UADRO
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ORKSTATION APPLICATION
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ELSA MAXtreme
Release Notes
Based on Version 4.00.21
NVIDIA Corporation
April 17, 2002
ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
Published by
NVIDIA Corporation
2701 San Tomas Expressway
Santa Clara, CA 95050
Copyright © 2002 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.
This software may not, in whole or in part, be copied through any means, mechanical, electromechanical,
or otherwise, without the express permission of NVIDIA Corporation.
Information furnished is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, NVIDIA assumes no
responsibility for the consequences of use of such information nor for any infringement of patents or other
rights of third parties, which may result from its use. No License is granted by implication or otherwise
under any patent or patent rights of NVIDIA Corporation.
Specifications mentioned in the software are subject to change without notice.
NVIDIA Corporation products are not authorized for use as critical components in life support devices or
systems without express written approval of NVIDIA Corporation.
NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, nForce, nView, GeForce, GeForce2, GeForce 256, GeForce3, Quadro,
QuadroView, Riva 128, RIVA 128ZX, RIVA TNT, TNT2, and Vanta are registered trademarks or
trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
AutoDesk, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architectural Desktop, and Mechanical Desktop, 3D Studio, 3D Studio
MAX, 3D Studio VIZ, and 3ds max are trademarks or registered trademarks of Autodesk.
ELSA GLoria, ELSA Synergy, ELSA MAXtreme, and ELSA POWERdraft are trademarks of ELSA AG.
Windows, Windows logo, Windows NT, and/or other Microsoft products referenced in this guide are
either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc.
Other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners
with which they are associated.
NVIDIA Corp oratio n
ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
Table of Contents
1. About ELSA MAXtreme
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
ELSA MAXtreme Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Fog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
MAXtremeStereo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
MAXtremeRender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Release History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Supported Languages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
User Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Operating System & Disk Space . . . . . . . . 4
Hardware: Supported NVIDIA Products . . . . 4
NVIDIA Driver Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Software Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3D Studio Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Stereo Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Overview of Resolved Issues by Version . . . . . 6
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.21 . . . . . . 6
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.20 . . . . . . 6
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.13 . . . . . . 6
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.09 . . . . . . 7
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.05 . . . . . . 7
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.04 . . . . . . 7
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.03 . . . . . . 7
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.00 . . . . . . 7
Other Issues Resolved Between Versions
4.00.00 and 4.00.05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Issues Resolved in Version 3.00.02 . . . . . . 8
Known Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Spotlight Overshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Fog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Stereo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
MAXtremeStereo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2. Installation, Configuration, And
Uninstallation
Installing ELSA MAXtreme . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Driver Settings . . . 10
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings . . . 12
Uninstalling ELSA MAXtreme . . . . . . . . . . . 13
A. MAXtremeRender for ELSA
MAXtreme 3.x
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes List of Tables
List of Tables
Table 1.1 ELSA MAXtreme Release History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Table 1.2 Supported NVIDIA Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes List of Figures
List of Figures
Figure 2.1 ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Figure 2.2 3ds max Preference Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Figure 2.3 ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes List of Figures
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
C HAPTER
1
A
BOUT
This chapter contains the following sections:
• “Overview” on page 1
• “ELSA MAXtreme Features” on page 2
• “Release History” on page 3
ELSA MAX
TREME
Overview
• “Supported Languages” on page 3
• “System Requirements” on page 3
• “Overview of Resolved Issues by Version” on page 6
• “Known Issues” on page 8
ELSA MAXtreme™ is a Quadro™ application utility that is designed to work
with 3D Studio applications such as 3ds max
Studio VIZ 3.x. (See “3D Studio Applications” on page 5 for details on version
requirements.)
The ELSA MAXtreme 3D driver is highly optimized for use with a graphics
card based on an NVIDIA
(GPU), which enhances the capabilities of the interactive renderer.
You can use the ELSA MAXtreme 3D driver configuration dialog box to
customize the driver for display quality and speed. For further details, see
“Installation, Configuration, And Uninstallation” on page 10.
®
Quadro or Quadro2 graphics processing unit
4, 3D Studio MAX 3.x, and 3D
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1 About ELSA MAXtreme
ELSA MAXtreme Features
The following sections provide an overview of the key features in ELSA
MAXtreme:
• “Fog” on page 2
• “MAXtremeStereo” on page 2
• “MAXtremeRender” on page 2
• “Online Help” on page 3
Fog
ELSA MAXtreme supports the rendering of Standard fog into the viewports
since version 1.01.00. You can enable this feature from the Configuration dialog
box. Currently, only one Linear or Exponential Standard Fog is supported;
additional Standard Fogs and all Layered Fogs are ignored.
