Copyright (C) 1986-2009 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
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This Web site is dedicated to the thousands of "users" of my programs, those who have helped test my programs over the last 23 or so years, and especially those who shared their experiences with me.
You must read this notice: This is a licensed Web site (HTML document and associated files). You must read and agree to be legally bound in contract by the Terms of Use and conditions given in the End User License Agreement ("EULA"), Legal Notices, Instructions, Warnings, Disclaimers, and all other text in "SECTION: 0" of "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) before reading or using any of the information, software programs, and or files, contained in, linked to, and or associated with, "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files). Any use or "Beta Testing" of "This Web Site" constitutes your acknowledgment of your full agreement with the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") and your decision to have this current license supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings. Information and files in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) have been placed here so that long time users of "The Author's" programs DANCAD3D.COM (tm) , DANCAD87.EXE (tm), DANCINEL.EXE (tm), DANCINES.EXE (tm) , DANCAM.EXE (tm) , or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) could help proofread the text of the documentation files or screens displayed, and also help test data files, example files, and or any software programs that might be made available from time to time, to aid "The Author" in finding mistakes, bugs, and other errors, omissions, defects, mistakes, and faults. Everything in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) is "Beta Test", "Beta Code", Experimental, Preliminary, requires proofreading, or is being evaluated for possible revision, and is NOT warranted to be free of defect. To help "The Author" report any bugs, foul-ups, defects, or mistakes that you find, see "SECTION: 8" for instructions. "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) and all other files and programs by Daniel H. Hudgins are made available "AS IS" without warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. All offers and specifications are subject to change or discontinuation without notice of any kind. Please look over "SECTION: 8" of "This Web Site" before contacting "The Author."
This section has text mostly about revisions to the "Beta Test" version v2.7G of my CAD and v2.74 CAM programs, and might be looked to for updated information relating to changes from v2.7F, regarding some of the revised or added program features. There may be changes made in versions subsequent to the revisions of the version of v2.7G that alter what is described in this section as it applies to that subsequent version. See also any other documentation files, and pages in this Web site (HTML document) for additional and or any more recent information.
The HTML documentation in this SECTION: 3.3.7.7 was derived from the text in the file INFOV27G.TXT that is, or was at one time, included in my *.ZIP file archive DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). You may find the current revision of DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) to download by going to SECTION: 9.70.51.0. My file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) may also archive some other types of files like the ones described in this section, so check the current *.ZIP file in its current revision to see what exactly might be in it.
You may not distribute, sell, rent, share, or give away these HTML documentation files or printed copies of them. You may not extract text from these HTML documentation files for distribution, sale, rent, sharing, or giving away. You can use the [Print] option in your browser to make one copy for yourself to mark up in order to help me proofread the text for mistakes.
Documents may be available to download from time to time, you can check SECTION: 9 to see what the current situation with regard to downloadable files is. The names of these documentation files may change, and they may be edited, combined, or eliminated in the future, without notice.
You may need to adjust your browser for best viewing of the pre- formatted text by changing the "font" size using the commands in your browser (see the help in your browser, or use the pull-down menus in your HTML browser.) If some letters in words on the screen appear to be missing or scrambled try changing the font size in your browser as this sometimes happens even though the words are spelled correctly in the HTML code.
Use the "Edit, Find in page Ctrl+F" or "Edit, Find (in this page)... Ctrl+F" command in your browser to search for keywords within the documentation text in this HTML page. You will need to search over again in the other pages in this HTML document for the same keyword since your browser may not search for a keyword beyond the current page that is loaded.
My current file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) is a *.ZIP file that holds the current "Beta Test" versions of my programs and associated files for "Beta Testing." This section refers to the preliminary revision of the v2.7G version of the programs, look for other sections or documentation relating to any subsequent revisions.
The use and copying of these programs and files are governed by my current Terms of Use and End User License Agreement ("EULA") which are located in SECTION: 0 of this "Beta Test" Web site. You must read and fully agree to be legally bound by the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") before you use or "Beta Test" any of the files in my file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). If you are unable to read and agree to the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") do not use or "Beta Test" any of the files in my program distribution, the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) archive file.
