1966 lines
78 KiB
HTML
Executable File
1966 lines
78 KiB
HTML
Executable File
<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.5 [en] (WinNT; I) [Netscape]">
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<title>Cosmo Player 2.1.1 Release Notes</title>
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<!-- SGI_COMMENT COSMOCREATE -->
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<!-- SGI_COMMENT VERSION NUMBER="1.0.2" -->
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</head>
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<body link="#0000FF" vlink="#800080" background="background.gif">
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<center>
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<h1>
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Cosmo Player 2.1.1<br>
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Release Notes<br>
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for<br>
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Windows 95/98 and Windows NT</h1></center>
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<center>
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<h3>
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December 15, 1998</h3></center>
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<hr>
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<center>
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<p><a href="../examples/chomp/chomp.htm" TARGET="_blank">Launch </a><a href="../examples/chomp/chomp.htm" TARGET="_blank"><img SRC="chomp.gif" ></a></center>
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<p><br>
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<br>
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<br>
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<br>
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<br>
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<p>An interactive game teaching the basics of navigating 3D spaces with
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Cosmo Player.
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<br>
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<hr>
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<p>These release notes describe the 2.1.1 release of of Cosmo Software's
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<b>Cosmo
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Player</b> for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT. The latest version of this
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file is always available from the <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player" TARGET="_blank">Cosmo
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Player Support Resources</a> page, on the
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<a href="http://cosmosoftware.com" target="_blank">Cosmo
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Software</a> web site.
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<p>Users will find Recommended Hardware Configuration, Installation and
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Browser Issues, On-line Help, Media Types and Software, and Troubleshooting
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especially helpful.
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<ol>
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<li>
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<a href="#legal">Legal Notices</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#hardware">Recommended Hardware Configuration</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#install">Installation and Browser Issues</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#help">On-line Help</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#media">Media Types and Software</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#trouble">Troubleshooting</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#diff1">Differences Between Cosmo Player 2.0 and 2.1.1</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#thisrel">What's Included in This Release</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#vrmldev">VRML Developer Notes</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#bugs">Known Bugs and Limitations</a></li>
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<li>
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<a href="#reportbugs">Support and Bug Reporting</a></li>
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</ol>
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<hr>
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<h2>
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<a NAME="legal"></a>1. Legal Notices</h2>
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<h3>
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Software License Agreement</h3>
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NOTE: REDISTRIBUTION OF THE SOFTWARE LICENSED HEREUNDER REQUIRES THE EXECUTION
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OF A SEPARATE LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH PLATINUM technology, inc.
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<p>Cosmo<sup><font size=-2>TM</font></sup> Player 2.1.1 Release for Windows
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95/98 and Windows NT
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<p>Developed by PLATINUM technology, inc., 1815 South Meyers Road, Oakbrook
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Terrace, IL 60181, USA. Copyright © 1997-1999 PLATINUM technology,
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inc. All rights reserved.
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<p>Cosmo and the Cosmo logo are trademarks and PLATINUM technology®
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is a registered trademark of PLATINUM technology, inc. Silicon Graphics®,
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OpenGL® and the Silicon Graphics logo are registered trademarks and
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the OpenGL logo is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. ActiveMovie and
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DirectX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
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<p>COSMO SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT
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<p>PLATINUM technology, inc., IS WILLING TO LICENSE COSMO SOFTWARE TO YOU
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ONLY UPON THE CONDITION THAT YOU ACCEPT ALL OF THE TERMS CONTAINED IN THIS
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LICENSE AGREEMENT ("Agreement"). READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS
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LICENSE CAREFULLY. YOUR USE OF THE LICENSED SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ASSENT
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TO BE BOUND BY THE LICENSE TERMS SET FORTH BELOW.
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<p>1. DEFINITIONS
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<p>a) "PLATINUM SOFTWARE" means the software program identified above and
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all related updates and new versions that may be supplied by PLATINUM.
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<p>b) "PLATINUM PRODUCT" means the PLATINUM SOFTWARE, associated media,
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documentation (including printed materials and any associated "online"
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or electronic documentation), and any multimedia files (including but not
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limited to 3D models, sample applications, bit-mapped images, graphics,
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photographs, animations, video, sounds, applets, and behaviors) included
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in or available as part of the downloadable product, as well as all related
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updates or new versions that may be supplied by PLATINUM.
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<p>c) "END-USER PRODUCT" means the output file generated by your using
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the PLATINUM SOFTWARE and any copies of these files. END-USER PRODUCT includes
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the VRML content you create but does not include the PLATINUM RUN-TIME
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required in order for the END-USER PRODUCT to operate on hardware on which
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the PLATINUM PRODUCT is not resident.
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<p>d) "PLATINUM RUN-TIME " means those files included in or generated by
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the PLATINUM SOFTWARE that are required in order for the END-USER PRODUCT
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to operate on hardware on which the PLATINUM SOFTWARE is not resident.
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<p>2. SINGLE USER LICENSE
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<p>a) GRANT. You (but not other individuals in your organization) may use
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the PLATINUM PRODUCT on any single computer, as well as on any home or
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portable computer that you may possess, but only so long as you use the
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PLATINUM PRODUCT on just one single computer at any time and have paid
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us our then-current license fee. Upon acceptance of the terms of this license,
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you will be prompted to enter the serial number packaged with the PLATINUM
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PRODUCT that may be needed to use the PLATINUM PRODUCT under this license
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to (i) design, develop, and test END USER PRODUCTS and Internet content
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and (ii) distribute the PLATINUM RUN-TIME solely (i) as part of or in conjunction
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with END USER PRODUCTS or (ii) as an upgrade or add-on to your software
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application to enable it to operate on hardware on which the PLATINUM SOFTWARE
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is not resident. Except as expressly permitted herein, you may not distribute
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the PLATINUM RUN-TIME on a stand alone basis.
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<p>b) RESERVATION. Platinum reserves all rights not expressly granted to
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you in this license agreement. Should you wish to acquire any additional
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rights with respect to the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME, you must
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enter into a separate agreement with Platinum, which may be subject to
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additional terms and charges. For further information, contact us by email
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at info@platinum.com or by telephone at 800-442-6861.
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<p>c) TERMINATION. You may terminate this license agreement at any time
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without right to refund, by notifying us in writing and destroying all
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copies of the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME in your possession
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and control. We may terminate this license agreement in the event you breach
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any of its terms or conditions, without prejudice to any other remedies
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we may have.
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<p>3. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
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<p>The PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME are protected by national
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copyright laws and international copyright treaties. The source code of
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the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME are protected as a trade secret.
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Platinum and/or its licensors retain all proprietary rights in or related
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to the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME. You are granted only the
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limited rights specified in this license agreement with respect to the
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object code versions of the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME. Nothing
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in this license agreement grants you any right to receive updates, upgrades
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or new versions of the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME. If you would
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like to receive information about any available maintenance services, contact
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us by email at info@platinum.com or by telephone at 800-442-6861.
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<p>4. UNAUTHORIZED USE
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<p>You may not allow other individuals (whether in your organization or
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not) to use the PLATINUM PRODUCT. Except for making an archival copy of
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the PLATINUM PRODUCT or loading it on other computers, if and as authorized
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above, you may not copy, lend, rent, lease, transmit or otherwise distribute
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the PLATINUM PRODUCT. You may not modify, adapt or create derivative works
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based on the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME, other than as expressly
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authorized under this license agreement, or attempt to disable any password
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or other protective devise incorporated into the PLATINUM PRODUCT. You
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may not decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer the PLATINUM SOFTWARE
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or PLATINUM RUN-TIME, except as and to the extent that applicable law authorizes
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you to do so despite this restriction. You may not disclose results of
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any benchmark test of the PLATINUM SOFTWARE or PLATINUM RUN-TIME to a third
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party without Platinum's prior written approval. You may not delete or
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obscure any proprietary legends on the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME,
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and you must copy such legends on to any copy thereof that you are authorized
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to make. You may not assign or otherwise transfer any of your rights under
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this license agreement.
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<p>5. LIMITED WARRANTY
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<p>If you accept the terms of this license agreement, and have paid us
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the applicable license fee, we warrant that the PLATINUM PRODUCT will perform
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substantially as described in its internal help screens or related documentation
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for 90 days after you pay us the applicable license fee, but we do not
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warrant that your use of the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME will
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be uninterrupted or error-free. In addition, this Limited Warranty will
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become inapplicable if you modify the PLATINUM PRODUCT or use it on or
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in conjunction with hardware or software with which the PLATINUM PRODUCT
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or PLATINUM RUN-TIME were not designed to be used according to the internal
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help screens or related documentation.
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<p>IN ANY CASE, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS SECTION, ALL WARRANTIES
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OR CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE PLATINUM PRODUCT AND PLATINUM RUN-TIME,
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INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
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FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, SATISFACTORY QUALITY OR NON-INFRINGEMENT,
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ARE HEREBY OVERRIDDEN, EXCLUDED AND DISCLAIMED.
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<p>If you believe that you have a claim under this Limited Warranty, contact
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us immediately by email at info@platinum.com or by telephone at 630-620-5000,
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Technical Support, but in no event later than the expiration of the 90-day
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warranty period. If we are able to replicate the problem, and if it amounts
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to a breach of this Limited Warranty, then we will provide you with the
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fix or work-around solution that we have or may develop for general release
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to our licensees or, if we determine that the problem cannot reasonably
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be fixed, we will refund to you the Single User License fee that you paid
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for the PLATINUM PRODUCT, provided that there is evidence of when you paid
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this fee. Inquiries not covered by this Limited Warranty are subject to
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our then-current technical support policies. For information about these
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policies, contact us by email info@platinum.com or telephone at 630-620-5000,
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Technical Support.
