________________________________________ Multigen(R) Creator README FILE Multigen Creator(TM) Version 2.5.1 For Microsoft Windows(R) NT/98/2000 Copyright 2002. Multigen-Paradigm, Inc. A Computer Associates Company All rights reserved. ________________________________________ I. Product Compatibility -------------------------------------------------------------------- Multigen Creator requires Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5 or 6, Windows 98, or Windows 2000 Professional Edition. Windows NT 3.5.1 and Windows 95 are not supported. For the latest product information, visit our web site at: http://www.multigen-paradigm.com. II. Licensing Multigen Creator -------------------------------------------------------------------- To license this version of Multigen Creator, see the Getting Started Guide. III. Fixes in this Release -------------------------------------------------------------------- See the Release Notes included with the product distribution for a complete list of fixes in this release. IV. Online Help -------------------------------------------------------------------- Creator has full context-sensitive help for all parts of the interface. For help on any menu item, point to the item and press F1. For help with toolboxes, pull the toolbox away from the side of the window, press F1, and then click on the tool for which you need help. In dialog boxes, if you press F1 and no help pointer appears, click in a text field or click a button (this gives the dialog focus), click F1 to get the Help pointer, and then click the dialog box to open the help topic. If you installed Creator in the default location, the help file will be located at: C:\program files\multigen-paradigm\creator\mgcreator.chm It is Compiled HTML File (CHM) format and requires Internet Explorer v4 or higher to view. V. Display Settings -------------------------------------------------------------------- For best results when using Creator on Windows, disable "Show window contents while dragging". This will improve your performance when moving windows around on the Windows desktop. To disable this option, right-click on the Windows desktop and choose Properties from the menu that appears. The Display Control Panel will appear. In Windows NT, select the Plus! tab; in Windows 98 and 2000, select the Effects tab. Clear the checkbox "Show window contents while dragging." VI. OpenGL 1.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------- To speed up texture rendering, Creator enables the OpenGL 1.1 Texture Object feature by default. If you notice any rendering anomalies that were not experienced in previous releases, you can disable this feature. To disable the OpenGL 1.1 Texture Object feature in Creator: 1. Stop Creator if it is running. 2. From the Windows Start menu, choose Run. 3. In the Run dialog box, type regedit and click OK to open the Registry Editor window. 4. Expand My Computer/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SOFTWARE/Multigen-Paradigm, Inc./Creator, and click the key for this version of Creator. 5. Create a new registry entry by choosing Edit/New/ String Value. Name the new string value GL_VERSION. 6. Click the new string value GL_VERSION and choose Edit/Modify. 7. Change the Value data field to 1.0, and click OK. 8. Restart Creator. NOTE: If you updated from a previous Creator release and used the Fasta Rasta plug-in, you should remove it, although it will not affect performance if you do not. VII. 3D Accelerator Cards -------------------------------------------------------------------- If you experience problems with rendering when using an OpenGL 3D accelerated graphics card, visit our web site at http://www.multigen-paradigm.com for the latest information from Multigen-Paradigm Support. VIII. Viewing Volume -------------------------------------------------------------------- The "Viewing Volume" controls the extent to which a database can be viewed from a given eye point. If the eye point is moved away from the database origin (0,0,0) by a significant amount, a portion of the geometry may be clipped. The default value for the "Far Clipping Plane" of the viewing volume is set at 10,000 database units. Therefore, when the eye point is moved to a distance that is more than 10,000 database units away from the database origin, all geometry 10,000 or more units away from the eye point will seem to disappear. The distance between the "Near Clipping Plane" and the "Far Clipping Plane" limits the amount of buffer space required for Z-Buffering. The values for the "Near Clipping Plane" and the "Far Clipping Plane" can be adjusted in the "Viewing Volume" dialog box in the View Menu (see the User’s Guide). IX. Transparent Materials and the Z-Buffer -------------------------------------------------------------------- Materials with an associated transparency may not appear as expected in Z-Buffer drawing mode. Creator uses the "fixed list order of drawing" method to display geometry that contains transparent materials, regardless of the type of drawing mode in use. A fixed list drawing order will display geometry in the order of a database structure: Top-Down, Left to Right. When displaying a transparent object in front