Be sure that you scan the programs and files in my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) for virus or other contamination since you are responsible for checking them before you use them. These programs and this information are made available "AS-IS" and are without warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. Since these programs are "Beta Test" you must agree to become a "Beta Tester" before you make any use of them, see the End User License Agreement ("EULA") in this "Beta Test" Web site for more information. Be sure to read the current instructions in this "Beta Test" Web site regarding procedures for reporting program bugs and other such problems.
On some systems the *.ASC data files, or *.MAC macro files, may be able to be renamed *.TXT to avoid certain kinds of file type misinterpretation by text editor type programs and such. Thank you for helping test these "Beta Test" CAD and CAM programs.
A *.TXT file version, similar to some of the text in this S0303077.HTM Section, may be included in the v2.7G revision of my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file (see the "downloads" SECTION: 9 of this "Beta Test" Web site). See the text in any files like README.*, FILES.TXT, and INFOV27G.TXT stored in my current DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). You should check for the current types of document files because they may be more up-to-date than this *.HTM file, or it is possible that this HTML file could be more up to date, depending on which one got worked on last.
Below is text from file INFOV27G.TXT that was written to be included in a preliminary revision of version v2.7G of my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) distribution for preliminary information about changes in version v2.7G of the CAD and v2.74 of the CAM programs. You should read this information before you try to use or "Beta Test" the revised programs. This information is in addition to the previous documentation, i.e. a supplement to, and does not go into detail about many of the previously documented features, so you should therefore review the other sections and documentation as well. See also INFO16.TXT in file DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) for revisions relating to v3.7 of the programs.
The text of INFOV27G.TXT was derived from some notes I made to myself as I worked on the code for v2.7G, so you should check this document, and the other documentation, against the programs before you do any "serious" testing of the programs since there may be some differences between the descriptions here and the current state of development of commands and features in the programs. Please report any discrepancies between the documentation and the programs or files that you find. Some of the text from this section may have been incorporated into the other sections of this Web site, in doing that some of the text may have been further revised, and so may contain additional information, therefore after reading through all of this section you should also read through all of the other portions of this Web site, even those portions that might seem to be duplicates.
I have kept this preliminary information in one long file so that you can use the "find in page" feature of your HTML browser to search for a keyword relating to some new command or feature you are looking for more information about, otherwise you might have to search through more files.
See also the This Section and About DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) sub-sections above, as well as SECTION: 9.70.0.0 and SECTION: 9.70.51.0 for more information about v2.7.
DOCUMENT: INFOV27G.TXT
Copyright (C) 2003 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
Terms of use: This "Beta Test" document may only be used in accord and within
the limitations imposed by the current End User License Agreement "EULA" posted
at the author's Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm) in file S0000000.HTM, any other
use or copying is prohibited. This document is provided "AS IS" without
warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. Mistakes, errors, and
omissions should be reported according to the instructions in SECTION: 8 of the
current "On-Line" version of my Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm).
This preliminary document has some brief descriptions of changes made to my CAD
and CAM programs DANCAD3D.COM (tm), DANCAD87.COM (tm), DANCAM.EXE (tm), and
DANPLOT.EXE (tm) between the release of v2.7F and the "Beta Test" release of
v2.7G. This file is meant to be included in the initial "Beta Test" v2.7G
distribution to help long time users acquaint themselves with some of the many
changes that have been made to the programs. If you are not a long time user
you will most probably need to read all of the text located at my "Beta Test"
Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm) before you read this document in order to make
practical use of it. This document is not a complete list of changes made to
the programs, and may not reflect the operation of the version of the program
accompanying it in all respects. The programs may be still undergoing change,
so the results obtained from any of the commands may be different than
expected, and the operation of older commands may have changed as well. Since
so many changes have been made to the programs you should not expect any of the
commands to operate as you have used them in the past, and you should
frequently back-up and save what you are working on so that you do not lose
everything when the program crashes. All specifications, descriptions, and
instructions are subject to change without notice.
Be sure to see also the file INFO16.TXT that is in archive DANCAD16.ZIP (tm).
