Multires Group's Bag'o'Tricks

Yes you too can help keep multires running smoothly!

What do I have to do? Easy! Just follow the tips below...

What if I have some ideas? Easy! Just email the multires group, and if you don't wish to give Eitan more work, follow the instructions at the end of this page on "How To Update These Tips"

submitted by Eitan Grinspun


Power Point Fonts


The fonts needed to use the multires Power Point Presentations template can be found at: \\filer.cs.caltech.edu\research\multires\mrsed\presentations\Templates, Fonts, Resources
submitted by Zoë Wood


Journal Abbreviation Sources


Here is a link to JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources - http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/JAS.htm - I would go with ISI or Cambridge Scientific Abstracts' abbreviation from this list.

submitted by Hema Ramachandran


PowerPoint Sufferers: TexPoint for Typesetting Math


If you belong to those who would like to include real mathematical typesetting on your slides but for one reason or another you are just not willing to live with the dorky latex tools to make slides there is now salvation. TexPoint allows you to type ANY latex into a PowerPoint slide and get the expected result. I've been using it and it is GREAT. You will need a working Miktex and Ghostview installation as it invokes those tools under the hood to create this functionality. Details can be found at http://raw.cs.berkeley.edu/texpoint/index.htm.

submitted by Peter Schröder


Martha Says: "Mind your manners on CVS"


  • clean commits -- always -- anytime you commit to the repository, make sure your project compiles without errors: this is especially important if you are collaborating with others, e.g., working on latex with other authors

    submitted by Eitan Grinspun


    Acrobat, Distiller, Fonts: Gotcha!

    When printing to distiller to produce pdf output from some other application be sure to have enabled "include all fonts" in the distiller defaults. Else you may be producing pdf with missing fonts. Those pdf files will print fine on machines that just happen to have the fonts installed (likely the machine you used when you produced this). This will often obscure the fact that you have just produced such a pdf. To test for this uncheck the View->Use Local Fonts entry in the pdf viewer. If the appearance of your file changes when unchecking this feature from having the feature checked you are suffering from this problem.

    If you are using Illustrator and use pdf as your save format you need to enable to appropriate options in the save file wizard to force inclusion of all fonts.

    Note that some fonts have license restrictions that prevent any of these tricks to work. In that case I have found only one way to work around this. Print the file to a postscript printer and check the "save to file" option in the print dialog. Then distill the resulting .prn file in distiller. It seems to eat these just fine. There is one issue. It can take distiller a long time to churn on these. Don't know why. I've had to make some in pieces for this to work...

    submitted by Peter Schröder


    Martha Says: "Impress your guests with Healthy Projectors"

    Lamp life can be extended if the projector is allowed to cool down after switching off but before disconnecting it from power.

    When you are done with your presentation, hit the green button to turn off the light. Notice that the fan keeps running. The indicator light next to the green button will stay orange until the machine has decided that the lamp is cool enough. At that point the indicator light will go green again. Disconnecting power at that point is best for lamp life. Disconnecting earlier is not immediately damaging but does reduce lamp life.

    Typically, what I do is that I first switch off the lamp, then deal with disconnecting and packing up my portable. By the time I am done with that, very typically, the green light will have come on and I just proceed.

    submitted by Peter Schröder


    EZ Windows 4U

    Want all the latest know-how on installing the perfect Windows machine? Check out our WinSetup repository!

    Found a neat trick for keeping Windows healthy? Update our WinSetup repository!

    Try this at your nearest unix prompt: cvs checkout WinSetup

    submitted by Eitan Grinspun


    Join The Workbench Way

    here's something for those interested in interacting with things on the workbench.

    if you write C++, and use openGL to draw things, it's as simple as:

    #include "thing.h"

    class MyClass : public Thing {
    public:
    MyClass();
    void Draw();
    };

    of course, you have to fill in the rest of your class. if things are drawn around the origin, and they look right on the scale 1 unit == 1 cm, then i can bring them onto the workbench and we can play with them.

    you can also implement:
    // distance from a point in the world - this improves grabbing accuracy when there are multiple objects
    virtual float Distance(SbVec3f from, float upperBound = 1e9f);

    // this allows you to glue objects together + separate them
    virtual float DistanceAlongRay(SbVec3f p, SbVec3f d, bool positiveOnly, float upperBound=1e9f);

    // this allows your object to react to the lightsaber. typical interaction is to cut an object, but
    // feel free to get creative
    virtual void Cut(SbVec3f from, SbVec3f to);

    // this function will be called every timestep (between renders). also to be used creatively
    virtual void Update();

    the current thing.h header is at ~ss/src/sdraw_ascension

    submitted by Steven Schkolne


    How To Update These Tips in 3 Easy Steps

    Please do not directly modify the tips file that is on the web site!

    (Step 1) This command grabs the most recent copy of the tips puts it in ./web/tips.html:
    cvs checkout web

    (Step 2) Edit the file tips.html.
    Add new tips immediately below the introductory tip.

    (Step 3) These commands save your changes to the repository and to the web page:
    cvs update
    cvs commit
    rm /home/httpd/graphics/multires/tips.html
    cvs export -Dnow -d/home/httpd/graphics/multires/ web
    (now free to delete your local copy of ./web/tips.html)

    Mazel Tov! You have performed a Mitzvah!

    submitted by Eitan Grinspun


    Eitan Grinspun
    Last modified: Tue May 14 12:58:40 PDT 2002