README.ACA                  MATROX GRAPHICS INC.            February 3, 1995


                           The MGA AutoCAD Driver
                               Revision 1.64

This floppy disk contains the MATROX MGA DynaView AutoCAD driver for DOS.
This driver works with AutoCAD 11, AutoCAD 12, and 3D Studio 2. 3D Studio 3
is supported through the Autodesk inline driver.
 

Floppy contents:

   README.ACA           This file
   INSTALL.EXE          Installation program
   FILES1.ZIP           Product files
   PKUNZIP.EXE          Unzip utility

Product files: 

   README.ACA           This file
   DYNAVIEW.DOC         Advanced dynaview documentation
   RCMGA.EXP            The driver
   DV3DADS.EXP          DynaView/3D ADS module

   MENU_CMP.EXE         Menu compiler and decompiler
   PALNAME.EXE          Custom Color Palette utility
   STANDARD.PAL         Standard color palette
   BLACKVEC.EXE         Black vector enable/disable utility
   MATPAUSE.EXE         DOS Shell pause enable/disable utility

   MAT8X14.FNT          8 X 14  font file
   MAT8X16.FNT          8 X 16  font file
   MAT12X20.FNT         12 X 20 font file
   MAT12X24.FNT         12 X 24 font file

   WALK.LSP             Sample Lisp program for 3D walk-throughs

   ACAD.MNU             MATROX customized AutoCAD 12 menu file
   ADD-ON.MNU           MATROX changes to menu file

   DV3DLDIR.DWG         Directional light icon
   DV3DLPOS.DWG         Positional light icon
   DV3DLSPO.DWG         Spot light icon

   MPOPUP.BIN           DynaView/2D popup menu
   MPOPUP.DEF           DynaView/2D menu source
   MPO3D.BIN            DynaView/3D popup menu
   MPOP3D.DEF           DynaView/3D menu source
   VBAR.BIN             Sample menu
   VBAR.DEF             Sample menu source
   SLIDE.SLB            Slide library for menus
  
Software Installation and Configuration:

   To install the driver files, type:

      a:install

   The default path for installation is C:\MGA\ACADRV\.

   During installation, if you state that you have AutoCAD Rel 12, the driver 
   can be automatically copied to the ACAD12 driver subdirectory (normally 
   \ACAD12\DRV). Make sure to provide the proper path.

   After installation, make sure that the batch file ACADRV.BAT is executed, 
   in order to set the proper environment variables.

   To configure AutoCAD Rel 12 and the driver:

      - Enter:  cd \acad12
      - make sure that the new ACAD 12 "ACADDRV" variable is set
      - start AutoCAD with "acad -r"
      - select Matrox MGA 1.64 driver

   To configure AutoCAD Rel 11 and the driver:

      - Enter:  cd \acad11
      - start AutoCAD
      - select Configure AutoCAD
      - select Configure Video Display
      - select ADI P386 v4.0/4.1
   
   You will then automatically enter into the Matrox driver configuration 
   program.

Configuring 3D Studio :

Version 3.0
  Autodesk supports the MGA in their 3D Studio 3.0 inline driver.
  This is an Autodesk driver and is is available from Autodesk on
  Compuserve and also in the 3D Studio box.

Version 2.0
  The DynaView driver also supports 3D Studio version 2.0. 

  If you have two monitors, we recommend that you use the regular VGA
  driver(or VESA) for the main and material displays, and the MGA
  DynaView driver (in 24-bit mode) for the rendering. Find and change
  the corresponding lines in the 3ds.set file so that they match the
  statements below :
  
     RENDER-DISPLAY=RCPADI
     MAIN-DISPLAY=VGA
     MATERIAL-DISPLAY=VGA
  
  You need to modify only the the line which assigns the RENDER-DISPLAY.
  (Remember to remove the semicolon at the start of each line.)
  This is the recommended setup for complete 3D Studio support.

  To use the MGA DynaView driver for two of the three displays, you can
  also set MAIN-DISPLAY = RCPADI.

