Running GENR8

The growth of the surfaces are exponential. This means that each step takes approxiamtely twice as long as the previous. It is important to emphasize that this a very rapid growth and that you should be careful about using more than four steps.

GENR8 is seamlessly integrated with Maya, so (except when during calcualtions) you can use any feature in Maya. If a run is taking to long time, it can be interrupted by pressing the ESC-key. Unfortunately, this only works for the evolutionary runs. If you did not follow my advice and started a run with the predefined grammars for 12 steps, then you must force Maya to quit with the Task Manager.

GUI

The GUI provides more user-friendly access to GENR8 for those who do not fancy the command-line alternative. When using the evolutionary part of GENR8, it is strongly advised to use the GUI since it facilitates the inspection of the population and provides interesting data.

When using the GUI, it is important to use the Cancel-button to close the windows. Otherwise, variable values may linger in the environment, resulting in unexpected behaviour. If you think that GENR8 behaves odd, start the GUI and check that all variables have proper values, correct them and close with the Cancel-button.

A snapshot of the GUI

For a description of the parameters, read the help-file for the MEL-command. If you change a parameter value, it is important to hit the Tab-key, or click in another field with the mouse, afterwards for the change to take effect.

The output window pops up if you choose to "GENR8 and Show Stats". Each individual is drawn in a separate layer, and the visibility of that layer is toggled when the details of the individual is viewed. If you choose to "Continue GENR8", the evolution will be continued with the same parameters as before. If you choose to "GENR8 and Change Parameters", you will be able to change the parameters for the run. If you wish to continue with the same population as before, do not forget to check "Continue" under "Genetic Engine". The "Grow Individual" option can be used to study a surface in more detail. You will be able to see all the growth steps of that particular surface.

A snapshot of the output GUI