Workstation Applications
ELSA MAXtreme User’s Guide
Version 1.1.1
NVIDIA Corporation
April 18, 2002
NVIDIA Drivers ELSA MAXtreme User’s Guide Version 1.1.1
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NVIDIA Corporation
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Copyright © 2001 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.
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may result from its use. No License is granted by implication or otherwise under any patent or patent rights of
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NVIDIA Corporation
Workstation Applications ELSA MAXtreme User’s Guide Version 1.1.1
Table of Contents
1.Overview of ELSA MAXtreme
What Is ELSA MAXtreme? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
ELSA MAXtreme Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Wireframe Viewport Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Rendered (Shaded) Viewport Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
MAXtremeStereo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
MAXtremeRender (for ELSA MAXtreme Release 3 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Online Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
General Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Stereo Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.Installing ELSA MAXtreme
Installation Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Installing ELSA MAXtreme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Uninstalling ELSA MAXtreme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.Using ELSA MAXtreme
ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Driver Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Auto-configuring for Speed or Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Configuring Individual Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Explanation of Configuration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
MAXtreme Stereo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
MAXtreme Stereo Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Using the MAXtreme Stereo Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
MAXtremeRender for ELSA MAXtreme Release 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Accessing the MAXtremeRender Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Using MAXtremeRender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
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What Is ELSA MAXtrem e?
The ELSA MAXtreme™ 3D application driver is a tool that enhances the productivity of
3D Studio® applications such as 3ds max
The driver allows you to control the application’s viewport display quality and rendering
speed, as well as enable a variety of rendering enhancements.
The ELSA MAXtreme 3D driver is optimized for use with an NVIDIA® Quadro™ based
graphics card, which increases the capabilities of the driver’s interactive renderer.
ELSA MAXtreme Features
The following sections provide an overview of the key features in ELSA MAXtreme:
Wireframe Viewport Options
• Apply antialiasing to wireframes
• Render wireframes using triangle strips
• Customize the vertex dot size
VERVIEW OF
™
4, 3D Studio MAX®, and 3D Studio VIZ®.
ELSA MAX
TREME
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Overview of ELSA MAXtreme
Rendered (Shaded) Viewport Options
• Apply antialiasing to edged faces
• Render using the environmental background color
• Render fogging
• Customize the vertex dot size
• Configure magnification texture filtering for quality or speed
• Configure minification texture filtering for quality or speed
• Control anisotropic texture filtering
• Compress textures for quality or speed
• Control background texture size
• Control material texture size
MAXtremeStereo
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ELSA MAXtreme supports stereo viewing within viewports through the
MAXtremeStereo plug-in software, which can be installed with the ELSA MAXtreme
driver software.
See “MAXtreme Stereo Requirements” on page 15 for a list of hardware required to view
3D stereo.
MAXtremeRender (for ELSA MAXtreme Release 3
The ELSA MAXtremeRender feature is only available with ELSA MAXtreme Release 3
versions under 3D Studio Release 3 applications. This feature is part of the 3D Studio
Release 4 applications (such as 3ds max 4) and, therefore, not available as a separate
ELSA MAXtreme Release 4 feature.
See “MAXtremeRender for ELSA MAXtreme Release 3” on page 18.
only
)
Online Help
Within the 3D Studio application, when you have any ELSA MAXtreme dialog box open,
press F1 to display online Help, which provides user information about ELSA MAXtreme
features and configuration options.
.chm
During ELSA MAXtreme installation, MAXtreme Help (a
the 3D Studio Help directory. You can also view the Help outside the application, if
needed.
file) is usually installed in
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System Requirements
General Requirements
• Hard Disk Space: 2.5 MB free hard disk space
• Graphics Card: Workstation graphics card based on the NVIDIA Quadro™ ,
Quadro™2, Quadro™ DCC, or Quadro™4 product families.
Table 1.1 lists the equivalent ELSA graphics cards.
Table 1.1
GPUs Supported by ELSA MAXtreme
ELSA Graphics Card NVIDIA GPU
Quadro™4 500 GoGL
Quadro4 900 XGL
Quadro4 750 XGL
Quadro4 700 XGL
Quadro4 550 XGL
Quadro™2 Go
ELSA GLoria™ DCC Quadro DCC™
ELSA GLoria III Quadro2 Pro™
ELSA Synergy™ III Quadro2 MXR™
ELSA Synergy 2000 Quadro2 EX™
ELSA GLoria II Quadro
Note: ELSA MAXtreme 3.xx and later releases will not run with the ELSA Synergy II
graphics card. Older versions (earlier than Release 3) of ELSA MAXtreme can
run with ELSA Synergy II with ELSA driver software.