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<p>Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusions and limitations contemplated
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above, so you may have additional or alternative warranty rights under
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applicable law.
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<p>6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
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<p>UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PLATINUM, ITS LICENSORS OR RELATED PERSONS
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BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES
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OR LOSSES, WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR UNFORESEEABLE, BASED ON YOUR CLAIMS OR
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THOSE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS (INCLUDING CLAIMS FOR LOSS OF DATA, GOODWILL, PROFITS,
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USE OF MONEY, COMPUTERS OR THE PLATINUM PRODUCTS OR PLATINUM RUN-TIME,
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INTERRUPTION IN THE USE OR AVAILABILITY OF DATA, STOPPAGE OF WORK OR OTHER
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IMPAIRMENT OF ASSETS), ARISING OUT OF BREACH OR FAILURE OF WARRANTY, BREACH
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OF CONTRACT, MISREPRESENTATION, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY IN TORT OR
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OTHERWISE. IN NO EVENT WILL PLATINUM'S, ITS LICENSORS' OR RELATED PERSONS'
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AGGREGATE LIABILITY EXCEED THE LICENSE FEE THAT YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO US
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FOR THE PLATINUM PRODUCT. THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION WILL NOT APPLY
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ONLY IF AND TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW REQUIRES LIABILITY BEYOND
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AND DESPITE THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION.
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<p>7. EXPORT CONTROLS
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<p>You acknowledge that you are not a national or resident of Cuba, Iran,
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Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or any other country under current
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trade embargo by the U.S. Government and agree not to download or otherwise
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export or re-export the PLATINUM PRODUCT, PLATINUM RUN-TIME or related
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technical data, or direct products thereof, into any such country or national
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or resident thereof.
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<p>8. U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS
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<p>If you are a U.S. government agency, in accordance with section 12.212
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of the Federal Acquisition Regulations, you hereby acknowledge that your
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use, duplication and disclosure of the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME
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is governed by, and subject to, this license agreement. If, for any reason,
|
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that section 12.212 is not applicable, you hereby acknowledge that your
|
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use, duplication and disclosure of the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME
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is subject to the Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights clause,
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FAR §52.227.19(c). Manufacturer is Platinum technology, inc. 1815
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South Meyers Road, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, USA.
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<p>9. MISCELLANEOUS
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<p>This Agreement states the entire agreement between us with respect to
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the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME and overrides the terms of any
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purchase order that you may place with us. It is governed by the laws of
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the State of Illinois, U.S.A, and may be modified or supplemented only
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in writing signed by both of us. We agree to exclude application of the
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U.N. Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, if applicable.
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<h3>
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Other Copyright Notices</h3>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<i>JPEG Software</i> - Copyright 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, Thomas G.
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Lane. All Rights Reserved. Code from the Independent JPEG Group was used
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in Cosmo Player.</li>
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<li>
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Portions include <i>gzip</i> - Copyright © 1992-1993 Jean-loup Gailly.</li>
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<li>
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Portions include modified sources from the Group 42 PNG reference library,Copyright
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© 1995, 1996 Guy Eric Schalnat, Group 42, Inc. See <a href="http://www.group42.com/png.htm" TARGET="_blank">http://www.group42.com/png.htm</a>
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for more details.</li>
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</ul>
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<hr>
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<h2>
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<a NAME="hardware"></a>2. Recommended Hardware Configuration</h2>
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The minimum hardware configuration to run Cosmo Player 2.1.1 is:
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<ul>
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<li>
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Pentium PC</li>
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<li>
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16 MBytes RAM</li>
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<li>
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8-bit color depth (16-bit color is recommended)</li>
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</ul>
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If your system provides hardware acceleration for either OpenGL or Direct3D,
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Cosmo Player will make use of that acceleration.
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<a href="#hw_accel">See
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below</a> for more details and a list of supported graphics cards. Also,
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if your system's graphics card supports Direct3D, be sure to read the <a href="#d3d_warning">WARNING</a>
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below about unsupported cards!
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<br>
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<hr>
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<h2>
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<a NAME="install"></a>3. Installation and Browser Issues</h2>
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Before installing Cosmo Player 2.1.1, deinstall all previous versions (if
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possible) using Add/Remove Programs. If you have installed Netscape 4.05,
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then Cosmo Player 2.0 will have been installed silently as part of Netscape
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4.05 and cannot be removed using Add/Remove Programs; the Cosmo Player
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2.1.1 installer will upgrade the Cosmo Player 2.0 that is installed with
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Netscape 4.05.
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<p>You can download the latest version of Cosmo Player from <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/products/player" TARGET="_blank">http://cosmosoftware.com/products/player</a>.
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<p>Cosmo Player 2.1.1 is designed to work as a plug-in component for the
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following Web browsers:
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<ul>
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<li>
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Netscape 3.01 and higher</li>
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<li>
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Netscape 4.x</li>
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<li>
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Internet Explorer 4.x</li>
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</ul>
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x is not supported. However, you may install
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Cosmo Player as an ActiveX control to run it in Internet Explorer 3.x.
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To do this requires that you use the "Other (unsupported browsers)" option
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in the Selected Components dialog during installation of Cosmo Player.
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If you install Cosmo Player to be used in Internet Explorer 3.x, then you
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will need to install the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/java/vm/dl_vmsp2.htm" TARGET="_blank">Microsoft
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Java VM for IE 4.0</a> to execute JSAI and EAI content.
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<p>During installation of Cosmo Player 2.1.1, you're presented with a Select
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Components dialog that lists supported Web browsers currently installed
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on your system. If the installed version of your preferred Web browser
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does not appear in the list of supported browsers, check the "Other (unsupported
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browsers)" option. The installer then asks you which unsupported Web browser
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you want to use; after you specify a browser, you're asked to indicate
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what directory Cosmo Player should be installed in. The installer then
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installs the necessary files for Cosmo Player into the directory you specified.
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PLATINUM technology, inc. does not warrant compatibility with any Web browser
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that isn't automatically detected by the Cosmo Player 2.1.1 installer.
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<p>The installer will attempt to detect currently installed versions of
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Cosmo Player. If you choose to uninstall a previous version during
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the
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installation process, you should reboot your machine <u>after</u> the successful
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install of the <u>new</u> version. This will ensure that the Cosmo
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Player files are correctly updated on your system.
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<p>If the Cosmo Player dashboard is too dark, then your monitor may not
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be set up correctly. Reset the monitor's brightness and contrast so that
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the control panel is pleasantly visible.
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<br>
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<hr>
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<h2>
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<a NAME="help"></a>4. On-line Help</h2>
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Display the <a href="frames-help.html" TARGET="_blank">on-line help</a>
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by clicking the help icon ("<b>?</b>") on the Cosmo Player dashboard. You
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can also access the help on the Cosmo Software web site at <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player" TARGET="_blank">http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player</a>.
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<br>
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<hr>
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<h2>
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<a NAME="media"></a>5. Media Types and Software</h2>
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<h3>
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ActiveMovie/DirectShow</h3>
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Cosmo Player 2.1.1 requires ActiveMovie 1.0 or later in order to support
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video and compressed audio within VRML worlds.
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<p>Microsoft has recently changed the name of ActiveMovie to DirectShow,
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which will be bundled with DirectX beginning with DirectX 5.1 and also
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comes bundled with Internet Explorer 4.0, so you may be familiar with it
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under that name.
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<p>If, in the Cosmo Player Console, you see the message
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<p><tt>ActiveMovie not available. Video will be disabled. Audio which is
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not uncompressed WAV or MIDI will be disabled.</tt>
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<p>then you may want to download and install ActiveMovie. (Press the <b>\</b>
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[backslash] key to display the Console.) You can download a self-extracting
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archive of the ActiveMovie support package from the <a href="ftp://cosmosoftware.com/cosmo/sw/amovie.exe">Cosmo
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Software ftp site (amovie.exe)</a>.
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<p>Upon installation of ActiveMovie, you may find that multimedia files
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(.mpg, etc.) on your system have different icons. This is because ActiveMovie
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changes the default file associations for these file types. See <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/directx" TARGET="_blank">www.microsoft.com/directx</a>
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for additional information on ActiveMovie/DirectShow.
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<h3>
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DirectX</h3>
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Cosmo Player 2.1.1 uses DirectSound3D, available in DirectX 3.0 or later,
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to provide realistic, spatialized audio. Without DirectX 3.<i>x</i>, audio
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will be pseudo-spatialized by varying the left/right pan.
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<h4>
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Windows 95/98</h4>
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If you see the message
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<p><tt>DirectX 3.0 or later not detected. Spatialization will be limited
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to simple left/right pan calculation.</tt>
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<p>in the Cosmo Player Console, you will need to install DirectX 3.0 or
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later if you desire to hear fully spatialized audio. For best performance
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in Windows 95/98, use DirectX 5.0 or later. A self-extracting archive of
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the DirectX 5.0 runtime is available from the <a href="ftp://cosmosoftware.com/cosmo/sw/dx5eng.exe">Cosmo
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Software ftp site (dx5eng.exe)</a>. This is the English-language version
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of DirectX 5; international users should download the appropriate version
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directly from Microsoft.