  If you have only one monitor, you can set all of the three displays to
  use our driver (RCPADI).

  In order to configure the driver, delete the 3dadi.cfg file before
  starting 3D Studio. When you start the program, you are first presented
  with the question:

  Does your computer have a VGA or SVGA board? (Y)
  If you want to use 2 monitors, answer Y.
  If you want to use only one monitor, answer N.

  Next, you will automatically be presented with the Matrox driver
  configuration program. If you wish to change things such as the
  resolution and pixel depth, do it now and save your changes. 

  You will be presented with two more questions. We recommend that
  you accept the default response to these questions. See your 3D Studio
  documentation for more information about these questions. The
  questions are:

  Will the RDPADI render on a separate screen ? (Y)
  Will the RCPADI render on a separate screen ? (unlikely) (N)

  The program will automatically start after you answer the last prompt.

AutoShade Configuration :

  Matrox supports only AutoShade 386, Version 2.0.
  AutoShade uses many devices, two of which are supported 
  by our driver: the display device and the rendering device.

  In order to configure, go to the AutoShade directory and enter "shade /r".
  If this is the first time you are using AutoShade, you can simply enter
  "shade".

  Select the appropriate pointing device at the prompt.

  The Display device, is used to display menus, wire-frame renderings, and
  so on. To use the Matrox ADI protected mode driver, select: P386 Autodesk
  Device Interface display driver.

  The Rendering device is used to display AutoShade solid models. To choose
  the ADI protected mode driver, select: P386 Autodesk Device Interface
  rendering driver.

  Answer the remaining questions as follows :

  Do the display and rendering devices share a single screen?
  If both rendering and display devices are Matrox ADI, answer Y.
  Else, answer N.

  Does flipscreen require a redraw?
  If both rendering and display devices are Matrox ADI answer Y.
  Else, answer N.

  The last AutoShade configuration question prompts you to  select your hard
  copy device. After answering this question, the AutoShade  screen appears.

DynaView/2D commands:

   The easiest way to use the DynaView/2D commands is to call the included 
   popup menu by typing at AutoCAD's command line:

      MPOPUP

   It is also possible to call MPOPUP from the keyboard using CTRL+L, or to 
   use the modified ACAD.MNU file included on the distribution disk. See the 
   documentation for more details.

   DynaView/2D includes commands such as Bird's Eye, Spy Glass, as well as
   windowing features such as scroll bars and Text Window. See the DynaView/2D
   chapter for a complete description of the features.

   There are Rel 12 and Rel 11 versions of the MPOPUP menu. The Rel 12 one is 
   using the underscore command prefix for AutoCAD commands, so it will work 
   on international versions of AutoCAD. If you have any problems, go in the
   \mga\acadrv directory and check the MPOPUP, MPOPUP11 and MPOPUP12 files.

DynaView/3D commands:

   DynaView/3D will yield gouraud shaded rendering on the MGA Impression 
   family of products. On Ultima products, only wireframe rendering
   is supported.

   The easiest way to use the DynaView/3D commands is to call the included 
   popup menu by typing at AutoCAD's command line:

      MPOP3D

   Like DynaView/2D, it is also possible to use the modified ACAD.MNU file 
   included on the distribution disk. See the documentation for more details.

   Before you can use the DynaView/3D commands, it is necessary to load the 
   associated ADS application. This can be done via our modified AutoCAD menu
   file or our DynaView 3D popup. Alternately, assuming you have installed
   the driver in the default directory, you may load the ADS application by
   typing the following line at the AutoCAD command prompt:
   (xload "c:/mga/acadrv/dv3dads.exp").
   See the documentation for more details.

DYNAVIEW.DOC:
  For advanced information on dynaview refer to the DYNAVIEW.DOC file.

Driver history:

   1.10 version
   - optimizations

   1.11 version
   - bug fixes with the grid function and the vertex selection in 3D studio.