I would like to thank the thousands of users of my programs who have helped
"Beta Test" the many revisions of my programs since about 1986, I hope you will
enjoy checking out some of the newer program features that I have spent so many
years working on. Best wishes for success in your projects.
---
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ABOUT CHANGES IN CAD V2.7G JULY 4, 2003
The main change from v2.7F to v2.7G is the addition of support for the SVGA
VESA 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp (bit per pixel) video modes. Because the VESA
video mode code numbers can have different meanings on different video boards,
changes were made to the video mode selection prompt, and the macro GRAPH_MODE
command to let you select the desired VESA video mode in three ways, directly
by entering the code number, by seeking the code number by entering the screen
resolution values, and by picking the code number from a list of modes that the
video board reports.
Because SVGA video boards on different computers support different or
incompatible video mode code numbers Pixel files made on one computer may not
display on another computer. Also automatic output macro files generated on
one computer may need to be edited in order to run on another computer, since
the video board or monitor on the other computer may not support all of the
video modes that the first computer supported.
Also just because your video board reports that it supports a given resolution,
that does not mean that your video monitor will also support that resolution.
If you pick a VESA video mode code that activates a resolution that your
monitor does not support you may damage your monitor. Generally the video
modes that are not supported by your monitor are the ones with higher
resolutions, or odd aspect ratios. You should try the lower resolutions first,
and then check to see what video resolutions your monitor can support, perhaps
by visiting the Web site for your monitor's manufacture, and such. If your
monitor loses sync, or otherwise does not display properly after selecting a
particular video mode immediately turn off the monitor, since it may overheat
and catch on fire or otherwise burn out if operated at an unsupported
resolution or frame rate. Some newer monitors may go into a "sleep" or
"protection" mode when an unsupported resolution is selected, so you will just
see a black screen.
Despite the complicated aspects of using the VESA video modes, they offer you
the option of having anti aliasing and better shading in animations presented
on the computer's screen with the Animate command or output to film in a cine
film recorder. You can incorporate photo backgrounds through loading a BMP
frame file as a background image into the Z-Buffer, and thereby combine
computer animation with live action photo type components.
---
PARTIAL LIST OF CHANGES IN V2.7G
* The Main menu Preview command and the macro DISPLAY commands now work with
VESA video modes that have 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp for higher quality color
display than the 8 bpp modes previously supported. The control of the display
in these new modes is like the 24 bpp BMP file save option added in v2.7F, you
can select anti aliasing oversampling, sub-pixel undersampling, and dithering
values. The image size is fixed by the VESA mode selected. Some video boards
have various image sizes other than the standard ones, the program will adjust
to the pixel sizes for the particular VESA mode selected by reading the mode
information from the video board. Since the same VESA mode code number may
have different meanings on different video boards the program lets you select
the VESA mode in three ways, you can enter keyword VESA to enter the code
number directly, you can enter SEEK to have the program search for the right
mode code from the required resolution entered, and you can scroll through a
LIST of the modes that your video board reports supporting. If you monitor
does not support some of the modes that your video board supports you should
not select those modes.
* The ANIMATE command can now display VESA modes for 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp
modes. The program switches to VGA 640 by 480 mode for the pop-up menu, and
then back to VESA for the display to continue. The cine film recorder display
mode now has an extra delay before tone start option to allow for cases where
you want a delay after the image loads and the tone starts.
* The macro GRAPH_MODE command can now set VESA modes for 15, 16, 24, and 32
bpp modes. You can set the mode directly with the GRAPH_MODE VESA keyword, or
you can use GRAPH_MODE SEEK to seek the mode code for a given resolution, or
you can have a list of modes supported on the particular video board currently
in use come up with GRAPH_MODE LIST.
* Macro command SCREEN_FONT can be used to load a foreign language or special
screen font file for display in the graphic modes that use the screen font file
for the display of text on the screen. The 4 and 8 bpp SVGA modes probably use
the ROM font in the video board and would not work with this command at this
point, but the 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp SVGA VESA modes use the screen font file
and so should work with this command. The command ignores the file extension
and tacks on 814 for all modes other than CGA when it tags on 808. You can
make or edit the screen font files by using the commands in the drawing
editor's Calligraphy sub menu. This feature may have been present in some
previous versions, but was not documented in Appendix B. See below for more
details.
