Autodesk Alias 2014 for Windows

Autodesk® Alias 2014 for Windows Hardware Qualification
Last Updated: February 2014
v2014.5

Products	Platform	Version	Software Date	Build Number
Autodesk Alias Automotive Autodesk Alias Surface Autodesk Alias Design	32-bit *	2014 (20.0)	March 5, 2012	201403052036-419121
	64-bit	2014 (20.0)	March 5, 2012	201403051738-419119
* 32 bit OS support will be dropped after 2014

Supported Operating Systems and CPU Platforms

Operating System	CPU Platform
	Intel Xeon	Intel Core	AMD Opteron
Windows XP Professional SP3 XP no longer supported after 2014	✔*	✔*	✔*
Windows XP x64 Edition SP2 XP no longer supported after 2014	✔*	✔*	✔*
Windows 7 SP1 [Enterprise, Ultimate or Professional] 32 & 64-bit	✔
Windows 8 [Enterprise or Professional] 64-bit	✔
* Alias 2014 XP testing limited. XP won't be supported beyond 2014

General Hardware Requirements

Microsoft® Windows® 7, Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional SP3 or XP Professional x64® edition SP2
2 GHz Intel® or equivalent AMD Opteron® processor
4 GB RAM or more highly recommended
Disk space requirements:
- 6GB free hard disk space for Alias Automotive 2014
- 4GB free hard disk space for Alias Surface 2014
- 4GB free hard disk space for Alias Design 2014
Supported NVIDIA® or ATI graphics card with a minimum of 512 MB dedicated texture memory*
DVD-ROM drive
Three-button mouse
Wacom™ graphics tablet for sketching
.NET 4.0 framework
Adobe PDF reading capability

Important Notes
Alias Automotive, Surface and Design fully support 32 and 64-bit environments. Running the 64-bit native version requires Windows XP x64 Edition or Windows 7 64-bit.
64-bit systems may experience longer launch times when compared with the 32-bit application.
The 32-bit binary supports the /3GB switch with supported versions of Microsoft Windows. The /3GB switch allocates 3 GB of virtual address space to an application that uses IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE in the process header. This switch allows applications to address 1 GB of additional virtual address space above 2 GB. On 64-bit editions of Windows the 32-bit Alias application can utilize up to 4GB of address space with no modification to the system. The native 64-bit version of Alias does not have have the above limitation and will utilize all available memory.
Certain 3rd party software may alter the processor affinity settings, affecting multi-cpu systems running Alias.exe and its spawned processes. To check the affinity setting right click on the Alias.exe process inside the Windows Task Manager and select Set Affinity... ensure that all available CPUs are enabled.
Alias or its component programs may not launch successfully depending on your Windows security settings. If this occurs, you may either unblock the program via the Windows Firewall Security Alert dialog, or add it as an Exception in the Exceptions Tab in the Windows Firewall dialog box. For more information, please see the Microsoft Update. Similar configurations are necessary for any third party firewall software,

Please Read

It may be possible to successfully use Alias for Windows with a non-qualified configuration, however, Support and Maintenance programs will be subject to the Autodesk Support services guidelines.
The configurations shown are subject to change, and additional qualified configurations may be added after qualification testing has been carried out.
The graphics drivers specified in this table are the drivers that were used for the qualification process. While it may be possible to use Alias for Windows successfully on earlier or later drivers, Autodesk cannot guarantee their performance.
Autodesk will continue to explore new candidates for Alias for Windows qualification and will monitor the current configurations.

Qualified Hardware Configurations

Systems consisting of any combination of the workstations and graphics cards listed below are supported for use with Alias. Please review all documented limitations for a given configuration, in some cases not all functionality is supported. Please consult workstation vendor for available graphics configurations.

Company	Models	Web
Dell	Precision Workstations: T3600 T5400 T3500 T5500 T7500	www.dell.com/precision
Hewlett Packard	HP Workstations: Z820 Z800 Z600 Z400 Z1 HP Laptops: HP 17inch ZBook NVIDIA Quadro K5100M with driver 312.33 HP 17inch ZBook NVIDIA Quadro K4100M with driver 312.33 HP 17inch ZBook NVIDIA Quadro K3100M with driver 312.33 HP 15inch ZBook NVIDIA Quadro K2100M with driver 312.33	www.hp.com/workstations
IBM/Lenovo	Lenovo ThinkStations: Lenovo ThinkStation S30 Lenovo ThinkStation C30 Lenovo ThinkStation D30 Lenovo ThinkStation E31 Lenovo ThinkStation E32	www.lenovo.com/thinkstation

Graphics Cards and Driver Versions

Color coding legend

✔	Graphics card and driver combination meet all requirements for stable and acceptable performance in all functional areas of the software.
ο	Graphics card and driver combination meet some but not all requirements. Limitations exist.
✖	Graphics card vendor has not provided a suitable driver for qualification. It is expected that a suitable driver will be released for use with Alias in the future.
Untested	Configuration not tested by Autodesk. Untested cards are likely to work without issue with Alias.
Pending	Certification of this card is pending or underway
NOTE: Autodesk expects cards qualified on previous versions of Alias to likely work without issues. Autodesk will continue to support those older cards which appear on previously published qualification pages should an issue be encountered.

