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   <meta name="Author" content="Mark Danks">
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   <title>GEM - Introduction</title>
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<center>
<h2>
<u>Introduction</u></h2></center>
GEM is the Graphics Environment for Multimedia. It was originally written by
<a href="http://www.danks.org/mark">Mark Danks</a> to generate real-time computer graphics,
especially for audio-visual compositions.
Because GEM is a visual programming environment, users do not need any experience
in traditional computer languages.
<p>GEM is a collection of externals which allow the user to create
<a href="http://www.opengl.org">OpenGL</a>
graphics within <a href="http://www.crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/software.html">Pd</a>,
a program for real-time audio processing by <a href="http://www.crca.ucsd.edu/~msp">Miller
Puckette</a> (of <a href="http://www.ircam.fr">Max</a> fame).
<p>There are many different shapes and objects, including polygonal graphics,
lighting, texture mapping, image processing, and camera motion. All of
this is possible in real-time without any previous programming experience.
Because GEM is an add-on library for <a href="http://www.crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/software.html">Pd</a>,
users can combine audio and graphics, controlling one medium from another.
<p>GEM is supported in part by a grant from the <a href="http://www.intel.com">Intel
Research Council</a> for the <a href="http://www.gvm.com">The Global Visual
Music</a> project of <a href="http://felix.usc.edu/vibeke.html">Vibeke
Sorensen</a>, <a href="http://www.crca.ucsd.edu/~msp">Miller Puckette</a>
and <a href="http://www.earunit.org/rand.htm">Rand Steiger</a>.
<p>An important thing to remember is that GEM is NOT an application.&nbsp;
It is a library that Pd loads at run-time.&nbsp; Make sure that you see
the section on <a href="GemWPd.html">using GEM with Pd</a>.&nbsp; This
manual assumes that you have Pd working correctly and can load up patches
already.&nbsp; If you do not have that working yet, look at the Pd manual
and the GEM FAQ.&nbsp; Also, it is assumed that you have a basic understanding
of how to use Pd and the idea behind the data flow model.&nbsp; In other
words, if I ask you to pass a message with 3 floats into an object, you
would know what I mean.
<p>The system requirements vary depending on your system and what you are
trying to do.&nbsp; In general, you should have the most powerful computer
available and the best graphics accelerator on the market.&nbsp; In reality,
people have been doing some amazing work with a Pentium II and an <a href="http://www.nvidia.com">nVidia
Riva TNT</a> or <a href="http://www.3dfx.com">3Dfx Voodoo2</a> card.&nbsp;
If you are on an SGI, then everything from an O2 up seems to be okay.&nbsp;
The biggest requirement is that you have some kind of OpenGL graphics accelerator.&nbsp;
This means that a Matrox Millennium II will not run very quickly.
<p>The other factor is what you are trying to do.&nbsp; Pushing real-time
video around requires a fast bus, which really only exists on SGIs.&nbsp;
Doing thousands of texture mapped polygons is great on a PC...if it is
a constant texture.&nbsp; There are many issues which mean that there is
no one answer to "Is this system good enough?".&nbsp; In general, you will
have to try and see.
<p>GEM is now maintained by <a href="http://www.iem.at/info/personal/jz.htm">IOhannes m zm&ouml;lnig</a>.
So any bug-reports and donations should go to him instead of Mark...
<p><a href="index.html">[return]</a>
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