The Kinemorphic 3D Screen Saver
Frequently Asked Questions
- What
are fields, objects, and textures?
- How can I capture the images that the screen savers generate so that I can
use them for my wallpaper, WWW pages, etc.?
- What are the *.KIN
files?
- What
does the "Effects" module do?
- Can Kinemorphics be run on Windows 3.11 or earlier?
- I've noticed that each of the modules has a "Strength" setting --
what the heck does it do?
- How do I remove SS Runner (Runner.EXE) from my taskbar?
- How do I remove The Kinemorphic 3D Screen Saver from my system?
- I’m seeing leftover graphics that stay around after the screen saver has
exited -- do you know what’s going on?
- My system locks up periodically after running the screen saver...what’s
going on?
- Which video cards are able to accelerate Kinemorphics?
- The "random" modules reset (start a different display) every 16
seconds or so. How can I increase or decrease this time period?
What are
fields, objects, and textures?
Please see the "Module" section of the documentation.
How can I capture the images that the screen savers generate so that I
can use them for my wallpaper, WWW pages, etc.?
On Windows 95/98 you can just press the 'Print Screen' key and this
will copy the image to the clipboard. From here, you can paste the image into your
favorite image processing application and save, print, or edit it.
On Windows NT, after the screen saver time-out period, the OS
switches over to a secure desktop and then runs the screen saver. Because of this,
pressing the 'Print Screen' key will terminate the screen saver rather than copying the
image to the clipboard. In order to avoid this behavior, you can run the screen savers
(*.SCR files are just *.EXE files that have been renamed) from the command line or create
icons for them. When you run them this way, you run them on the application desktop and
the 'Print Screen' key works just fine.
What are the *.KIN files?
The KIN files are saved setting files. You can use the
"Import" button in the "Main Settings" panel to load the files and
display them. You should also be able to click on the KIN files and have the screen saver
launch and display using the settings in that file. If you want to export your own
settings into KIN files, you can just use the "Export" button in the "Main
Settings" panel. You can also make shortcuts on your desktop to the KIN files so that
you can launch the screen saver with different settings just by clicking on the shortcut.
The KIN files that come with Kinemorphics get installed when you run the setup program.
They should show up in the drop-down listbox that contains the "Saved Settings"
in the "Main Settings" panel.
If you have your own saved settings that you really like and you'd
like to share them with others, please send the *.KIN file (and any objects, fields, or
textures it uses) to us and it might get added to the next update of Kinemorphics!
What does
the "Effects" module do?
The "Effects" module differs from the other modules in the
way it works. Instead of producing a pattern, "Effects" modifies whatever
pattern is currently on the screen. So, if nothing is on the screen not much will happen
:-)
Can
Kinemorphics be run on Windows 3.11 or earlier?
No. Kinemorphics will run *only* under Windows 95/98 or Windows NT
(4.0 or later).
I've noticed that each of the "motion" modules has a
"Strength" setting -- what does it do?
The "Strength" setting is a weighting that controls how
much one module is favored compared to another. For example, if you made "Spin"
as strong as possible and "Bounce" as weak as possible then the "Spin"
module would draw quickly while the "Bounce" module would lag behind. Strength
only has an effect when there is more than one module selected.
How
do I remove SS Runner (Runner.EXE) from my taskbar?
To remove SS Runner from your task bar you need to follow the
following steps:
1) Right click the SS Runner icon on the taskbar and select close
from the popup menu.
2) Right click on the taskbar itself and select "Properties" from the popup
menu.
3) Select the "Start Menu Programs" tab in the "Taskbar Properties"
dialog.
4) Press the "Remove" button.
5) Double click on the "Startup" folder in the tree view in order to see its
contents.
6) Select "Runner.EXE" (or "Runner") and press the "Remove"
button.
7) Confirm the removal by pressing the "Yes" button.
At this point, SS Runner has been removed from your taskbar and will
no longer be run when your system is started.
How do I remove The Kinemorphic 3D Screen Saver from my system?
Run the uninstall program (UnInstall.EXE) that's in the directory
that you chose to install to (C:\Kine by default). You may then delete the directory.
I’m seeing leftover graphics that stay around after the screen saver
has exited -- do you know what’s going on?
This problem is probably due either to a problem in your video
driver or to the way the driver is configured. There are several things you can try that
may resolve the problem.
- Your graphics performance setting may be set to too high a value. To
change the setting, right click on "My Computer" and select
"Properties" from the popup menu. Now, select the "Performance" tab
and then press the "Graphics" button. This should bring up a slider that will
let you control how much the acceleration options for your video driver. Try setting the
slider all the way to the "None" side and see if you still get the problem. If
you don't, try setting it to the next higher value. Keep doing this until you find the
fastest setting that doesn’t exhibit the problem.
- Your video driver may have a bug in it. To see if this is the case,
try using a another driver and/or a different resolution and see if the problem persists.
(The standard VGA driver that ships with the OS is a good one to test with.) If the
problem does not occur with a different driver you may want to check with the folks who
made the video card to see if they have a new version that fixes the problem. You can
probably find their WWW site on the internet.
- If the previous suggestions don’t fix the problem, then you'll
need to follow the instructions on our technical support page
to obtain further technical support.
My system locks up periodically after running the screen
saver...what’s going on?
See the answer to the previous
question (above) since this is probably due to a video driver problem.
Which
video cards are able to accelerate Kinemorphics?
Since the 3D graphics that Kinemorphics uses are produced entirely
by OpenGL, any video card/driver that accelerates OpenGL-based programs will accelerate
Kinemorphics. For a partial list of the many cards that accelerate OpenGL-based programs,
see http://www.opengl.org/Products/Accelerators.html.
At this time, 3dfx-based cards are unable to accelerate OpenGL.
However, 3dfx are working on software that will allow OpenGL acceleration and as soon as
it becomes available, it will be packaged with Kinemorphics. The following are taken
directly from the FAQ on the 3dfx website...
41. Does Voodoo Graphics support OpenGL?
We have released a DLL that is a subset of OpenGL that is specifically designed to run
GLQuake under Win32. A more complete OpenGL implementation under development is slated for
release later this year.
42. Does Voodoo Graphics support Windows NT 4.0?
Yes, our proprietary API, Glide, supports NT 4.0. Direct3D and OpenGL drivers for Windows
NT 4.0 are in development.
The "random" modules reset (start a different display) every 16
seconds or so. How can I increase or decrease this time period?
The timeout value for random modules is set under the
“Random” tab. Choose the Random module you’re interested in (the primary
ones that come with Kinemorphics are “[R] Saved Settings” and “[R] Saved
Sound Settings”), and then click on the “Random” tab. Under the Random
settings you will see a Duration field. This is the number of seconds that pass before the
Random setting you are running chooses another display. The default is 16 (seconds).
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