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|==================================| | | | AUTODESK 3D STUDIO RELEASE 3.1 | | README.DOC | |==================================| This file contains information about 3D Studio Release 3.1 that became available after the documentation was printed. We recommend that you look over this information now, and then print this file and keep a copy with your Reference Manual. Later, when you're more familiar with 3D Studio, reread this document. Also, if you run into a problem with the program and can't find the solution in the printed documentation, look again at the README.DOC. This document has been divided into 10 sections: I. Preliminary Information II. Memory Management III. Operating Systems and Hardware IV. Hardware Lock V. Displays and Output Device Configuration VI. New 3ds.set Parameters VII. Rendering Notes VIII. Network Rendering IX. IPAS Notes X. Miscellaneous Notes I. PRELIMINARY INFORMATION I.1. MODIFYING THE EXECUTABLE FILES Customers are reminded not to tamper with or modify in any way the supplied executable files (3DS.EXE) or unpredictable results will occur. If the program does function unpredictably, it has been modified or damaged. At that point, the only way to restore normal program function is to re-install 3D Studio from the release disks using the INSTALL procedure. I.2. ALWAYS USE THE 3DS.SET FILE 3D Studio is designed to work in conjunction with the parameters contained in the 3DS.SET file (or an alternate .SET file that you may be using for the same purpose). We do not recommend running 3D Studio without the 3DS.SET or alternate file. See page 22 in the Installation Guide for instructions on how to use an alternate settings file. I.3. COMPUSERVE FORUM ON 3D STUDIO The CompuServe Information Service has a Forum dedicated to 3D Studio questions and issues. Use GO ASOFT to access the Forum. I.4. CORRECTIONS TO TUTORIALS A. On page 13-18, after step 3 at the top of the page, you must click on an item in the lights branch first for the omni light icon to appear. B. On page 18-5 at step 4, make sure that the Hide button is also on. C. On page 20-3, in the paragraph following the illustration, the reference to chapter 3 in the Reference Manual should read as follows: "All the options are described in detail in chapter 3, 'The Pull-Down Menus,' in the Reference Manual." D. On page 23-14, in step 7 at the top of the page, turn on the Selected button before moving the selected faces. I.5. CONFIGURING YOUR DIGITIZING TABLET When you set the area of your digitizing tablet in the Program Configuration dialog box (described in chapter 3 of the Reference Manual), the defined area is lost when you reset or exit the program. To solve this, save a 3ds.prj file after setting your tablet area, and the area will be restored each time you enter 3D Studio. II. MEMORY MANAGEMENT II.1. PAGING TO DISK If you don't have enough RAM, 3D Studio will use your hard disk as virtual memory. This is called "paging to disk." When it happens--usually during rendering -- 3D Studio slows down a great deal. To see if 3D Studio is paging to disk, select Status from the Info menu (or press ?). If the "Swap File" value in the Status dialog box is greater than 0, you're paging to disk and probably should get some more RAM. In any event, once you begin paging, you need to exit 3D Studio and restart it to clear the swap buffer. Note also that in chapter 3 of the Reference Manual, in the description of the Info Menu/Status command, you are referred to the Advanced User's Guide for more information on memory. This is incorrect. See instead "Virtual Memory Management" in the Installation Guide. II.2. AUTOMATED MEMORY MANAGERS If you feel you're having memory problems while using 3D Studio, or can't properly shell out to external programs, reread the sections entitled "EMS and 3D Studio" on page 104, and "Using CFIG386.EXE" on page 108 in the Installation Guide. Your memory manager might require manual configuration to use various memory management schemes for different application programs. As noted in the Installation Guide, automated memory managers such as Quarterdeck QEMM and Qualitas 386-to-the-Max automatically reconfigure memory as needed by different applications. We highly recommend that you try these memory managers if you have any questions about your memory configuration. II.3. "ABNORMAL PROGRAM TERMINATION" ERROR MESSAGE WHILE PAGING On certain machines, you may receive an "Abnormal Program Termination" error while paging to disk. This occurs because the PharLap parameter is set, and it's incompatible with some bios'. To disable this, move to your 3ds executable directory, and type: CFIG386 3DS.EXE -LFU -VSCAN 4000 To determine what your current settings are, type: CFIG386 3DS.EXE (Read the parameters from the bottom up.) In addition to providing more PharLap compatibility with certain bios', these settings may provide slightly faster swap file performance while paging for all systems. Feel free to experiment, but remember... the best thing to do if you're paging is to go out and buy more RAM. You'll save money (by saving massive amounts of time) in the long run. III. OPERATING SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE III.1. WEITEK COPROCESSORS ARE NOT SUPPORTED IN RELEASE 3 The Weitek Math Coprocessor is not supported in Release 3. Only the Intel and 100% compatibles are supported. III.2. USING 3D STUDIO UNDER WINDOWS A. If you want to run 3D Studio under Windows, we highly recommend that you use the built-in Vibrant drivers. Avoid using VGA or ADI drivers. B. Note also that Vista cards do not function properly when using 3D Studio under Windows. You can model, but you can't render to the Vista display. C. Do not attempt to run 3D Studio as a slave system from the DOS shell under Windows. You cannot exit slave mode in this situation, because the Alt+Esc key combination required to exit slave mode is intercepted by Windows, and causes Windows to switch to another application. D. In order to run 3D Studio under Windows 3.1, you must edit the 3ds.pif file to conform to your installation. Edit the Start-up Directory field to match the drive and path where 3D Studio is installed. See page 96 in the Installation Guide for more information on the PIF file. E. Before starting 3D Studio under Windows, be sure your current Windows/3D Studio configuration is functioning properly before starting work in 3D Studio. If your configuration is not operating properly, you may lose your work if you switch from 3D Studio to another application, and for some reason cannot return to 3D Studio. F. You may have problems running 3D Studio under Windows if the display board you are using does not have enough onboard memory. If you are experiencing unsatisfactory results that may be due to display board memory, try reconfiguring for a smaller resolution. Remember that 3DS requires at least a 640x480x256 display resolution. G. Do not use 3D Studio under Windows with real mode display, digitizer, or VTR controller drivers. For example, some VESA BIOS extension TSRs are not compatible with Windows, thus preventing 3D Studio from using a VESA display configuration. III.3. 3D STUDIO R3 DOES NOT SUPPORT WINDOWS NT 3D Studio Release 3 does not run under the currently shipping version of the Microsoft Windows NT operating system. III.4. CONFIGURING OS/2 FOR 3D STUDIO Although it has not been extensively tested, 3D Studio has been shown to run successfully under OS/2, version 2.1. If you want to try running 3D Studio under OS/2, we recommend that you set the DOS settings for 3D Studio as follows: A. Set DPMI to Enabled. B. Set the DPMI Memory Limit to 64 MB, even if you do not have this much memory. C. Set Interrupt During I/O to ON. III.5. ERROR: .RES FILE NOT FOUND If you receive this error on starting 3D Studio, and the file named 3DS.RES is in the same directory as 3DS.EXE, examine the FILES parameter in your CONFIG.SYS file. The default value of 8 is insufficient; we recommend that you set FILES=40 as a minimum. Similarly, we recommend that you set the BUFFERS parameter to a similar value to ensure a sufficient number of file transfer buffers. See your DOS manual for more information. IV. HARDWARE LOCK NOTES IV.1. ERRONEOUS HARDWARE LOCK ERROR MESSAGES A problem has been identified with some hard disk controller-I/O Ycards that causes the 3DS hardware lock to produce the erroneous error message "SentinelPro must be plugged into parallel port," even though the hardware lock is properly installed. This problem can be caused by controller-I/O cards that use the WINBOND W83757F chip in the controller circuit. This chip can produce extraneous electrical signals that result in erroneous error messages from the hardware lock, even though a printer works properly. Even keeping the printer turned on, as suggested on page 101 of the Installation Guide, doesn't cure this problem. Two manufacturers who use