Autodesk� AliasStudio 2009
for Windows Hardware Qualification
Last Updated: August 2008
|
Products |
Platform |
Version |
Software
Date |
Build Number |
AliasStudio (AutoStudio,
DesignStudio, Studio, SurfaceStudio, StudioViewer,
Renderers)
|
32-bit |
2009 |
March 13, 2008 |
200803131206-267322 |
| 2009 Service Pack 1 |
August 15, 2008 |
200808150417-279215 |
| 64-bit |
2009 |
March 13, 2008 |
200803131153-267322 |
| 2009 Service Pack 1 |
August 15, 2008 |
200808150403-279216 |
| Supported Operating Systems and CPU Platforms |
|
|
| |
|
AMD |
Pentium |
Xeon |
Core |
Opteron |
Windows XP Pro SP2 or SP3 |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported |
Windows XP x64 Edition SP1 or SP2 |
N/A |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported |
Windows 2000 Professional |
Untested/Unsupported |
Windows 2003 Server x64 |
Untested/Unsupported |
Windows Vista 32-Bit Edition |
Supported with AliasStudio 2009 SP1 |
Windows Vista 64-Bit Edition |
Supported with AliasStudio 2009 SP1 |
| General Hardware Requirements |
- 32-bit or 64-bit Windows Operating System. Refer to Supported Operating System table above.
- minimum 2GB or greater system memory highly recommended.
- 2 GHz or greater CPU - refer to Operating System and CPU Platform table above.
- 128MB
minimum video memory and supported video card with appropriate OpenGL driver.
OpenGL 2.0 driver support is required for advanced rendering features
to work correctly. 512MB or greater is highly recommended especially with Windows Vista.
- 3 button mouse.
- Wacom tablet is strongly recommended for any 2D paint workflows (refer to Tablet Support section in this document).
|
| Important Notes |
Windows x64 and Vista 64 Bit Edition Notification:
- 3DConnexion Spaceball devices are now supported with 64-bit AliasStudio 2009 SP1
- Latest Wacom driver required for tablet pressure sensitivity when running 64-bit native version of AliasStudio. (See Tablet Support)
|
Windows Vista Notification:
Windows
Vista Enterprise and Business Editions are tested and supported as of
AliasStudio 2009 Service Pack 1. All previous versions of AliasStudio
are unsupported when run under Windows Vista.
|
AliasStudio
is shipped as both 32-bit and 64-bit binaries. Running the 64-bit
native version of AliasStudio requires Windows XP x64 Edition or Windows Vista 64-bit Edition.
|
The 32-bit AliasStudio 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 AliasStudio
application can utilize up to 4GB of address space with no modification to the
system. The native 64-bit version of AliasStudio does not have have the above limitation.
|
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.
|
AliasStudio
or its component programs may not launch successfully after installing
Service Pack 2 for Windows XP Professional. 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 AliasStudio 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
AliasStudio for Windows successfully on earlier or later drivers, Autodesk
cannot guarantee their performance.
- Autodesk
will continue to explore new candidates for AliasStudio for Windows
qualification and will monitor the current configurations. For
the most recent information on qualification, please refer to www.autodesk.com/qual-charts.
|
| Qualified Hardware Configurations (for notebooks see Mobile Workstations below) |
| Systems
consisting of any combination of the workstations and graphics cards
listed below are supported for use with AliasStudio. 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:
370, 380, 390, 450, 650, 670, 690, T3400, T5400
|
www.dell.com/precision |
| Hewlett Packard |
HP Workstations:
XW9400 (incl. SLi)
XW9300 (incl. SLi)
XW8440
XW8400
XW8200
XW8000
XW6600
XW6440
XW6400
XW6200
XW4400
XW4300
XW4200
|
www.hp.com/workstations |
| IBM/Lenovo |
IBM Intellistations/Lenovo ThinkStations:
IBM Intellistation A Pro [6217, 6224]
IBM Intellistation M Pro [6218, 6219, 6230, 6225]
IBM Intellistation Z Pro [9228]
Lenovo ThinkStation S10
Lenovo ThinkStation D10 |
www.ibm.com/intellistation
www.lenovo.com/thinkstation |
| Mobile Workstations |
| Systems
consisting of any combination of the mobile workstations and graphics drivers
listed below have been certified for use by Autodesk and are fully supported for use with AliasStudio. Please review all
documented limitations for a given configuration, in some cases not all
functionality is supported. |
| Graphics Cards and Driver Versions |
| Color coding legend |
| |
Graphics
card and driver combination meet all requirements for stable and
acceptable peformance in all functional areas of the software. |
| |
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
AliasStudio in the future. |
| Untested |
Configuration not tested by Autodesk and at time of press are not qualified for use with AliasStudio. Use at own risk. |
|
| Advanced Hardware Rendering Features in AliasStudio |
Using
the advanced capabilities of modern graphics hardware it is possible to
produce higher levels of realism when using the Hardware Shade
functionality within AliasStudio. 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 AliasStudio 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.
|
| AliasStudio 2009 Hardware Shade Functionality |
OpenGL 2.0/GLSL Driver Support Required |
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 |
|
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 |
AliasStudio
|
| Supported File Formats |
Format
|
Read
|
Write
|
Notes |
Wire
|
|
|
As of version
10.0
AliasStudio wirefiles are backward and forward compatible with newer
versions of AliasStudio. AliasStudio 10.0
and later
will read wirefiles written by prior versions, however, prior versions
will not be able to read 10.0 or later wirefiles. We have provided the from100to97.exe translator that
will
convert 10.0 and later wirefiles to 9.7.x wirefiles. |
Autodesk Inventor |
|
|
Autodesk Inventor or Inventor View must be installed in order to read Inventor data. |
Open Inventor |
|
|
|
IGES
|
|
|
|
| STEP
|
|
|
|
DXF/DWG
|
|
|
|
DES
|
|
|
|
NEUTRO
|
|
|
|
CATIA CAI
|
|
|
Catia Direct
Connect
available as purchaseable module |
CATIA v5 R11-R18 |
|
|
CatiaV5 Direct
Connect
available as purchaseable module. |
Unigraphics NX3- NX5 (see note) |
|
|
UG Direct
Connect
available as purchaseable module. |
PTC Granite |
|
|
|
OBJ |
|
|
|
VDAFS |
|
|
|
VDAIS |
|
|
|
JAMAIS |
|
|
|
C4 |
|
|
|
Illustrator
|
|
|
pre v9.0 .ai
files can be imported into AliasStudio. When exporting files
from Adobe Illustrator be sure to export v8.0 files. AliasStudio 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
|
|
|
|
SolidWorks |
|
|
SolidWorks must be licensed and installed in order for SolidWorks import to work.. |
STL
|
|
|
Binary and ASCII
formats
supported. |
|
Maya
|
Maya 4.5 and
above will
read
AliasStudio 10.0 and above wirefiles via studioImport.mll (plugin
shipped
with Maya).
Maya 4.5
exports
9.5.2 wirefiles via MayaToAlias.mll (plugin shipped with
Maya 4.5)
Maya
5.0, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 8.0 and 8.5 export version 9.7.3
wirefiles via MayaToAlias.mll
(plugin
shipped with Maya)
AliasStudio
2009
ships with a
translator that will convert v2009 wirefiles to 9.7.x wirefiles. Refer
to the AliasStudio documentation for more detailed information.
|
I-DEAS
Direct Connect
|
Master Series 8
is compatible with AliasStudio 10.0 and later
Master
Series 9
is
compatible with AliasStudio 10.0 and later
NX 10
is
compatible with AliasStudio 10.0 and later
NX
11 is compatible with AliasStudio 10.0 and later
|
| Notice to
I-DEAS
10m1 users: The Freeform Surfacing
option will not appear in the export menu with a clean I-DEAS 10m1
installation. In order to use the Freeform Surfacing option you need to
overlay the m1 patch onto an existing I-DEAS 10 installation. Customers
are urged to contact EDS regarding this matter. |
| Stereo3D
Viewing Capable Graphics Cards |
| AliasStudio
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 AliasStudio 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 AliasStudio 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 degredation in interactive performance. |
Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA), Application Controlled |
Anti-Aliasing
control
is set to 'Application Controlled' in the Graphics Driver Control Panel
with
additional setting in AliasStudio: Window Display->Shaded
Anti-Alias.... 'Allocate Hardware Anti-Alias Resources on Startup'.
This allows for
AliasStudio to use a 4x Full Scene Anti-Aliasing from the graphics
card. Only modelling 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 degredation 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
AliasStudio 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 |
AliasStudio
has been tested and confirmed to work with the Wacom Intuos2 and
Intuos3 series of tablets (see driver level below) with Windows XP and Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit).
Active Tablet Displays: AliasStudio 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 AliasStudio with dual monitors.
Tablet Driver Notes/Limitations
Intuos3 Driver: 6.08-4 |
| Limitation |
Intermittent
problems with
cursor offset after changing Wacom tablet properties |
| Solution/Workaround |
Solved
by
minimizing and
restoring the AliasStudio main window. |
| Limitation |
5
button mouse
cursor not in
sync with paint stroke after initial driver installation with Intuos2 |
| Solution/Workaround |
Reinstall
tablet
driver. |
|
| Ultra
High Resolution Displays |
AliasStudio
has been tested on the IBM T221 LCD monitor running at a resolution of
3840x2400. Expect reduced performance when comparing a simliar graphics
card running at lower resolutions. Hardware Shading functionality may
be affected due to the increased demand on card resources. This is
especially true if Anti-Aliasing is enabled.
|
| Dual
Monitor Support |
If your graphics
card supports dual monitor outputs please read the following if you
are considering using AliasStudio with multiple displays. There are two
configurations which will affect AliasStudio performance with dual
display output. Not all graphics cards support both configurations.
| 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.
|
Limitations
- AliasStudio
should be run on the primary display. Is
recommended that you always run AliasStudio on the primary display for
optimal performance.
- If you
want to use AliasStudio for modelling on the second display, open the
Display properties again and set it as the primary display.
- You may notice performance degradation when running on the second display.
|
| 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, AliasStudio runs
properly on both displays.
|
|
| AliasStudio Hardware Limitations |
| General Limitations Common To All Cards |
| Limitation |
Shading maps with file textures may look incorrect in Hardware Shade |
| Solution/Workaround |
Use procedural textures or do not use pure white values in the file texture |
| Limitation |
Pull down cascading
menus in rare cases may fail to accept mouse input |
| Solution/Workaround |
Do not
release mouse button when selecting cascading menu items or restart
AliasStudio |
| Limitation |
Missing refresh when using mouse scroll wheel to dolly camera in Hardware Shade mode |
| Solution/Workaround |
This only occurs when Anti-Aliasing is enabled in the Hardware Shade settings |
| Limitation |
Pick boxes in Action Window leave trails |
| Solution/Workaround |
This is only a display artifact which is cleared when a window refresh occurs |
| Limitation |
Slow
selection performance with Anti-Aliased surface display. This is more noticeable with large datasets |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable
driver controlled Anti-Aliasing in driver control panel or Application
control Anti-Aliasing through Preferences->General
Preferences->Draw |
| |
| Windows Vista: Common to All Cards |
| Limitation |
Erratic turntable performance when viewed with timeslider on dual monitor configurations |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable timeslider or run on single display |
| Limitation |
Intermittent selection performance degradation if AntiAliasing is enabled with 'Export Image' |
| Solution/Workaround |
Restart application if you encounter this problem. It is very intermittent. |
| Limitation |
Missing refresh when using mouse scroll wheel to dolly camera in Hardware Shade mode |
| Solution/Workaround |
This only occurs when Anti-Aliasing is enabled in the Hardware Shade settings |
| Limitation |
Pick boxes in Action Window leave trails |
| Solution/Workaround |
This is only a display artifact which is cleared when a window refresh occurs |
| Limitation |
Slow
selection performance with Anti-Aliased surface display. This is more noticeable with large datasets |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable
driver controlled Anti-Aliasing in driver control panel or Application
control Anti-Aliasing through Preferences->General
Preferences->Draw |
| |
| Common To All NVIDIA |
| Limitation |
Slower framerates when running DualView display configurations |
| Solution/Workaround |
Consider
using a Horiztontal Span configuration instead of DualView if you
notice significant performance loss when running AliasStudio |
| Limitation |
Slower than expected
framerates with animation playback and interactive draw speed |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable hardware
overlays in Advanced OpenGL driver properties |
| |
| Common To All ATI |
| Limitation |
Some older ATI cards will exhibit serious hardware shade artifacting when Hardware based Anti-Aliasing is enabled (see Anti-Alias Notes). Wireframe refresh issues are also present. |
| Limitation |
Significant
drop in interactive performance both with playback framerate and
selection if there are open windows obscuring any of the AliasStudio
viewports |
| Solution/Workaround |
Use Windows Classic
Theme under Display Properties |
| Limitation |
Display
artifacts may occur during modifications to shader attributes or
Hardware Shade settings while Hardware Shade is active. These artifacts
should only be momentary and are cleared with a refresh |
| Limitation |
Slow
selection performance with anti-aliased surface display |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable Anti-aliased
surface shading in Preferences->General Preferences->Draw and
restart AliasStudio |
| Limitation |
Perceived lag with Paint Brush preview |
| Solution |
Disable 'Brush Stamp Preview' for performance improvements |
| Limitation |
No appreciable differences in interactive draw performance using Reference Data when compared with normal Wireframe draw. |
| Limitation |
Shading Maps not supported in Hardware Shade |
| Solution |
none |
Limitation
|
Symmetrical Paint does not appear until screen is refreshed |
| Limitation |
No appreciable differences in interactive draw performance using Reference Data when compared with normal Wireframe draw. |
Solution
|
To be addressed in a future driver update |
| Limitation |
Poor Hardware Shade performance with Ground Plane Reflections and Shadows |
Limitation
|
Full Scene Anti-Aliasing
setting not supported for AliasStudio i.e. using 2x or 4x
Anti-Aliasing. To use Anti-Aliasing in AliasStudio refer to Anti-Aliasing
in AliasStudio |
| Limitation |
Incorrect cursor display
when cursor is not moving |
| Solution/Workaround |
Cursor will appear when
you move or select objects |
| Limitation |
Image Based Lighting (IBL) not supported in hardware shade |
| Limitation |
Poor Hardware Shade performance with Ground Plane Reflections and Shadows |
| Limitation |
Slow
tumble performance with medium to large models
with Point of Interest viewing when Anti-Aliasing is enabled |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable
point of
interest in General
Preferences-Input settings or lock the Point of Interest in the View
Panel OR disable Anti-Aliasing in General Preferences->Draw settings. |
| Limitation |
Slow
Pick Component performance if Anti-Aliasing is enabled |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable
Anti-aliasing in Preferences->General Preferences->Draw and then
restart AliasStudio. |
Limitation
|
No accelerated OpenGL with hardware overlays with FX1300 cards |
| Solution/Workaround |
Disable hardware overlays in driver control panel |
| Limitation |
Incorrect Shading maps in Hardware Shade |
|