			 Ŀ
			                             
			  Crystal TOPAS Professional 
			                             
			           READ ME           
			    Latest News and Notes    
			       23 November, 1993     
			                             
			    CrystalGraphics, Inc.    
			                             
			 



SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS


PC Compatible with a 486 or 386 (math co-processor strongly recommended).

At least 8MB extended RAM (16MB recommended); 20MB available disk space
(40MB recommended).

DOS 3.3 or later.

Mouse or compatible input device.

Supports most popular VGA and Super VGA graphics cards.



CONVERTING AND CREATING FLYING FONTS ANIMATIONS


A set of utilities has been included which enable a Crystal TOPAS user to
convert a Flying Fonts Animation Script into a TOPAS Animation Script and to
create Motion Scripts for Flying Fonts.  The utilites along with a READ_ME
file which explains how to use them are in the FFUTIL directory.



PLAYING FLIC (.FLC) FILES IN WINDOWS


If you want to play flics in Windows you can use the included Autodesk
Animation Player, Video For Windows, or a presentation package that supports
.FLC file playback.

The Autodesk Animation Player for Windows, that is included with the package
in the AAWIN directory, allows you to play flics either singly or in a
scripted series. To use this player, you must create a new Windows Program
item for the AAWIN.EXE program. See your Windows documentation for information
about setting up a Program Item, and be sure to set the Working Directory to
the AAWIN directory.

If you have Video For Windows (VfW) you can use the conversion utility in
VidEdit to convert flics (.FLC) into the VfW format for playback in VfW
compatible applications.

If you have a Windows presentation package which supports flics directly
(CorelDraw!, etc.) you can simply include your flics in your presentations.
If your Windows presentation package supports OLE (Harvard Graphics, etc.)
you can play your flics using the AAPLAY.DLL provided in the AAWIN directory.
See your Windows documentation or the program's documentation for instructions
on the installation of DLLs.



KNOWN BUGS - With Advised Work Arounds


I) Bug Symptom:

	When the system is configured with a TARGA board and Summagraphics
	tablet (or a Microsoft compatible mouse with the driver version earlier
	than 7.0), selecting RT Preview or Flipbook may cause the program to
	crash to DOS.

Reason and workaround:
	The tablet driver is sending interrupt signals causing the software to
	quit.This can be resolved by:
	1)      Updating to Microsoft mouse driver so that it is version 7.0 or
		later.(for mouse users).
	2)      Physically removing the puck or the pen off the tablet after
		selecting RT Preview or Flipbook (for tablet users).


II) Bug Symptom:

	On some 486 machines, the Summagraphics Summasketch tablet, though
	properly configured, may cause the Crystal software to cancel out of a
	rendering process when the stylus or puck is left in contact with the
	tablet surface, or in some cases, the tablet may not operate (i.e. no
	cursor movement) after loading the Crystal software.

Possible Cause:
	The TSR file, called SUMMA.COM (dated 6/26/90), that is included with
	Crystal software is an older version which was not designed to handle
	faster computers.  As a result, there may be incompatibilities between
	certain machines and this driver when used with Crystal software.

Solution:
	Use Summagraphics' TSR file, SUMMATAB.COM (dated 12/2/92), rather than
	SUMMA.COM to initialize the Summagraphics tablet.

	Follow the steps given below to initialize your tablet using the
	SUMMATAB.COM file.  If you prefer to initialize the Summagraphics
	tablet from CONFIG.SYS, you may use another file, SUMMATAB.SYS. Refer
	to the documentation file called SUMMATAB.DOC for details on how to
	use that driver.

	Note:   When using the Summagraphics tablet (with SUMMATAB.COM or
		SUMMATAB.SYS) with Crystal software, you must initialize the
		tablet so that it emulates a Microsoft Mouse.

		Follow these steps to accomplish this:
	1)      Edit your AUOTEXEC.BAT file to change the line that specifies
		the path to the SUMMA.COM to instead read the path to the
		SUMMATAB.COM file. You must specify the options or parameters
		desired.

		For example, your AUTOEXEC.BAT file may have a line such as
		this:

		c:\topas\summa /12 /2

		---the "/12" specifies the type of Summagraphics tablet you
		   are using.
		---the "/2" specifies the com port number the tablet is
		   connected to.

		You would edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to read:

		c:\topas\summatab /2 /A

	---the "/2" specifies the com port number
	---the "/A" specifies that you want to use the tablet in Absolute mode
	   which means that a specific point on the tablet is always mapped to
	   a specific point on the screen (this is the way your Summagraphics
	   tablet works when using the SUMMA.COM driver). The other option is
	   Relative mode and it causes the tablet to behave much like a mouse
	   does.
	2)      Regardless of whether you set the Absolute or Relative mode for
		SUMMATAB.COM (in AUTOEXEC.BAT), you will need to change the
		tablet overlay interpreter file for the Crystal software from
		"summa.ovr" to "mouse.ovr".  To do this, use the Crystal SETUP
		utility and change the Input Device Setup to "Mouse".


III) Bug Symptom:

	When using the Disk To VTR command, you are returned to the main menu
	without any images being recorded on the VTR.

Reason and workaround:
	The Disk To VTR command requires an image file name that has a numeric
	ending. For example a file named "Image.tga" will not work, however, the
	the file name "Image001.tga" will work.


IV) Bug Symptom:

	When using the Record Frames command with the TIF W/2FLDS option, the
	TIF images appear "blotchy".

Reason and workaround:
	This occurs because the image does not have the same number of scan
	lines as the display screen. When interlacing images, you will get
	better results with images in the .TGA file format.

	If you interlace .TIF images, you must calculate the "dots per inch"
	(dpi) that will cause the image to have the same number of scan lines
	as your display monitor.


V) Bug Symptom:

	When submitting a job to the Network Renderer's "NetDrive" a "user.dir"
	directory is created to hold the completed job. For example if you
	submitted the job from a node named TEST, a TEST.DIR directory would
	be created under the NetDrive directory. However, if you go to another
	directory you will not be able to get back into this directory using
	TOPAS dialog boxes.

Reason and workaround:

	This problem occurs because the TOPAS interface does not support
	directories with extensions. To access the directory, click on the
	path line at the top of the dialog box and enter the full path to the
	directory. For example you would type:
		<Drive Letter>:\<Net Directory>\TEST.DIR



INSTALLER LICENSE NOTICE


The installation program used to install this CrystalGraphicsproduct, INSTALL,
is based on licensed software provided by Knowledge Dynamics Corp,
P.O. Box 1558 Canyon Lake, Texas 78130-1558 (USA). INSTALL is Copyright
(c) 1987-1992 by Knowledge Dynamics Corp which reserves all copyright
protection worldwide. INSTALL is provided to you for the exclusive purpose of
installing Crystal TOPAS Professional. CrystalGraphics, Inc. has modified the
software as provided by Knowledge Dynamics Corp, and thus the performance and
behavior of the INSTALL program shipped with Crystal TOPAS Professional may
not represent the performance and behavior of INSTALL as shipped by Knowledge
Dynamics Corp. CrystalGraphics, Inc. is exclusively responsible for the
support of Crystal TOPAS Professional, including support during the
installation phase. In no event will Knowledge Dynamics Corp provide any
technical support for Crystal TOPAS Professional.