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• Operating System: Windows® XP,Windows® 2000 or Windows NT® 4 (Service Pack
4 or higher)
• 3D Studio Application: You must have one of the following 3D Studio applications
installed on your computer before installing ELSA MAXtreme.
1
• 3ds max 4
• 3D Studio MAX Release 3
• 3D Studio VIZ Release 3i
• 3D Studio VIZ Release 3
• NVIDIA Driver: The NVIDIA Detonator
TM
3 (v6.46 or later) or Detonator XP driver
for Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows NT 4.0 must be installed.
Stereo Requirements
• MAXtremeStereo plug-in software installed during the ELSA MAXtreme driver
installation
• Stereo shutter glasses
1. ELSA MAXtreme 4 (and 4.00.xx versions) works with 3ds max 4 but is not compatible with 3D Studio
MAX 3.
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This chapter contains the following sections:
• “Installation Files” on page 5
• “Installing ELSA MAXtreme” on page 6
• “Uninstalling ELSA MAXtreme” on page 6
Installation Files
The ELSA MAXtreme Setup directory contains the following files:
•
Readme.txt
Setup.exe
•
The ELSA MAXtreme Setup program automatically installs the version of ELSA
MAXtreme (Release 3 or Release 4) that is compatible with your installed version of
the 3D Studio MAX/VIZ application. For details, see “System Requirements” on
page 3.
• Other files required for installation
During ELSA MAXtreme installation, MAXtreme Help (
the 3D Studio Help directory.
I
NSTALLING
file
installation program for Windows
ELSA MAX
file) is usually installed in
.chm
TREME
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Installing ELSA MAXtreme
1 Be sure you meet the requirements in “System Requirements” on page 3.
2 Be sure you have a 3D Studio application installed on your system; see “3D Studio
Application” on page 5 for details.
3 From the Setup directory, click the Setup.exe program and follow the instructions that
appear in the Install Shield prompts.
Note: If the installation program stops processing and generates an error message, try to
run it with Administrator access rights.
Uninstalling ELSA MAXtreme
Uninstall MAXtreme using the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove function as follows:
1 From the Windows desktop, click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove
Programs.
2 Click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
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3 Click ELSA MAXtreme from the list.
4 Click the Change/Remove button.
5 Follow the instructions from the Install Shield program to complete uninstallation.
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ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Driver Settings
The first time that ELSA MAXtreme is used, the Driver Configuration dialog box appears
when you start the 3D Studio application.
To access the ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration dialog box after first-time use,
follow these steps:
For ELSA MAXtreme 3 -
If you are running ELSA MAXtreme 3 in a 3D Studio Release 3 application, click the
ELSA MAXtreme menu, then click Configuration.
The ELSA MAXtreme Configuration dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3.2
ELSA MAX
TREME
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Using ELSA MAXtreme
For ELSA MAXtreme 4 -
If you are running ELSA MAXtreme 4, follow the steps below.
1 From the application’s main menu, click Customize->Preferences.
The 3D Studio Preferences dialog box appears (see Figure 3.1).
Click to access the
MAXtreme configuration
dialog box.
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Figure 3.1
In the Display Driver section, click Configure Driver.
2
3ds max Preference Settings Page
The ELSA MAXtreme Configuration dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2
ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration Page
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Auto-configuring for Speed or Quality
The Configuration section of the MAXtreme Driver Configuration panel allows you to
choose between optimum speed or optimum quality (see Figure 3.3).
Choosing Speed or Quality automatically configures several control panel settings to
achieve the desired optimization, as listed in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1
Speed and Quality Settings
Section Option Speed Setting Quality Setting
Wireframe View
Rendered Views
Texture Filter
Texture Compression
Line Antialiasing X
Use Triangle Strips X
Line Antialiasing X
Use Environment
Background Color
Minification Fastest Nicest
Magnification Fast Nice
(X) Fast
Choosing either Speed or Quality
automatically selects the optimum
settings for these options.
X
Figure 3.3
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Configuring Individual Settings
Figure 3.4 gives basic descriptions of the MAXtreme configuration settings. Additional
information for these settings are given later in this section.