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<h4>
|
|
Windows NT</h4>
|
|
Versions of Windows NT 4.0 up to and including Service Pack 2 include DirectX
|
|
2.0. In order to upgrade to DirectX 3.0 for full spatialization support,
|
|
you will need to install Windows NT Service Pack 3, which is available
|
|
from Microsoft's site: <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/support/ntserver/Content/ServicePacks/" TARGET="_blank">Windows
|
|
NT Service Packs</a>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<h2>
|
|
<a NAME="trouble"></a>6. Troubleshooting</h2>
|
|
Additional troubleshooting information is available in the Cosmo Player
|
|
FAQ, which is found on the
|
|
<a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player" TARGET="_blank">Cosmo
|
|
Player Support Resources</a> page.
|
|
<p>Also, be sure to check the <a href="#bugs">Known Bugs and Limitations</a>
|
|
section, in case you're running into a specific known problem in this release
|
|
of Cosmo Player.
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>I do not hear audio in all worlds known to have audio content.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Verify that audio works normally outside of Cosmo Player 2.1.1. Double-click
|
|
on a .WAV file from within the Windows Explorer. Try a .MID file as well.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Display the Cosmo Player Console (press <b>\</b> [backslash]) and look
|
|
for diagnostic messages relating to the audio subsystem.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>I do not hear audio in a particular world.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Check the Cosmo Player 2.1.1 Console to verify that there were no errors
|
|
retrieving the audio content.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Verify that the content type is supported by your installation of Cosmo
|
|
Player 2.1.1. In particular, without ActiveMovie/DirectShow, only uncompressed
|
|
WAV and MIDI will be supported.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>My audio is not spatialized.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Audio will only be "pseudo-spatialized" on Windows NT without Service Pack
|
|
3 or Windows 95/98 without DirectX 3.0 or later.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
MIDI playback is not spatialized.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>I do not see video when I would expect to.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Verify that ActiveMovie/DirectShow has been installed.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Verify that video playback is functional outside of Cosmo Player 2.1.1.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>Video appears in a separate pop-up window.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Re-install and restart Cosmo Player 2.1.1.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>My web browser crashes when I try to display the Preferences window.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This is a bug in certain older releases of Windows 95; you need an updated
|
|
Microsoft system file, COMCTL32.DLL (you need version 4.70 or higher).
|
|
Unfortunately, because of Microsoft licensing restrictions, the only way
|
|
to to get this DLL is by installing any one of a number of Microsoft programs
|
|
that include it, such as Internet Explorer 3.02, Internet Explorer 4.x,
|
|
Word 97, or Developer Studio 5.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>Java is not working.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Check your CLASSPATH. If the CLASSPATH environment variable points
|
|
to any other (non-Cosmo Player 2.1.1) <tt>vrml.*</tt> classes, then Java
|
|
functionality will not be available.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>JSAI class files are not being loaded in Internet Explorer.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Confirm that your SOCKS server on your firewall is compatible with Internet
|
|
Explorer. Workaround by using an HTTP proxy to access the Internet or by
|
|
upgrading your SOCKS firewall server.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>Embedded VRML works in Netscape and IE 4.0 but not in IE 3.x.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Make sure that you are using double quotes (NOT single quotes) in your
|
|
HTML. That is, it should look like <tt> SRC="coolVRML.wrl" </tt>
|
|
not <tt> SRC='coolVRML.wrl'</tt>.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>Some EAI content doesn't work in Internet Explorer.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This can happen if the EAI applet is using the old-style LiveConnect functionality
|
|
(the JSObject calls) to access the VRML browser; these calls are Netscape-specific.
|
|
Please ensure that the content uses the <tt>Browser.getBrowser()</tt> method,
|
|
which works in both Netscape and Internet Explorer.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>Textured objects appear too bright or "washed out".</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This can happen if your content uses a bright emissiveColor on the material
|
|
underneath the textured objects. Cosmo Player 2.0 did not apply the emissive
|
|
and specular colors correctly in this case; the behavior in Cosmo Player
|
|
2.1.1 is spec-compliant. <a href="#two_pass">See below</a> for more info
|
|
and a workaround.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>I get a black screen when trying to view any world that uses navigation
|
|
type NONE.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This is caused by OpenGL driver bugs on some systems; we've especially
|
|
seen this with the Matrox Millennium II card (<a href="#matrox">see below</a>
|
|
for more details), we've also seen it with the Diamond Stealth 3D 2000
|
|
card, and have heard reports of it with other cards too. You should first
|
|
make sure you're running the latest versions of your card's OpenGL drivers
|
|
(check the card manufacturer's web site); otherwise, use the <a href="#force_sw">"Force
|
|
Software-only Rendering" item</a> to work around this problem.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>I get an error when uninstalling (or reinstalling) Cosmo Player 2.1.1.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This usually happens when the Cosmo Player "uninstall log" gets corrupted
|
|
somehow (eg. if you manually delete the <tt>.isu</tt> file that gets created
|
|
when you first install.) The easiest way to fix things is to just reinstall
|
|
Cosmo Player 2.1.1 on your system; this will re-create the uninstall logs
|
|
and then you'll be able to safely uninstall the software.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Also, before installing <i>or</i> uninstalling, be sure you don't have
|
|
any <tt>.wrl</tt> files on your Windows desktop! If you do, some of Cosmo
|
|
Player's .dll's will be kept open by Windows (which interferes with the
|
|
install/uninstall process).
|
|
<p>Finally, there's one known problem with Internet Explorer 4.x, which
|
|
happens because IE keeps the Cosmo Player libraries open even after you
|
|
shut it down! So if you can't uninstall or reinstall Cosmo Player after
|
|
using IE4, the workaround is to log out and log back in again; <a href="#ie4_uninstall">see
|
|
below</a> for details.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>Cosmo Player hangs on startup; Netscape just locks up while displaying
|
|
"Starting Java..."</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This is a bug in Windows NT, which can be triggered by Netscape Communicator
|
|
when running with a TrueColor (24-bit) display. <a href="#truecolor">See
|
|
below</a> for more info and a workaround.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h4>
|
|
<i>IE4.x can't bring up new browser windows.</i></h4>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Sometimes Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 can lose the capability to launch
|
|
new browser windows (from links on any HTML page). This is a known bug
|
|
in IE, but it may be triggered by the presence or absence of Cosmo Player.
|
|
<a href="#ie4_newwin">See
|
|
below</a> for more info, the fix from Microsoft's support site, and an
|
|
additional workaround.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<h2>
|
|
<a NAME="diff1"></a>7. Differences Between Cosmo Player 2.0 and 2.1.1</h2>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
New Features</h3>
|
|
New features in Cosmo Player 2.1.1 include the following:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
There is a Macintosh version available! (in Prerelease as of 4/3/98)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Support for 16-bit color, Direct3D hardware acceleration (based on DirectX
|
|
5) on Windows 95/98. <a href="#hw_accel">Details</a> below.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br><b>Note:</b> 8-bit color is not supported in the Direct3D renderer
|
|
of Cosmo Player. We have done preliminary testing, but this is not a supported
|
|
configuration.
|
|
<li>
|
|
The EAI has been exposed as a COM interface. Check the <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/products/player/resources_21.html" TARGET="_blank">Cosmo
|
|
Player 2.1.1 Resources page</a> for a Cosmo Player SDK to make use of the
|
|
COM EAI.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cosmo Player is now compliant with the VRML97 event model. For example,
|
|
Cosmo Player 2.1.1 will preload scripts and EXTERNPROTOs to enable predictable
|
|
behavior.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Improved documentation</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Improved support for 8-bit displays</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Improved startup speed</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
New "Graphics" preferences panel for renderer selection. The Cosmo Player
|
|
Console contains information about the current renderer.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
Bugs Fixed</h3>
|
|
The Cosmo Player team fixed many bugs between the 2.0 and 2.1.1 releases,
|
|
too many to list here. Several of the key fixes are:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Event model is VRML97 compliant</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Scripts and EXTERNPROTOs are preloaded to guarantee correct initialization</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Multiple events to Group nodes in one event cascade are handled properly</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Memory leaks in the EAI are fixed</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Vastly improved the look of the Cosmo Player dashboard in 8-bit display
|
|
mode.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
HTML links (or VRML Anchors) to URLs as in "myWorld.wrl#ViewpointName"
|
|
now correctly take you to the specified Viewpoint</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Anchor descriptions are now displayed in Internet Explorer</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
You can now animate the camera's Field of View by routing directly to the
|
|
fieldOfView of the currently bound Viewpoint</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Viewpoints are now removed correctly from the UI (the Viewpoint popup list)
|
|
when they get removed from the scene, or after a <tt>replaceWorld()</tt>
|
|
call</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Absolute time is now correct (was shifted)</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
Differences Between Cosmo Player 1.0 and 2.x</h3>
|
|
If you're updating from Cosmo Player 1.0, the key new features in 2.x are:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The user interface has been redesigned to be more intuitive and natural.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
The Cosmo Player Console has been introduced to display errors, warnings,
|
|
and developer information and <tt>print()</tt> statements.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Rendering API information:</li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
OpenGL is used as the rendering API in Cosmo Player 2.0.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Both OpenGL and Direct3D (on Windows 95/98 and requiring DirectX 5 or greater)
|
|
can be used as the rendering API in Cosmo Player 2.1.1.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Thus, if you have a graphics accelerator that has OpenGL drivers and/or
|
|
an MMX enabled machine, then Cosmo Player will use the hardware for OpenGL
|
|
acceleration. If you are using Windows 95/98, have DirectX 5 or later installed
|
|
and have one of the <a href="#hw_accel">supported graphics cards</a>, then
|
|
Cosmo Player will use Direct3D hardware acceleration.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Java is supported in the Script node in CP 2.x. For the latest specification,
|
|
please see the <i>Revised Java Appendix</i> of the <a href="http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/VRML97" TARGET="_blank">VRML97
|
|
specification</a>.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Support for Internet Explorer 4.0.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
You need only compile your java content once (instead of once for each
|
|
of Netscape and Internet Explorer).</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<h2>
|
|
<a NAME="thisrel"></a>8. What's Included in This Release</h2>
|
|
Cosmo Player 2.1.1 includes:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Cosmo Player Netscape plug-in</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>The Cosmo Player plugin, <i>npcosmop211.dll</i>, is installed in Netscape's
|
|
plugins directory.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Cosmo Player as an ActiveX control</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>The Cosmo Player ActiveX control, <i>cp211_axucp.dll, </i>is installed
|
|
by default in the Windows system directory, typically<i> \Windows\System
|
|
</i>under
|
|
Windows 95/98 and <i>\Winnt\System32</i> under Windows NT.