* The CRT NEGATIVE command has been expanded to work with the 15, 16, 24, and
32 bpp Pixel files. CRT NEGATIVE mode 1 makes a color negative image that can
be saved to another Pixel file since the color data is absolute in these video
modes, unlike the 8 bpp video modes that depend on a palette to define the
color of the pixels. Some additional processing modes have been added for the
15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp Pixel files, mode 101 makes a red negative separation,
102 makes a green negative separation, 103 makes a blue separation, 104 makes a
red positive separation, 105 makes a green positive separation, 106 makes a
blue positive separation, 107 makes a monochrome negative of the luma, i.e. W =
0.3R+0.59G+0.11B, and 108 makes a monochrome positive of the luma. The
separations can be used in a pin registered optical or contact printer to make
color release prints, perhaps without some of the color saturation loss that
might come from printing from a color negative.
---
CHANGES TO MACRO COMMANDS IN V2.7G
The GRAPH_MODE command now has three additional operational modes. These three
modes are selected by placing the keyword VESA, SEEK, or LIST in place of the
video mode code, in the format:
GRAPH_MODE VESA n
GRAPH_MODE SEEK 0 x y bpp
GRAPH_MODE LIST 0
In VESA n the n is the actual VESA mode code number in decimal notation for
your video board, for example:
GRAPH_MODE VESA 274
Will activate the 640 by 480 resolution at 24 or 32 bpp on some VESA video
boards. Be careful when reading tables of VESA modes supported from the video
board's documentation since the modes may be listed in Hexadecimal or some
other numeric format, to get the right mode the decimal, i.e. base ten, value
must be used with the VESA keyword option. The same code number may select
different results on different video boards, or different code numbers may be
required to get the same resolution on different video boards, this is a result
of how the VESA standard was adopted by the various video board manufactures.
Be sure that you do not select VESA modes that your video monitor cannot safely
display, e.g. if your monitor loses sync turn it off so that it does not burn
out or catch on fire. Check the documentation for your monitor to see what
video modes it can safely display.
In SEEK 0 x y bpp the x is the horizontal resolution in pixels, the y is the
vertical resolution in pixels, and the bpp is the desired color depth, i.e.
15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp, for example:
GRAPH_MODE SEEK 0 640 480 16
would check to see if your video board supports 640 by 480 resolution at 16
bits per pixel color depth. If the desired video mode is not supported on the
current video board a fatal error is generated and the macro stops. The zero
after SEEK is the seek mode, of which there is just mode 0 currently.
In LIST 0 the program displays a list of VESA modes that the current video
board reports, you can then pick a mode from this list that your computer's
monitor will support. The zero after LIST is the list mode, of which there is
just mode 0 currently, for example:
GRAPH_MODE LIST 0
The ECHO, OUTPUT, and OUTPUT$ commands have been altered to display text onto
the VESA 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp video modes. The DANCAD*.814 screen font file
is used for the characters. If you wish to change the screen font so that you
can display GREEK or RUSSIAN characters you can precede the ECHO, OUTPUT, or
OUTPUT$ command with the SCREEN_FONT command to load the alternative screen
font file into the screen font character table, for example:
SCREEN_FONT FONTS\RUSSIAN2.814
The INPUT, INPUT$, trace delay prompt, and file directory prompts do not
operate in the VESA 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp modes in the first release of v2.7G
since the integration of the screen font code for that change was not a simple
change to make. If you need to use some special screen fonts for user input,
you might try using the V640M2 video mode since it uses the current screen
font, and the user input commands were programed for that mode. I may someday
make some changes to the use of the screen font in other video modes, so check
the current documentation for the version you have. After changing the screen
font to a special screen font for output to the graphics screen you should
reset the screen font to the default DANCAD3D.808, DANCAD3D.814, DANCAD87.808,
or DANCAD87.814 screen font so that the trace display and some of other on
screen messages will be displayed in the default standard screen font, so that
they will be readable.