of a solid object in Z-Buffer drawing mode, the order in which the objects appear in the database hierarchy determines whether you see the solid object through the transparent object. Place the transparent object after all other objects on a given level in the hierarchy to ensure that the transparent objects are drawn last. X. Terrain Culture Triangulation -------------------------------------------------------------------- Terrain Culture Triangulation (TCT), a process that simultaneously projects features as it generates terrain, triangulating the feature footprints into the terrain skin, is single LOD only in this version of Creator. TCT works best when the source data for features are corrected before generating the terrain. See the Multigen Creator Installation Guide and Release Notes for tips on troubleshooting and correcting source data for TCT. XI. SEDRIS Exporter -------------------------------------------------------------------- The SEDRIS Exporter is a Creator plug-in and command-line utility that builds a SEDRIS transmittal from one or more OpenFlight files. It is included on the Creator Installation CD in the folder: SEDRISExporter Install\ Refer to the README file included in this folder for installation instructions and more information. To purchase the SEDRIS Exporter, contact your Multigen-Paradigm Sales Representative, or refer to the Creator sales contact information at the end of this README file. XII. Free Creator Plug-ins -------------------------------------------------------------------- A collection of free, unsupported plug-ins for Creator has been included on installation CD. They are located in the Free_Stuff folder on the product distribution CD: Free_Stuff\Creator_Plugins These plug-ins can be installed (as a group) optionally as part of the normal Creator product installation or they can be installed individually at any other time. These instructions assume you have installed (or will install) Creator in the default location: C:\program files\multigen-paradigm If you install Creator in a different location, make sure to adjust these instructions accordingly. == To install all these plug-ins as part of the Creator installation: 1) Exit any instances of Creator that are running. 2) Run the Creator Installer located in the Creator installation folder on the product distribution CD: Creator Install\setup.exe 3) When you reach the Setup Type window, select the Custom option. When you press the Next button, the Select Components window will be displayed. In this window, select the Creator Plug-ins component. Complete the installation wizard. During installation, each of the installed plug-ins will be placed in a separate folder within the Creator plug-in folder: C:\program files\multigen-paradigm\creator\plugins\ == To install these plug-ins individually: 1) Exit any instances of Creator that are running. 2) Go to the Free_Stuff\Creator_Plugins folder on the Creator installation CD. 3) For each plug-in you want to install, drag the corresponding plug-in folder (including the folder itself) to the Creator plug-in folder: C:\program files\multigen-paradigm\creator\plugins == To use one of the plug-ins: If you have installed the plug-in(s) using either method described above, you will see a subfolder containing the plug-in within the Creator plug-in folder: C:\program files\multigen-paradigm\creator\plugins\ When you restart Creator, it will load all the plug-ins it finds in or below the Creator plug-in folder and make them ready to use. You can verify that a particular plug-in is loaded by checking the Help On Plugins window in Creator. == To uninstall a plug-in: 1) Exit any instances of Creator that are running. 2) Move or delete the entire subfolder containing the plug-in from the Creator plug-in folder. If you move the subfolder, you must move it completely outside of the Creator plug-in folder. These plug-ins are provided free of charge and without support. They are solely for use by an authorized licensee of Multigen Creator and is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. To the full extent permitted under applicable law, Multigen-Paradigm, Inc. disclaims all liability arising from or related to any use of these tools. XIII. DFD Read/Write API -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Multigen DFD Read/Write API lets you read and write DFD data files. It is included on the Creator Installation CD in the folder: DFDAPI Install\ Refer to the README file included in this folder for installation instructions. XIV. OpenFlight API -------------------------------------------------------------------- The OpenFlight API lets you read and write OpenFlight data files. It is included on the Creator Installation CD in the folder: OpenFlightAPI Install\ Refer to the README file included in this folder for installation instructions and more information. XV. How to Contact Multigen-Paradigm -------------------------------------------------------------------- Technical Support: creator@multigen-paradigm.com 408 965-8525 877 289-5670 (toll free in USA only) http://www.multigen-paradigm.com Creator Sales: sales@multigen-paradigm.com 408 965-8500 (phone) 408 965-8501 (fax) http://www.multigen-paradigm.com