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RastaConverter Feature Request


snicklin

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I wasn't sure which thread to write this into, so after much deliberation, I didn't want to offend by putting this in another thread, but I am opening a new one.

 

I've got a new home recently, complete with some stunning up to 5kw of solar power available to me for free (sort of!) during the daytime peak hours.

 

I'd like to be able to run RastaConverter during the peak hours only and potentially leave my computer for months working an image out if needs be.

 

Is there any way that I can either:

 

a) Request a feature request so that this gets implemented, RastaConverter running full pelt during pre-defined times.

 

b) Through some form of automation, kick the task off at a certain time, then kill it at another? (Every day). I could use the autosave feature in the middle.

 

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One thing I think would be very useful - if this is not present already?

 

Is to define a small area that has priority to render to completion over the rest of the picture. Like with portraits - you want the eyes to be done first - over anything else, instead of waiting ages - literally for that to be fully rendered.

 

Likewise with other subjects - there would only be a small critical area that need full rendering also.

 

But maybe what I ask for - is simply too difficult to add into the program?

 

Harvey

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hi Snicklin,

 

great power setup you have!

 

i am looking around my messy desk and i think i could do the task with wigdets lying around:

power timer like this one: https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Mechanical-Grounded-Analog-Construction/dp/B017S4JQVE/ref=zg_bs_495340_10?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HFN6WR0GFR0HWY5A9QEF

and a laptop computer. in a laptop you set "hibernate when power low" or similar option and then, possibly in BIOS something in lines of "Restore from AC power loss [always on | last state]"

you set timer for your solar hours and you are good to crunch for free.

 

it should work with a desktop as well, just add a beefy (or not) UPC to the mix.

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I'd like to be able to run RastaConverter during the peak hours only and potentially leave my computer for months working an image out if needs be.

 

 

Sounds not like something which should be implemented in RastaConverter. Use e.g. "AutoIt" instead:

 

https://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/

 

...and create a small script which you put into your "auto-starts". In the script you could send keystrokes for saves etc. to RastaConverter too...

Edited by Irgendwer
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I use ThrottleStop on my desktop - mainly because the stock cooling is utter rubbish so I have it knock the multiplier down once it gets over 80 degrees.

 

I think it and other similar programs can be run with parameters to automatically set the max multiplier to a certain limit.

On most modern CPUs, lower multipliers will use a fraction of the power of the higher ones. Similarly an idle CPU uses a fraction of a 100% busy one.

 

Changing task priority wouldn't be of much use, the difference between low priority and system is merely the jostling for CPU time among tasks, if the system is fairly idle then a low priority task will use 100% as readily as a high priority task.

What you'd want is to put the task into a total non-execute state.

 

Fairly sure RC can simply stop a job then resume later anyway, even across a reboot so the best idea might be to just automate it to the point of doing a full stop and restart.

 

Just what benefit a pic gets for running for days at a time, IMO would be pretty dubious. In my experience an RC run is a case of diminishing returns. The bulk of the work is done in the first several minutes, then the incremental gain just tapers off to the point where a single pixel "advantage" might take an hour or more.

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Seems, I missed the part with the Solar Power time ;)

 

Starting the Converter could be done using the Taskplaner.

The needed part in RC is the automatic ending after a defined time.

Using the PC for RC only, could allow to let the taskplaner shutting the PC down , and also waking it up.

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I have a request. I don't know if it's possible and I don't know if I can explain it well.

 

Sometimes there is a part of a picture that I don't care a lot about. I would like that part set to one color. It would be great if Rastaconverter doesn't spend any time dithering that region.

 

For example (because Gunstar reminded me that I like airplane pictures), I care about the planes but I don't care about the sky. I don't need the sky comprised of several colors dithered. It can be just one shade of blue (or sometimes gray).

 

I propose a "don't care" mask. This would be similar to the details mask except here you paint the replacement color. The replacement color never get dithered for the output. Yes, Rastaconverter has to pick the closet color from the chosen Atari palette.

 

Because it is too time consuming to precisely paint around objects which would have normal processing I suggest that the details mask have priorty over the "don't care" mask. This would allow one to "white wash" (with the chosen color) an entire area quickly to create the "don't care" mask and then paint back the details mask for foreground objects. I suppose the two masks could be combined. Colors would be the "don't care" regions and white the "details" masking. Only problem with that is one might actually want white as one of the "don't care" colors.

 

-SteveS

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Changing task priority wouldn't be of much use, the difference between low priority and system is merely the jostling for CPU time among tasks, if the system is fairly idle then a low priority task will use 100% as readily as a high priority task. What you'd want is to put the task into a total non-execute state.

Indeed, changing the task priority won't help for this reason. To save the energy you can make it autosave with /save parameter and terminate the process when needed e.g. using taskkill in Windows. This however can lead to some problems because saving is not an atomic operation - killing the process during saving can break the created image. Saving takes just microseconds so chance of killing a process during this time is very low but still may appear. Currently the only safe option to terminate is to send "escape" keycode to the application which is processed for sure after saving. Can be done easily e.g. using proposed AutoIt.

 

I propose a "don't care" mask. This would be similar to the details mask except here you paint the replacement color. The replacement color never get dithered for the output. Yes, Rastaconverter has to pick the closet color from the chosen Atari palette.

I'm afraid it cannot be done because RC would have to reserve a color register for such replacement color to be available. The only options are to use detail mask (which will often fulfill your needs to put details on specific objects) or to paint over background using a constant color.

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Sometimes there is a part of a picture that I don't care a lot about. I would like that part set to one color. It would be great if Rastaconverter doesn't spend any time dithering that region.

If you have some picture tool available, you could do the following...

 

Start a conversion with dither on, then store the destination picture.

Start a conversion with dither off, do the same...

 

Load the 1st picture into the picture tool, mark all the needed details and copy them ...

Then load the 2nd picture and paste the marked into it.

Save the resulting picture and use that for the source of the new conversion, don't use dither then.

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A feature that would be nice to have is small playfield width support. Gives you some extra cycles to change colours and placement of players, at the cost of a smaller image. The images I did before could possibly look even better.

Edited by ivop
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A feature that would be nice to have is small playfield width support. Gives you some extra cycles to change colours and placement of players, at the cost of a smaller image. The images I did before could possibly look even better.

You are right. But I'd wish to have a Gr.7 version of the converter. As it isn't "pro details" , it could do a LOT more colour changes....

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Gr.7 would be pointless. On the start of mode line the DMA penalty is exactly the same as Gr. 15.

On the second mode line, guess what? You'd need an entire different bit of code to get the required register changes.

In fact, there would be plenty of cases where the same timing wouldn't be possible.

 

It would be next to pointless IMO - you'd have a chunkier display and the colour changes would be different on half or more the lines and just not look right.

And the overall memory footprint wouldn't be much smaller, in fact with NOPs and 2-byte instructions needed on the other lines to align timing the overall saving would probably be less than 2K.

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