Visual effects in Ubuntu

[PostmanPot]

Hi,

So I recently loaded GG Ubuntu on a decent laptop, and was able to run at full visual effects. I liked the effects, obviously they don't mean that much, but it made my experience of Ubuntu much better.

The PC I'm on now can only run at the lowest level of visual effects. Does anyone know the kind of specs I'd need to run at medium visual effects (i.e none, medium, full)? The specs are:

Athlon XP 1600+
448Mb RAM
VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP onboard

Does one perhaps need an offboard graphics card or something?

Thanks,

PP

 

[w1z4rd]

are you running compiz-fusion?

 

[w1z4rd]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CompositeManager/CompizFusion

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Fbk52Mk1w"]YouTube - Compiz Fusion: A Quick Demonstration[/ame]

 

[PostmanPot]

I think Compiz Fusion is enabled when the visual effects are set on full? I noticed some Beryl-like visuals.

Maybe Compiz Fusion isn't enabled at low visual effects? I don't even think the menus fade...

Don't have any bandwidth for that vid

 

[w1z4rd]

um, you compiz-fusion does not come by default. I know with some of the KDE visual effects I used to run, my Nvidia graphics card had major issues... I think there was even a warning when I enabled them... So I disabled them and installed compiz-fusion... which is honestly really cool.

Click on that wiki link I posted, and follow the instructions, disable your current effects and install this instead. It runs well on my cruddy laptop screen card and is pretty much better hey.

 

[PostmanPot]

Thanks w1z.

 

[Highflyer_GP]

Have you guys given Vixta a shot yet? I can't seem to find a means of getting a hold of it locally, so it would be interesting to hear from a few folks who have tried it.

 

[PostmanPot]

Nope but I saw the thread. Looks very aesthetically appealing in the screenies

I'm sure it'll be here soon if it's a popular one...

 

[jsxza]

Does one perhaps need an offboard graphics card or something?

You do need something fairly decent. Nvidia works best but ATI/AMD drivers can also work after changing a few config files.

 

[Velenoso]

Can someone tell me how I control that cube that all the videos have going? I think I've enabled it in the compis-fusion options...

 

[w1z4rd]

hold down control+alt and push your arrow key left or right, or hold down control+alt and click and drag with your mouse.

You have started it with the command right?

Also... the key bindings are in the compiz-fusion settings.

 

[Velenoso]

Whoa!! Kickass stuff!

 

[flarkit]

Seems to be the selling punch for Ubuntu these days. Installed 7.10 on an old Acer laptop and was pleased to see that CompizFusion was working straight off the bat, with no need for tweaks.

Now get into the CompizConfig Settings Manager and start fiddling!

 

[PostmanPot]

I wasn't able to get CF to work. Just get "Unable to apply changes" (I think it was that) when trying to enable visual enhancements. Guess I should check out www.ubuntuforums.org.

 

[w1z4rd]

I wasn't able to get CF to work. Just get "Unable to apply changes" (I think it was that) when trying to enable visual enhancements. Guess I should check out www.ubuntuforums.org.

If you explain how you got to that error (which step in the wiki you could not get past). perhaps we could help you?