MAXtremeStereo
ELSA MAXtreme supports stereo viewing within viewports through the
MAXtremeStereo plug-in software, which can be installed with the ELSA
MAXtreme driver software.
To view your drawings and animations in true stereo, in addition to the “System
Requirements” on page 3, you need the requirements in “Stereo Requirements”
on page 5.
MAXtremeRender
Note: The ELSA MAXtremeRender feature only applies to ELSA MAXtreme
versions 3.x. Since this feature is incorporated in 3D Studio 4.x
applications, it is not available as a separate feature in ELSA MAXtreme
versions 4.x. If you are running ELSA MAXtreme Release 3.x, see
Appendix A “MAXtremeRender for ELSA MAXtreme 3.x” on page 14.
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.
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
During ELSA MAXtreme installation, MAXtreme Help (a
installed in the 3D Studio Help directory. You can also view the Help outside
the application, if needed.
Release History
Table 1.1 contains a summary of the ELSA MAXtreme driver releases and the
versions associated with them. Some versions listed may not have been released
outside of NVIDIA.
Table 1.1
Release Version Comments
Release 4 4.00.00 – 4.00.21 Releases ongoing
Release 3 3.00.00 – 3.00.04
ELSA MAXtreme Release History
Supported Languages
User Interface
The ELSA MAXtreme user interface supports the following languages:
• English
.chm
file) is usually
•French
Online Help
The ELSA MAXtreme online Help supports the following languages:
Arabic Finnish Norwegian
Chinese (simplified) French Portuguese (Brazil)
Chinese (traditional) German Russian
Danish Italian Spanish
Dutch Japanese Swedish
English Korean Thai
System Requirements
Before you install and use ELSA MAXtreme, be sure you have the following
prerequisites as explained in these sections:
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1 About ELSA MAXtreme
• “Operating System & Disk Space” on page 4
• “Hardware: Supported NVIDIA Products” on page 4
• “NVIDIA Driver Software” on page 5
• “Software Components” on page 5
• “3D Studio Applications” on page 5
• “Stereo Requirements” on page 5
Operating System & Disk Space
This release of ELSA MAXtreme requires approximately 2.5 MB of disk space
and includes drivers for each of the following operating systems:
•Microsoft
•Microsoft
• Microsoft Windows NT
Windows XP (Home and Professional Editions)
Windows 2000
4.0 (at least, Service Pack 4)
Hardware: Supported NVIDIA Products
You need a workstation graphics card based on one of the NVIDIA products or
an equivalent ELSA graphics card as listed in Table 1.2.
Table 1.2
NVIDIA Workstation Product
Quadro™ 4 500 GoGL
Quadro4 900 XGL
Quadro4 750 XGL
Quadro4 700 XGL
Quadro4 550 XGL
Quadro4 200 NVS
Quadro4 400 NVS
Quadro™ DCC ELSA GLoria DCC
Quadro™ 2 Pro ELSA GLoria III
Quadro2 MXR
Quadro2 Go
Quadro2 EX ELSA Synergy 2000
Quadro™ ELSA GLoria II
Supported NVIDIA Products
Equivalent ELSA Graphics Card
(distributed by ELSA)
ELSA Synergy III
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
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
ELSA MAXtreme can run with the ELSA Synergy II card and ELSA
driver software.
NVIDIA Driver Software
You need one of the following NVIDIA Drivers:
• NVIDIA Windows NT 4.0 Display Driver (at least Version 6.46) or
• NVIDIA Windows XP/2000 Display Driver (at least Version 6.46)
Software Components
The ELSA MAXtreme Setup directory contains the following files:
• Readme.txt file
• Setup.exe installation program for Windows
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 3D
Studio Applications below.
• Other files required for installation
.chm
During ELSA MAXtreme installation, MAXtreme Help (
installed in the 3D Studio Help directory.
file) is usually
3D Studio Applications
You must have one of the following 3D Studio applications installed on your
computer before installing ELSA MAXtreme.