this chip, DTK and JOINDATA, have added capacitor circuits to their controller cards, and corrected the problem on their cards. However, there does not appear to be a less noisy replacement for the WINBOND W83757F chip. If you receive the error message, even though the hardware lock is properly installed, either use another parallel port, or replace the controller card. IV.2. NETWORKS AND THE HARDWARE LOCK If you are using 3D Studio on a network system, you must disable any parallel-port redirection, otherwise 3D Studio probably won't be able to locate the hardware lock. Consult your network documentation for instructions on how to disable parallel-port redirection. In order to use file transfer programs that use the parallel port (such as Flying Dutchman and LapLink), you must first remove the hardware lock. V. DISPLAY AND OUTPUT DEVICE CONFIGURATION NOTES V.1. VISION 16 The 3D Studio Release 3 Installation Guide contains a section about the Everex/Vision Technologies Vision 16 board on page 85. On this page the environment variable settings are described, note that a leading zero must be included in front of the EV680MAP environment variable, such as: SET EV680MAP=06 V.2. CONFIGURING ADI DRIVERS CAUTION: Improper installation of ADI drivers can cause unpredictable results in the operation of 3D Studio. Please read carefully the section named "Configuring Protected- Mode ADI Devices" beginning on page 81 of your Installation Guide. This section describes proper configuration of ADI drivers. It's important to use the DOS set command to set the environment variables used by 3D Studio to find the ADI drivers whenever they are needed by the program. If you do not set the appropriate environment variable before starting 3D Studio and then attempt to use an ADI device from within the program, the function of the program might be limited and unpredictable results might occur. If, while running 3D Studio, you plan to use an ADI device but have not set your environment variables, save your work, exit the program, and then set the variables as instructed in the Installation Guide before restarting 3D Studio. V.3. BEFORE YOU USE YOUR RELEASE 2 RCPADI DRIVER Your Release 2 RCPADI driver might not work with Release 3. Before using it, check to see if your display device is covered by the internal Vibrant drivers. If so, use the Vibrant drivers. If not, try your RCPADI driver. If it works, fine. If it doesn't work, contact the manufacturer of your display card for an updated version of the driver for Release 3. In order to use an RCPADI display driver such as RCPVESA.EXP which was included in the 3D Studio R2, you must choose a resolution larger than 640x480x256. This is due to a font requirement by the R3 Materials Editor. The R3 Materials Editor requires a font no larger than 8x14 when run in 640x480 mode. V.4. NEW RDPVISTA.EXP If you're currently using an RDPVISTA.EXP driver compiled before September, 1993, it won't work with 3D Studio Release 3. We're supplying a new version of this driver for you as a convenience so you don't have to log into ASOFT on CompuServe and download it. For more information about this driver, contact Truevision. V.5. VIBRANT DRIVER UPDATES As necessary, we will be uploading updates of the Vibrant drivers on the ASOFT forum of Compuserve. Type GO ASOFT, enter a DL library, and then type: BRO ALL KEY: VIBRANT V.6. USING TIGA-BASED DISPLAYS If you are using a TIGA-based graphics adapter running TIGA version 2.x, you must copy the VG920922.RLM file found in the 3DS3 root directory to your TIGA directory in order for the Vibrant Graphics drivers to work correctly with the TIGA standard. (The TIGA directory, typically called "C:\TIGA", is created when you install the TIGA adapter.) We recommend that you go through the following steps before attempting to run the Vibrant TIGA driver with 3DS3: A. Ensure that the TIGA 2.x driver has been installed correctly. (Refer to instructions that came with your TIGA board.) B. Make sure that the TIGA environment variables are properly set. In general, this is accomplished by using the following SET statements: set TIGA=-m<drive>:<dir> -l<drive>:<dir> -i? <drive>:<dir>\TIGACD <drive>:<dir>\TIGALNK -lx where <drive>:<dir> denotes the drive and directory that contains the TIGA support files (often "C:\TIGA"), and '?' is the interrupt setting (usually '0x60'). TIGACD.EXE and TIGALNK.EXE are provided by your TIGA board manufacturer. You may wish to add these statements