[PD] gem newbie questions

[adam overton]

>> let's get started...
>> i'm running Mac OS 10.4, am using PD 0.37-2, and Gem 0.90 for G3.
>
> Are you really running a 10.4 developer seed?  I have it around here 
> somewhere but have yet to install and test anything on it.

doh. i meant 10.3.5. i knew it was getting up there, but didn't 
remember correctly. i'm definitely not that cool.


>> 2. is there a way to make the Gem output window come to the front and 
>> sit on top of the other open pd windows? i can't move the window, and 
>> i know that's because you can only control that with the 'position' 
>> command to gemwin (will that ever change?? it'd be nice to be able to 
>> drag it around...).
>
> Cmd+click the title bar and then drag it around.  There is currently 
> work on a version of Pd that allows for the GEM window to be a real 
> window.  It does work, but I have no idea when it will surface (I'm 
> not the one developing it so don't bug me).

cool cool trick. of course it doesn't work with the border gone, but 
that's alright.


>> but if i'm doing a fullscreen thing with gem, then my patch is stuck 
>> in front of the image, and i can't close the patch window or else 
>> that stops everything and closes the gem window too.
>> so - can i hide the main patch window?
>
> Well you shouldn't do that!  Cmd-w might kill the window, but the 
> thing you absolutely have to do is make a key command in your patch 
> that triggers a 'destroy' message to the gemwin.

i've just figured out that Cmd-h gets everthing out of the way with no 
fuss... which is nice.

>> 4. i get lots and lots of errors when i use pix_image and pix_film 
>> with pix_mix (tutorial 8) if the multiple pictures or videos being 
>> mixed together are not the exact same dimensions. will this 
>> limitation ever be changed, or is there already an easy way around 
>> this besides actually going and changing all of my images to the same 
>> size?
>
> Use OpenGL to composite if the images are of different sizes.  The CPU 
> based pix_ objects restrict dimensions as an optimization - the first 
> thing anyone working with video usually does is make all of their 
> media the same dimensions to avoid costly scaling.  GL will do all the 
> scaling on the GPU at a much faster rate than the CPU could ever hope 
> to achieve.

ok

>> 5. i've found that pd won't stop playing sound from my quicktime 
>> movies in the pix_film mixing examples (tutorial 8) even when i turn 
>> off the individual gemhead and/or 'auto' toggles. if i then 'destroy' 
>> the gemwin, the sound finally goes off with it after about a second, 
>> but as soon as i 'create' another gemwin the sound from the already 
>> stopped videos goes back on right where they left off... is there a 
>> way or will there be a way to make these videos and their soundtracks 
>> completely stop after starting?
>
> I though I made the sound off by default for those objects, but it 
> looks like that code is not actually in CVS.  I must have done a 
> custom build for someone and forgot to add it.
>
> cgc



thanks chris!!
adam