Screensaver problems

[Pilgrim]

I've made several screensavers for a friend in Xara3D which work find on my own system but on his system (both Win XP SP-2) the animation is either "choppy" or "ghosting". I've tried all kinds of combinations of frames per cycle, frames per second, different codecs, and quality (size) for each one when saving, with the same results.

I have concluded that the problem is not with Xara3D but with his PC (laptop). He's got sufficient RAM, but I'm not sure about his video card make/model. He doesn't have a problem with the "stock" or some other 3rd-party screensavers. So I'm a bit baffled.

Any wisdom to share on this issue?

THANKS!

[Pilgrim]

I've made several screensavers for a friend in Xara3D which work find on my own system but on his system (both Win XP SP-2) the animation is either "choppy" or "ghosting". I've tried all kinds of combinations of frames per cycle, frames per second, different codecs, and quality (size) for each one when saving, with the same results.

I have concluded that the problem is not with Xara3D but with his PC (laptop). He's got sufficient RAM, but I'm not sure about his video card make/model. He doesn't have a problem with the "stock" or some other 3rd-party screensavers. So I'm a bit baffled.

Any wisdom to share on this issue?

THANKS!

[John Rayner]

What is the size of the final graphic. Wittle fishies moving around the screen are much less demanding than a full size logo rotating in 3D.

Are you building the screenavers to his screensize? If he is at a larger or smaller screen size this will use more clock cycles resizing the graphic.

[Pilgrim]

What is the size of the final graphic. Wittle fishies moving around the screen are much less demanding than a full size logo rotating in 3D.

If you are asking about the "file" size, then they vary from 350K to 2 megs. I thought the smaller one would make a difference too but it was the same. We also tried reducing the acceleration rate of his video card, but that exacerbated the problem.

As to the "building to his screen size", I have tried everything from smallest to biggest with each one I have created and it doesn't make much or any difference.

His relevant PC specs:
RAM: 368 megs
Video: S3 Graphics TwisterK HP

[John Rayner]

Hi Pilgrim,

I meant if he is running a 600X800 you should build at 600x800. You might be able to decrease the frame rate. Is he using a dedicated video board on a shared memory one? They would make it slower as it has to stop and reload the video RAM...

[Pilgrim]

John,

Thanks for taking an interest, at least in responding to my question. Yes, I have saved each of the different screensavers in different resolutions from the smallest to the largest. But that didn't make much difference. They all had either the problem with "choppy" animation and/or this "ghosting" issue.

I don't know if it would reveal anything useful or not, but tonight I'll create an extremely simplistic screensaver, e.g., with one letter and see if he still experiences the same symptoms. I shall return with the results. http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[John Rayner]

hi Pilgrim,

Under the animation options, Set the frames per cycle and frames per second to the lowest number you can set it to, then increase it until the SCR gets choppy, then back it down a little. I think you have xara creating a .csr that demands too much out ot the ole video chip.

[Pilgrim]

John,

Again, thanks for your input. I'll give your advice a try and see if anything works out. If not, well.... they all work on my system. http://www.the-highway.com/Smileys/evilgrin.gif

[kamick]

I can't get that far. I created a screen saver on Xara 3d6 it works fine. I can save it but when I try to save or export to my CD drive it won't let me. Any Suggestions?

Mike

[Soquili]

Mike,

If your CD drive isn't a CD burner, you can't save anyting to it. If it is a CD burner then you will also need software that supports writing direct to a writable CD. If you do have a CD burner and the correct software, then the problem may be you have a CD-R media in the drive that has been closed. The close process prevents any additional writing to that particular disk. A CD-RW disk is usually required to support direct saves to the media. CD-RW disks must be formatted before they can be used.