EXAMPLE: SCREEN_FONT FONTS\GREEK4.814
LOCATE 1 1 OUTPUT$ "ABCDEFG"
LOCATE 1 5 OUTPUT$ "ZYHGDSW"
SCREEN_FONT DANCAD3D.814
The LOAD PIXEL command can now load the VESA 15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp Pixel files.
The LOAD PIXEL command can automatically select the video mode that the Pixel
file was saved at, but if you try to display the Pixel files on a computer with
a different video board the VESA mode selected my not correspond to the mode
encoded into the Pixel file, so you should regenerate the Pixel files on the
other computer by using a macro, if the video boards are incompatible. For
transporting Pixel files you might convert the Pixel files into BMP files on
the first computer, then convert the BMP files back into Pixel files on the
second computer, thereby encoding the Pixels on the second computer for that
computer's video modes.
The SAVE PIXEL command requires that correct the VESA 15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp
video mode be selected, and the image be displayed onto the screen, before the
Pixel file is saved, for use with those modes.
The LOAD BMP 0 FILENAME.BMP command lets you load a 24 bpp BMP file into the
video screen when a VESA 15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp video mode is selected. The
value after LOAD BMP controls the dithering for conversion from 24 bpp to 15 or
16 bpp and would normally be set to 0 when a VESA 24 bpp or 32 bpp video mode
is selected before the BMP file is loaded. The dithering value can range from
0 to 256, but a value of 16 for 15 bpp modes or 8 for 16 bpp modes might be
typical. If the BMP file is already dithered you may not want additional
dithering when converting from 24 bpp to 15 or 16 bpp video display, and so one
would set the dithering value to 0 when loading the BMP file.
The SAVE BMP 24 FILENAME.BMP command lets you save what is displayed on the
screen in VESA 15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp video modes as a 24 bpp BMP file. The
number 24 after SAVE BMP tells the program to save the BMP file using the 24
bpp type, which currently only works if the video board is in VESA 15, 16, 24,
or 32 bpp video modes. When the video board is in 1, 2, 4, or 8 bpp video
modes set the BMP file bpp to 8 rather than 24 to save a 8 bpp BMP file.
The ANIMATE command has been configured to automatically switch the video mode
to the video mode used when the Pixel files were saved by using one of the VESA
15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp (bits per pixel) video modes. When you call the ANIMATE
command in a macro it may be best to precede ANIMATE with the macro TEXT
command rather than the GRAPH_MODE VESA command to force the video mode to
switch to the correct graphics mode based on the encoded video mode of the
first Pixel file in the animation frame set. The internal pop-up menu in the
ANIMATE command switches the video board into a VGA mode so that the text of
the pop-up menu will display 80 column rather than whatever the VESA mode is
currently at, the VESA mode is then reset after leaving the pop-up menu. A
delay option was added before the signal tone in the cine film recorder output
option so that the monitor can stabilize before the image of each frame is
exposed. A post pop-up menu delay option has also been added to the delay
option in the pop-up menu for use when using a monitor that goes black for a
few seconds after changing video modes.
In the ANIMATE command while the VESA 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp modes are being
used the pop-up menu switches the video mode temporarily. On some video
monitors the monitor "blanks" the screen for a few seconds after the video mode
changes. When you select the cine recorder exposure command you might miss the
first few frames because the monitor has not recovered from the video mode
change after the pop-up menu. To try to avoid this problem I have added
another delay value in the inter-frame delay prompt that lets you enter a delay
value so that the program will pause long enough for the monitor to stabilize
after the video mode changes and thereby enable the first frame to be exposed
properly in the cine film recorder. This delay can also be used to pause the
program so you can see the start of the other command options on slow monitors.
The delay value is entered in milliseconds, so a value of 5000 would be a five
second pause.