3
See “Auto-configuring for Speed or Quality” on
page 9
Click this check box to enable antialiasing
for lines in wire frame view s.
Click this check box to enable the use of triangle strips
wireframe views.
Click this check box to enable an tialiasing
in rendered views, when edged faces are enabled.
Click this check box to enable the display of fog
camera views.
Click this check box to display environment background
color
in rendered views.
of wireframe lines
in
in rendered
MAXTreme 3 only. See “Transparency Modes” on page 12
Choose the minification texture filter method::
Fastest
- Provides the fastest rendering but can also
result in severe aliasing artifacts.
Fast
- Provides smoother results than the Fa stest setting.
Medium
Nice
Nicest
Choose the magnification texture filter method:
Fast
Nice
- Can result in minor aliasing artifacts.
- Provides sm oother results than the Medium setting.
- Provides the smoothest results.
- Provides fast rendering but can also result in aliasing artifacts
- Provides sm oother results than the Fast setting.
Choose the maximum degree of anisotropy
compensate for texture filtering.
Choose a background texture size.
scales the im age textures to the specified size. The larger the
size, the better the im age quality.
Choose a material texture size
scales the image textures to the specified size. The larger the
Displays vertices as dots
box and choose a dot size from smallest(1)
to largest (11).
. Click the check
See “MAXtreme Stereo” on page 15
Figure 3.4
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MAXtreme Driver Configuration Settings
size, the better the im age quality.
Reduces texture mem ory usage.
either Fast (more compression) or Nice (less compression).
. The 3D Studio application
Click the check box and choose
needed to
The 3D Studio application
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Explanation of Configuration Settings
This section provides additional information about the settings in the driver configuration
control panel.
Configuring Wireframe Viewports
Wireframe viewports can be configured to display wireframes using antialiased lines and/
or using triangle strips.
• Antialiasing
This option is automatically chosen with the Quality configuration.
• Triangle Strips
Triangle strips are a form of surface representation that renders efficiently using the
graphics hardware, and results in faster rendering. This option is automatically chosen
with the Speed configuration.
Configuring Rendered (Shaded) Viewports
The following are enhancements that can be made in Rendered Views.
• Antialiasing
In rendered views with edged faces enabled, the shaded objects are overlaid by the
wireframe mesh. The overlaid lines can be antialiased. This option is automatically
chosen with the Quality configuration.
On some hardware, antialiasing may slow down rendering performance.
• Fogging
ELSA MAXtreme supports the display of fog under the following conditions:
• Only one Linear or Exponential Standard Fog is supported; additional Standard Fogs
and all Layered Fogs are ignored.
• An Environment Color Map or Environment Opacity Map is not in use with this
Standard fog.
Fog thickness is controlled by the Camera Environment Range.
• Environment Background Colors
ELSA MAXtreme supports the use of Environment Background Color. Check the Use
Environment Background Color check box and then select the desired background color
from the application’s Environment page.
Note: After you change the Environment Background Color, the viewport may not be
immediately updated with the new color until the application redraws the image.
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Transparency Modes
The Transparency feature is an ELSA MAXtreme Release 3 feature only, and does not
apply to ELSA MAXtreme Release 4.
ELSA MAXtreme supports the display of various transparency modes for elements that
have an opacity of less than 100.
•None
Transparent elements are drawn opaque. This is the fastest mode, and is chosen
automatically with the Speed configuration.
• Screen Door
Transparent elements are drawn using varying concentrations of dots, allowing the
elements behind to be visible. This is the standard mode.
• Blended
Transparent elements are drawn transparent. The elements are not sorted, so the result
depends on the camera position.
When single-sided materials are used, differences between this mode and the Sorted
Blended mode are not readily apparent.
3
This mode is fairly fast using the current graphics hardware.
•Sorted Blended
Transparent elements are first sorted and then drawn transparent from front to back,
which produces an impressive transparency. This mode is fairly slow, and is
automatically chosen with the Quality configuration.
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Texture Filtering Options
Texture filters control the appearance of texture mapping. Following are the texture filter
controls that can be controlled with MAXtreme.
Note: After changing the settings described here, the image may not reflect the changes
until the application reloads the textures.
