Although PAUG is trying to limit these reviews to Shareware and Freeware, once in a while, breaking out of the "norm" is necessary. This month we are taking a look at a 3D software graphic accelerator that will work with standard 2D graphic hardware. AccelGraphics has developed a commercial 3D graphics accelerator that is software based. We are qualifying this review due to the fact that AccelGrahpics has placed a downloadable demo, that is free to use, on their Web site.

After download was complete, about 2.1 mg, the installation went very smooth. The Accelvw.wri does not tell you about the program or how to set it up, but it does document the known anomalies and limitations and gives workarounds. This document also gives you tips on maximizing the performance of the software. The best place to learn about AccelVIEW is at their Web site.

Once the software was loaded it was learned that if you have any Lisp routines that load at startup using Acad.lsp, the AccelVeiew toolbar can not load. This is not an uncommon behavior in that the toolbar is added into the acadfull, or whatever menu you are using, by installing itself as a plug-in. This is good if you use one menu for production and a different menu for your 3D work. The quickest workaround for this is to rename your acad.lsp and run the newly renamed Lisp routine after the AccelVIEW menu is loaded.

AccelVIEW 3D toolbar is very easy to use. It has all of the Win95 compliant flags and is designed for the AutoCAD release 13c4 and release 14 graphical user interface. After drafting a simple 3D shear plate connection that is bolted to a girder and welded to a concrete embed, turning to the AccelVIEW 3D toolbar, and clicking on the render icon, the 3D sketch was rendered and ready for the real test of "spinning the parts". With just a click on the right icon on the toolbar, the rendered view jumped to life. AccelVIEW 3D moved the parts around just as if the observer was looking at them in situation. Editing the parts in some obscure rotation was a breeze as well. AccelVIEW 3D holds the UCS true to the current view making adding or erasing entities easy. This demo version will allow you to change and enhance material properties by supporting the color, ambient light, reflection, roughness and transparency attributes. The highlighted edge command could be very useful when you get into more complex drawings. Dimensions and text are always visible while viewing a rendered object when the Draw Wire Frame on Top preference is invoked.

The demo software has a model size limit that was not disclosed, and on the license page on the AccelGraphics Web site it is stated that the demo will only run on Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0 for Intel Processors, but the data sheet on the products page states as a system requirement that the purchased software will run on Windows 95. DOS and Windows 3.x are not supported. All in all, AccelVIEW 3D is an excellent alternative to cut the cost on high end graphics. AccelGraphics does not list the cost, at least I could not find it, of the purchased software on their Web but if you have any inquires you can contact them at:

ACCELGRAPHICS, INC.
1942 ZANKER ROAD
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA 95112

December 1996