|
|
<br>Other Cosmo Software products may use Cosmo Player as an ActiveX control
|
|
to preview VRML work in progress. Microsoft's Internet Explorer can
|
|
use the ActiveX control to display VRML data.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Cosmo Player Supporting DLLs</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>All other DLLs required by Cosmo Player are installed by default in
|
|
the Windows system directory, typically<i> \Windows\System </i>under Windows
|
|
95/98 and <i>\Winnt\System32</i> under Windows NT.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Cosmo Software Shared DLLs</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Cosmo Software has other products that may share dlls with Cosmo Player.
|
|
These are installed by default in the Windows system directory, typically<i>
|
|
\Windows\System </i>under Windows 95/98 and <i>\Winnt\System32</i> under
|
|
Windows NT.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Cosmo Player External Authoring Interface Java classes (EAI)</b> <b>and
|
|
Java in the Script Node Authoring Interface classes (JSAI)</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
For use in Netscape, these classes are installed in the <i>npcosmop211.zip</i>
|
|
(or <i>npcosmop211.jar</i>) file in the Netscape plugins directory.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
For use in Internet Explorer, these classes are installed into <i>\Program
|
|
Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer</i></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Example VRML world</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>One example VRML world (the game <a href="../examples/chomp/chomp.htm" TARGET="_blank">Chomp</a>)
|
|
is provided with this release. By default it is installed in <i>\Program
|
|
Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer\examples.</i> For more VRML content, see
|
|
the <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/galleries" TARGET="_blank">Galleries</a>
|
|
on the Cosmo Software web site.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>VRML 1.0 to VRML97 converter</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Cosmo Player will automatically convert VRML 1.0 files to VRML97 on
|
|
read. If you prefer to permanently convert your VRML 1.0 files to VRML97,
|
|
a standalone converter, <i>vrml1tovrml2.exe</i>, is also provided. By default,
|
|
the converter is installed where the other DLLs are installed.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>GZIP</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>All data formats can now be gzip compressed. This could make significant
|
|
improvements in download time for large data files expected to be transferred
|
|
over slow modem connections.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>UTF8</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Cosmo Player will read and convert utf8 characters in a WRL file into
|
|
Unicode characters to display. This will work on Windows NT 4.0 for the
|
|
string field of the Text node and also the description field of the Viewpoint
|
|
node. Windows 95/98 does not support Unicode and so will display '-' dash
|
|
characters instead of the proper value for most charsets but has limited
|
|
support for Latin1 characters. Of course, you must have the TrueType fonts
|
|
installed that support the charset that you want to display.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>These Release Notes</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>These Release Notes are by default installed in <i>\Program Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer\doc\relnotes.html</i>.
|
|
For the most up-to-date release information, check the <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player" TARGET="_blank">Cosmo
|
|
Player Support Resources</a> page.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<h2>
|
|
<a NAME="vrmldev"></a>9. VRML Developer Notes</h2>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
Compatibility with Cosmo Worlds 2.0</h3>
|
|
Cosmo Worlds 2.0 can compile your Java files. To do so, the Java compiler
|
|
must be able to find the VRML classes that come with Cosmo Player; these
|
|
classes are found in <tt>npcosmop.zip</tt> or <tt>npcosmop.jar</tt> (for
|
|
Cosmo Player 2.0) or
|
|
<tt>npcosmop211.zip</tt> or <tt>npcosmop211.jar</tt>
|
|
(for Cosmo Player 2.1.1).
|
|
<p><i>WARNING:</i> the default classpath in the Cosmo Worlds Script Editor
|
|
refers to the VRML classes by their Cosmo Player 2.0 name (<tt>"npcosmop"</tt>,
|
|
<i>not</i><tt>"npcosmop211"</tt>).
|
|
This means that with Cosmo Player 2.1.1, you must re-set the classpath
|
|
option <i>every time</i> you bring up the Script Editor if you use it to
|
|
compile your Java code. Here's how to re-set the classpath:
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Bring up the Script Editor, select the "Settings" tab.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Update the "Compiler Options":</li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
original value:</li>
|
|
|
|
<br><tt><font size=-1>-classpath "<JDK_dir>\lib\classes.zip;<CP2.0_install_dir>\<b>npcosmop.zip</b>"</font></tt>
|
|
<li>
|
|
change to:</li>
|
|
|
|
<br><tt><font size=-1>-classpath "<JDK_dir>\lib\classes.zip;<CP2.1.1_install_dir>\<b>npcosmop211.zip</b>"</font></tt></ul>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
This classpath setting is not persistent, so you need to reset it <i>every</i>
|
|
time you bring up the Script Editor. (And unfortunately, there's no environment
|
|
variable or registry entry that can be used to override the default setting.)
|
|
<h3>
|
|
VRML97 Compliance</h3>
|
|
Cosmo Player supports all of the <a href="http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/VRML97" TARGET="_blank">VRML97
|
|
specification</a>. It is compliant with the syntax and semantics of the
|
|
final version of the specification.
|
|
<h3>
|
|
Functionality</h3>
|
|
We have implemented some additional functionality to enable developers
|
|
to debug their content. This functionality includes:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
At runtime, you can toggle an in-scene display of <b>frame rate</b> by
|
|
pressing the <b>=</b> key.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The <b>Cosmo Player 2.1.1 Console</b> is used to display errors, warnings
|
|
and developer information, along with other messages logged by Javascript
|
|
or Java code in the VRML content. You can force the display of the Console
|
|
at runtime by pressing the <b>\</b> [backslash] key (or the <b>/</b> [forward-slash]
|
|
key on the numeric keypad.) Also, the "Advanced" preferences panel allows
|
|
you to select when/if the Console should ever automatically display itself.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Note: since the "Automatic Muting" item in the "Audio" preferences panel
|
|
defaults to "Mute when window is not active", any sound produced by the
|
|
VRML scene will be <i>muted</i> when the console is the active window!
|
|
So if you use the VRML console a lot <i>and</i> you need to hear your scene's
|
|
audio, you should set this preference item to "Never mute".
|
|
<li>
|
|
Using EMBED tags, it is possible to turn off visible UI (similar to navigation
|
|
type NONE) while still providing built-in navigation. This can be useful
|
|
for ad banners and other stealth VRML content. Example:</li>
|
|
|
|
<pre><EMBED SRC="foo.wrl" WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=90 VRML-DASHBOARD=FALSE></pre>
|
|
Note that for full page/frame plugins, you must still use an EMBED tag
|
|
in HTML to get this effect, specifying the width and height as "100%."
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Using an EMBED tag, it is possible to set the initial background color
|
|
of the VRML window (e.g. to match the HTML page background color). The
|
|
syntax is</li>
|
|
|
|
<pre> VRML-BACKGROUND-COLOR="#rrggbb"</pre>
|
|
where the "rrggbb" are hex values for each of the colors: red, green, and
|
|
blue.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<li>
|
|
A <tt>print()</tt> method can be used in JavaScript to print information
|
|
to the Cosmo Player Console from a VRML Script node using JavaScript. For
|
|
example:</li>
|
|
|
|
<pre> Script {
|
|
url "javascript:
|
|
function initialize() {
|
|
print('Script 2 initialized.');
|
|
vec = new SFVec2f(0,1);
|
|
print('SFVec2f is ('+vec.x+','+vec.y+')');
|
|
}"
|
|
}</pre>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
A <tt>print()</tt> method is also available in the EAI and JSAI. The static
|
|
<tt>Browser.print()</tt>
|
|
methods print the passed-in information to the Cosmo Player Console. You
|
|
may pass a String, int, boolean, float, double, long, or char to this method.
|
|
For example, in the EAI:</li>
|
|
|
|
<pre> import vrml.external.Browser;
|
|
...
|
|
Browser.print("Your message here");</pre>
|
|
or
|
|
<pre> vrml.external.Browser.print("Your message here");</pre>
|
|
In the JSAI:
|
|
<pre> import vrml.Browser;
|
|
...
|
|
Browser.print("Your message here");</pre>
|
|
or
|
|
<pre> vrml.Browser.print("Your message here");</pre>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
Multimedia Notes</h3>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
MIDI seeking is not supported. Thus, MIDI files can only start playing
|
|
from the beginning.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
MIDI playback will not be spatialized. It is attenuated for distance from
|
|
the listener.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Only one MIDI clip can be playing at a time.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
MIDI playback does not obey the "Mute when window inactive" preference.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
MIDI files containing many SysEx messages may play back incorrectly.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Pitch shifting of audio (in AudioClip) is limited to a ceiling of 100KHz.
|
|
In other words, a 22KHz clip can only be shifted a maximum of about 4.4.
|
|
Pitch-shifted audio is not filtered, so audio content should be frequency
|
|
limited based upon the maximum pitch shift factor expected and the 100KHz
|
|
ceiling. The same limitations apply to the MovieTexture node when used
|
|
as an audio source.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Multiple instances of Cosmo Player may produce sound from only one instance.
|
|
This is due to the Microsoft provided functionality. If there are no native
|
|
DirectSound drivers for the audio device being used to render sound, then
|
|
Windows falls back to an emulation mode which uses the Windows WAVE functions.