to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Note that TIGALNK.EXE may not always available or necessary with some TIGA boards. C. Copy the VG920922.RLM file to your TIGA directory. D. Reboot your system with these parameters in place. Watch for any errors reported by the TIGACD program and verify that you have the TIGA 2.x device driver active. E. Start the Vibrant Configuration Program by typing 3ds vibcfg from the DOS prompt within the 3D Studio Release 3 directory, and configure for the board-specific TIGA selection or use TIGA v2.x generic selection in the card list. Test the video mode to ensure that you have properly installed the TIGA device driver and Vibrant support files. If you are running TIGA version 1.1, we suggest that you contact your board manufacturer for a TIGA version 2.x upgrade, and then For additional information on configuring TIGA-based systems for we suggest you consult and download the appropriate files found in the CompuServe ASOFT forum. V.7. USING A COMPAQ MODEL AG-1024 TIGA-BASED DISPLAY If you are using a Compaq model AG-1024, you will need to copy the VG920922.RLM file from the 3DS3 root directory to your TIGA directory. You will need the TIGA 2.x driver and the VIG-AG1.EXE communication file for the AG-1024. These are available from Compaq. Then follow the above instructions for TIGA 2.x. For additional information regarding configuring your Compaq AG-1024 for 3DS3, we suggest consult and download the appropriate files from the CompuServe ASOFT forum. V.8. DUAL MODE IN VIBCFG APPLIES ONLY TO VIBRANT DRIVERS The Installation Guide mentions the use of the Vibrant DUAL mode at the top of page 72. You can only use the DUAL mode with Vibrant drivers. Configuring the DUAL mode with drivers other than the Vibrant driver can cause unpredictable results. V.9. RUNNING A FLIC WITH DRIVERS SUPPORTING OVER 256 COLORS Only use flic drivers intended for running 8-bit flic files with 8-bit (256 color) flics. Attempting to run a standard 3D Studio (8-bit) flic with a flic driver designed for more than 256 colors will most likely cause serious, unpredictable results. In some cases, it's possible to configure VIBCFG to run a flic with many more than 256 colors, depending on the display board you are using and the driver you select. There is no way for the program to know what type of file you will be running under your configuration, so it is not possible to warn a user that unwanted results will occur. V.10. USING HIGHCOLOR AND TRUECOLOR DISPLAYS FOR MAIN DISPLAY Although the Vibrant Configuration program may allow it for your display, we do not recommend using a high-color (15- or 16-bit) or truecolor (24-bit) display as the Main Display. 3D Studio will still run, but the display colors may be unpredictable, and the display will run much slower than when it's in 256-color mode. V.11. DISK-TO-VTR WITH TARGA+ 64-BIT DISPLAY BOARDS Because of random toggling problems with the twin 32-bit buffers used in the Targa+ 64-bit display board, blank frames instead of the intended image are rendered during Disk-to-VTR operations. (This does not occur with the Targa16, Targa24, or Targa16/32.) To avoid this, instead of using the Disk-to-VTR function, use the command-line image loader and editing utilities supplied with your VTR controller. For example, DiaQuest provides TPLUSLOA.EXE which avoids this problem. Do not, however, use the GETTGA.EXE which comes with the Targa+ boards, since this causes the same problem. V.12. VTR CONTROLLER DRIVER FROM LYON LAMB A sample ADI driver for the Lyon Lamb MiniVAS and PCVAS VTR controllers from Lyon Lamb Video Animation System, Inc. has been included with Release 3, and can be found in the \DRIVERS directory. To use this driver (LLMVAS.EXP), refer to the accompanying LLMVAS.DOC file for instructions. In addition to the inline support for DiaQuest controllers, Release 3 also includes drivers for BCD and Videomedia VTR controllers, and the Sony EVO-9650 VTR and LVR-3000N laser video recorder. V.13. VTPADI DRIVERS AND DROP FRAME TIME CODE When using the external VTPADI driver and an NTSC tape using Drop Frame SMPTE time code, if you specify an inpoint at a time code that does not exist on a Drop Frame tape, the results will be unpredictable. Set the inpoint to any valid time code to avoid any problems (and we recommend using the standard SMPTE Non-Drop Frame time code method). VI. NEW 3DS.SET PARAMETERS VI.1. SHADOWS THAT MOVE WHEN THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE STABLE If your shadows are moving during an animation -- even though nothing else in the scene appears to be -- it's probably due to the way the 3D Studio calculates shadow bias. In Release 1 & 2 and (as a default) in Release 3, the shadow bias is scaled RELATIVE to the scene, as defined by all the geometry in the scene. Thus, you can have an apparently static scene where the camera and all objects in the camera view are stationary, but if any object OUTSIDE of the scene is moving, the shadow bias will change and the shadows will move. To avoid this, set the shadow bias to ABSOLUTE by turning on the SHADOW-BIAS-ABSOLUTE parameter in your 3ds.set file. This causes the shadow bias value to be used directly, rather than scaling it by the scene geometry dimensions. If you turn this switch on, you will probably have to adjust your bias values to get the results you want. If your scene is very large, then you will have to use a larger bias value, and if your scene is small, you will have to use a smaller value. ( A scene that is about 100 units deep will require little or no adjustment to bias). A specific example would be: if your scene is 1000 units deep, you'd have to make your bias 10 times larger than that it was set when in RELATIVE mode. Warning #1: Since this is a 3DS.SET parameter, it will affect all scenes rendered, and will make scenes that were previously correct look different. Warning #2: Since this isn't carried with the project file, it won't be propagated through your network when doing network rendering. If you want to use this setting with network rendering, you must make sure that it's set consistently among all of your network slaves. VI.2. SETTING COLORS FOR THE TEXT EDITOR There are undocumented parameters at the end of your 3ds.set file that let you specify the color of text and selected text in the 3D Studio text editor. ED-TEXT-COLOR sets the color of the text, and ED-SEL-TEXT-COLOR sets the color of selected text. VI.3. IXP PROCESSES AND THE OUTPUT-RENDER-COORDS PARAMETER When set to ON or YES, this 3ds.set parameter causes 3D Studio to output screen coordinate minimums and maximums for each non- instance object to a file on disk. This is required by some third-party IXPs, such as FLARE.IXP, so that they can easily determine where objects are located on the rendered image and operate on those areas exclusively. VI.4. BATCH RENDERING AND THE BATCH-RENDER-PAUSE PARAMETER With this parameter set to YES or ON, if you render batch files with multiple lines, the Renderer pauses at the end of each line, or sequence, and displays the output. In order to proceed with the next line of the batch file, you must press Esc. To perform unattended batch rendering with multiple line scripts, set this parameter to NO or OFF; the Renderer will skip the display of the result of each line of the batch file. VII. RENDERING NOTES VII.1. OPTIMAL RENDERING PERFORMANCE FOR 486 COMPUTERS For optimal rendering speed on a 486, we recommend the use of an extended memory manager. We have found that some 486 computers will render at almost twice the speed when an extended memory manager is being used. The need for a memory manager for faster rendering speed is only required for some 486 computers. Some 486 computers have an extended memory manager built into the hardware. VII.2. MAKING FLICS USING HIGH PALETTE MODE The color compression routines in 3D Studio R3 are so much better than the routines in version 2.0, that High palette mode has become almost unnecessary. In fact, under certain cases, High palette mode can actually produce unwanted color artifacts. Therefore, we recommend that Medium palette mode be used for making flics instead of High. There are still times when Low and Custom modes may be necessary, and those should be used accordingly. See "VGA Palette Control for Flics" on page 8-117 in the Reference Manual for detailed instructions on how to create a custom palette. VII.3. AUTOMATIC REFLECTION MAPS AND CLOSE OBJECTS If an object with an automatic, non-flat reflection map is placed closer than the Z-CLIP-NEAR distance from another object, that object will appear clipped in the reflection map. If you see pieces of an object missing in the reflection of a very close object, either lower your Z-CLIP-NEAR value, or increase the overall scale of your scene so that the objects are greater than the Z-CLIP-NEAR distance (in units). VII.4. PREVIEWING FIELD RENDERINGS If you are going to