The background image for use with the DISPLAY command is not loaded by using
the LOAD PIXEL command when using the VESA 15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp video modes,
rather you need to assign the disk string variable B24BACK_.VAR with the name
of the 24 bpp BMP file for the background. A 24 bpp BMP file is used for the
background rather than a Pixel file since the 24 bpp BMP background image file
is loaded into the Z-Buffer in order to have the background image summed into
the anti aliasing of the computer generated image's edges, for example:
LET$ B24BACK_.VAR = YOURBACK.BMP
Since the DISPLAY command overwrites the screen in the VESA 15, 16, 24, and 32
bpp modes, if you want to display more than one workspace into the Z-Buffer you
need to add 1000, 2000, or 3000 to the perspective display mode used with the
DISPLAY command, i.e.
mode + 0 = Open new Z-Buffer, fill Z-Buffer, display, then erase.
mode + 1000 = Open new Z-Buffer, fill Z-Buffer, display, then close and keep.
mode + 2000 = Re-open old Z-Buffer, fill Z-Buffer, display, then close and keep.
mode + 3000 = Re-open old Z-Buffer, fill Z-Buffer, display, then erase.
This is just like using the Z-Buffer for other video modes. When you use the
VESA 15, 16, 24, or 32 bpp video modes with the DISPLAY command all images are
composed in the Z-Buffer so that the anti aliasing can be performed. See the
description of matters relating to the Z-Buffer in INFOV27F.TXT since what was
said there about making 24 bpp BMP files mostly also applies to using the VESA
15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp video modes except that the resolutions of the VESA
modes are limited by what modes the video board supports, and the name of the
background image is entered by selecting the Load command from the pop-up menu
in the main menu Preview command, or in a macro by using the variable
B24BACK_.VAR.
---
VESA VIDEO BOARD CONSIDERATIONS
In v2.7G the 4 bpp and 8 bpp VESA video modes are still selected by entering
the special code for the particular mode and palette desired, e.g. S640C256 for
the 8 bpp VESA mode 640 by 480 pixels with 256 value palette programed with the
DANCAD3D (tm) color palette C256, or S1280M16 for the 4 bpp VESA mode 1280 by
1024 pixels with 16 value palette programed with the DANCAD3D (tm) monochrome
palette M16.
Since the VESA 15, 16, 24, and 32 bpp video modes do not use a palette table,
but rather program each pixel with absolute values for the red, green, and blue
brightness values, and also the resolutions supported vary from one video board
to another, these VESA video modes are selected directly through their VESA
code number.
Some VESA video boards may not support all of the bpp options, or may only
support some resolutions at the 24 or 32 bpp color depth. Since the 15 and 16
bpp modes both require two bytes per pixel there is not an advantage to using
15 bpp modes when the board also supports 16 bpp at the same resolution. Some
video boards may support only 24 bpp or 32 bpp video modes, but not both.
Because the maximum frame rate obtainable when using the Animate command
depends on the Pixel file size, the VESA video mode selected will probably
effect the maximum frame rate. The 15 and 16 bpp VESA modes use two bytes per
pixel so the maximum frame rate during display with Animate will be about half
as fast as when the 8 bpp VESA, i.e. M256 or C256, video modes are used, since
the 8 bpp video modes use one byte per pixel. The 24 bpp VESA modes use three
bytes per pixel, and so run about one third as fast as the 8 bpp VESA modes.
The 32 bpp VESA modes use four bytes per pixel and so run about half as fast as
the 15 or 16 bpp VESA modes. The 32 bpp Pixel files only store 24 bits per
pixel of color information, the other 8 bits are just filler, so there is no
advantage to using the 32 bpp VESA modes in v2.7G, and the 32 bpp VESA modes
will display animation slower than the 24 bpp VESA modes, therefore you should
use the 24 bpp VESA modes if your video board supports both 32 bpp and 24 bpp
VESA modes. The 16 bpp VESA modes may look better than the 15 bpp VESA modes,
and display at the same speed, so you should use the 16 bpp VESA modes if your
video board supports both 15 bpp and 16 bpp modes at the same resolution.
---
HARDDISK CONSIDERATIONS FOR ANIMATION OF VESA MODE PIXEL FILES
The interaction of hardware and software on your computer system may effect the
rate at which animation frames display on your computer. You will need to do
your own testing to determine which settings or configuration produce the best
results on your system. Purchasing new hardware or software may not result in
any improvements. The issues discussed below, are discussed in general terms
and may not apply to your situation. These issues are mentioned to cast a
general overview of some issues that may influence performance in some cases,
but those cases may not represent typical situations. Your results may vary.