|
|
There is a known issue where two applications cannot simultaneously have
|
|
the WAVE device open at the same time. Thus, if your audio device does
|
|
not have native DirectSound drivers, then you can only get sound from one
|
|
process at a time. Note that under Windows NT 4.0, DirectSound <i>always</i>
|
|
uses emulation mode. So, if you're running Windows NT 4.0, then you will
|
|
never be able to have two processes with audio active at the same time.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
MovieTexture nodes do not support negative speeds for MPG/AVI/MOV files.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
MovieTexture video decoding can degrade rendering performance. In general
|
|
performance is much better with video encoded at lower frame rates (e.g.
|
|
10fps) and smaller sizes (e.g. 128 x 128).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Looping MovieTextures may experience audio stutters when wrapping from
|
|
the end of the media to the beginning.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
The alpha channel is not supported for any video formats, except you may
|
|
use transparent animated GIFs.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Changing the Renderer Selection in the "Graphics" preferences panel may
|
|
sometimes cause MPEG/QT/AVI MovieTextures to be rendered with incorrect
|
|
colors (the pixel format may get accidentally switched between RGB and
|
|
BGR). Just reload the VRML world if this happens.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
<a NAME="hw_accel"></a>OpenGL, Direct3D, and hardware graphics acceleration</h3>
|
|
|
|
<ul><a NAME="d3d_warning"></a><b>WARNING:</b> If your system has a graphics
|
|
card that supports Direct3D, be sure to check the <a href="#d3d_cards">list
|
|
of supported cards</a> below. If your card does <i>not</i> appear on this
|
|
list, be aware that you may encounter rendering problems (since not all
|
|
D3D cards support the full set of features needed to render a VRML scene!)
|
|
If you do have problems, please bring up the "Graphics" preferences panel
|
|
and switch your renderer to "OpenGL".
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="force_sw"></a><b>The "Force Software-only Rendering" checkbox
|
|
item</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>If your system supports hardware acceleration of either OpenGL or Direct3D
|
|
(note: DirectX 5 is needed for D3D acceleration), Cosmo Player will by
|
|
default make use of this acceleration. To override this behavior, there
|
|
is a "Force Software-only Rendering" checkbox on the "Graphics" preferences
|
|
panel which can be used to disable hardware acceleration. There are valid
|
|
reasons for users to disable this capability, such as:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Some graphics accelerators are no faster (and sometimes even slower) than
|
|
the software OpenGL that is provided with Cosmo Player. For example, at
|
|
present, the Matrox Millenium II driver has some performance oversights
|
|
and software OpenGL is usually faster.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Some graphics accelerators may not produce the rendering quality of software
|
|
rendering, especially if you are using an 8-bit display (8-bit color is
|
|
not a supported configuration with the Direct3D renderer available with
|
|
Cosmo Player 2.1.1).</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
If you do have hardware acceleration, you are encouraged to compare the
|
|
performance and visual quality of hardware versus software rendering and
|
|
set your preferences accordingly. If your system has no hardware acceleration
|
|
capability, the "Force Software-only Rendering" item is grayed out and
|
|
cannot be selected. (Note: the checkbox may also be grayed out in some
|
|
situations where your system does support hardware acceleration, but it's
|
|
just not <i>currently</i> available. This can happen if your display is
|
|
set to a bit depth that your card can't accelerate, for example.)
|
|
<p>Note: when switching between the Direct3D and OpenGL renderers, the
|
|
"Force Software-only Rendering" item is only updated <i>after</i> you press
|
|
the "OK" button, so you'll need to bring up the preferences panel again
|
|
to see whether hardware acceleration is available for the new renderer.
|
|
And on some systems, you may need to totally shut down and restart your
|
|
web browser for a change in the "Force Software-only Rendering" item to
|
|
take effect.
|
|
<p>To be absolutely sure which renderer you're using at any given point,
|
|
just bring up the Cosmo Player Console (press <b>\</b> [backslash]) and
|
|
check the info under "Current Graphics Renderer":
|
|
<center><table BORDER >
|
|
<tr ALIGN=CENTER>
|
|
<td COLSPAN="3"><b>"Current Graphics Renderer" info from the Console</b></td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr ALIGN=CENTER>
|
|
<td><b>Name</b></td>
|
|
|
|
<td><b>Description</b></td>
|
|
|
|
<td><b>Renderer</b></td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr ALIGN=CENTER>
|
|
<td>"SGI"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>"Generic 1.1.2 SGI"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>SGI software-only OpenGL</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr ALIGN=CENTER>
|
|
<td>"Microsoft Corporation"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>"GDI Generic 1.1.0"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>Microsoft software-only OpenGL, or hardware acceleration using MCD
|
|
driver</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr ALIGN=CENTER>
|
|
<td>(your graphics card manufacturer)</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>(card-specific info)</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>Hardware-accelerated OpenGL
|
|
<br>using ICD driver</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr ALIGN=CENTER>
|
|
<td>... "Direct3D Renderer"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>... "Software Emulation"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>Software-only Direct3D</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr ALIGN=CENTER>
|
|
<td>... "Direct3D Renderer"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>... "Hardware acceleration through Direct3D HAL"</td>
|
|
|
|
<td>Hardware-accelerated Direct3D</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table></center>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Graphics Accelerators: OpenGL</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>If you have a 3D graphics card with OpenGL drivers, Cosmo Player will
|
|
take advantage of the card's acceleration. Some OpenGL cards which are
|
|
known to work with Cosmo Player are:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cards based on the 3DLabs Permedia 2 chipset (eg. the FireGL 1000 Pro from
|
|
Diamond Multimedia, which has OpenGL drivers for Windows 95/98 and Windows
|
|
NT; make sure you have the latest drivers!)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cards based on the ATI Rage Pro chipset (eg. the ATI Rage Pro, which has
|
|
OpenGL drivers for Windows NT.)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cards based on the Nvidia Riva 128 chipset (eg. the Diamond Multimedia
|
|
Viper V330, which has OpenGL drivers for Windows 95/98.)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cards based on Mitsubishi's 3DPro/2mp chipset (eg. the Diamond Multimedia
|
|
Fire GL 4000, which has OpenGL drivers for Windows NT; make sure you have
|
|
the very latest drivers!)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cards based on the Intel 740 chipset</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
Note: with some OpenGL cards, the OpenGL drivers will fall back to software-only
|
|
rendering if the window size becomes too large for hardware acceleration.
|
|
The maximum window size depends on the card itself, as well as the color
|
|
depth of the screen (eg. running in 24-bit color uses 50% more memory for
|
|
the front and back buffers than 16-bit color).
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="d3d_cards"></a><b>Graphics Accelerators: Direct3D</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>You must have DirectX 5 or greater installed to use the Direct3D renderer.
|
|
(DirectX 5 is currently available only for Windows 95/98.) We have tested
|
|
and support the following graphics cards for Direct3D hardware acceleration:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Diamond Viper 330 (nVidia RIVA128 chipset)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Diamond FireGL 1000 Pro (3DLabs Permedia 2 chipset)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
ATI 3D Rage Pro (ATI Rage Pro chipset)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Real3D StarFighter (Intel 740 chipset)</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<b>Note:</b> if Cosmo Player is rendering via Direct3D hardware acceleration
|
|
and the window size becomes too large for hardware acceleration (this is
|
|
dependent on the card), then Cosmo Player will switch to using the Direct3D
|
|
software renderer. But since D3D cards often have a fairly small amount
|
|
of onboard memory - 4MB for many cards - and the front, back and Zbuffers
|
|
(and also textures, with some cards!) have to fit into this onboard memory
|
|
in order for there to be hardware acceleration, you may run into this limitation
|
|
sooner than you'd expect. Also, after switching to software rendering,
|
|
we redo this check every time the window is resized (to see if we can start
|
|
using hardware acceleration again.) Finally, remember that the resolution
|
|
<i>and</i>
|
|
color depth of the screen affect how much video memory you need (eg. running
|
|
in 24-bit color uses 50% more memory for the front and back buffers than
|
|
16-bit color.)
|
|
<p>We have made efforts to ensure our Direct3D renderer works with software-only
|
|
support, but this has not been fully tested. Also, the D3D software renderer
|
|
is known to be <b>very</b> slow on some platforms. So if Cosmo Player <i>thinks</i>
|
|
you have D3D hardware but you always end up with the software renderer
|
|
(see the Console to tell for sure), you should try manually switching to
|
|
the OpenGL renderer in the "Graphics" preferences panel and see if that's
|
|
faster.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>The <tt>OglPanel</tt> program</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p><tt>OglPanel</tt> is a utility program that allows you to change the
|
|
underlying rendering technology used in displaying VRML worlds. You can
|
|
use this program in conjunction with Cosmo authoring tools and with Cosmo
|
|
Player 2.0, but you don't need it when using Cosmo Player version 2.1 or
|
|
higher; the same functionality is now provided by the <a href="#force_sw">"Force
|
|
Software-only Rendering" item</a> on the "Graphics" preferences panel.
|
|
See that section for information on why you might want to disable the hardware
|
|
acceleration provided by your graphics card.