• 3ds max 4
• 3D Studio MAX Release 3
• 3D Studio VIZ Release 3i
• 3D Studio VIZ Release 3
Stereo Requirements
For stereo-viewing, you mst have the following:
• MAXtremeStereo plug-in software installed during the ELSA MAXtreme
driver installation
• Stereo shutter glasses
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1 About ELSA MAXtreme
• A display resolution and color depth setting on your computer that is not too
high, since twice as much video-memory is required for stereo viewing
Overview of Resolved Issues by Version
This section contains issues that have been resolved for the following releases
of ELSA MAXtreme:
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.21” on page 6
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.20” on page 6
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.13” on page 6
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.09” on page 7
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.05” on page 7
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.04” on page 7
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.03” on page 7
• “Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.00” on page 7
• “Other Issues Resolved Between Versions 4.00.00 and 4.00.05” on page 8
• “Issues Resolved in Version 3.00.02” on page 8
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.21
Fixed: Quadro 750/900XGL, MAXtreme 4.00.20: Bad 3dsmax performance
with AA-lines enabled.
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.20
• Fixed: Dots Size changes by using wireframe or shaded views.
• Fixed: Shade selected faces crashes 3dsmax.
• Fixed: MAXtreme Stereo function loads but can not be enabled.
• Fixed: System crashes with MAXtreme v. 4.00.14 and 4.00.15.
• Fixed: Under MAXtreme v.4.00.14, incorrect shaded viewport is displayed
when editing envelopes on a skinned mesh with bones.
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.13
• Changed installation background tile.
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
• Fixed problem with MAXtreme displaying incorrect symbols with Line
Antialiasing when Rendered Views is enabled.
• Fixed problem with Configuration Dialog not being available after
installation of MAXtreme 4.00.07 with non-English language.
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.09
• MAXtreme displays wrong version information.
• Fixed problem with unavailable transparency in MAXtreme 4.00.03 under
3ds max 4.2 with Quadro DCC-based card.
• Fixed incorrect display of symbols with Line Antialiasing in Rendered Views
enabled.
• Fixed problem with MAXtreme not starting on a system installed with both
the ELSA GLoria III and the ELSA Synergy II (PCI) cards.
• Fixed problem with MAXtreme 4.00.06 not working.
• In MAXtreme 4.00.05 running in 3ds max 4.2, opacities are not displayed.
• MAXtreme 4.00.05 for 3ds max 4 contains MAXtreme 3.x help.
• No Help is available after installing MAXtreme with Regional Setting other
than English.
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.05
Windows NT 4.0: MAXtreme error message occurs in 3D Studio Max 3.1.
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.04
MAXtreme for 3D Studio MAX contains wrong
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.03
• No refresh occurs after moving 3ds max window out of the screen.
• Windows 2000: No hardware detection occurs during MAXtreme Setup.
• Stereo plug-in is missing during custom setup.
Issues Resolved in Version 4.00.00
MAXtreme 4 hangs when maximizing viewport.
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MAXtreme.drv
properties
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Other Issues Resolved Between Versions 4.00.00 and
4.00.05
• MAXtreme animation slows down and system swaps to hard disk (Windows
2000).
• MAXtreme 4.00.01 is missing Lights in 3D
(Windows 2000).
• Lighting is incorrect in nTest “Create Tank Scene” (Windows 2000).
• Interactive render test causes MAXtreme to exit (Windows 2000).
• Texture display in incorrect with Background textures (Windows 2000).
• 3D Studio MAX does not start after installing MAXtreme 4.00.00 (Windows
2000).
• After installing MAXtreme, SPECapc Benchmark for 3ds max hangs
(Windows NT 4.0).
• Help titles appear in wrong font.
Issues Resolved in Version 3.00.02
• Inappropriate pop-up message appears.
• Cannot install MAXtreme 3.0 RC (Windows 2000 and NT 4.0).
• MAXtreme setup does not install
Known Issues
Studio MAX
MAXtreme.drv.
rabbit sample
The following issues are known to exist in the current release of ELSA
MAXtreme. These issues may be fixed in a later release.
• “Spotlight Overshooting” on page 8
• “Fog” on page 9
• “Stereo” on page 9
• “MAXtremeStereo” on page 9
Spotlight Overshooting
ELSA MAXtreme does not ignore the Overshoot setting of a Spotlight. When
Overshoot is set, the Spotlight casts light in all directions.
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
Fog
Fogging depends on the environment range of the camera. When the near and
far values are equal, everything at this distance should instantly vanish into the
fog. In ELSA MAXtreme, there is a small range around this distance where the
fog intensity rapidly grows.