Vendor	Model	Graphics Card	Windows 7 64 Bit	Windows 8 64 Bit
AMD		FirePro V3900	9.003.03	Untested
		FirePro V4800
		FirePro V5800
		FirePro V5900
		FirePro V7800
		FirePro V7900
		FirePro V8800		9.003.03
		FirePro W5000		Untested
		FirePro W7000		9.003.03
		FirePro W8000		9.003.03
NVIDIA		Quadro 3000M	307.45	Untested
		Quadro 4000M
		Quadro K3000M
		Quadro K4000M
		Quadro K2000
		Quadro K4000
		Quadro K5000		307.45
		Quadro K600		Untested
		Quadro 2000		307.45
		Quadro 4000
		Quadro 5000
		Quadro 400
		Quadro 410
		Quadro FX4600
		Quadro K6000	320.86	320.86
Mobility	Dell Precision M4700	ATI FirePro M4000	9.003.3	Untested
	Dell Precision M4700	NVIDIA Quadro K2000M	307.45
	Dell Precision M6700	ATI FirePro M6000	9.003.3
	Dell Precision M6700	NVIDIA Quadro K5000M	307.45
	HP EliteBook 8770w	NVIDIA Quadro K3000M NVIDIA Quadro K4000M	307.45
	Lenovo ThinkPad W530	NVIDIA Quadro K1000M NVIDIA Quadro K2000M	307.45

Advanced Hardware Rendering Features in Alias
Using the advanced capabilities of modern graphics hardware it is possible to produce higher levels of realism when using the Hardware Shade functionality within Alias. These features enable more accurate reflection mapping and other effects in hardware. In order to achieve these results in hardware your graphics card and driver combination must fully support the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) which is part of the OpenGL2.0 specification. The following table lists features that require GLSL support. In most cases Alias detects incompatible hardware and will not expose these advanced features. Per-Pixel Shading Mode must be selected inside the Hardware Shade options in order to see the advanced shading capabilities.
Alias Automotive/Surface/Design 2014 Hardware Shade Functionality	OpenGL 2.0/GLSL Driver Support Required
Software Anti-Alias	No
Self Shadows	No
Shader Glow	No
Displacement Mapping	No
Planar/Camera Projection Mapping (Color, Transparency)	No
Depth of Field	No
Ambient Occlusion Calculation and Display	No
Cube Map Reflections	No
Image Based Lighting	Yes
Blinn Shading	Yes
Bump/Specular Mapping	Yes
All Projection Types (Color, Bump, Transparency, Specular)	Yes
Linear/Spot Lights	Yes
Advanced Virtual Ground Plane Reflection Control	Yes
Advanced Virtual Ground Plane Shadow Control	Yes
Shading Maps	Yes
Environment Reflections	Yes

Wirefile Compatibility Chart

Alias Automotive/Surface/Design

Supported File Formats
Format	Read	Write	Notes
Wire	✔	✔	As of version 10.0 Alias (StudioTools) wirefiles are backward and forward compatible with newer versions of Alias. StudioTools 10.0 and later will read wirefiles written by prior versions, however, prior versions will not be able to read v10.0 or later wirefiles. We have provided the `from100to97.exe` translator that will convert 10.0 and later wirefiles to v9.7.x wirefiles.
Autodesk Inventor	✔	✖
Open Inventor	✔	✔	Only available on 32bit
IGES	✔	✔
STEP	✔	✔
DXF/DWG	✔	✔
DWF		✔
DES	✔	✔
CATIA CAI	✔	✔
CATIA v4	✔	✖
CATIA v5	✔	✔	V5 R10 to R22 read/write supported
Siemens NX3- NX8	✔	✔
JT	✔	✔
PTC Granite	✔	✔	V1 toV8 read/write supported
OBJ	✔	✔
VDAFS	✔	✔
VDAIS	✔	✔
JAMAIS	✔	✔
C4	✔	✔
Illustrator	✔	✔	pre v9.0 .ai files can be imported into Alias. When exporting files from Adobe Illustrator be sure to export v8.0 files. Alias Shape curves can only be exported as Illustrator bezier curves through the Print interface. It is possible to export to PostScript format which will flatten all geometry as linear curves.
EPS	✔	✖
ProE Render	✔	✖
STL	✔	✔	Binary and ASCII formats supported.
EDF	✔	✔	New support starting in Automotive 2014
SOLIDWORKS	✔	✖	.sldprt read supported if SolidWorks is installed and running

Maya

- Maya's studioImport.mll plug-in will read Alias .wire files

- Maya's MayaToAlias.mll plug-in will write Alias .wire files

Stereo3D Viewing Capable Graphics Cards

Alias has been tested with CrystalEyes glasses from StereoGraphics Corporation

Running at resolutions higher than 1600x1200 may result in a reduction in overall draw speed and is done at the users own risk.

