Ok, where is documentation to customize NEW (3.90) "pre

dsperber · Post by **dsperber** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:28 pm

Just installed v3.90 and noticed that "Preferences (Winamp).txt)" is 100% changed from versions for the past n-years!

Furthermore, the documentation that provides insights on the variables which used to be available to customize timings, etc., is 100% NO LONGER RELEVANT TO THE NEW FORMAT OF PREFERENCES!!!

For a simple example, there used to be a formula for "color morph" that was something like: CMor="2 + rnd( 10 )". This was (and STILL IS!) described in the documentation delivered with the newly installed v3.90 product as: PREF_COLORMAP_MORPH_DURATION

"This expresses the duration (in seconds) of the transitions (or "morph") from one ColorMap to the next ColorMap in the slideshow (when the ColorMap slideshow is enabled)."

Now, instead, there are a whole set of 100% undocumented but mystically similar (but who know how they actually work!) settings:

ColorMap.MapFunction = "i^2.1"
ColorMap.Slideshow.Interval.Duration = "26.250000"
ColorMap.Slideshow.Interval.Duration.StdDeviation = 0.3
ColorMap.Timescale = 1
ColorMap.Transition.Duration = 10
ColorMap.Transition.Duration.StdDeviation = 0.2
ColorMap.Transition.Function = "i^1.5"

I have no idea if these new settings are related to CMor or not, nor how the variable values are to be customized to accomplish any goals I might have.

Please help... WITH NEW DOCUMENTATION!!!

And it would help if there was a roadmap provided to convert from all of the old variables to the new variables... TO HELP OUT YOUR LONGTIME USERS (who were previously happy but are currently just a bit annoyed!).

juxtiphi · Post by **juxtiphi** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:51 am

I'm sure jaypro can help you with this, he is very knowledgeable when it comes to the workings of GF

dsperber · Post by **dsperber** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:07 pm

Thank you.

But why is the old documentation (for the 3.85 and older version of GF) still being distributed with the new 3.90? Why wasn't the documentation updated along with the product?

How are we supposed to know how to evaluate and modify PREFS.TXT if there is no up-to-date documentation?

I can perhaps make WAG attempts, but there used to be many clearly described, intuitive-to-read and meaningful formulas relating to intuitive tweakers. The new PREFS.TXT has no such appearance.

If Jaypro can contribute something, I'd much appreciate it.

But again... why is the installed documentation and web site documentaion now essentially worthless? Not a good idea.

juxtiphi · Post by **juxtiphi** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:19 pm

dsperber wrote:Thank you.

But why is the old documentation (for the 3.85 and older version of GF) still being distributed with the new 3.90? Why wasn't the documentation updated along with the product?

How are we supposed to know how to evaluate and modify PREFS.TXT if there is no up-to-date documentation?

I can perhaps make WAG attempts, but there used to be many clearly described, intuitive-to-read and meaningful formulas relating to intuitive tweakers. The new PREFS.TXT has no such appearance.

If Jaypro can contribute something, I'd much appreciate it.

But again... why is the installed documentation and web site documentaion now essentially worthless? Not a good idea.

the mods at this site dont have anything to do with the company soundspectrum. We are just dedicated GF fans who have the time and will to try and help those who need something.

so I can not tell you why docs havent been updated maybe they feel there is nothing to tell. I do know that more recent versions of GF are not run specifically from the prefs file, GF now has a boot file which tells it what to do. this can also be altered like the prefs file but is a lot more confusing and I have no real idea what the all parameters do. you can find it in the soundspectrum/G-Force folder in your program files marked boot.

I think the tool bar was created to give folks a simpler way to control GF but you seem to be delving deeper into the inner workings of the prog which is stuff I 'm not familiar with.

dsperber · Post by **dsperber** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:43 am

juxtiphi wrote:the mods at this site dont have anything to do with the company soundspectrum. We are just dedicated GF fans who have the time and will to try and help those who need something.

I appreciate that, as well as any support which can be offered by anyone.

so I can not tell you why docs havent been updated maybe they feel there is nothing to tell.

It's more that the PREFS.TXT structure has been 100% changed! It no longer looks like it has for the past n-years.

And that means any changes we might have made to the way G-Force performs through the long-standing previous PREFS.TXT variables (sufficiently well documented by the delivered documentation) must be changed to conform to the new structure of PREFS.TXT.

I have no problem with that... except that the new structure is 100% different from the previous structure. So new documentation needs to be provided... in support of the new structure. Seems like common sense.

I'm not trying to be difficult. I only want G-Force 3.90 to perform similarly to how all prior versions of GF have performed for me, with less time between transitions. I like to watch it change more often, and that's what I've done in my customization. Unfortunately I don't know how to do it in 3.90 because of the radical redesign of PREFS.TXT.

I do know that more recent versions of GF are not run specifically from the prefs file, GF now has a boot file which tells it what to do.

I don't think this is entirely accurate. I have been modifying "Preferences (Winamp).txt" to accomplish my simple customizations for many years. The BOOT.TXT file may be involved, but it is the contents of the "Preferences (Winamp).txt" file which drives program behavior.

this can also be altered like the prefs file but is a lot more confusing and I have no real idea what the all parameters do. you can find it in the soundspectrum/G-Force folder in your program files marked boot.

Actually, I feel the reverse is true. Not being a programmer I feel the English-like "variables" and their formulaic values (which are well documented by the still-delivered customization documentation) are user-friendly. In contrast, the BOOT.TXT file is 100% incomprehensible to me.

That's exactly why "Preferences (Winamp).txt" was created, I'm sure... to be user-friendly for mere mortal users.