When the environment range of the camera is set in such a way that large
picture elements are within the fogged range as well as outside, those parts of
the picture elements in front of the fogging range should be clear. In ELSA
MAXtreme, these picture elements are not completely clear and appear to be
fogged.
The Active toggle in the Atmosphere section of the Environment dialog box is
not supported. Supported fog is always rendered as active in the viewports.
Stereo
If the Stereo option is enabled in the ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration
dialog box, Dual Planes support is not available in stereo-capable resolutions.
MAXtremeStereo
When storing a stereo-paired animation as defined in the Render dialog box,
“File Number Base” is ignored. The animation frames are stored with a “File
Number Base” of zero.
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
C HAPTER
2
I
NSTALLATION
This chapter contains the following sections:
• “Installing ELSA MAXtreme” on page 10
• “Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Driver Settings” on page 10
, C
ONFIGURATION
U
NINSTALLATION
, A
ND
• “Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings” on page 12
• “Uninstalling ELSA MAXtreme” on page 13
Installing ELSA MAXtreme
1 Be sure you have met the requirements in “System Requirements” on page 3.
2 Verify that you have a 3D Studio application installed on your system; see
“3D Studio Applications” on page 5 for details.
3 From the Setup directory, click the Setup.exe program and follow the
instructions that appear in the dialog prompts.
Note: If the installation program stops processing and generates an error
message, try to run it with Administrator access rights.
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Driver Settings
After you have installed ELSA MAXtreme, follow these steps to access the
ELSA MAXtreme Configuration dialog box.
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2 Installation, Configuration, And Uninstallation
1 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 (Figure 2.1).
2 Refer to ELSA MAXtreme online Help for details on using the configuration
options.
Figure 2.1
ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration
To access the ELSA MAXtreme Driver Configuration dialog box after first-
3
time use, follow these steps:
Note: If you are running ELSA MAXtreme 3 in a 3D Studio Release 3
a Click the Customize menu and select Preferences to display the
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application, click the ELSA MAXtreme menu, then click
Configuration. If you are running ELSA MAXtreme 4, follow the
steps below.
Preferences dialog box (Figure 2.2).
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
Figure 2.2
b
3ds max Preference Settings
Click Configure Driver in the Display Driver section of the Preferences
dialog box to display the ELSA MAXtreme Configuration dialog box
(Figure 2.1).
Accessing ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings
1 Be sure you have installed ELSA MAXtreme following the guidelines in
“System Requirements” on page 3, including “Stereo Requirements” on
page 5.
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 (Figure 2.1).
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:
Note: If you are running ELSA MAXtreme 3 in a 3D Studio Release 3
application, click the ELSA MAXtreme menu, then click Stereo. If
you are running ELSA MAXtreme 4, follow the steps below.
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2 Installation, Configuration, And Uninstallation
a In the main 3D Studio application window, click the “hammer” icon on
the right panel to display the Utilities tab.
b Click the Utilities tab, then click the More tab.
c From the Utilities list box that appears, click ELSA MAXtremeStereo,
then click OK. The ELSA MAXtreme Stereo dialog box appears (Figure
2.3).
Figure 2.3
ELSA MAXtreme Stereo Settings
5 Refer to ELSA MAXtreme online Help for details on using the Stereo
configuration options.
Uninstalling ELSA MAXtreme
1 From the Windows desktop, click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/
Remove Programs.
2 Click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
3 Click ELSA MAXtreme from the list.
4 Click the Change/Remove button.
5 Follow the instructions from the InstallShield program to complete
uninstallation.
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ELSA MAXtreme Release Notes Version 4.00.21
A PPENDIX
A
MAX
Note: The ELSA MAXtremeRender feature only applies to ELSA MAXtreme
versions 3.x. Since this feature is incorporated in 3D Studio 4.x
applications, it is not available as a separate feature in ELSA MAXtreme
versions 4.x.
ELSA MAXtreme versions 3.x comes with MAXtremeRender, 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.To activate the MAXtremeRender plug-in software, follow these
steps:
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 A.1). The renderer
can be used in High, Medium, or Low Resolution settings. Under Medium
and Low resolution, you can smooth the rendered image by linear
interpolation.
TREMERENDER FOR
MAX
TREME
ELSA
3.
X
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Note: 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.
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Appendix A MAXtremeRender for ELSA MAXtreme 3.0
Figure A.1
ELSA MAXtreme Render Settings (Release 3
only
)
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