render an animation to fields instead of to frames, and you want to examine each field before preparing the final rendering, you can use the Preview/Make function in the Keyframer to do so. However, you must first scale the animation to twice its original length before making the preview flic. In this way, each frame of the preview flic represents a field instead of a frame. This technique is only necessary when examining an animation which might have abrupt changes on a field. Use the following procedure to create a "field-accurate" preview flic: A. Save your animation to disk before performing this procedure. B. Load the animation and select Time/Scale Segment in the Keyframer and set the number of frames to twice that displayed in the "Scale to:" field. C. Use Preview/Make to create the preview flic. Although the flic will not accurately play back the speed of the animation, each frame will correctly display the position of the objects for each field of the animation. D. IMPORTANT: Reload the original .3ds file to restore the correct frame count before rendering your animation. For best results, do not use Time/Scale Segment to halve the number of frames back to the original total. VII.5. RECOMMENDED GAMMA SETTINGS There are certain instances in which you can't check the output gamma on the output device because you're using a service bureau to output your files. These include: D1 or D2 digital video, print media, slides, etc. In these cases, it's best to ask the tech people at the service bureau what gamma they want. If they don't know or aren't sure, use a file output gamma of 1.8. VII.6. GAMMA CORRECTION CAN MAKE DARK PIXELS VERY BRIGHT It may be surprising to you to see very dark pixels that are un-gamma-corrected become much brighter when gamma corrected (especially to NTSC gamma of 2.2). This is because the gamma- correction curve is extremely steep at the dark end of the luminance scale. For example, the following table illustrates how much a gamma value of 2.2 affects the original RGB pixel value: 2.2 gamma-corrected Original RGB value RGB value 0 0 1 20 2 28 3 33 4 38 5 42 6 46 7 49 8 52 9 55 10 58 Conversely, there is very little RGB shift at the upper end of the gamma-correction curve... even with an extreme gamma value of 2.2. 2.2 gamma-corrected Original RGB value RGB value 250 252 251 253 252 253 253 254 254 254 255 255 So, if you see large shifts at the lower end of the spectrum, don't panic. That's how gamma-correction (especially NTSC gamma correction with a 2.2 value) works. If you're interested in learning more about gamma correction and other important aspects of computer graphic color technology, read "Illumination and Color in Computer Generated Imagery" by Roy Hall, Published by Springer-Verlag. It contains everything you ever wanted to know about the subject. VII.7. WIREFRAME MATTE ATTRIBUTES The Matte attributes in the Modify/Object/Attributes dialog box will not produce a wireframe matte with objects that are assigned Wire-attribute materials. The Matte attribute always assumes a solid material. VII.8. "OBJECT NEEDS MAPPING COORDINATES" ERROR MESSAGE If one or more objects with a mapped material assigned but no mapping coordinates applied, when you render them, 3D Studio displays an alert box that advises you that one or more objects needs mapping coordinates. this alert is displayed only once, even if there is more than one such object. VII.9. COMMAND LINE RENDERING OF .PRJ FILES When rendering .prj files from the command line, or using a batch file, note the following: A. The rendering resolution saved in the .prj file is not recognized. The output image uses the default resolution. B. The /N (Render Fields) and /M (Show Hidden Lines) switches are overridden by the settings saved in the .prj file. VIII. NETWORK RENDERING VIII.1. THE MOST COMMON NETWORK PROBLEM YIf you're getting a large number of "Network Queue Failure" reports, or multiple machines that render the same frame, it's likely due to your machines not being properly synchronized via your network's Set Clock function. If the time on your various slave machines are more than ten seconds off, you will run into these problems. In some instances, if your systems are more than one or two seconds off, errors can occur. To avoid problems of this nature, use a network that maintains synchronization automatically. VIII.2. IPAS ROUTINES AND NETWORK RENDERING. When using network rendering and IPAS routines, it's best to use a network