|
|
<p>If you do have hardware OpenGL acceleration, the <a href="#force_sw">"Force
|
|
Software-only Rendering" item</a> will generally override the OglPanel
|
|
setting, although the OglPanel setting still matters in some cases (especially
|
|
when using Cosmo Player as the previewer for Worlds or PageFX!) In these
|
|
cases, just look at the "Current Graphics Renderer" info in the Cosmo Player
|
|
Console (press <b>\</b> [backslash] to display the Console) to be sure
|
|
which renderer you're using, as described in the "Force Software-only Rendering"
|
|
section.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="other_renderer"></a><b>Other renderer problems</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="card_problems"></a>Some known problems with specific graphics
|
|
cards are:</li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="matrox"></a>We have not seen good results with the Matrox Millenium
|
|
II card. This card has great 2D performance, but (for 3D) the MCD OpenGL
|
|
drivers from Matrox do not take full advantage of the card's capabilities,
|
|
and the resulting performance is slower and/or buggier than the software-only
|
|
OpenGL renderer that comes with Cosmo Player! One specific bug we've seen
|
|
with this card is that VRML worlds which use navigation type NONE are not
|
|
displayed at all (you just get a black screen); you can use the <a href="#force_sw">"Force
|
|
Software-only Rendering" item</a> to work around this problem.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cards based on the 3DLabs Permedia 2 chipset (eg. the FireGL 1000 Pro)
|
|
can't correctly display specular and emissive colors on textured objects;
|
|
the textures are displayed correctly but the underlying specular and emissive
|
|
colors are ignored. The best workaround is to disable the "specular and
|
|
emissive color shine-through" preference item (<a href="#two_pass">see
|
|
below</a>), which will give reasonable (but not completely spec-compliant)
|
|
results.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cards based on the S3 Virge VX chipset (eg. the STB Velocity 3D card) have
|
|
been reported to have texturing problems on some systems (textures appear
|
|
but look bad.) Changing the "Image/Texture Quality" setting on the "Performance"
|
|
preferences panel might help; otherwise, use the <a href="#force_sw">"Force
|
|
Software-only Rendering" item</a> to work around this problem.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Not all renderer/card combinations can correctly display <a href="#two_pass">specular
|
|
and emissive colors on textured objects</a>:</li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
With the OpenGL renderer, specular and emissive shine-through only happens
|
|
for 1- and 3-component textures (ie. textures without alpha).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
The D3D renderer correctly displays specular and emissive colors regardless
|
|
of the texture type. But note that with the D3D renderer, specular and
|
|
emissive colors <i>always</i> shine through textures (ie. the "specular
|
|
and emissive color shine-through" preference item has no effect with the
|
|
D3D renderer. This is spec-compliant behavior, though.)</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Finally, some specific graphics cards <a href="#card_problems">(see above)</a>
|
|
may have problems with specular and emissive colors on textured objects.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
If you accidentally change your Renderer Selection (in the Graphics preferences
|
|
panel) to a setting that prevents Cosmo Player from working at all, Cosmo
|
|
Player will display an error message, re-initialize itself (with no active
|
|
renderer), and automatically bring up the Graphics preferences panel in
|
|
order to let you choose a different renderer.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>It's possible in some rare cases, though, to select a renderer setting
|
|
that crashes the browser (or your whole system) <i>before</i> Cosmo Player
|
|
can recognize there's a problem; this can be caused by bugs in your graphics
|
|
card's OpenGL or Direct3D drivers. If this happens, and you're comfortable
|
|
editing the registry, you can manually reset Cosmo Player's renderer preferences
|
|
by running <tt>regedit</tt> and looking in:
|
|
<center>
|
|
<p><tt>HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/CosmoSoftware/CosmoPlayer/2.1.1</tt></center>
|
|
The renderer preferences are:
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt>
|
|
<tt>"forceSoftwareRendering"</tt></dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
either 0 (use HW if available) or 1 (force SW rendering)</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt>
|
|
<tt>"renderer"</tt></dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<tt>"AUTO"</tt> or <tt>"OpenGL"</tt> or <tt>"D3D"</tt></dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
VRML Multimedia Developer Guide</h3>
|
|
We have compiled the following suggestions based upon our experience and
|
|
feedback from VRML content developers.
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Include multiple URLs in the AudioClip and MovieTexture nodes. For example,
|
|
if you desire to use an MPEG1 audio file in an AudioClip node, include
|
|
a .WAV format file as a fallback for those browsers that cannot support
|
|
MPEG Audio only streams.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Use MIDI for ambient sounds and/or lengthy music. For example, you could
|
|
use MIDI AudioClips triggered by proximity sensors to create appropriate
|
|
background music for different rooms/regions of your world. Be aware of
|
|
the limitations to using MIDI clips mentioned below (e.g. no seeking, avoid
|
|
SysEx).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Use MPEG 1 Layer II Audio (.mpa) files for most other sounds, especially
|
|
audio that should be spatialized. Note that you can use .mpa files as the
|
|
URL for an AudioClip node with Cosmo Player; the MovieTexture node is not
|
|
required. The only caveat with MPEG1 Audio is that when looping sounds,
|
|
a click may be heard at the transition from the end of the media to the
|
|
beginning. This is due to a limitation of the format.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
For best results with MovieTexture nodes, use video with a frame rate of
|
|
10fps max and frame sizes <= 128x128. OpenGL limits textures to powers
|
|
of 2 sizes (e.g. 128 x 64, 32 x 32), so better performance can also be
|
|
achieved by encoding the video at an appropriate size.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Use Animated GIFs in the MovieTexture node if you require transparency
|
|
or support for negative speeds.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<h2>
|
|
<a NAME="bugs"></a>10. Known Bugs and Limitations</h2>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
VRML97 Compliance</h3>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Java-related issues</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Developer Info</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
More information about using Java with VRML, via both the JSAI (Java Script
|
|
Authoring Interface) and the EAI (External Authoring Interface), can be
|
|
found in the <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/developer/" TARGET="_blank">developer
|
|
section</a> of the Cosmo Software web site. The <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/developer/eai.html" TARGET="_blank">EAI
|
|
page</a> includes the EAI spec and several example programs with source
|
|
code.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Java Support in IE 3.x</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
If you install Cosmo Player to be used in Internet Explorer 3.x, then you
|
|
will need to install the Microsoft Java VM for IE 4.0 to execute JSAI and
|
|
EAI content.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>LiveConnect - EAI - Netscape 4.x :</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Be sure <i>not</i> to use the old-style LiveConnect calls (the JSObject
|
|
functions that were used in old versions of the EAI examples) in your EAI
|
|
applets when getting a handle to the VRML browser! You should use the <tt>Browser.getBrowser()</tt>
|
|
method instead; this works in both Netscape and Internet Explorer, and
|
|
also lets Cosmo Player automatically work around LiveConnect bugs in certain
|
|
versions of Netscape.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Also, be sure to do your browser setup (ie. the <tt>getBrowser()</tt> call
|
|
and any Node lookups) in your applet's <tt>start()</tt> method. If you
|
|
do it in <tt>init()</tt> instead, you might break your EAI app or crash
|
|
Netscape. The Cosmo Player 2.x FAQ (found on the <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player" TARGET="_blank">Cosmo
|
|
Player Support Resources</a> page) has the full story on this problem,
|
|
along with some other important EAI programming tips.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
If the <tt>getBrowser()</tt> method is returning null even though Cosmo
|
|
Player is loading properly, make sure your CLASSPATH environment variable
|
|
doesn't contain references to java40.jar. If this doesn't work, try clearing
|
|
your CLASSPATH environment variable completely.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Finally, even with correctly-written EAI applets, there's still a chance
|
|
with some versions of Netscape that the <tt>getBrowser()</tt> method might
|
|
return null (or Netscape might crash!) when you hit "Reload" or when you
|
|
leave an EAI page (eg. by hitting "Back") and then revisit it. The underlying
|
|
LiveConnect code (the Netscape-specific interface used to get a handle
|
|
to the embedded VRML browser) is very sensitive to the timing of the Reload
|
|
sequence and can sometimes send a bad browser pointer to the applet; we
|
|
work around these problems in almost all cases (and Reload works fine with
|
|
most EAI applets on most systems), but you still might see occasional problems.
|
|
Using SHIFT-Reload (instead of Reload) is less likely to cause problems,
|
|
by the way.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>CLASSPATH setting for EAI/JSAI :</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Some EAI applets may require the EAI/JSAI Java classes to be explicitly
|
|
included in the CLASSPATH variable. If a <i>java.lang.ClassNotFoundException</i>
|
|
occurs for one of the classes in the <i>vrml</i> package when loading an
|
|
EAI applet, you will need to add the Cosmo Player Java classes to the CLASSPATH.
