TVPaint minimum system requirements ?

[D.T. Nethery]

On the FAQ page here: http://www.tvpaint.com/v2/content/artic ... ategory=20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It says:

What are TVPaint Animation's minimum recommended requirements ?

The minimal recommended requirement is...

Windows: Vista, 7 & 8
Mac: Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8 ), Maverick (10.9) & Yosemite (10.10)
Linux (Professional Edition only) : Ubuntu 10.04+, Debian 6+, RedHat Entreprise Linux 5+, Fedora 15+

Processor : Pentium IV, AthlonXP or G5 (2Ghz minimum)
RAM : 2GB
Free hard drive space : 10GB
Architecture : 32 and 64 bit (only 32 bit for Standard Edition)

The performance of TVPaint Animation is only dependent on speed and amount of available RAM, hard drive speeds, and number and speed of processor cores. There is no need to invest in an expensive video card to make full use of TVPaint Animation.

On Processor , what does it mean to list "G5" ? G5 processor is for Mac PPC , but Mac OS 10.7 and above will not run on Mac G5 PPC. So TVPaint 11 needs Mac OS 10.7 or above , therefore "G5" processor is irrelevant , because TVPaint 11 can only be run on Macs with Intel processors .

What is the minimum processor required ? Is the other information listed on the FAQ about minimum requirements up to date?


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[Elodie]

You're right regarding the contradictory information (min = 10.7 so it cannot have a G5 proc.). I will change this.

Anyway, you should know the processor's brand does not really matter, only its power does : we cannot test all processor models on the market (like RAM : there are many different models and brands). Nowadays, no one will ever purchase a computer with a PentiumIV proc

People who know a little computer science understand on this description "ho!, ok, tvpaint could still run on a 10 years old computer if I wished, so my ew Mac Book Pro with an Intel quad-core i5 and 16gb of memory won't have any problem"

But ok, let's change the FaQ. I will delete info about models and I will just talk about the power.

Edit : FAQ changed

[D.T. Nethery]

You're right regarding the contradictory information (min = 10.7 so it cannot have a G5 proc.). I will change this.

Anyway, you should know the processor's brand does not really matter, only its power does : we cannot test all processor models on the market (like RAM : there are many different models and brands). Nowadays, no one will ever purchase a computer with a PentiumIV proc

People who know a little computer science understand on this description "ho!, ok, tvpaint could still run on a 10 years old computer if I wished, so my ew Mac Book Pro with an Intel quad-core i5 and 16gb of memory won't have any problem"

But ok, let's change the FaQ. I will delete info about models and I will just talk about the power.

Edit : FAQ changed

Thanks for clarifying. The question about "minimum system requirements" came from a student . I wanted to direct her to the FAQ , but then when I looked at the FAQ it seemed confusing . Thanks for updating it.

[Elodie]

Thank you for pointing out the contradiction

[D.T. Nethery]

Here is another thing that needs to be updated:

In the TVPaint 11 installation package there is the document called "Getting Started" , which describes how to install TVPaint.

On page 3 "Installation for Windows" it says: "Please ensure that you are running at least Windows XP. This version of TVPaint Animation is not compatible with Windows NT4 or Windows ME/98/95 systems." , but TVPaint 11 requires Windows Vista or higher ( 7, 8, 9, 10) , but TVPaint 11 does not run on Windows XP .

On page 6 "Installation for Mac OS X" it says: "Please ensure that you are running Mac OS X v10.6 or higher. TVPaint Animation is not compatible with earlier versions of OS X." , but TVPaint 11 requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher (10.8, 10.9, 10.10) . TVPaint 11 will not run on Mac OS X 10.6 .

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[D.T. Nethery]

By the way, this hasn't come up from any student (yet), but I am wondering about references to the "installation DVD" in the Getting Started and other documentation. The last two Macbooks I have had do not have a CD/DVD drive. (do any Macs still have CD/DVD drive ?) How do users who first purchase TVPaint install it from a disc if their computer has no CD/DVD disc drive ? Or do you now send out the installer package on a USB Flash drive ?

[Elodie]

Regarding guides : we printed them in very high quantity, before Windows XP and MAc 10.6 were not supported anymore.

A new guide will be written one next year.

Regarding computers without DVD drive, students contact us and we provide them lock / unlock code so they can download the software.

[D.T. Nethery]

Regarding guides : we printed them in very high quantity, before Windows XP and MAc 10.6 were not supported anymore.

A new guide will be written one next year.

But it's a PDF file on the installation DVD , not a printed guide. Why can't the information be updated in the PDF file "Getting Started" on the installation DVD ?

Regarding computers without DVD drive, students contact us and we provide them lock / unlock code so they can download the software.

Since I think many (most) computers (at least most Apple computers) now do not have a DVD drive , could this just become the default way to receive the software (their lock/unlock codes emailed to them upon successful processing of their order) so they do not have to wait to receive the DVD installation disc and dongle in the mail before they can use their software ? I get complaints from students because they are surprised that they must wait to receive the software via post , because most software is accessed by instant download from the internet ... they don't understand why they must wait for it by post ... and some students report to me that they experience additional delays with their software held up in U.S. customs for a week or more and they must fill out a customs form to have it released to them . Of course they must still receive the dongle by post for fully functioning software , but won't the software run in trial mode for 30 days without the dongle present if lock/unlock codes have been entered ? I always email my students 2 or 3 weeks before classes begin to remind them that they should order their software at least a week before class starts so they will have it at the start of class, but many will wait until the first week of class to place their order (because they do not receive their Financial Aid money until first week of classes or even later) ... then they must wait for another week to receive it by post , so they are already behind in their assignments by Week 2 , which is frustrating for them... many ask me: "why can't I just download the software after I purchase it ? " . So ,apparently it is possible that they can download it (if they have been emailed their lock/unlock codes) but they must request the download link , so that's an additional hoop they have to jump through to get their software .

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[Fabrice]

But it's a PDF file on the installation DVD , not a printed guide. Why can't the information be updated in the PDF file "Getting Started" on the installation DVD ?

printed getiing started and PDF files have the same content.

- - -

"why can't I just download the software after I purchase it ?

As said in other topics, we are currently debating about the best way to get smaller dongles, dongless licenses, etc ...
unique dongle for several network licenses should be ok. smaller dongles too.

Regarding dongleless products :
It will be a huge change to maintain our database, etc. + considering some new products to come in the future, we can't allow ourselves to make any mistake.

There have been a lot of work done and finished already, but there is still a lot to do (updated online store, new database, etc).
so not before 2016.

Anyway, the process described in both the getting started files and printed manual will have to be rewritten and translated entierly.

[Elodie]

Regarding the PDF, I would add it was written 3 years ago : since then, our computers, our server, OS and software used to write the "getting started" have changed.
Changing the info in the text file is not like "ok, I open the file, I change, I export and it's done". Nope. Because of the aforementioned reasons, most images will be missing and text would fit in the most improbable way and we would need to spend at least 2 weeks just to re-do screenshots and replace them with the text.
It's like hell on earth, honestly. That's also why the User guide is not a PDF anymore.

[Mike]

...but won't the software run in trial mode for 30 days without the dongle present if lock/unlock codes have been entered ?

No, TVPaint Animation simply can't start if no dongle is found.