Some Graphics Card Fixes:

Here are some fixes to problems to some specific graphics card issues (usually OpenGL related).

FLICKER ISSUES

On the Vista operating system you may experience flickering of the interface. There are several different ways of fixing this that work for different video card setups:
Vista 64 bit Nvidia cards: You can download the latest Geforce ForceWare 181.00 Vista 64-bit at http://downloads.guru3d.com/Geforce-ForceWare-181.00-Vista-64-bit-download-2147.html this seems to remedy the flickering problems without adding any overhead on the graphics card because of antialiasing.
Another option is to turn on Antialiasing for messiah in your graphics card (x2 is sufficient). To see where you do that look at the images below.
ATI uncheck this box:


NVIDIA:

 

NO INTERFACE TEXT:
You are probably using an Intel graphics chip if this is what you are seeing.  For some reason OEM vendors of computers don't install the official Intel drivers.  Do a google for the latest Intel GPU drivers and install them, then in the driver settings you need to toggle the switch that is "tripple Z buffer"   I can't remember off the top of my head if it is to turn it on or off.  Sorry.  :-(

Other issues:

ATI

In the graphics driver, set all of the "custom settings" to highest quality and then set the "compatibility setting: Z-buffer depth to "force 16 bit".

Or, in the Advanced settings of the Radeon driver, choose MayaNT.

 

Driver version 4.2 will work solid.  ATI is aware of this problem and someone from their catalyst support team says it will be fixed in the next release; 4.6 or 4.7.

 

NVidia-Based Quadro

Go to the OpenGL Display Properties panel and change the Page Flipping mode to "Use block transfer" (the specific wording might be different, depending on the driver).  And turn off Enable "Back/Depth buffers".

 

NVidia-based GeForce FX5200

Reduce the display size from 1152x864 to 1024x768 (or less).

 

Elsa Synergy

Turn off "Use unified memory..." and "Enable overlay planes".

You can also try unchecking "Allow the dual planes extension to use local memory."

 

Black Screen Fix:

Some people have reported that when switching between apps, such as when using messiah with a host, the messiah screen is black when they switch back to it.  To bring the interface back from the black, just adjust the messiah window.

 

 

For further assistance, please don't hesitate to send us an e-mail.  OK, actually, it would be good if you could hesitate just long enough to check out the mailing list, forum, or chat (see below), because your questions may be answered there.  If not, here's what we need from you...

 

Bug Reporting:

If reporting a possible bug, please include the following information:

1) Clear statement of problem.

2) Is it repeatable?

3) Does it crash the whole system? (Blue screen?)

4) Steps involved in replicating the bug (what do you do to make it happen?)

5) Version of messiah  (version number and whether it is messiah:animate or messiah:studio)

6) Version of third-party software being used (if any)

7) Operating system

8) Any additional information that might be pertinent to the problem, such as do you have a really small amount of RAM or an unusually large amount of polygons?  Or has your system been having other problems?

 

Try to simplify things as much as possible.  If your scene has 50 objects and 200 expressions but the bug happens when you press Add Null, try it out on a simpler scene to see if it's a problem with the software or your scene.  This will help both you and us tremendously as far as narrowing down the possibilities.

 

Troubleshooting:

If you're having trouble doing something, please include the following info:

1) Clear statement of what you're trying to do.

2) What is happening when you try it.

3) Any additional information about your scene or system that may have a bearing on the problem.  (Like do you only have 16 megs of RAM? Or are you working with a 25 million polygon scene?)

 

Additional Important Resources:

Official pmG Mailing List - The mailing list has been active since way back in the 20th century, and it's the primary meeting place for all messiah users.  Not only are there always plenty of people on hand from around the world, sharing knowledge and content (scripts, plug-ins, etc.), but pmG's programmers are there too, helping out in every way.  We also pride ourselves on how "on-topic" the list is, keeping the off-topic posts to virtually zero.  (Please help us keep it that way.)  As a result, everyone knows that if they need help their request will not get lost in a sea of idle chatter.  (Note:  File attachments are not permitted on the mailing list, but there are "Files" and "Photos" sections on the web site where you can upload and download scenes, images, etc.)  To join the mailing list, click here:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmGmessiah/

 

Forum - A forum has been created at CG Talk, home of the industry's largest public forum.  As with the mailing list, the CG Talk forum is a great place to give and get advice because there are users from around the world and the pmG programmers there.  File attachments are permitted on the forum, so it's a great place to show off your work too.  Click here to visit the forum: http://www.cgtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=92

 

IRC Chat - Chat live with other users on the messiah IRC channel.  We also check in to it from time to time so it's a great way to make direct contact with the pmG team.  Here's the info:       Server:   irc.freenode.net       Channel:  #messiah3d

 

Note:  We would like to keep the mailing list, chat, and forum focused on messiah, and keep it as helpful as possible.  Therefore, here is a brief list of things NOT to post:  Things that are off topic, malicious rumors, links to illegal software, discussions about software piracy, personal attacks, battles over operating systems.  If you see a post like that, please resist the urge to respond to it.  And please, no "Test" posts; use your first real post as a test.  Thanks.

 

Feature suggestions:

Lets hear it!  What did we forget?  What do you want?  Our goal is to make messiah the best it can be, so we'd like your input!  The best way to make suggestions is to include the point, or goal of what you're trying to do.  For example, instead of saying "There should be a local/world coordinates button," you should say "I want to be able to adjust objects in local or world coordinates at any time."  The reason for putting it that way is that it's more important to know what you want to do rather than exactly how you want to do it.  In fact, in the above example, what the programmers came up with is better than just a button switch.

 

Of course, if you want to also include your suggestions about how it could be done, then great, that's fine, just be sure to include the basic concept too.  messiah's programmers are wizards at distilling the real desires of the artists (they're artists too) and coming up with ways of doing things that exceed what the artists had imagined.

 

Documentation suggestions:

We were in a big hurry to get messiah out to you, so we didn't have a large amount of time to document it as well as we  would have liked.  However, we are continually in the process of modifying and adding to what's there.  So, with that in mind, what do you want more of?  What did we forget?  Was there a section or page that you didn't like?  Was there one that you thought was great and would like to see more of?

 

Praise:

If you aren't having any trouble at all, but would just like to say how wonderful messiah is, and how great everyone involved in its creation is, contact us and I'll send you my Mom and Dad's e-mail address.

Send to:techsupport@projectmessiah.com

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