        #
        | README file for
        |
        |       Synergy II
        |       GLoria II
        |       GLoria XXL
        |       GLoria Synergy
        |
        | ELSA MAXtreme, driver for 3D Studio MAX R3.x
        |                       and 3D Studio VIZ R3.x
        |
        | Version: 2.04.05
        |
        | Copyright (c) 1993-2000 ELSA AG, Aachen (Germany)
        |
        | ELSA AG                  Internet   : http://www.elsa.de
        | Sonnenweg 11
        | D-52070 Aachen
        |
        | ELSA Inc.                Internet   : http://www.elsa.com
        | 1630 Zanker Road
        | San Jose, CA 95112
        | USA
        |
        | ELSA Asia Inc.           Internet   : http://www.elsa.com
        | 7F-11, No. 188, Sec. 5
        | Nanking East Road
        | Taipei 105
        | Taiwan, R. O. C.
        |
        | ELSA Japan Inc.          Internet   : http://www.elsa.com
        | Mita Suzuki Building 3F
        | 5-20-14 Shiba, Minato-ku
        | Tokyo 108-0014
        | Japan
        |
        | 05/09/2000, ASchlech


        Table of Contents

        1. Overview
        2. Directory Contents
        3. Installation
        4. Notes
        5. Release Notes
        6. Known Problems

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1.      Overview

        This disks contain all components of the driver ELSA 
        MAXtreme for 3D Studio MAX R3.x, 3D Studio VIZ R3.x.


        Supported platform is Windows NT and Windows 2000

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2.      Directory Contents

        The driver's setup directory contains the following files:

        README.TXT      this file
        LIESMICH.TXT    German version of this file
        SETUP.EXE       Installation program for Windows
        (all others)    files that will be installed

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3.      Installation

3.1     Installation from CD

        Insert the WINNERware-CD in your CD-ROM-drive and start
        CDSETUP.EXE from the root directory of the CD if the
        program is not started automatically.
        Select "MAXtreme driver for 3D Studio MAX / VIZ 3.x" from
        the installation menu and then klick "Install".

3.2     Installation from floppy disk

        The MAXtreme installation set consists of two floppy disks.
        Start SETUP.EXE from the first disk.

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4.      Notes

4.1.    Fog

        MAXtreme supports the rendering of standard fog into the 
        viewports since version 1.01.00. Within the configuration
        dialog you can select this capability. Currently only one
        linear standard fog is supported. Other and additional
        linear standard fog will not be used in the viewport.

4.2.    Transparency

        MAXtreme supports an additional transparency representation
        since version 1.02.00. Within the configuration dialog you
        can select between these settings: 
      - None : No transparency is used.
      - Standard : Transparent objects are stippled more or less 
                   dense.
      - Blended : Transparent objects are drawn by blending their 
                  color with the objects behind it. This produces
                  the impression of true transparency. But this
                  impression may be disturbed if two or more
                  transparent objects are behind each other.
      - Sorted Blended : The same technique as described under
                         'Blended', but the faces are sorted before
                         they are drawn. This gives the best
                         transparency impression.

4.3.    MAXtremeStereo

        MAXtreme supports stereo within viewports since version
        1.03.00. For this the plugin "MAXtremeStereo" should have
        been installed together with the MAXtreme driver.
        Stereo viewing is possible on ELSA GLoria XL and ELSA 
        GLoria XXL if the resolution and color depth are not too
        high, because twice as much video-memory is necessary.
        On a 16MB card e.g. the highest possible stereo resolution
        in true color is 1152x864. For flicker-free viewing you
        also need a monitor that can handle refresh rates of at
        least 140Hz - so the maximum resolution to use will 
        probably be 1024x768.
        You also need 3D stereo shutter-glasses to view in stereo.
        If the version of your NT-driver is greater than 5.35.00.366
        (GLoria XL) or 5.36.00.402 (GLoria XXL), you can easily
        switch between stereo and mono within MAXtremeStereo.
        With older NT-drivers, you have to select "Stereo Modi"
        in the "Advanced..." - Section in the
        ELSA Application Settings before you start 3D Studio.
        After starting 3D Studio within a stereo capable resolution
        the Stereo checkbox in the configuration dialog is 
        accessible. Changing this setting requires a restart of 
        3D Studio.
        To control the stereoscopic views you have to activate the
        plugin MAXtremeStereo by pressing "More..." on the 
        "Utilities" tab and selecting "MAXtremeStereo" from the 
        listbox.
        With the plugin you can switch to stereo for
        perspective views (and therefore camera views too). With
        the two spinner controls you can adjust the eye distance
        (in percent of the focus distance) and the focus distance.
        Eye distance controls the depth perception in the stereo
        view. A distance of about three percent usually gives a 
        good stereo impression.
        The focus distance controls the position of the drawing 
        objects relative to the screen plane. Objects nearer than
        this distance seem to be in front of the screen, objects
        farther away than this seem to be inside the monitor.

