Vega Prime is MultiGen-Paradigm's Vega replacement software for the creation, development and deployment of 3d Real-time Visual and Audio Simulation including :Sensor, Virtual-Reality, Urban, High-Flight, Medium-Flight, Low Level and Ground warfare and general visualization applications
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Bringing a powerful combination of advanced functionality and ease of use, Vega Prime provides the infrastructure needed to rapidly develop and deploy accurate, real-time 3D software applications. Vega Prime derives its power from a range of highly advanced features, allowing the user to meet the precise requirements of today's most complex applications. At the same time, Vega Prime integrates features to offer the ease of use to help meet real world productivity demands. Vega Prime provides on of the most complete environment for 3D application development including; Multi-platform, with support for Windows, Linux and Irix Operating Environment allowing the need to only develop an application once to deploy on multiple platforms Continues to Provide a unique GUI configuration tool in LynX Prime, which is an extensible, cross-platform GUI configuration tool that enhances the rapid creation, modification, and configuration of Vega Prime application development. Lynx Prime make use of XML based data interchange format. Vega Prime was designed to be highly customizable, Vega Prime allows the user to tailor an application to fit many designs. The use can also develop their own modules, integrate their own code, and derive their own custom classes for optimal productivity and code reuse. Vega Prime provides high level abstractions for general application functionality too enable the use to be productive immediately, right out of the box. Vega Prime provides support for MetaFlight, MetaFlight is MultiGen-Paradigm's XML-based file specification and description format, enables runtime and database applications to understand the organization of both complex and simple databases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Environment variable MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME should point to the root directory were Vega Prime has been installed
On Windows the default is normally C:\Program Files\MultiGen-Paradigm
On Linux the default is normally /usr/local/MultiGen-Paradigm
On Irix the default is normally /usr/local/MultiGen-Paradigm
Binary files such as ( .dll, .exe, ) are installed to $(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\bin
Lib files such as ( .lib, .so, .a ) are installed to
$(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\lib
Include files are installed to $(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\include
$(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\include\VegaPrime
$(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\include\vsg
Documents, User Guides, Help files etc are installed to $(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\docs\.....
Resources, models, textures, Samples, Example code files are installed to $(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\resources\.....
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MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME the root location of where Vega Prime has been installed MPI_INSTALL_RESOURCE_DEFAULT the root location where Vega will look for the Resources directory MPI_INSTALL_DEFAULT same as MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME but default for all MPI products, you should useMPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME
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Yes you can install and use Vega and Vega Prime on the same machine, these products are independent of each other
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Vega Prime in one sense is very similar to Vega and you will see very similar names and terminology There is logical mappings of Vega types to Vega Prime Classes vgWindow - vpWindow vgChannel - vpChannel vgObject - vpObject etc. But the main issue is the while Vega was written in C++ it only provided a C interface and Vega Prime is provided only with C++ interface and function call are different, there are many more in Vega Prime and some mapping and naming conversion are different etc. So many things you have written at the top level of Vega should port relatively straight forward to Vega Prime, as long as you look at the docs, headers and samples etc.
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Basically no there are no tools to help you port from Vega to Vega Prime. While they both share many concepts and class names, the differences between Vega's C based API and Vega Prime's C++ interface are too great to be able to provide porting tools or scripts The one tool that is provide is with the vpPathing Module and that has a command line tool to will read the old Vega Navigator and Path files and create simple Vega Prime equivalents
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Overall the answer is no you cannot use Vega Prime 1.2x with MicroSofts Visual studio 7.1 or above. Vega Prime 1.xx was built with Visual Studio 6.0 and you STL PORT. This causes lots of problems when trying to compile with 7.1. Having said no, some people have managed to compile and run Vega Prime 1.22 with Visual Studio 7.1, so it may work it all depend on what bits and pieces of Vega Prime you using, if your using a lot of the STL interface as opposed to the older deprecated get methods it probably will not compile
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LynX Prime is XML based application providing an extensible point and click graphical user interface that increases productivity by enabling changes to changes to: application functionality, visual channels, multi-CPU allocation, eye-points, observers, special effects, time of day, system configuration, models, databases, and more at the point of application deployment. Access to 'Active Preview' also allows many settings to be modified, and previewed instantly, without re-starting of the application. LynX supports end-user reconfigurability of delivered systems for non-programmers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An ACF contains all the information that a Vega Prime application needs at application initialisation time as well as information to be used during runtime. A single Vega Prime executable is capable of producing a variety of simulations by interpreting different ACF's. As with any editor, you may create, view, modify, and save these files. From LynX Prime you can launch an application that uses an ACF to preview the results before saving the configuration for later use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The long answer is no you cannot use old Vega ADF files in Lynx Prime ;), there is simply just to much difference between Vega and Vega prime to make this possible. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 Can I have Vega Prime 1.2x and Vega Prime 2.0 on the Same machine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You could probably have the 2 versions installed with a bit of work and messing around. You would have to do something along the lines of:
Then you will need to change the Environment variables to point to which version you are using
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The Navigator and Pathing has been completely re-designed and re-written and is extremely more functional and powerfully and use a less resources than the old Vega pathing The new vpPathing module is part of the base product and is fully coordinate system aware including round earth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The path tool like Pathing Module has been completely re-written and re- designed, the Path tool can be access from the Tools menu in Lynx Prime Currently there is no path tool for Linux or Irix, so you have to create Navigator etc through code for those platforms | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you need to change the properties of a 3d database then you will need to used a modeling package such as Creator or Geo Pro Go Shout at MPI if you need a Object editor, if the get enough shouts they may consider an Object editor for Vega Prime at some point
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MetaFlight provides the bridge between database generation tools and runtime applications. MetaFlight simplifies data integration and optimizes real-time-paging efficiency by communicating the metadata that enables runtime applications to take advantage of the database structure. MetaFlight aims to provide:
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MultiGen Paradigms's Creator Terrain Studio (CTS) is the main producer of MetaFlight, along with several tools that support MetaFlight Directly VegaPrime is the main consumer of MetaFlight files, along with Vega Prime Module LADBM ( Large Area Database Management)the The Blueberry 3d Module for Vega Prime also supports MetaFlight.
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At the time of writing this FAQ only MPI products and Vega Prime Modules offer support for MetaFlight.
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At present Vega Prime 1.2x and 2.0 on supports only Nvidia's CG shader language directly. Support for GLSL shaders should be forth coming in a Minor release.
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In Vega Prime 1.2x the shader examples can be found in $(MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\resources\vsg In Vega Prime 2.0 the samples are nolonger shipped with the product. MPI now only provides shader examples via their support department and you need to contact them directly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MPI have removed several examples programs from the Distribution and made them only available through the MPI support department. This means that you have to have a maintenance contract to get access to the samples. Plus you have to figure out if there is an example that may do what your asking. The removal of samples from the distribution is a little disturbing especially when your paying several thousands of dollars for the product in the first place.
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MPI has updated the license mechanism for Vega Prime to use the FLEXlmCRO license mechanism and thus your old 1.2 license will no work with the new license manager
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22 Can I have Vega Prime 1.2x and 2.0 license Mangers Installed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note, you have to work a little to have Vega Prime 1.2x and Vega Prime 2.0 installed on the same machine, See FAQ 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Once Vega Prime has been installed you can develop and run with normal User rights. Note to get the best performance you should run you application on Windows with Vega
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Make sure you follow the installation instructions and note that on windows you have to use Visual Studio 7.1 or later, you cannot use Visual studio 6.x with Vega Prime 2.0 See the Upgrade PDF supplied with Vega Prime 2.0 Vega_Prime_Upgrade_Handbook.pdf
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Vega Prime 2.0 has had many improvements and bug fixes over Vega Prime 1.x. Its certainly a lot faster than Vega 1.x and has many new features and modules. On Window Vega Prime 2.0 supports the latest Microsoft compiler, which is good...
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SGI Irix
Linux
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MultiGen-Paradigm's FlightIG is more than an advanced application through it is a complete turn key solution of Software, Hardware, support, customer engineering and complex geo-specific database generation See the MultiGen-Paradigm's FlightIG page as part of the Visual Simulation services
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VSB (Vega Scene-Graph Binary), is an optimized extensible format for loading data into the runtime. Basically vsb files contain a complete binary image of the graph from an arbitrary "root" node. VSB files typically load 10x to 100x times faster than the native modeling formats such as .obj, .3ds, .flt etc.. VSB (like the Vega Scene Graph) can be easily extended to include derived nodes and structures, and provides the means for incorporating custom encryption schemes to protect intellectual property. VSB files can also be streamed via sockets (TCP or UDP), read in from memory or from disk.