   1.20 version
   - support for the MGA Pro

   1.30 version
   - support for the MGA-II based boards
   - 8 bpp modes now handled in 256 colors LUT mode

   1.32 version
   - recompiled to fix monitor timing problems at high refresh rates

   1.40 version
   - optimized regen/copy/move/ operations
   - optimized highlighting operation
   - optimized display list clean-up
   - added support for Autoshade 386

   1.41 version
   - support for CAD Overlay GSX 
   - support for Calcomp and Hitachi HDG tablets 
   - other bug fixes

   1.42 version
   - fixed problem related to programming of ATT ramdac
   - fixed video display problems at certain resolutions
   - support for new PCI bus chip

   1.50 version
   - added support for Impression+/PCI boards
   - modified mode selection mechanism
   - more modes, in particular smooth animation now available in 16 and 24 
     bpp on all Ultima boards
   - DynaView/3D support for new Impression+ boards
   - added border, hidden, and flat drawing modes for DynaView/3D

   1.60 version
   - support for new Impression Lite/PCI
   - added animation in wireframe for modes without smooth animation
     in Dynaview/3D
   - fixes bug regarding moving of windows while clicking on mouse
     buttons

   1.61 version
   - added support for Impression Lite/VL
   - fixed configuration problem with Impression Pro/VL

   1.63 version
   - added support for Impression+/AT
   - minor low level fixes regarding video shift

   1.64 version
   - fixed problem with the AutoCAD configuration program with multiple boards
   - fixed problem with corrupted mpop11.bin file. This file contains
     information that is used to display the Matrox mpopup in ACAD 11.
     We beleive these files were corrupted as of v1.63.
   - fixed problem with vbar11.bin and vbar12.bin incorrectly referencing
     matrox.slb (slide) abd and not slide.slb. The vbarxx.bin files contain
     information that is used in the Matrox default vertical bar popup.


                        KNOWN BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

3D Studio:

 - See "Configuring 3D Studio" section above for recommended configurations.

 - When using the Matrox driver, the mapping symbol, from the Surface/Mapping
   menu will appear in black instead of yellow with one side in green to
   differentiate left and right.

 - When using the Matrox driver, the Material Editor does not work well when
   configured to work in MGA high resolution in 16bpp and 24bpp. 

DynaView/3D: 

  DynaView/3D will yield gouraud shaded rendering on the MGA Impression 
  family of products. On Ultima products, only wireframe rendering
  is supported.

Text Window:

  Certain third party applications may not work correctly with the Matrox
  text window. This could typically happen with applications which
  put up menus and colored backgrounds in the acad text screen. If
  problems occur with the text window it should be disabled from
  the configuration.

TILEMODE 0:

  There are a few known problems with the driver in TILEMODE 0 mode, for 
  instance, with viewport borders. Workaround: some problems can be avoided 
  by disabling the DynaView Graphic Window, through the driver configuration 
  utility.
  Other problems will require the use of the "redrawall" command.

AME and AVE Render:

  There may be some crashes with the advanced modeling extension when you try 
  rendering a drawing. This occurs in the 16 and 24 bpp modes, and is not
  a Matrox specific problem.

  When using AVE render with 8bpp resolutions with 3D and smooth
  animation enabled, the shades of grey in the object will appear awkward.
  For better/smoother looking color changes choose any color other than
  grey if possible. This will be improved in the next release.
  
  When re-configuring AutoCAD and switching from an 8bit 2D mode to a mode
  which is not also 8bit 2D, subsequent AVE renders may result in incorrect
  results on your display. Switching in the reverse manner may also cause
  problems. The workaround is to quit AutoCAD after having re-configured
  and re-enter in such a case.
 
Performance hints:

  The use of a disk cache program is recommended for better performances.

Digitizing tablets:

  The "interrupt" mode is recommended over the "poll" mode when using the 
  Calcomp tablet with slower systems (486). With Pentium systems, it
  is recommended that you use polling mode and set the VSCAN flag to a
  very large number such as 8,000,000. The VSCAN flag is set by the
  CFIG386.EXE program.

  It is no longer necessary to use the Dynaview MTABCFG command before using 
  the AutoCAD TABLET command.
  
