CompuServe Thread

#How to use two monitors?

4 messages in this thread
#151433From: SUS [SEA]Feb 7, 1995 2:50 AM
Hi to all. Does anybody know how to connect two monitors to my computer so I can see my last rendered images or anything else in one and use the other one normally at the same time? With Thanks Sus.
#151453From: John K. JordanFeb 7, 1995 9:07 AM
>>two monitors… For 3DS, I think the best way to do this is to render to a separate frame buffer board. I use an ATVISTA board connected to an NTSC monitor. This allows the last thing I render to remain on the screen until I render over it. This way I can refer to the rendered image while I work on the mesh on the computer's monitor. (Another big advantage is being able to re-render just a small region of the image to compare modeling or material changes to what is already on the screen) There are a number of frame buffer boards available, such as the Targa and others which are cheaper than the ATVISTA. I think Gus Grubba recently mentioned he has a Targa for sale. >>see my last rendered images or anything else… The problem with a frame buffer is you cannot easily display "anything else", if by "anything else" you mean screens and data that normally appears on your computer monitor. From within 3DS you CAN display any image from your disk as well as the sample spheres from the Materials Editor. JKJ
#151613From: Paul Sanford [LVL5]Feb 8, 1995 12:55 AM
Hi Sus, (sorry John, I lost the original message) In case you weren't aware of it, check your 3ds.set file to turn "Last Rendered Image" on. This will allow you to call up your last rendering with the Render/View/Last command on your VGA monitor. You can't simultaneously view the image and model, but at least it's there for reference. I own a Targa+64 framebuffer card like John mentioned. Some of my output is for video, and the Targa outputs to a regular TV monitor, which is important for checking for proper NTSC colors, etc. Even if your not going out to video, it's nice to render to it because the image stays on the TV monitor until flushed out by another image. You can also display your F5 Materials Editor spheres on the framebuffer. Paul S.
#151608From: DONALD NEWLANDSFeb 8, 1995 12:17 AM
We have been looking at Matrox Impression boards for dual monitor support… I have used a Targa boards for this purpose for six years:) but we don't need the $$ video output of these boards. -Donald