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FST files are the native binary format of Vega and thus are not compatible with Vega Prime. You will need to Generate equivalent binary format for Vega Prime, VSB files from your original source models
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PFB files are the native binary format of SGI's OpenGl Performer and thus are not compatible with Vega Prime. You will need to Generate equivalent binary format for Vega Prime, VSB files from your original source models. Another approach if you have the Performer Libraries available would be to write a loader, OSG uses this method to load PFB files.
| 37 Should I keep my original files after converting to "VSB" |
Due to the binary nature of the "VSB", they can easily be come none compatible with newer versions of Vega Prime and thus requiring for the "VSB" files to be re-generated
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Not really, the VSB files maybe compatiable among minor revisions of Vega Prime. But due to the binary nature of the "VSB", they can easily be come none compatible with newer versions of Vega Prime and thus requiring for the "VSB" files to be re-generated So keep your orignal source files safe.....
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to_vsb [ <INPUT file or directory> [<OUTPUT file>]] | [-it] [-ct] [-cm] [-f] [-c] [-clp] [-cn] [-og] [-pq] [-p <SEARCH PATH>] [-o <OUTPUT FILE>] [-do <DEBUG OUTPUT FILE>] [-n <NOTIFY_LEVEL>] [-noconsole]
-it : inline textures
-ct : compress textures
-cm : disable compatibility mode
-f : disable perform flatten traversal
-c : disable perform clean traversal
-clp : disable combine light points
-cn : disable compute normals
-og : disable optimize geometry
-p : use specified search path
-o : generate specified output file
-do : use specified output file for debug output
-n : use specified notification level, i.e. LEVEL_DEBUG
-noconsole : suppress console debug output
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Any image format supported by Vega Prime can be converted to DDS as an interim step for increased performance. The graphics hard ware handles DDS textures directly, which mean no decompression is needed by the texture loader. This means that when using DDS textures loading is faster, throughput is increased, while on disk storage requirements are decreased, more textures or higher quality texture can be used etc.
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By using DDS format textures you gain from faster loading and less memory consumption.
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to_dds [<INPUT file or directory>] | [-m] [-a] [-i] [-o <OUTPUT FILE>] [-p <SEARCH PATH>] [-do <DEBUG OUTPUT FILE>] [-n <NOTIFY_LEVEL>] -m : generate and compress mipmaps -a : override RGBA as RGB (e.g. 5551 -> Compressed RGB) -o : generate specified output file -p : use specified search path -do : use specified output file for debug output -n : use specified notification level, i.e. LEVEL_DEBUG -i : invert (flip) the image when saving it to disk
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What you are seeing is not a bug but is correct for DDS (Direct Draw Surface) textures and depends on how you generated them. As DDS was designed by Microsoft and thus originally intended for Direct X, which has its origin in the upper left corner, while OpenGL has its origin in the lower left corner. Basically you need to tell your DDS generation tool to invert the image,many tools can do this some don't You can use the Vega Prime utility program to_dds to do the inversion for you using the '-i' command line switch
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There are many DDS utilities and tools available these days, a quick Google search should find you many of this quite quickly Nvidia provide several DDS tools including source code( See their developer site) Nvidia's DDS tools can be found here http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nv_texture_tools.html
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Yes you can use MFC with Vega Prime. A sample was shipped with Vega Prime 1.x in (MPI_LOCATE_VEGA_PRIME)\resources\samples\vegaprime\vp\vp_mfc But in Vega Prime 2.0 the sample is no longer shipped with the products and you will have to contact MPI support and ask for the specific sample
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I don't believe MPI support currently that has a sample Vega Prime available, they may have a VSG based sample, again that used to ship with Vega Prime 1.x
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Yes, yep I did say YES. Unlike old Vega Classic, Vega Prime can be used with-in a container such as an Active X control or .Net Form etc. A little care is needed to ensure that Vega Prime is shutdown correctly. Unfortunately no sample is shipped with Vega Prime. It is possible that MPI Support may have a sample, and they might not.
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Although there is no reason why you could not write you own wrappers for COM, .NET or other similar technology
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Note unlike Vega Classic were MPI wrote all the Audio code, the vgAudio is basically a wrapper around the Open source project OpenAL
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© Copyright 2004-2006 Gordon Tomlinson All Rights Reserved. All logos, trademarks and copyrights in this site are property of their respective owner. |