with its own file management system, like Novell NetWare. If you're using a DOS-based network (such as Lantastic), you may get IPAS conflicts if you keep all of your IPAS routines in a process directory on your central server, with all of the slaves accessing that machine at once. In this case, there are two things you can try: A. Set the read-only flag for your IPAS routines. B. Move your IPAS routines to a process path on each of your slave machine's local hard disks. VIII.3. CAUSE OF CORRUPTED TARGA FILES WHEN USING NETWORK If you find that Targa files rendered by a fast (such as a 486/66 or Pentium) machine over your network are corrupted, the problem may be that the rendering machine is faster than its network card can handle. If this is the case, replace the network card with a faster one. IX. IPAS NOTES IX.1. IF YOUR R2 IPAS ROUTINE DOESN'T WORK Certain IPAS routines compiled with the Watcom compiler that work with 3DS Release 2 won't work with Release 3 because of the changes to Release 3's version of Phar Lap. Try running YIPASFIX.EXE on the IPAS routine if it appears to allocate all available RAM when you go into its Setup dialog. If that doesn't solve the entire problem, contact the developer of the IPAS routine for an update. IX.2. USING SXP'S WITH DIFFERENT SETTINGS AND OVERLAPPING OBJECTS. If you use two materials that use the same SXP but have different SXP settings on two different objects in your scene, and if the objects are overlapping, rendering will go slower than usual. To avoid this, you can copy the SXP to a unique file name (i.e., copy NOISE_I.SXP to NNOISE_I.SXP) and use each unique version of the SXP in each material. This technique can also be used if you want to morph materials between two objects that have the same SXP, but with different settings. X. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES X.1. README FILE FOR THE WORLD-CREATING TOOLKIT The readme file on the R3 World-Creating Toolkit CD-ROM is called CDREADME.TXT rather than CDREADME.DOC as mentioned on page 49 in the Advanced User's Guide. X.2. .PFB FONTS ON CD-ROM AND IN FONTS DIRECTORY There are a total of 100 custom .PFB fonts included on the World-Creating Toolkit CD-ROM, and a selection of them has been added to the installation disks to be copied into the fonts subdirectory. Because there is more space on 1.44 MB (3.5") disks than on 1.2 MB (5.25") disks, more of these sample files will be copied into your fonts subdirectory from the first type of installation disks than from the second type. However, all 100 available fonts are included on the CD-ROM, no matter which type of disks you have. X.3. .PFB FONTS AND AUTODESK ANIMATOR PRO We do not recommend using the .PFB fonts that are included with 3D Studio in Autodesk Animator Pro version 1.3a, as the fonts have been customized for use in 3D Studio. X.4. RENDERING EASTER4.3DS FROM THE R3 WORLD-CREATING TOOLKIT In order to render the EASTER4.3DS mesh file found in the World- Creating Toolkit CD-ROM supplied to you with Release 3, you must have the IPAS program called NOISE2_I.SXP file in one of your map path directories. If you already have a file named NOISE2_I.SXP, no further action is necessary. However, if you don't have such a file, you can either copy NOISE_I.SXP as NOISE2_I.SXP or use the Materials Editor to replace NOISE2_I.SXP with NOISE_I.SXP in the material that uses this file. X.5. ADDITIONAL SAMPLE FILES IN THE MESHES DIRECTORY There are fifteen additional sample files in the meshes directory and one additional sample file in the vpost directory that merit special attention. They are described in the SAMPLES.DOC file, which has also been copied into the same directory as this readme.doc. We recommend that you load the sample files, read the SAMPLES.DOC file, and experiment. X.6. UTILITY TO CREATE IFL FILES We've included a small utility on the Release 3 disks, called MAKEIFL.EXE, that creates an .IFL file from series of sequentially numbered image files. It's run from the DOS command line using the following syntax: MAKEIFL <file name> <prefix> <start frame#> <end frame#> (suffix) The <prefix> argument is the first four letters of the image file name. For example, the prefix for BOOK0000.tga is BOOK. The (suffix) option lets you specify the file suffix. (The default is .TGA.) To use another file suffix, enter GIF, CEL, JPEG, or TIF here. EXAMPLES: MAKEIFL SKY CLDS 0 200 Creates SKY.IFL listing CLDS0000.tga to CLDS0200.tga. MAKEIFL TVSCREEN SCRN 