4.4.    MAXtremeRender

        MAXtreme supports using the Production/Draft renderer into a
        viewport since version 1.06.00. For this the plugin
        "MAXtremeRender" should have been installed together with the
        MAXtreme driver.
        This plugin can be used on all graphics cards that MAXtreme
        support.
        To control this rendering you have to activate the plugin
        MAXtremeRender by pressing "More..." on the "Utilities" tab
        and selecting "MAXtremeRender" from the listbox.
        With this plugin you can switch to using the Production/Draft
        renderer into a viewport. The only exception to this are
        stereoscopic viewports that are no camera views.
        The renderer can be used in high, medium, or low resolution,
        and with medium and low resolution you can smooth the
        rendered image by linear interpolation.
        Because the Production/Draft renderer is relative slow, the
        viewports are not updated in every situation. To force an
        update you can use one of two Update buttons to update either
        all rendered viewport or the active viewport.

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5.      Release Notes

        Version 1.00.05
      - BugFix: clipping problem with screen filling primitives 
                near the far clipping plane

        Version 1.00.06
      - BugFix: illegal memory access with some drawings from
                3D Studio MAX R2.5

        Version 1.01.00
      - Feature: Simple fog can be rendered in the viewports
      - Feature: Easy configuration selection:
                 Speed - Quality - Customize
      - Feature: Welcome dialog when using MAXtreme the first time 
                 or with a new version.

        Version 1.01.01
      - Feature: Fog Background is supported now.

        Version 1.01.02
      - BugFix: Version 1.01.01 crashed on enabling vertex coloring.

        Version 1.01.03
      - BugFix: Fog with animated color is correctly animanted.

        Version 1.01.04
      - Feature: Fogging is supported with non-default near and far
                 values.
                 An OpenGL driver version of at least 2.01.14.124
                 is required. Not all graphics cards support this
                 feature.

        Version 1.01.05
      - BugFix: Background images are animated correct.
      - BugFix: Fogging can be switched off in the configuration 
                dialog.

        Version 1.02.00
      - Feature: Transparency can be switched to
                 - disabled
                 - standard (Screen Door)
                 - blended

        Version 1.02.01
      - BugFix: Lit Wireframe is drawn correctly.
      - BugFix: Objects with "Vertex Colors" on are drawn with the
                correct color.

        Version 1.03.00
      - Feature: Support of stereo in viewports
      - Feature: Additional Plugin: MAXtremeStereo
      - Feature: New Online Help

        Version 1.04.00
      - Feature: Supports ELSAInfo
      - BugFix: Transparent elements are always drawn with the
                correct depth information

        Version 1.04.01
      - BugFix: Background Images are drawn correct (in mono as well
        as in stereo).
      - BugFix: The user interface of MAXtremeStereo uses the
        selected language.

        Version 1.04.02
      - Feature: Localized versions in french, italian, and spanish.
      - BugFix: Some errors with transparency type blended corrected.

        Version 1.05.00
      - Feature: Sorted Blended Transparency.

        Version 1.06.00
      - Feature: Additional Plugin: MAXtremeRender

        Version 1.06.01
      - BugFix: Crashes with MAXtremRender repaired.
      - Feature: With new NT-drivers you can easily switch online
                 between stereoscopic and monoscopic display.

        Version 1.07.00
      - Feature: MAXtremeRender and MAXtremeStereo can be used on the
                 same viewport.

        Version 1.08.00
      - Feature: MAXtremeStereo can render stereoscopic views to
                 pairs or sequences of pairs of files.
      - Feature: The user interface of MAXtremeRender is new.
      - BugFix: In stereoscopic views all transparent modi are
                handled correct.
      - Feature: Improved installation path detection.

        Version 1.08.01
      - Feature: Separating installation on two disks.

        Version 1.08.02
      - BugFix: Readme.txt is correctly copied and displayed again.

        Version 1.08.03/2.00.00
      - Feature: First support of 3D Studio MAX R3.

        Version 1.08.04/2.00.01
      - BugFix: Display error with some faces with four vertices.

        Version 1.08.05/2.00.02
      - BugFix: Fog: temporarily inactive fogs are no more used.
      - BugFix: MAXtremeStereo: Stereo recognition went lost in
                previous version.
      - BugFix: MAXtremeRender: Animating a non-rendered view while
                an other view was rendered resulted in rendering of
                the animated view.
      - BugFix: Highlighting of selected vertices went lost in
                previous version.

        Version 1.08.06/2.00.03
      - BugFix: Localization completed.
      - BugFix: On Synergy II now textures are displayed in every
                view.

        Version 1.08.07/2.00.04
      - BugFix: Transparency: Update error with blended and sorted
                blended transparency fixed.
      - BugFix: MAXtremeRender: Error on Reset fixed.