|
|
The Cosmo Player Java classes are installed in the Netscape plugins directory,
|
|
so for Communicator, this can be done by adding <tt><font size=-1>/Program
|
|
Files/Netscape/Communicator/Program/Plugins/npcosmop211.jar</font></tt><font size=-1>
|
|
</font>to the CLASSPATH.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Use <tt>MField.getSize()</tt> instead of <tt>array.length</tt></b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
In the JSAI and/or EAI, please use <tt>MField.getSize()</tt> to retrieve
|
|
the length of an array if the array was returned from a JSAI or EAI function
|
|
(such as <tt>MFColor.getValue()</tt>). This is necessary due to an implementation
|
|
oversight in Navigator 3.x's Java VM and JRI, where sometimes <tt>array.length</tt>
|
|
will return the wrong value.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Script Nodes</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The JSAI in Internet Explorer (or when accessed via the Cosmo Player ActiveX
|
|
control) requires classes derived from Script to be public; this is also
|
|
specified in the JSAI spec. The Microsoft Virtual Machine won't load your
|
|
Script java classes if they are private, protected or default. They have
|
|
to be defined explicitly as public. For example:</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> <tt><b>public</b> class Foo extends Script { ... }</tt>
|
|
<br>will be loaded in a Script node in Internet Explorer while the following
|
|
will not:
|
|
<br> <tt>class Foo extends Script { ... }</tt></ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Base URLs</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
When calling <tt>loadUrl()</tt>, <tt>createVrmlFromUrl()</tt> or <tt>createVrmlFromString()</tt>
|
|
from a Java Script or EAI applet, those calls now use the location of the
|
|
running Java class as the base URL for relative URLs. So say the Java class
|
|
is <tt>http://foo.com/a.class</tt> and the current VRML world is <tt>http://bar.com/b.wrl</tt>;
|
|
if the Java class calls <tt>loadUrl("other.wrl")</tt>, "other.wrl" will
|
|
be loaded from <tt>http://foo.com</tt>.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
This is the correct, spec-compliant behavior. See section 4.5.3 of the
|
|
<a href="http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/VRML97" TARGET="_blank">VRML97
|
|
spec</a> for more details.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Memory leak with <tt>EventOut.advise()</tt></b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
When using the <tt>EventOut.advise()</tt> method (to set up a callback
|
|
from the VRML scene to your EAI applet), the 2nd parameter to that call
|
|
is a "userData" Object which is passed back to your applet every time a
|
|
<tt>callback()</tt>
|
|
occurs. The "memory leak" here is that any object you pass in as "user
|
|
data" to <tt>EventOut.advise()</tt> will <i>never</i> be garbage collected,
|
|
even if the node generating the callbacks is removed from the VRML scene.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
The workaround: don't pass in large objects (like VRML Node objects!) as
|
|
"user data" to <tt>EventOut.advise()</tt>, especially if your applet repeatedly
|
|
adds new nodes to the scene, registers callbacks on these nodes, and then
|
|
deletes them!</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Material Properties</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Some hardware graphics accelerators do not properly render color per material
|
|
with multiple lights.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Lights</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
With the OpenGL renderer, there's a limit on the number of lights in the
|
|
scene that can be active at once. This number is usually 8, although it
|
|
can be larger with some graphics cards. Global lights (PointLights and
|
|
SpotLights) have the highest priority, so you won't see any DirectionalLights
|
|
if you have too many global lights.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br><i>Important note:</i> the <b>headlight</b> counts toward this limit.
|
|
And since it's a DirectionalLight, it will <i>not</i> be visible if your
|
|
scene contains 8 or more global lights!
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<li>
|
|
With the OpenGL renderer, PointLights and SpotLights ignore their radius
|
|
fields. Therefore, these light types illuminate the entire scene. The attenuation
|
|
fields can be used to limit the effect of the illumination. DirectionalLights
|
|
are scoped properly by their parent group as defined by the <a href="http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/VRML97" TARGET="_blank">VRML97
|
|
spec</a>.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Textures</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Some texture properties (clamp/wrap) are not maintained properly when textured
|
|
objects are clipped on some graphics accelerators.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Interpolators</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The NormalInterpolator does a linear interpolation of the normals, followed
|
|
by a projection to the unit sphere. It should interpolate on the surface
|
|
of the unit sphere.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Extrusions</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cosmo Player can crash if you try to extend the spine or crossSection of
|
|
an Extrusion (ie. route from a Script to the set_spine or set_crossSection
|
|
eventIn of an Extrusion node, using a value which would increase the number
|
|
of spine or crossSection points.) The workaround is to initially create
|
|
your Extrusion with the maximum number of spine/crossSection points you'll
|
|
need, and reset them as appropriate to expand the Extrusion. Or, you can
|
|
just recreate the Extrusion from scratch (eg. via <tt>createVrmlFromString()</tt>)
|
|
if you need to increase the number of spine/crossSection points.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>GZIP</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
When loading a gzip'ed VRML file with a <tt>.gz</tt> extension, Netscape
|
|
3.x may issue the warning message <i>"Warning: unrecognized encoding: 'x-gzip'"
|
|
</i>.
|
|
You can safely ignore this message, and Cosmo Player will correctly process
|
|
the file. A workaround is to rename the gzipped file to have a
|
|
<tt>.wrl</tt>
|
|
extension instead of a <tt>.gz</tt> extension.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Author-specified bounding boxes</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Grouping nodes which allow you to specify a bounding box (Anchor, Billboard,
|
|
Collision, Group, Inline and Transform) ignore the bboxCenter and bboxSize
|
|
fields in Cosmo Player 2.1.1. Instead, the browser uses the actual bounding
|
|
box of the node's children. (These fields are only supposed to be hints
|
|
to the browser for optimization purposes, and are not required for conformance
|
|
according to the <a href="http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/VRML97" TARGET="_blank">VRML97
|
|
spec</a>.)</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Navigation Speed</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Cosmo Player 2.x interprets the NavigationInfo node's "speed" field more
|
|
literally than pre-2.0 releases. This change makes Cosmo Player more spec-compliant
|
|
than before, and allows content authors to confidently specify the proper
|
|
navigation speed for a world (since the browser will now closely adhere
|
|
to the specified speed).</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Specifically, in the WALK viewer (i.e., Movement mode), navigation with
|
|
the keyboard arrow keys now moves the camera at <i>exactly</i> the speed
|
|
specified in the current NavigationInfo node. Navigation with the mouse
|
|
allows some flexibility, but by default the user will not be able to move
|
|
faster than approximately 3 times the specified speed. (Of course the user
|
|
can always manually adjust the navigation speed via the Preferences panel.)
|
|
<p>Authors should especially be aware that the default "speed" value (from
|
|
the <a href="http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/VRML97" TARGET="_blank">VRML97
|
|
spec</a>) is 1 meter/sec, which is a <i>very</i> slow walking speed in
|
|
a life-size world! (In other words, if you're building a VRML world using
|
|
real-world scaling, you should probably use a NavigationInfo node with
|
|
"speed" set to somewhere between 3 and 5.)</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="two_pass"></a><b>Specular and emissive colors on textured objects</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
According to the <a href="http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/VRML97" TARGET="_blank">VRML97
|
|
spec</a>, specular and emissive lighting should be unaffected by textures:
|
|
the object's specular and emissive colors should shine through, and <i>not</i>
|
|
just modulate the texture values. Cosmo Player 2.1.1 is spec compliant
|
|
here, although there is a checkbox item provided (in the "Performance"
|
|
preferences panel) to allow users to turn this feature off. Un-checking
|
|
this preference item might improve rendering performance (only on some
|
|
systems), and it can also be useful as a workaround for non-spec-compliant
|
|
content (if textured objects appear "washed out" because the emissiveColor
|
|
of the material underneath is too bright.)</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Finally, the OpenGL and D3D renderers may produce different results
|
|
in some cases (with certain texture formats, on specific graphics cards)
|
|
when rendering specular and emissive colors on textured objects. <a href="#other_renderer">See
|
|
above</a> for more details.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Hang when using <tt>createVrmlFromString()</tt> with EXTERNPROTOs or
|
|
Scripts</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
On some systems, Cosmo Player can hang (lock up) when running <tt>createVrmlFromString()</tt>
|
|
from either a Script node or the EAI, if the passed-in string contains
|
|
either an EXTERNPROTO, or a Script node with an external URL (like a Java
|
|
class, which would use something like '<tt>url "Foo.class"</tt>'. Scripts
|
|
with inline URLs like <tt>"javascript: ..."</tt>, though, are safe to use
|
|
inside <tt>createVrmlFromString()</tt>.)</li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>The details: Cosmo Player can hang if UI or VRML events come in while
|
|
it's in the middle of fetching an EXTERNPROTO implementation or a Script
|
|
URL. This hang is browser-dependent; it's somewhat likely to happen in
|
|
Netscape and IE3, and unlikely to happen in IE4. The workaround is to use
|
|
<tt>createVrmlFromURL()</tt>
|
|
instead of <tt>createVrmlFromString()</tt> if you can; otherwise, <i>don't</i>
|
|
use <tt>createVrmlFromString()</tt> with EXTERNPROTOs or with Scripts that
|
|
require their URLs to be fetched.</ul>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
Browser-specific Issues</h3>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>IE4: Local URLs with spaces in the pathname</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>There's a known bug in some versions of IE4 which prevents Cosmo Player
|
|
from loading a local VRML file if there are any space characters in the
|
|
pathname to the <tt>.wrl</tt> file. You may notice this problem with <a href="../examples/chomp/chomp.htm" TARGET="_blank">Chomp</a>
|
|
because the local Chomp files are installed under <tt>\Program Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer\examples</tt>
|
|
(which contains a space character.)
|
|
<p>This problem is fixed in IE4 version 4.72.2106 or later. (This problem
|
|
does not occur with any version of Netscape.) To work around this bug,
|
|
just copy the file(s) in question to a path with no space characters, or
|
|
set up your machine as a web server and access the files via the web server
|
|
instead of the file system.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>IE4: Cache directory setting</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>If you're using IE 4.0, Cosmo Player uses the system-wide "Temporary
|
|
Internet Files" directory as its cache. However, by default IE4 itself
|
|
does <i>not</i> use this same directory; it uses a directory under <i>windows-system-directory</i><tt>/Profiles/</tt><i>user-name</i>.
|
|
<p>For best results, be sure to set your cache directory to the <i>system</i>
|
|
"Temporary Internet Files" directory (either <tt>\WINNT\Temporary Internet
|
|
Files</tt> or <tt>\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files</tt>); this setting
|
|
is found under "General" on the IE Internet Options page. This will make
|
|
sure that any cache-related actions you do in IE (such as clearing the
|
|
cache!) will also affect files cached by Cosmo Player.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>IE: Calling Javascript code on an HTML page from VRML</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>Under Netscape, you can call Javascript code on an HTML page from a
|
|
VRML scene embedded on that same page, for example by using a URL like
|
|
"<tt>javascript:parent.function_name()</tt>" in an Anchor node or in a
|
|
<tt>Browser.loadURL()</tt>
|
|
call. This does not work in IE, though.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="ie4_uninstall"></a><b>IE4: Can't uninstall (or reinstall) Cosmo
|
|
Player because "cp211_main.dll is in use"</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>On some systems running Internet Explorer 4.x, if you try to uninstall
|
|
Cosmo Player 2.1.1 (via the "Add/Remove Programs" Control Panel) you can
|
|
get an error saying "cp211_main.dll is in use" even if you've already shut
|
|
down IE. This happens because closing all your IE windows doesn't <i>really</i>
|
|
shut down IE; there's still a process running (keeping Cosmo Player's DLL
|
|
open) which stays around as long as you're logged in! This problem can
|
|
also occur when installing Cosmo Player 2.1.1 on top of a previous Cosmo
|
|
Player installation.