• Minification
The Minification filter is used when the pixel being textured maps to an area in the
texture greater than one texture element (texel). MAXtreme uses the following
Minification texture-filtering methods:
Fastest: This method uses the texel closest to the center of the pixel to texture the
•
entire pixel. Since only part of the texture is used, this method can result in severe
aliasing artifacts.
This method is automatically chosen with the Speed configuration.
Fast: This method uses a weighted linear average of the 2x2 array of texels that are
•
closest to the center of the pixel. The results are smoother than the ‘Fastest’ method.
Medium: This method first selects the LOD from the mipmap pyramid where the
•
mapped texel area is closest to the size of a pixel. From this LOD, the single texel
that is closest to the center of the pixel is selected and mapped to the pixel.
This method can result in minor aliasing artifacts.
Nice: This method first selects the LOD (from the mipmap pyramid) where the
•
mapped texel area is closest to the size of a pixel. From this LOD, the 2x2 array of
texels closest to the center of the pixel is selected. Finally, the weighted linear
average of the texel array is computed and mapped to the pixel.
This method provides smoother results than the Medium method.
Nicest: This method first selects the LODs (from the mipmap pyramid) where the
•
mapped texel areas are closest to the size of a pixel. From each of the selected LODs,
the weighted linear average of the 2x2 array of texels closest to the center of the
pixel is computed. Finally, the linear interpolation between the two averages is
determined and mapped to the pixel, resulting in true tri-linear filtering.
This methods yields the best results, and is automatically chosen with the Quality
configuration.
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•Magnification
The Magnification filter is used when the pixel being textured maps to an area in the
texture less than or equal to one texture element (texel). MAXtreme uses the following
Magnification texture-filtering methods:
Fast: This method uses the single texel closest to the center of a pixel. One texel may
•
be mapped to more than one pixel.
This method can result in aliasing artifacts, and is automatically chosen with the
Speed configuration.
Nice: This method uses a weighted linear average of the 2x2 array of texels that are
•
closest to the center of a pixel. The results are smoother than the ‘Fast” method.
This method is automatically chosen with the Quality configuration.
• Maximal Anisotropy
This option provides a mechanism for supporting anisotropic texture filtering schemes.
You can specify the maximum degree of anisotropy to account for texture filtering.
Texture Size Control
3
• Background Texture Size
The background textures can be scaled to the selected size. The smaller the size, the less
memory is required to render it. The larger the size, the more texture detail is visible.
• Material Texture Size
The material textures can be scaled to the selected size. The smaller the size, the less
memory is required to render it. The larger the size, the more texture detail is visible.
Texture Compression
Texture compression reduces the memory required for rendering. For example, the
amount of memory required to render an image with a background texture size of 64x64 is
similar to that required for an image with a background texture size of 256x256 with
compression enabled. The 256x256 texture size results in a better quality image, while
compression keeps the memory requirement down.
Customizing Dot Sizes
You can display vertices as dots and also control the dot size to a greater degree than what
is provided in the 3D Studio applications. These applications offer a choice of small or
large dots, which might not be adequate for the display resolution.
Through the MAXtreme configuration panel, the dot size can be adjusted from 1 to 11, in
increments of 0.125.
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MAXtreme Stereo
MAXtreme Stereo Requirements
To view your drawings and animations in true stereo, in addition to the “System
Requirements” on page 3, you need:
• NVIDIA Quadro GPU-based graphics card in a resolution and color depth that is
appropriate for stereo buffering.
In Stereo mode, every frame is drawn twice; once for the left eye and once for the right
eye. As a result, you only get half the refresh rate for each eye. Therefore, it is
recommended that you use the highest refresh rate that your hardware supports.
• Stereo shutter glasses
• MAXtremeStereo software (part of the ELSA MAXtreme installation package)
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings
1 Be sure you installed the MAXtreme Stereo Render software together with the ELSA
MAXtreme driver installation.
2 Start the 3D Studio application from which you will access ELSA MAXtreme. On first-
time use of ELSA MAXtreme, the Driver Configuration dialog box appears ().
3 Click the Stereo check box to enable the option; click OK to complete configuration.
4 To access the ELSA MAXtreme Stereo dialog box, follow these steps:
For ELSA MAXtreme 3 -
Click the ELSA MAXtreme menu, then click Stereo.
For ELSA MAXtreme 4 -
1 In the main 3D Studio application window, click the “hammer” icon on the right
panel to display the Utilities tab.