Anyway, if Jaypro knows how this file is to be customized in 3.90, even if the official documentation does not exist yet, I'd very much appreciate a simple one-to-one list of old vs. new parameters and how the old formulas are now to be expressed for the new architecture.

If Andy, or some other SoundSpectrum developer, can be persuaded to contribute same, it would be much appreciated.

I've been a long-time user and supporter of the product and have agreed to provide my annual financial infusion to the company when that model was implemented because I love the product and want to support the ongoing development. I don't think asking the company to provide a new set of documentation (so that I as a user can make customizations as provided by the program as I have done ever since the program was first brought out many years ago) corresponding to the 100% radical changes in 3.90 is out of line.

From another perspective, still delivering the old now out-of-date 100% obsolete and now worthless customization documentation (applicable to versions 3.85 and older) with the new 3.90 release where it is 100% useless is absolutely unforgivable.

dsperber · Post by **dsperber** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:20 am

Here's a suggested "compromise".

I don't need complete documentation. I only need a specific "here's what you specify in v3.90..." for those items I have modified in 3.85.

So if anyone can tell me what and where to add/change something in the new v3.90 files to match the effect of the following items in 3.85, I'd be indebted. I just want to know how to do it it 3.90, to match what I've done in 3.85.

Please be totally specific. Thanks in advance if you can help.

--------------------------------------------------

RScl=0.997631
CMor="2 + rnd( 10 )"
FPS=34
SScl=1.915686
PInt="20 + rnd( 40 )"
WInt="10 + rnd( 10 )"
SDur="10 + rnd( 10 )"
FInt="12 + rnd( 12 )"
LBst=2
PDur="8 + rnd( 15 )"
CInt="8 + rnd( 15 )"

--------------------------------------------------

kindred76 · Post by **kindred76** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:43 pm

I agree with dsperber in regards to the lack of documentation. I simply want to be able to get rid of the very annoying letterbox bars in fullscreen mode. It was a rather easy fix in the old preference files. Now I can't even figure out what to change. Nothing I have tried has had any effect.

dsperber · Post by **dsperber** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:49 am

Have finally heard back from SoundSpectrum to my support ticket recently opened on this issue. Documentation for 3.90 describing the complete list of new "fully spelled out" variable names, as contrasted with their short variable names as described in the 3.85 documentation, is being worked on.

As expected, they have simply "changed the spelling" of the variables in the 3.90 preferences to hopefully be more helpful and intuitive. In regards to the limited list of variable which I was concerned with, that constitute my particular customizations (shown below), the following list provides the new 3.90 equivalent variable names:

--------------------------------------------------

RScl=0.997631
CMor="2 + rnd( 10 )"
FPS=34
SScl=1.915686
PInt="20 + rnd( 40 )"
WInt="10 + rnd( 10 )"
SDur="10 + rnd( 10 )"
FInt="12 + rnd( 12 )"
LBst=2
PDur="8 + rnd( 15 )"
CInt="8 + rnd( 15 )"

--------------------------------------------------

RScl = Audio.Response.Scale
CMor = ColorMap.Transition.Duration
FPS = TargetFrameRate
SScl = Audio.Preamp.Scale
PInt = Particle.Slideshow.Interval.Duration
WInt = WaveShape.Slideshow.Interval.Duration
SDur = Sprite.Duration
FInt = FlowField.Slideshow.Interval.Duration
LBst = WaveShape.LineWidth.Offset
PDur = Particle.Duration
CInt = ColorMap.Slideshow.Interval.Duration

--------------------------------------------------

I have asked a followup question of them and will probably hear back soon, regarding how the variable's value is specified in the new 3.90 preferences file and whether I can simply use the identical 3.85 variable value string as the value in 3.90.

In other words, the default 3.85 preferences value for CMor was:

CMor="4 + rnd( 12 )"

I shortened the duration by specifying:

CMor="2 + rnd( 10 )"

The default 3.90 value is expressed as a simple numeric value:

ColorMap.Transition.Duration = 10

Though I haven't heard back yet from SoundSpectrum to confirm, I am going to assume I am allowed to specify my old 3.85 value expression with the new 3.90 variable name:

ColorMap.Transition.Duration = "2 + rnd( 10 )"

and that it should perform exactly as it did in 3.85.

In other words, I'm going to assume that the syntax of values used for the new 3.90 preferences file variables can accept either (a) simple numbers, without surrounding quotation marks, or (b) slightly more complex number expressions with surrounding quotation marks to deal with the special non-numeric characters in that value, or (c) symbolic expressions as with 3.85, enclosed within surrounding quotation marks.

EXCELLENT PROGRESS!

dsperber · Post by **dsperber** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:14 pm

Follow-up reply from SoundSpectrum regarding my questions about the values for the new variable names in 3.90 preferences.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Since the only thing we changed with the preference files in version 3.9 is the names of the variables (making the names more explicit), you can absolutely provide the same values you had previously.

To answer your questions more specifically, the spaces on either side of the "equals" sign do not come into play. I think our developers added the spaces in conjunction with the new variable names just to make the preference files easier to read, though if you prefer you may remove the spaces altogether.

Additionally, if the value of a variable is a simple integer it does not need to be placed within quotes. However, if you wish to assign a value that is a mathematical equation (such as "2 + rnd( 10 )") then you will need to enclose this function within quotes. Thus, using your example from above, both of the following entries would be correct:

ColorMap.Transition.Duration="2 + rnd( 10 )"
ColorMap.Transition.Duration = "2 + rnd( 10 )"