|
|
<p>The solution is to log out and log back in (or just reboot), and then
|
|
immediately uninstall Cosmo Player.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>IE4: Problems with Java Console</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>There are several known problems with IE4's Java console (which you
|
|
can bring up via "View" -> "Java Console" after checking the "Java console
|
|
enabled" item in the Advanced preferences section):
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Starting the Java console and forcing garbage collection (by typing "g")
|
|
can cause non-deterministic behavior or crashes in worlds using the JSAI
|
|
(the GC is too aggressive).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Using <tt>System.out.println()</tt> when the Java console is visible often
|
|
causes exceptions to be thrown from that call.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
It is highly recommended that you do not enable the IE Java Console unless
|
|
absolutely necessary. (Note that there are no known problems with the Java
|
|
console under Netscape 3.x or 4.x.)</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="ie4_newwin"></a><b>IE4: Can't launch new browser windows</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>Some installations of Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 can get into a
|
|
broken state where the browser can't bring up new browser windows (when
|
|
you click on a link that tries to bring up a new window, or even if you
|
|
right-click on any link and select "Open in New Window".) This is a known
|
|
bug in IE; there's an <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q180/1/76.asp">article
|
|
on the Microsoft support site</a> with more information and a fix. (Note
|
|
that the article only mentions the problem occuring on Windows 95, but
|
|
we've also seen it with Windows NT.)
|
|
<p>The Microsoft fix (from the support article above) seems to work on
|
|
most systems. If it <i>doesn't</i> work, though, the following is an alternative
|
|
fix:
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Run <tt>regedit</tt>.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
Make sure that the following registry key:</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> <tt><font size=-1>HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{00020424-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\InprocServer32</font></tt>
|
|
<br>exists. If not, create it.
|
|
<li>
|
|
Make sure this key contains the following two values:</li>
|
|
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td> <tt>(Default)</tt></td>
|
|
|
|
<td> = </td>
|
|
|
|
<td><tt>"oleaut32.dll"</tt></td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td> <tt>"ThreadingModel"</tt></td>
|
|
|
|
<td> = </td>
|
|
|
|
<td><tt>"Both"</tt></td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
It's unclear if this IE bug is related to Cosmo Player; the bug doesn't
|
|
happen on most systems with Cosmo Player 2.0 or 2.1.1, and it <i>has</i>
|
|
been seen on machines that have never had <i>any</i> version of Cosmo Player
|
|
installed. Also, it's possible that the presence of certain versions of
|
|
Netscape might affect whether or not you see this bug in IE on your system.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a NAME="truecolor"></a><b>Netscape: Java hang with Netscape 4.0x and 24-bit
|
|
display under Windows NT 4.0</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>This is a known bug in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3, triggered by
|
|
Netscape Communicator (4.0x) when running with a TrueColor (24-bit) display.
|
|
If you're seeing this bug, note that the problem isn't specific to Cosmo
|
|
Player: Netscape isn't <i>ever</i> able to start Java! (Just try displaying
|
|
the Java Console by selecting "Communicator" -> "Java Console". If that
|
|
hangs, you have the Java/TrueColor bug.)
|
|
<p>More information on this bug is available from Netscape at <a href="http://help.netscape.com/kb/client/971009-22.html">http://help.netscape.com/kb/client/971009-22.html</a>,
|
|
and a fix is available <a href="ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/NT40/hotfixes-postSP3/getadmin-fix/">on
|
|
Microsoft's ftp site</a> (the file you need is <tt>admnfixi.exe</tt>, which
|
|
is an auto-installing executable).
|
|
<p>Also, there's a similar problem which is specific to the Matrox Millennium
|
|
graphics card (when using outdated drivers); more information is available
|
|
from Netscape at <a href="http://help.netscape.com/kb/client/970805-1.html">http://help.netscape.com/kb/client/970805-1.html</a>.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Installing Netscape 4.05 breaks Cosmo Player 2.1.1</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>Netscape Communicator 4.05 includes Cosmo Player 2.0. If you attempt
|
|
to install it on a system that already has Cosmo Player 2.1.1, though,
|
|
the result will be a broken installation of Cosmo Player 2.0 (which won't
|
|
be able to display textures, among other problems).
|
|
<p>To avoid this problem, be sure to <i>reinstall</i> Cosmo Player 2.1.1
|
|
after installing Netscape 4.05 on your system.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Support for the <tt>.wrl.gz</tt> file extension</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>Using the file extension <tt>.wrl.gz</tt> for gzip-compressed VRML
|
|
files is a <b>deprecated feature</b>, and will not be supported by releases
|
|
of Cosmo Player after 2.1.1. (In other words, this release of Cosmo Player
|
|
<i>does</i>
|
|
support the same file extensions - including <tt>.wrl.gz</tt> - as Cosmo
|
|
Player 2.0. But don't use <tt>.wrl.gz</tt> filenames in the future!)
|
|
<p>This is because some HTML browsers don't work well with multiple file
|
|
extensions on a single file (such as "<tt>foo.wrl.gz</tt>"). Specifically,
|
|
IE4.01 and versions of Netscape greater than 4.05 do not provide <tt>.wrl.gz</tt>
|
|
files to Cosmo Player at all, even when Cosmo Player is fetching an Inlined
|
|
file! (So even in Cosmo Player 2.1.1, content using <tt>.wrl.gz</tt> files
|
|
will be broken in IE 4.01 and versions of Netscape greater than 4.05).
|
|
<p>Until this is clarified by the VRML consortium in a "Recommended Practices"
|
|
document, the safest thing for authors to do is to rename files that end
|
|
in "<tt>.wrl.gz</tt>" to "<tt>.wrl</tt>". The "<tt>.wrz</tt>" extension
|
|
is an acceptable, but less correct, alternative.</ul>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3>
|
|
Hardware and Software Configuration</h3>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>OpenGL, Direct3D, and hardware graphics acceleration</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>Some graphics accelerators may produce slower performance and/or lower
|
|
rendering quality than the software renderer that is provided with Cosmo
|
|
Player. See the <a href="#hw_accel">notes on OpenGL and Direct3D</a> above
|
|
for more details.
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>8-bit color displays and hardware graphics accelerator cards</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Most hardware graphics accelerator card vendors recommend that 8-bit color
|
|
not be used. Due to color palette difficulties with these cards and
|
|
the Windows operating system, we do not fully support 8-bit color displays
|
|
and hardware graphics cards.</li>
|
|
|
|
<br> </ul>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<b>Audio</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<ul>Audio will only be "pseudo-spatialized" on Windows NT without Service
|
|
Pack 3 or higher. To get fully functional audio, install Service
|
|
Pack 3 or higher, available from Microsoft.
|
|
<p>Audio will not be fully functional on Windows 95/98 without DirectX
|
|
3 or higher installed. To get fully functional audio, install DirectX
|
|
3 or higher, available from Microsoft.
|
|
<p>Multiple instances of Cosmo Player may produce sound from only one instance.
|
|
This is due to the Microsoft provided functionality. If there are no native
|
|
DirectSound drivers for the audio device being used to render sound, then
|
|
Windows falls back to an emulation mode which uses the Windows WAVE functions.
|
|
There is a known issue where two applications cannot simultaneously have
|
|
the WAVE device open at the same time. Thus, if your audio device does
|
|
not have native DirectSound drivers, then you can only get sound from one
|
|
process at a time. Note that under Windows NT 4.0, DirectSound <i>always</i>
|
|
uses emulation mode. So, if you're running Windows NT 4.0, then you will
|
|
never be able to have two processes with audio active at the same time.
|
|
This should be fixed by Windows 2000 because the hardware vendors are promising
|
|
native DirectSound drivers under Windows 2000.
|
|
<p>We've heard reports of MIDI problems on some systems; symptoms may include
|
|
MIDI sounds in VRML worlds not being played, MIDI sounds crashing the browser,
|
|
or a crash in Cosmo Player if you try to bring up a VRML world while some
|
|
<i>other</i>
|
|
MIDI sound is playing (eg. a MIDI sound on a different web page, such as
|
|
when launching "Chomp"). These problems are usually caused by bugs in specific
|
|
sound cards or MIDI drivers; please try downloading newer versions of your
|
|
audio drivers from your system or sound card manufacturer.</ul>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<h2>
|
|
<a NAME="reportbugs"></a>11. Support and Bug Reporting</h2>
|
|
Please use either the "Submit Feedback" button in the "Advanced" preferences
|
|
panel or the facilities at the <a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player/">Cosmo
|
|
Software web site</a> to report bugs.
|
|
<p>The latest version of these Release Notes can always be found on the
|
|
<a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player" TARGET="_blank">Cosmo
|
|
Player Support Resources</a> page. And be sure to check the Cosmo Player
|
|
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list); it's also found on the
|
|
<a href="http://cosmosoftware.com/support/player" TARGET="_blank">support
|
|
page</a>, and contains a wealth of useful information about Cosmo Player.
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|