2 Click the Utilities tab, then click the More tab.
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C
OK. The ELSA MAXtreme Stereo dialog box appears (3).
3
Figure 3.5
ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings
Using the MAXtreme Stereo Dialog Box
1 To display the current viewport in stereo, click the Stereo check box.
• MAXtreme Stereo settings correspond to the current viewport. Every Perspective
View (and therefore every Camera View) can be switched to Stereo.
• If the current viewport is a parallel projection, the Stereo button and all other
interface elements are disabled.
2 To optimize stereo viewing comfort, use the two Spinner Controls to adjust the eye
distance and the focus distance.
3 To render the Stereoscopic View in two files or sequences of files, click the Render to
File button.
Note: For ELSA MAXtreme Release 3 only: MAXtremeStereo can be used with
MAXtremeRender to produce Stereoscopic Views. However, MAXtremeStereo
does not work with the MAXtremeRender when used with Perspective Non-camera
Views; those views cannot be switched to Stereo.
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MAXtremeRender for ELSA MAXtreme Release 3
ELSA MAXtreme 3 comes with MAXtremeRender1, a utility that allows you to use the
current software production renderer to render into a viewport. This method of rendering
may not be as fast as using the graphics card hardware engine, but it is easy to use and
provides better control of the final rendering.
Accessing the MAXtremeRender Controls
To activate the MAXtremeRender plug-in software—
1 Be sure you have installed ELSA MAXtreme.
2 Start the 3D Studio application from which you will access ELSA MAXtreme.
3 Click the ELSA MAXtreme menu, then select Render.
The ELSA MAXtreme Render dialog box appears (Figure 3.6).
Click the Render Active Viewport button
to render the current viewport using the
MAXtremeRender settings.
Choose one of the three resolution options
(See description for details)
Click to improve image quality for Medium
and Low resolutions.
Click to update the active viewport.
Click to update previously rendered
viewports.
Figure 3.6
1. The ELSA MAXtremeRender feature is only available with ELSA MAXtreme Release 3 versions
with 3D Studio Release 3 applications. This feature is part of 3D Studio Release 4 applications and
is not available as a separate ELSA MAXtreme feature.
ELSA MAXtreme Render Controls
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Using MAXtremeRender
As long as at least one viewport is rendered using the current software production
renderer, the floating window containing the Update buttons and the progress indicator is
open. The floating window remains on top even when the MAXtremeRender rollup is
closed.
As soon as you switch off software rendering in all viewports, the MAXtreme dialog box
closes. Note that when you close the dialog box, all viewports are switched to the
interactive renderer.
Controlling the Active Viewport Rendering
The Render Active Viewport button controls the rendering in a viewport on a per
viewport basis. When you change the active viewport, the button changes its state
accordingly. Follow these steps to use the button as a toggle:
• Click the Render Active Viewport button to use the renderer in a viewport.
• Click the Render Active Viewport again to stop using the renderer in this viewport.
Controlling the Image Resolution
From the option buttons that appear in the dialog box, you can select the relative
resolution to use in rendering—High, Medium, or Low.
Note: Higher resolutions take longer to render, but result in better image quality.
The Low and Medium Resolution images can be improved by smoothing (see
“Controlling the Image Quality” on page 19).
• Resolution: High
In High Resolution, the image is created in the full viewport window size.
• Resolution: Medium
In Medium Resolution, the image is created in half of the viewport width and height.
• Resolution: Low
In Low Resolution, the image is created in a quarter of the viewport width and height.
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Controlling the Image Quality
When using a Medium or Low Resolution to render into a viewport, blocks of 2x2 or 4x4
pixels represent one pixel of the rendered image.
In order to keep rendering time to a minimum and improve the image, select Smooth
Image, which linearly interpolates the rendered image to the viewport window size.
• Smoothing: Off
Without smoothing, an image rendered in low resolution shows severe aliasing effects.
To turn smoothing off, uncheck the Smooth Image check box.
• Smoothing: On
With smoothing, the same rendering is nearly as fast but the aliasing effects are less
severe. To turn smoothing on, check the Smooth Image check box.
Updating the Images
Because the software production renderer is relatively slow, the viewports are not always
updated automatically. To force an update, use one of two Update buttons to update either
all rendered viewports or only the active viewport.
The Rendering Progress indicator shows activity when rendering with the software
production renderer.
19 ELSA MAXtreme User’s Guide – Version 1.1.1
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