Readme file for ThumbView Material Browser Demonstration v. 1.02
Package contents
================
The files in this package are:
TVMATD_I.PXP - the IPAS browser application.
ANIMETIX.MLI  - sample material library for use with demo version.
ANIMETIX.IDX  - index file for sample material library.
README.TXT    - this file.

Legal notice
============
Animetix Technologies expressly disclaims any warranty for this software. 
This software and any related documentation is supplied "as is" without 
warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, without 
limitation, the implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for a 
particular purpose. The entire risk arising out of use or performance of this 
software remains with you. 
This package may be copied and distributed free of charge provided that no 
modifications are made to any part whatsoever.

What's new
==========
This release allows the application to run in the 3D Editor, the keyframer,
and the Materials Editor modules.

Installation
============
If you received this as a 'zip' file, unzip it to your hard disk first.
Copy the file TVMATD_I.PXP into the directory that your 3D Studio setup 
file specifies for PROCESS-PATH (the default path is the 'PROCESS' 
subdirectory of your 3D Studio home directory).
Copy the files ANIMETIX.MLI and ANIMETIX.IDX into the directory that 
your 3D Studio setup file specifies for MAT-PATH (the default path is the 
'MATLIBS' subdirectory of your 3D Studio home directory).

Running the ThumbView Material Browser
======================================
Start 3D Studio from the DOS command line. From the 3D Editor, select the 
'PXP Loader'  option from the 'Program' menu at the top of the screen. This 
will bring up a list of all of the PXP IPAS routines in your process directory. 
Select the TVMATD item, click on 'OK', and 3D Studio will load the 
Material Browser.
Click on 'OK' to dismiss the initial text box.
You should now see the main window for the material browser. Click on the 
'Browse' button in the lower left corner, select the sample material library 
file 'ANIMETIX.MLI', and click on 'OK' to return to the main browser 
dialog. The browser will now load the thumbnails from the index file and 
you can scroll through these. Single clicking the scroll arrows moves 
through the list by one line and clicking on the scroll bar moves one 'page'. 
Note that you can also drag the thumb to any point in the list of images. 
Until you release the thumb, only the text description of the material 
appears, allowing you to quickly find a material before you view its 
thumbnail.

Material properties
===================
If you select a material by clicking on its thumbnail, its thumbnail is 
highlighted and its properties are shown at the lower left of the browser 
window, under 'Attributes'. These designations are shown in white text when 
active and correspond to those used by 3D Studio in the Material Editor. 
The currently selected material does not change as you scroll through the 
list.

Viewing map files
=================
With a material thumbnail selected, the 'Maps referenced' list shows any 
maps used in the material. Each map name is followed by a designator that 
indicates how the map is used for that material (these correspond to the 
designators used in 3D Studio). You can select a map from the list by single-
clicking on it. If you press the 'View' button to the left of the list, the 
Browser displays a windowed image of the map file, along with the file 
name. If the image is smaller than a certain resolution, it is automatically
resized to show it more clearly. In this case, a multiplier indicator appears in 
the bottom border of the image window. Pressing any key or clicking the 
mouse dismisses the image window and returns you to the browser window.
If you modify materials in the sample material library and re-save the 
library, the Thumbnail Material Browser identifies this case and places an 
'X' in the thumbnail for those materials that have changed.

What the production version offers
==================================
The production version provides the other half of the mechanism for the 
browser: It allows you to create the index files for use with any material 
library file, even if they reside on a CD-ROM. Note that this demo version 
will show the map files for materials in any MLI file, however.

Upgrade for use with 3D Studio version 4.0
==========================================
There are several new features offered by 3DSR4 that will allow us to 
further enhance this product (e.g. selecting a material as the current one). 
Purchasers of the Animetix Thumbnail Material Browser for 3DSR3 will receive 
free upgrades to this product as soon as it is released.

Troubleshooting
===============
If the file 'ANIMETIX.MLI' does not appear in the list of material library 
files when you click on 'Browse' in the main browser window, or if you get 
'X's instead of thumbnails for the supplied sample library, check that you 
installed the files correctly, as described above. 

Compatibility
=============
This product has been fully tested with all versions of 3D Studio from 3.0 
through 4.0 and supports 8-bit or 24-bit color displays. If you find a bug,
please let us know. 

Other Products
==============
Animetix Technologies is developing a range of IPAS applications. Other 
products include:

ThumbView Model Browser -  an IPAS application that allows you to 
                           preview the contents of 3D Studio files
                           without loading them first.
Animetix MovieMaker     -  an IPAS application that lets you create QuickTime 
                           movies of your animations directly from within
                           3D Studio.

For more information or to order these products, please call Animetix 
Technologies at 514-767-2205.

3D Studio is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc.
QuickTime is a trade mark of Apple Computer, Inc.