Anti-Aliasing

Anti-Aliased display in Alias can be achieved using one of the following methods:

Anti-Aliasing Controls and Settings
Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA), Driver Controlled	Graphics driver Anti-Aliasing control is set to override any application settings. The entire Alias window is anti-aliased. There is no distinction between a OpenGL viewport and rest of the application.	Benefit: Amount of oversampling only limited by card resources and graphics memory resulting in extremely smooth shading. Anti-aliased display is persistent
		Drawback: It is not possible to toggle anti-aliased display. Can cause noticeable degradation in interactive performance.
Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA), Application Controlled	Set Anti-Aliasing control to ‘Application Controlled’ in the Graphics Driver Control Panel, and in Alias, set ‘Hardware Anti-Alias’ to 4x or 8x in the Shaded Anit-Alias Options window (WindowDisplay->Anti-Alias->Shaded Anti-Alias [ ]). This allows for Alias to use 4x or 8x Full Scene Anti-Aliasing, respectively, from the graphics card. Only modeling windows receive the anti-Aliasing visual and can be toggled ON and OFF.	Benefit: Only modeling windows receive the Anti-Aliased display resulting in less visual artifacting. Can be toggled ON and OFF. Anti-aliased display is persistent
		Drawback: Can cause mild degradation in interactive performance.
Camera based Anti-Aliasing	Anti-Aliasing is controlled entirely from within the Window Display->Shaded Anti-Alias.... Software Anti-Alias options and is only applied when Hardware Shade or Diagnostic Shade is enabled. The results are additive to any existing FSAA if enabled in graphics driver.	Benefit: Not dependent on graphics card and can easily be controlled within Alias without restarting. Various quality settings can easily be specified for very high quality smoothing.
		Drawback: Anti-Aliasing is only active during idle camera positions. It is disabled during camera moves and animation (playblasts do receive Anti-Aliasing). Expect delays when used in conjunction with other Hardware Shade effects.

Tablet Support

Alias has been tested and confirmed to work with the Wacom Intuos series of tablets (see driver level below)

Active Tablet Displays: Alias has been tested and confirmed to work with the Wacom Cintiq 18SX and Cintiq 21UX Active tablets. A DVI compatible graphics card is required to use the Cintiq series of tablets.

Note Regarding Dual Monitor Configurations: Dual monitor configurations may cause incorrect cursor behavior when spanning multiple monitors. Autodesk is currently investigating this problem with Wacom. At this time there is no solution. Refer to Dual Monitor Support below for more information on running Alias with dual monitors.

Tablet Driver Notes Recommended Wacom Drivers Wacom Driver: 6.1.0-6 (RC) Wacom Driver: 6.1.2-5 or later
Limitation	Microsoft Windows Flicks interfering with tablet input when running Windows 7
Solution/Workaround	Disable Flicks or install earlier 6.1.0-6 Wacom driver which does not utilize Windows Flicks feature
Limitation	Intermittent problems with cursor offset after changing Wacom tablet properties
Solution/Workaround	Solved by minimizing and restoring the Alias main window.
Limitation	5 button mouse cursor not in sync with paint stroke after initial driver installation with Intuos2
Solution/Workaround	Reinstall tablet driver.

Dual Monitor Support

If your graphics card supports dual monitor outputs please read the following if you are considering using Alias with multiple displays. There are two configurations which will affect Alias performance with dual display output. Not all graphics cards support both configurations.

Previous limitations of Alias running on the secondary display have been improved as of version 2012. We no longer restrict the use of Alias on the primary monitor.

Display Mode One: Dualview

In this mode each monitor is running a separate display running at a resolution which is unique to each monitor. For example, you can have both monitors set to a resolution of 1280x1024, 1600x1200 etc.

Display Mode Two: Horizontal Span

In this mode the graphics driver interprets the two displays as one virtual desktop, so if you run a single monitor at 1280x1024 then the display resolution in a spanned mode would be 2560x1024.

Limitations

When using Studio with two displays, where one display is the Wacom Cintiq, you cannot run in a spanned mode. To configure your system to use the Wacom Cintiq in a dual monitor configuration follow these steps:

Uninstall the Wacom display driver (if you were previously using a regular Wacom tablet)
Connect the Wacom Cintiq to either the first or second graphics port
Open the Display Properties, select the Wacom display and set it as the primary monitor.
Install the Wacom display driver
Open Settings>Control Panel>Wacom Tablet Properties and select Calibrate to align the tablet to the Cintiq display.

Note: When using a 'spanned' desktop without the Cintiq, Alias runs properly on both displays.