bistro

Reply to How and where? in DreamScenes WinCustomize Forums

As far as vids to use for Dreams, you just have to scour around with your favorite search engine, using key words like "HD video", "HD film clips", "HD animations", etc. Check out the nature/science sites, space, scuba diving, etc. ..a lot of them offer free short clips (some good, some bad). What you are looking for are wmv, avi and mpeg formats. If you find good Quicktime clips (good resolution), you will need to convert them to avi/mpeg...lots of free converters around. Programs like Frap can

Reply to Some people are having Dream Problems in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

You know whats hilarious.. The whole time you have been on the site I thought you were azNDude.. ur not asian r ya? \needs a nap. No, no, no....he's Aztec ....not Asian.

Reply to Some people are having Dream Problems in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

I really don't think it has anything to do with your Dreams, AzDude. From what I can gather, most people here are not experiencing any problems with them (or the other Dreams for that matter). I think it's just 1's and 0's on particular machines that are getting into arguments with each other. It might be a matter of bad video codices (I like that plural form of codex...sounds "technical", huh? )and/or old d

Reply to Misconceptions? in DeskScapes WinCustomize Forums

Intri is correctomundo. What you and the rest of us are currently running is a Dreamscene Preview only...it does not have the GPU optimization. The full version will have that optimization and then you will see the CPU usage drop...hopefully dramatically.

Reply to More dreams in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

Same here....all afternoon. Probably due to the site wanting you to start a premium service. If these dreams are as good as some here alluded to, could we please see them HERE?

Reply to Dreams for Money - OK BY ME !!!!!!! in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

I've been playing around with my vid editor lately and know full well how much work can go into just a few seconds of (good) looping video. Like what was alluded to before, some of the "they should all be free" whiners probably have no blinkin' idea of how much goes into some of those Dreams. Some of their posts lead me to think that they truly believe they are "speaking for the masses". Ridiculous. I'm sure that when the full version comes out, there'll be plenty of good, free Dreams to keep m

Reply to What is the difference? Out of curiosity... in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Well I guess the only way you can find out if they are compatible is to try one on Vista. I wouldn't hold your breath though. As far as I understand, the dreams in DreamRender utilize the CPU heavily. The full version of Dreamscene will supposedly put all that work back on to the graphics card GPU and memory (or so they promise). That will make a big difference in performance right off the bat. Not to mention that Dreamscenes with Dreamscape will be able to do dynamic content. Anyone t

Reply to Stardock's Windows Vista Road-Map in OS Customization WinCustomize Forums

I sincerely hope that the Tweak Vista utility will address the issue of shortcut arrows in Vista and their removal. I've seen the Registry tweaks posted all over where you remove certain entries and voila!...the arrows are gone. But....voila!...so are other essential functions. I've also personally tried another tweak program that took care of the arrows, but when I rebooted or updated the graphics drivers, I was left with a big black square on the icons. I ended up having to....viola!...

Reply to Animated Wallpapers: First Impression in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

I've tried all the dreams current to today, but all in all, "Nebula" is my favorite....I keep going back to that one. Very subtle and beautiful....and it doesn't chew up CPU cycles like some of the others. Eagerly anticipating the full version of Dreamscenes that relies more on the graphics card than the CPU. Thanks Island Dog for all the postings, news and reviews, etc here, there and beyond....they all come in very handy. <img src="http://images.stardock.com/wc/smiles/Smile.gif" borde

Reply to HD wallpaper in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

Same here....no files to download. Better go put another 50 cents in the meter....

Accounts and product downloads in Stardock Support General WinCustomize Forums

I have never had to go through so many gyrations just to download a product. I ordered the new Object Desktop, got the email to go download Stardock Central, but when I checked, all that was there in the update menu was old OD stuff from a few years ago. I could not change the address info in my old account, so I made a new one, even associated the two accounts, but Stardock Central STILL doesn't want to recognize the new one (under a new email address) OR the association evidently. Must we make

Reply to Object Desktop for Windows Vista Preview! in Customization Software WinCustomize Forums

So....I assume that if we get it now, it will just be a simple matter of hitting an updates button from time to time throughout the summer?