On my 733MHz PIII coppermine computer the VESA 16 bpp frames animate pretty
well at 512 by 384 resolution. With the inter-frame delay set to 0 the 24 bpp
frames animate at lower resolutions, but not quite as fast as one might like.
If you are going to use the Animate command to display the higher resolutions
at 24 bpp you might need to have a computer faster than 733MHz with a 7200RPM
or faster harddisk that uses a 2MB or larger built in buffer. The video frames
seem to animate better when using Windows 95 (tm), rather than DOS 6.22,
probably because Windows 95 (tm) may allow the ATA 66 (or 33, 100 etc.)
harddisk controller mode to be enabled, and or the disk cache may operate
somewhat differently.
If you are going to switch operating systems, or move your harddisk from one
computer to another, you may encounter problems operating a harddisk that has
the ATA mode enabled on one computer on another computer that is not setup for
using the ATA mode. If files disappear or get scrambled the problem may not be
with the programs, it may be with the harddisk being or not being enabled for
ATA modes. Older harddisks may have needed to be enabled for use with the ATA
modes, but newer harddisk may be shipped already enabled, you may need to look
into these issues if you cannot get an adequate frame rate during the display
of Animation or you get disk errors reported, or not, and such. You may also
need to check that the harddisk controller's ATA driver for the mother board
has been installed properly (from the CD that came with the mother board,
perhaps), and the driver's settings correspond to the harddisk in use.
Harddisk file access speed, when using my DOS programs, may be better when the
harddisk is formatted DOS FAT rather than "large disk" FAT 32. When a disk is
formatted DOS FAT you may only get four 2.1GB partitions for a total of 8.4GB
free formatted space on the disk, regardless of the actual disk size, so on a
20GB disk about 11.6GB might just be unused inaccessible disk space.
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HARDDISK CONSIDERATIONS FOR Z-BUFFER USE AND GOOD HARDDISK I/O
The interaction of hardware and software on your computer system may effect the
rate at which the Z-BUFFER file is accessed on your computer. You will need to
do your own testing to determine which settings or configuration produce the
best results on your system. Purchasing new hardware or software may not
result in any improvements. The issues discussed below, are discussed in
general terms and may not apply to your situation. These issues are mentioned
to cast a general overview of some issues that may influence performance in
some cases, but those cases may not represent typical situations. Your results
may vary.
The Z-BUFFER file stored on your harddisk is used by some display modes to
prepare the display image. The Z-BUFFER is accessed by frequent disk I/O, so
best display redraw speed in those modes might be obtained when disk I/O is
working quickly. Any software you have loaded on your computer that intercepts
harddisk I/O, such as an "anti-virus" or "disk doubling" program may seriously
slow down the Z-BUFFER since very many disk reads and writes are made to the Z-
BUFFER file. You may want to to disable your anti-virus software if it is
slowing down disk I/O access. You may want to use a non disk space doubled or
non compressed harddisk for the program and Z-BUFFER files if your doubled or
compressed disk slows down disk access. If your computer is or starts
accessing the Z-BUFFER file slowly you may wish to check your system for
stealth and parasitic programs. You might record the execution time for
ZBUFFER1.MAC (tm) and test again at a later date to see if your system speed
has been effected by any changes, i.e. to confirm any apparent change. Some
anti-virus programs may not detect all stealth and parasitic programs on your
computer, you may need to purchase a new harddisk and reload your clean
software from scratch. You might want to de-fragment your harddisk each day,
you might do that by entering the DOS command DEFRAG (tm) at the DOS command
prompt under DOS 6.22 (tm) or Windows 95 (tm). Since program crashes might
create disk problems you might want to run SCANDISK (tm) every day, and after
every program crash. You should backup your important files every day as well,
so you have something to fall back on when problems arise.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please visit my Web site On-Line at: http://www.DANCAD3D.com/ for additional
information. Please report bugs, mistakes, or other problems with this
document or the programs, see SECTION: 8 at the current On-Line version of my
Web site for current instructions.