When Max is first run, a Welcome Screen appears. This screen shows seven short movies that explain the basic features of Max and are worth previewing. As part of the Max default installation, Direct X drivers are installed. Because Max knows these drivers are available, it uses them to run the software in Direct 3D mode by default. The current display driver is identified on the title bar at the top of the Max window. Even though Direct 3D is used by default, you can change the display driver to OpenGL if you want.
If Max is running, you can change the display driver in Max by choosing Customize Preferences and clicking the Choose Driver button in the Viewports panel. This opens the Direct3D Driver Setup dialog box. If you click the Revert from Direct3D button, then the Graphics Driver Setup dialog box, shown in Figure B.4 opens. If you change the graphics driver, you need to restart Max before the new driver is used.
Figure B.4: This dialog box lets you choose the display driver to use.
Note | Most recent graphics cards include support for both OpenGL and DirectX built in, so you may want to try OpenGL or Direct3D to see if they work. |
You can choose one of three different drivers to use in Max: Software, OpenGL, or Direct3D. You also have the option of selecting a custom driver.
Tip | If you want to change a display driver when starting Max, select the Start All Programs Autodes Autodesk 3ds Max 9 Change Graphics Mode program. |
The software display driver option is Max's own built-in software graphics driver called HEIDI. Because HEIDI is a software driver, it does not take advantage of any special graphics hardware that your graphics card supports, so your computer's CPU does all the work. The nice thing about this option is that it works on any computer, even if you don't have a good graphics card.
After you've installed Max, start it up using software drivers to make sure that everything has installed correctly. Next, try the different graphics drivers to see whether you can move up to something faster.
If your graphics card supports OpenGL in hardware, this is a great driver to use. OpenGL works under all Windows operating systems and is typically present on high-end graphics cards. In order for Max to use OpenGL, the drivers must support OpenGL 1.1 or later. One of the features enabled with the OpenGL drivers is Virtual Viewports.
Direct3D uses the graphics card's hardware capabilities and simulates anything else it needs in software. You must have DirectX 9.0c installed for these drivers to work, but it is installed by default automatically, so you should be good to go. Simulating different features makes Direct3D run on a wide range of computers, but it can be much slower. If your graphics card's drivers support all of Direct3D in hardware, then using this driver might give you good performance. If it switches to software mode, however, it will be much slower than HEIDI.
Max also can use custom drivers created by a graphics card manufacturer. You need to add the driver file to the \Drivers directory where Max is installed.