40 0 GIF Creates TVSCREEN.IFL listing SCRN0040.gif to SCRN0000.gif. To see brief instructions on how to use the utility, type: MAKEIFL NOTE: When the START frame number is higher than the END frame, the list is created in descending order. This is a good method to reverse the order of animated sequences and maps. X.7. .VUE FILES HAVE CHANGED FROM RELEASE 2.0 .VUE files have changed in Release 3 so that the contents of the file represent the absolute transformation matrix of an object. This should make the object representation in the file less confusing than it was in the old .VUE file. .VUE files created in 3D Studio R2 (2.0) are compatible with Release 3, although .VUE files created in Release 3 are not compatible with version 2.0. This change was implemented in Release 2.01, so that any .VUE files created in that version are 100% compatible with Release 3 .VUE files. X.8. USING COREL DRAW VERSION 2.01 WITH 3D STUDIO When nested polygons are exported from release 2.01 of Corel Draw as Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files, the program converts the curves into hundreds of closely spaced vertices with linear segments. Follow these steps when exporting text or nested objects to .ai format in Corel Draw 2.01: A. Convert all text to curves. (Convert to Curves in the Arrange menu, or [Ctrl]-[V].) B. Break apart any objects with nested holes. (Break Apart in the Arrange menu, or [Ctrl]-[K].) C. Export the graphics normally, using the .ai filter. (Ignore the Convert Text to Curves option.) X.9. .AI FILES CANNOT BE LOADED BY ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR 4.0 .AI files saved by 3D Studio cannot be loaded into Adobe Illustrator version 4.0, However, they can be loaded into Corel Draw. X.10. RESTORING DATA AFTER A CRASH If you should (perish the thought) crash while in 3D Studio, AND you have recently pressed the Hold button in the icon panel, you can restore the data in the Hold buffer. The Hold buffer is stored in the TEMP directory in a file called MODEH$$$.TMP. Rename this file to anything with a .3ds extension (HOLD.3DS), and then load the renamed file. X.11. USING SHAPES/ALIGN LEFT AND ALIGN RIGHT IN THE 3D LOFTER When you use Shapes/Align Left and Align Right on a SurfRev path in the 3D Lofter, the direction of the path (clockwise or counterclockwise) affects the direction of the face normals in the resultant object. For example, using Align Left with the default counterclockwise SurfRev path results in the face normals pointing outward; but using Align Right with the same path results in the face normals pointing inward. On the other hand, using Align Left with a clockwise path results in inward pointing faces, while using Align Right with a clockwise path results in outward pointing faces. X.12. USING TRACKS/FILE INSERT WITH MORPH KEYS When you use the Tracks/File Insert command in the Keyframer with Morph keys, the morph target objects must have the same names in both the source and destination files. X.13. EFFECT OF DOUBLE BUTTON IN TRACKINFO DIALOG BOX When you use the Double button in the Track Info dialog box to double the length of an animation segment, remember that it overwrites the keys on the last frame of the active segment with copies of the keys at frame 0. If you have a 30-frame active segment, Double produces an active segment twice as long, or 60 frames. The keys on the last frame of the original active segment (frame 30) are overwritten by the keys on frame 0. X.14. USING INHERIT LINKS WITH FIRST KEYFRAME OTHER THAN FRAME 0 If you do an Inherit Links operation on a frame before the first keyframe, the keys are created at the first keyframe, rather than at frame 0, as stated in the Reference Manual. X.15. ILLUSTRATION ERROR IN REFERENCE MANUAL On page 5-31 of the Reference Manual, the illustration labelled as union represents the original two polygons, and the topmost illustration is the result of a union operation. X.16. MORE ABOUT FACE MAPPING As discussed on page 9-66 of the Reference Manual, the face map button in the Materials Editor lets you place a mapped area in each rectangular facet of an object without applying mapping coordinates to it. This method can cause one facet to be mapped with the same portion of the bitmap. That is, one of the rectangular facets will display the same half of the map, twice, rather than applying the entire map to the facet. At this writing, there is no work-around, so plan your images accordingly. [END OF README.DOC]