Reply to Object Desktop for Windows Vista Preview! in Customization Software WinCustomize Forums

Where is there a definitive list of what Object Desktop features currently work with Vista and which ones that do not? Lead me, Obiwan....

Reply to Dreams cost money in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

I have absolutely no problem with charging a small fee for Premium Dreams. $5 isn't going to break anybody's bank. BUT....just make sure they are "Premium" (a subjective standard for sure). IMHO, Blissful Sunset was not what I would judge a Premium Dream. It is way out of focus on a 1280x1024 screen...looks like I'm staring through a gel. I regulated it to my archive drive to get it out of my background choices.

Reply to How long? in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

A 3 to 5 minute loop is going to be gargantuan. I don't want to have a 5GB loop on my system unless it is a HD, high-speed, low-drag, Pixar-developed Journey through the Solar System and Beyond (would still be a very short Journey). A 15 second wmv loop can run you around 25 to 35mb, depending on the content.

Reply to Blissfull Sunset Opinion in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

And the only machine capable of running that smoothly would be scientific cluster with 1024 processors at least Funny...that's EXACTLY the upgrade I was considering next.......century.

Reply to Suggestion for Dream makers to avoid jerky loop in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

Unfortunately smaller, less robust vid editors don't allow for the proper blending fade in/out at the beginning or end of the loop. They either fade in/out to black or white; so you will get a momentary lapse. The better editors will allow for smooth blending the last frame into the first.

Reply to Welcome! in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

I don't think "everybody" believes that. I haven't read that anywhere. The full version of Dreamscenes will use the GPU more...reversing the CPU cycle usage...I meant what I said and said what I meant. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't believe I made any comment nor tried to infer that Vista Ultimate is the only OS that can do that. How did you infer that from my statement?

Reply to Welcome! in Animated Wallpapers WinCustomize Forums

I could be wrong but I believe Ultimate is the only version that has the capability of running animated walls. Pity as I expect to be using XP for quite some time yet. Actually, XP can run active content as wallpaper. I've seen several programs out there that run animated walls in XP. The downside is that they chew up CPU cycles

Reply to DreamScene gets mixed reception in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

It'll be nice when the MS Ultimate Team gets the full function version of Dreamscenes out....the version that supposedly kills that CPU cycle usage and puts it all back on the graphic card's GPU (promises, promises...). I think people are getting confused between the current preview version (a CPU hog) and the future full version. I know this will embarass Nvidia owners, but I am still using an X800XL ATI card and the Dreamscenes play flawlessly. Not knocking Nvidia...my plan

Reply to DreamScene Preview available now in Windows Vista WinCustomize Forums

Liking the Dreamscape Dreams, but I noticed that when I downloaded them from the gallery, it would put them into an Apps folder rather than the Dreamscapes folder (in the drop-down menu). Had to cut & paste them back into the D'scapes folder....kind of a pain. What gives?

Reply to Windows Vista users already make up 5% of traffic in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

Got Vista Ultimate last night. But I do not count myself as one of those salivating "Gotta have it"/"Run out and kill someone for a copy" folks that Rahn referred to. I've been using Vista Beta for quite awhile now and knew what to expect.....lots of beta-testers did the same. I suspect the numbers will go up at least by 5%.

Reply to Stardock's First Half 2007 Vista Compatability Plans in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

Thanks for the peek! Looking VERY forward to seeing all the cool schtuff!

Reply to Dream Gallery in Windows Vista WinCustomize Forums

Thanks....I just saw your announcement here . Just anxious to try it out...

Dream Gallery in Windows Vista WinCustomize Forums

Well Vista has been released, but the Dream Gallery is still pretty much empty. I was kind of expecting a grand launch of the gallery today. I realize I may be expecting too much too soon, but....What's up? I thought that Stardock was developing Dreams all along and would have a few posted on the day of Vista's launch. Did I miss an announcement somewhere?