOIDS @ animoids.com image to jump to the client home page
without losing your browser history.
Why does my copy of ANIMOIDS run slowly with lots of long pauses?
The most likely cause is because you don't have enough physical memory
(RAM) in your computer.
Physical memory is more important for this type of application than raw
cpu speed.
Although ANIMOIDS will run on 128 Mb physical memory (or less), you'll
find frequent long pauses (or a minute or more) as it swaps memory
to disk. (During these pauses you will see or hear lots of disk activity.)
256 Mb physical memory is the minimum we recommend for reasonable
performance. (Even more is better!)
Why does ANIMOIDS try to connect to the Internet?
When ANIMOIDS starts, it tries to connect to animoids.com to see if
any updates or messages are available.
If you don't have a full-time Internet connection, this can result in
dialog boxes popping up to ask you to connect to the Internet.
You can tell ANIMOIDS not to connect to the Internet simply by clicking
the button.
(First set your Skill Level at Intermediate or above.)
Once selected, ANIMOIDS will remain offline, even after it is restarted.
Why does my computer restart when I try to display 3D graphics with ANIMOIDS?
Some graphics adapter cards and drivers may experience compatibility problems
with Java3D. This may cause the 3D graphics not to display correctly or may
result in Windows restarts.
For more information, including solutions to the problem, go to the Troubleshooting
section of your ANIMOIDS program as follows:
- Start your ANIMOIDS program.
- Press the Start button on your ANIMOIDS Program.
- Click the Support hyperlink.
- Click the Troubleshooting hyperlink.
Why do the Credits for my Animoid show someone else's name?
If you look at the contest entries web page or click the Credits button
on your ANIMOIDS client, you'll get a list of Credits (the authors who have contributed to the
selected Animoid).
If you start your Animoid (or Behavior, etc.) by modifying an existing Animoid
then the author of that existing Animoid will always show up in the credits
for your new Animoid.
The same applies if you cut and paste Segments from one Animoid into another.
Even if you try to remove all the parts of the original Animoid from your new work, the new work
will still credit the author of the original.
Don't think of this as a problem. Think of it as a great feature of ANIMOIDS!
You can extend someone elses work and you'll get credit for the changes, while
the originator gets credit for the original work.
My ANIMOIDS program died and now it seems to run slower than before?
One of the more common reasons for ANIMOIDS to crash is Graphics Hardware
compatibility problems. So, when ANIMOIDS restarts after a crash, it
automatically switches to Emulation mode - which avoids hardware problems, but is slower.
You can manually switch back to the best hardware mode by starting ANIMOIDS,
Selecting Edit, Performance... from the main menu, then setting
Auto for the Graphics Hardware setting.
|