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29 March 2022
Last few weeks I've been silent, without updating you much through my blog posts and I'd like to talk to you about what keeps me occupied.
I am working on a new project that doesn't have anything to do with development and programming, but with an old Amiga application and that is Cinema 4D. Since I tested it under AmigaOS 4 a month ago, I was fascinated by how modern and intuitive it is and all the nice 3D images you can create with it. Have a look at my video about it below.
Back then I started learning how to use it, but there was a problem. There is no English manual available anywhere. There are the German ones but unfortunately, I don't speak the language. So, I decided to start translating them using auto-translation services.
I found the manuals in a version where you could copy the texts and paste them, but the result was disappointing. I was not looking for the perfect translation, but one where the context will be understandable and the user will be able to have a small help while experimenting with the application.
I tried a few solutions but didn't go far. Then I realised that the reason was the structure of the OCR text. You see, every line in the OCR text is a new paragraph and there is no clear separation between the real paragraphs. Also, the author used to split the words with a dash at the end of the line if they didn't fit. Add on that some side texts appearing in the middle of a paragraph, or some wrong characters, like U messed with 0, or 4 messed with A, the source text was not good at all.
So, I had to do more work on making these texts translatable, as good as possible. The methodology I follow is to get each text by hand, page by page, paragraph by paragraph, correct the split words and auto-translate them. Add the side notes as well and set everything up similar to the original text.
After that, I get the translated text and copy it to an editor where I format it to look close to the original one and also fix some problems here and there with broken characters. The format I choose for the text is the Markdown because it is simple enough, it provides everything I need, it is working perfectly in a GIT repository and can be converted to whatever format I may need in the future. Also, supports embedded images and links, which can make the navigation even better.
Speaking about images, during this process I also update some of the illustrations with newer, colourful and better screenshots with higher resolution or even SVG vector graphics. But this takes a lot more time and I use the old ones as placeholders.
Of course, such work cannot be stored on my computer only. So, I set up a GIT repository for anyone to use, even while I am still working. Right now, you will find there the Cinema 4D v4 Manual 100% done and the first 200 pages of the v2 manual, which is much bigger and has all the necessary information and tutorials. You can find the English manuals at https://git.walkero.gr/walkero/cinema4d_docs
As I said earlier, I do not expect the auto-translated texts to be perfect, but I believe the context is understandable and if you experiment a little bit with the application, it will be easy for anyone to figure out how it works.
There is a discussion on English Amiga Board about these manuals and a fellow Amigan that has them in his possession is willing to scan them and share them with the world. That will be the most accurate and best solution, but I expect it to take time. So until then, I hope my work will be useful for others than me.