#3DS & Vision16
13 messages in this thread
I Hope you can give me some assistance. I am new owner of 3D Studio and I
am having a little problem with getting it to work with a Vision16 board a
friend lent me (I do plan to get a Targa+ 64 eventually.) I have no TSR's
in my autoexec.bat file, I do have these two lines; SET EV680MAP=6 ,as per
3DS installation manual, and
SET EV680=P208,ADC00,031G57NH42S42C48 (This is the default setup by the
Vision software with the board installed using the factory default
settings.) After I configure 3DS for the Vision16 board, when I go to
render I get the error message "Invalid EV680 Enviroment Variable", well
O.K., but what do I have to fix?
I hope you can give me some insight as to what I should do.
Thanks!
P.S. One of our Interns who is a MAC fanatic, started learning 3DS.
Iasked him after a while how he liked it. A big grin came across his face
and he said "I like it!, its easier than anything I've used on the Mac" I
thought you might like to hear that.
Allie,
Try using just the following line for your SET EV680= statement:
SET EV680=p218,ADC00
I use the V16 with the ACC00 memory address, so if you're still having
problems with ADC00, try changing the jumpers on your board to comply with
CC00. (For some reason, I thought CC00 was the default.)
I'm not sure what all that other junk means, but 3DS certain doesn't need
it.
I'm not surprised to hear the reaction from your Mac intern. Almost every
3D MacHead who's used 3DS has appreciated the user interface. Unfortunately
for Mac people, the tight constraints of the Macintosh user interface
guidelines make it difficult to pack the 3DS level of functionality into a
Mac. 3DS has sold quite a few 486 boxes into previously-100% Mac shops
recently.
What institution are you working at?
– G
Thanks for the input, I'll give it a try.
I have my own business doing special effects and model making called ACP
Imaging Services. A friend of mine has a traditional animation studio
called Animatus.
From what my friend saw of what I was doing with Animator (soon to be
Animator Pro!) He decided he should look into adding computer animation.
So we struck a bargain, He got a 486-33 with a 210 meg HD and I bought 3D
Studio, and we would both work together at trying to get a larger client
base. (It was one of those "I can afford one, but not both" situations.
A friend of mine who does animations that she sells a lot to cable and
syndication is even interested. Which is saying a lot since she is used to
a Quantel Paintbox.
Again, thanks for your help.
Allie,
Sure we can help you out. Shorten the EV680 setting to "SET
EV680=P208,ADC00" and you should be ok. All that other stuff are things
that Everex seems to know about but we didn't at the time. I guess if we
had to do it all over again, the driver would have been written to ignore
all the weird stuff.
-GB-
Thanks, I tried it with no luck. If I shorten it then the Colorsheme I
software I use for frame grabbing will not work.
I tried the P218 without changing the jumper first and 3DS went through the
activity of rendering, but I got nothing on the display. So, I then
changed the jumper and tried it again, 3DS gave me the Invalid statement
again. Next I changed the ADC00 to ACC00 in the .bat file and on the
jumper. I got "cannot locate EV680 variable" plus Colorscheme would not
load, it said it could not locate the frame buffer.
I finally set the EV680 line back to the way it was and put the jumpers on
the board back to their default positions. Colorscheme now works again.
In 3DS I now get that "Cannot locate EV680 variable" again.
I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone with this board, it has a mind of it's
own, "I don't have to run 3DS if I don't want to".<grin>
This is making going into debt for a Targa+ 64 look inviting.
Any advice you could give me will be appreciated.
In advance, Thanks,
How bizarre…
My Vision16 setup statement looks like this:
SET EV680=p218,ACC00 SET EV680MAP=6
It works perfectly. Are all of your jumpers set to the defaults? The only
non-default jumper in my configuration is the memory address location at
CC00 instead of DC00. Make sure all of your text is in caps, too (I think
that makes a difference).
Of course, I'm assuming you've got your DEFAULT-DISPLAY set to Vision16 in
your 3DS.SET file.
We'll see what Grant says.
– G
A-HA! I think you found my problem.
I was putting the EV680Map=6 in as a separate line.
As soon as Fred takes a break from the 3DS tutorial, I'll give it a try.
Thanks,
Allie
Curses! Foiled again.
I redid my EV680 line as per your example, except for the ACC00 part. No
luck, I still get the "Cannot locate EV680 Variable" error message.
The Default-display is set for Vision16 as per the installation manual, and
the Vision16 jumpers are set to their defaults.
I do have Norton Utilities and Norton Back Up in the Autoexec.bat file. I
wonder I they might have anything to do with this, Hmmmm.
Well, Fred wants back on the computer, so I'll have to leave it for now.
Thanks,
Allie
I think Gary's settings got formatted incorrectly. The EV680 and EV680MAP
settings should be placed on seperate lines.
Try this:
SET EV680=P208,ADC00
SET EV680MAP=6
I know that it won't work with Colorscheme, but see if it'll work with 3DS.
If it does, then you'll have to start changing EV680 when you switch
programs.
-GB-
Hooray! It works!
Thanks Grant that did it. Even as I write this the 486 in the other room
is rendering its little CPU out. The output looks real good, though I
assume output from a Targa+ 64 would look even better. No matter, the
Vision16 is a loaner anyway.
Grant, Gary thanks for all your help, it is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Allie
Fantastic! Hooray!
Now that you're rendering in 16-bit mode (really 15-bits since the 16th bit
is just for overlay), I can tell you that you're missing out on the entire
world of color by not using a 24-bit display. You don't need a Targa+64…
a Targa+32 will do fine.
Once I switched up from a 16 to 24-bit display I realized I could never go
back. Try it!
– G
Thanks for the opinion.
We'll still get the Targa+ 64,(when we can afford it,) because the
Videoworks program that works on it is a real neat switcher, and a Targa+
64 is what it NEEDS to make it fly. Besides with the business we do I know
that sooner or later we would need a 64.
Again thanks for all your help,
Allie
Allie,
I'd suggest putting down a deposit on a Targa+ 64 right now, and
have a dealer reserve one for you. The Videomaker+ software you refer to
is offered FREE with the Targa+ only until the *END OF THIS MONTH! After
that, the price is *** $300 ***. A deposit of say, 20-25% should be
sufficient for a dealer to go ahead with the purchase before the end of the
offer, even if delivery would need to be delayed (if a short while) until
you had all the funds.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates