ATI 64 meg radeon -Help!

[RuffKutt]

Help I jst got a new box and it has an ati 64 meg radeon video card. The card seems to be good but during truesolid verification there is a "blurble" type of shadow that is all around the cutter and really looks funky. I have tried various things but im an idiot when it comes to that stuff and I dont know what what any of that stuff is.

Athalon 1.2ghz

256 meg ddr ram

win2kpro

v7.2c

thanks.

[Bullines]

First things first...

Are you using the most recent driver? Once we know this, we can keep going.

[Jeremy]

If you are using Windows 98, ME, 2000 you can go to the Display Properties page (in the control panel) and turn the acceleration down to none (in the Advanced section). If the problem goes away, then the problem is caused by the video card or its drivers.

In the order I would try:

You can (1) use a different driver, (2) play with the acceleration slider (from above), (3) change your OpenGL driver, or (4) replace the video card. One of these will make Mastercam work to your eye's satisfaction (though not always as fast as one would like).

[RuffKutt]

I am now running the latest driver that is offered but still the problems remain, I will try some of your suggestions. Anybody else?

[Bullines]

Now that you have the latest driver, try reducing acceleration like Jeremy mentioned. If the problem goes away, then everything should appear to be smooth. However, if you have other 3D intensive apps on your system that you use, turning down acceleration will likely hinder their performance. Then it could come down to maybe finding an older driver that works with more acceleration.

But if this is a Mastercam-only PC, then the tamed Windows acceleration setting could do the trick until ATI releases a newer driver (maybe all will be fixed by then)

[RuffKutt]

Thanks guys that did the trick, whats weird about it though is I tried that earlier but I only turned it down half way and mc would only boot up for a split second and and then shut down but after I turned it down all the way it worked so I tuened it up a quarter of the way and it still worked but it wont work at halfway--- odd. There are so many adjustments on this card but I dont know what any of them are or what they do, can anybody clue me in? once again thanks for the help.

[RuffKutt]

By the way what is open gl and how does it affect me and mc? How do I change the driver?You guys have to cut me some slack, Im a excellent user of mc but when it comes to all "geek stuff" im an idiot or rather an aspiring "geek".

[Bullines]

Good to hear you got it up and running. I've never seen any of the Radeon's advanced settings yet, but I imagine they'll be similar those on other cards. Usually they involve DirectX and OpenGL settings as well as some generic ones. You don't need to worry about DirectX because as of v8.x, Mastercam doesn't use DirectX. If you are working with acceleration settings turned down, then the OpenGL settings won't matter either depending on how much you have the acceleration down. The generic settings usually include things like colour correction and monitor orientation. These things affect display, but not performance. Maybe post a few screenshots of the Radeon's advanced settings (in the Display Properties dialog, click on the Settings tab and then click on the Advanced button). Then we could get into some tweaking

OpenGL is a graphics API developed by Silicon Graphics. OpenGL contains functions and routines for common graphics algorithms pertaining to things like shading, scaling, translating and rotating. It even includes graphic primitives like lines, arc, etc... Mastercam currently uses OpenGL for shading. I'm almost certain that OpenGL is used for nothing else but shading (PDG, is this correct?). OpenGL support is built into all versions of Windows. The tricky part is determining how well a card supports it. This also takes in to account the video card's driver. OpenGL drivers usually are built into the drivers from video card companies. Updating your OpenGL driver is usally as simple as updating your video card driver. Hope this helps

[RuffKutt]

[RuffKutt]

[RuffKutt]

[RuffKutt]

Can anybody help me with the settings on this card? I have no idea what is what or where it should be set thanks.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Sorry, as a general rule of thumb, I try to stay away from ATI cards for the reasons you've started this topic and a few others. So I have no Idea how to configure it to run Mastercam correctly/Satisfactorily(sp?) My best suggestion would be to scan through the past NUMEROUS threads on Video Card issues, and go with a card that meets your price/performance criteria. Do a search on "Video" and it should bring up a topic or 20!!!

JM2C

[RuffKutt]

Actually I just updated the driver and all the noticable glitches are gone now but I dont know how to set all these settings or what they do.

[RuffKutt]

Did I post the screenshots correctly? I can see them but I dont know if you guys can.

[Bullines]

quote:

---

Did I post the screenshots correctly? I can see them but I dont know if you guys can.

---

Nope, we can't see your screenshots. If you want images to be displayed on the forum, you must upload them to a web server and then use the URL as the path (Ex: http://www.akewlwebsite.com/imates/3-d.jpg. We can't see the images when they're on your computer. You can also upload the images to Jay's FTP site and people can view them on their own time. Read the instructions if need be. Hope this helps