        Version 1.08.08/2.00.05
      - BugFix: Transparency: Blended and SortedBlended now ignore
                the transparency or a texture map. This is the same
                behaviour as with Standard transparency.
      - BugFix: MAXtremeRender: Error on Update fixed.

        Version 1.08.09/2.00.06
      - BugFix: Display error with blended transparency fixed.

        Version 1.08.10/2.00.07
      - Feature: Usage of a better shading/lighing model speeds
                 animation of some models drastically.

        Version 1.08.11/2.00.08
      - Feature: With 3D Studio MAX R3 surfaces in wireframe mode are
                 displayed in a slightly different way than in 3D
                 Studio MAX R2.x. Therefore there is a new button in
                 the configuration dialog where you can select
                 between fast display with additional visible lines
                (default) and the slow but absolutely correct display
      - BugFix: On GLoria XL/XXL there was no Dual Planes support in
                stereo-capable resolutions. Now there is a button in
                the configuration dialog, where you can explicitly
                select stereo support.

        Version 1.09.00/2.01.00
      - Feature: With 3D Studio MAX R3 the driver can have direct
                 access to mesh data. This is the default now with
                 MAXtreme. Because of an error in 3D Studio MAX R3
                 textures may be displayed wrong. This is expected to
                 be fixed with 3D Studio MAX R3.1.
      - Feature: The Configuration dialog was slightly modified.
      - BugFix: The Transform Gizmo of 3D Studio MAX R3 have been
                displayed wrong on transparent objects using Blended/
                SortedBlended transparent mode.

        Version 1.09.01/2.01.01
      - Feature: MAXtreme installs a menu entry into the 3D main
                 menu. Here you have direct access to the
                 configuration dialog.
      - Feature: The user interface of MAXtreme Render and Stereo
                 have changed to dialogs.
      - BugFix: Problems of MAXtreme Render with transparent objects
                are fixed.
      - BugFix: When installing MAXtreme for 3D Studio VIZ, it is
                registered correctly to be the default driver.

        Version 1.09.02/2.01.02
      - BugFix: Direct Mesh Access works now with SortedBlended
                Transparency.

        Version 1.10.00/2.02.00
      - Feature: The size of large vertex dots is customizable.
      - BugFix: The error described in 1.09.00/2.01.00 above could be
                fixed inside the driver. Therefor the configuration
                dialog does not include a toggle to switch off direct
                mesh access any more.

        Version 1.10.01/2.02.01
      - BugFix: Wrong display on Synergy II, if transprancy is set to
                'Blended' or 'SortedBlended'.

        Version 1.11.00/2.03.00
      - Feature: Anti-aliased lines are possible in rendered views.
      - BugFix: 'Edged Faces' in rendered views on transparent
                materials with transparency set to 'Sorted Blended'
                are correct now.

        Version 1.11.01/2.03.01
      - BugFix: Textures are drawn correct on transparent materials
                with transparency set to 'Blended' and
                'SortedBlended'.

        Version 1.11.02/2.03.02
      - BugFix: Fixed crash on Synergy II.
      - BugFix: MAXtremeRender works correct with antialiased lines
                in rendered views.

        Version 1.11.03/2.03.03
      - BugFix: Starts correctly on non-english versions of 3DS MAX.
      - BugFix: Color shifts corrected.

        Version 1.11.04/2.03.04
      - Feature: Instead of the standard background you can use the
                 environment background color in rendered views. This
                 is also used by the Production/Draft render.

        Version 1.11.05/2.03.05
      - BugFix: MAXtremeRender now works with the Blur Effect.

        Version 1.11.06/2.03.06
      - BugFix: No more false lines in shaded views with textures
                when line antialiasing is enabled.
      - Feature: Size of Vertex Dots is custumizable.

        Version 2.04.03
      - No Support for 3DS MAX 2.x.
      - Feature: MAXtreme now has a detailed help based on compiled
                 HTML.
      - BugFix: Minor problems with transparency fixed.

        Version 2.04.04
      - BugFix: Bug on switching to stereo fixed.
      - BugFix: Display errors on switching between one and four
                views fixed.

        Version 2.04.05
      - BugFix: Bug on opening MAXtremeStereo fixed.

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6.      Known Problems

        Fog :

      - The 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.
        With 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.
        With MAXtreme, it happens to be that such picture elements
        are not completely clear but seem to be fogged.

      - The Toggle 'Active' in the 'Atmosphere' section of the
        'Environment' dialog is not supported. Supported fog is
        always rendered as active in the viewports.

        Stereo:

      - With Stereo selected, there is no Dual Planes support in
        stereo capable resolutions.

        MAXtremeStereo:

      - When storing a stereo-paired animation as defined in the
        'Render' dialog, 'File Number Base' is ignored. The animation
        frames are stored with a 'File Number Base' of zero.