If you're experiencing difficulties downloading Crystal 3D IMPACT!, please read the following before contacting us.

Factors that effect downloading of files from the Web:

A. Modem Equipment and Phone Line Connections

1. Check that your modem is configured properly. Please make sure to turn off your modem idle time limit and check your modem settings.
2. Disable your Call Waiting function so incoming calls won't interrupt your download.
3. You may also want to contact your modem manufacturer or your telephone service provider if you believe there may be modem or line problems with your connection to the Internet/Web.

B. Internet Service Provider

1. Make sure your Dial-up Network configuration is correct and up-to-date.
2. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may have a slow connection to the Internet. There's nothing CrystalGraphics can do about this. Please try downloading at another time or perhaps try downloading at an off peak hour when your ISP isn't as busy.
3. You may also want to contact your ISP if you believe there may be routing and/or connection problems to the Internet/Web.

C. Server Problems

1. Occasionally, the server may be "down" or very slow. This could be due to heavy traffic at our server, so, please try again at another time when traffic may not be as heavy. The busiest time at CrystalGraphics' server is usually evening hours (around 5 PM - midnight Pacific Standard Time).
2. If you are downloading the Crystal 3D IMPACT! software from a web site other than CrystalGraphics' web site (i.e. an online store), there may server problems. Try downloading from CrystalGraphics' web site.

D. Other Possible Problems

1. If you cannot download the software as one entire file, try downloading the program as a series of multiple files. Make sure the file name(s) and extension(s) of the downloaded file(s) match the name(s) listed at our web site.
2. Make sure you have adequate hard disk space for the file(s) you are downloading. Crystal 3D IMPACT! v1.22 requires at least 11.7MB of available hard disk space - just for the download! (And, it requires even more once you run the setup program.)
3. Make sure your Web browser is configured properly. You may want to contact the manufacturer of your web browser software for further assistance.

The list above is just an overview of some of the factors that effect a successful download, so, we recommend that you try more than once to download the software when you are not successful at it the first time around. However, if you continue having download problems after a few tries, please contact us and advise the following:

When you use a Web browser to go to CrystalGraphics' web site and download the Crystal 3D IMPACT! software, typically the browser will prompt you for a location where you want to save the file(s), and it provides a default filename. To make sure you can locate downloaded files, specify the desired location and filename before downloading. If you are still unable to locate the Crystal 3D IMPACT! installer after you have downloaded it, try the following:

Installation and Start-Up Problems

1. Make sure you use the same e-mail address as when you first registered your Crystal 3D IMPACT! software.

1. Make sure that your system has at least 16MB of RAM.
2. Make sure you launch Crystal 3D IMPACT! using Windows 95 or Win NT 4.0 only; it does not run under Win NT 3.51, Win3.x or DEC Alpha.)

1. See #2 above regarding screen render quality.
2. Try using a fewer colors in your 3D IMPACT! aimation project. The fewer colors you start with in the animation project, the better quality those colors will appear in the final (compressed) output (AVI or animated GIF).
3. Check the color settings in the Make Movie dialog and in the movie playback window which is created by Make Movie. The Make Movie dialog keeps the most recent setting chosen for the color output, so, if this setting is not set high enough, you may be experiencing lower quality output than desired.
4. (For AVI movies only): You may be seeing post-compression artifacts. Try using a different compression codec and/or increase the compression quality settings. For example, using the [Radius] Cinepak codec with the quality set at 100%, compressed, delivers very good results. (If the Cinepak codec does not produce the quality you want, try changing the setting to uncompressed.)

1. For saving rendered images:

Make sure you are using the Save Image tool in the File menu and that you have adequate disk space to save the image at the desired resolution. For web pages, you will want to select either JPEG, GIF or PNG File Types.

2. For saving rendered animations (movies):

1. If you are running Crystal 3D IMPACT! on a slower computer than a Pentium, you may want to switch the screen redraw display from preview shading (using OpenGL accelerated rendering) to wireframe. To do this, go to the View menu>Preview Options... command and select Wireframe.
2. You may also want to set your Rendering Quality (in the Render menu) to "Good" or "Better" rather than "Best".

1. Use the Set Background tool located in the Render menu to set the background color in the Working Area of your 3D IMPACT! project so that it matches the background color of the web page in which the GIF image or movie will be inserted.
2. Select Save Image in the File menu (if you are saving a GIF image) or Make Movie in the Animation menu (if you are saving an animated GIF movie or Sequenced GIF files). Select the Options button and do one or both of the following:

1. Turn on the transparent background.
2. Turn on the blend edges with current background.

1. If you do not need to save your GIF file(s) with a transparent background and/or blend edges with current background, then turn off the above options to avoid the "white fringe" effect.

1. If you are running Crystal 3D IMPACT! on a slower computer than a Pentium, you may want to switch the screen redraw display from preview shading (using OpenGL accelerated rendering) to wireframe. To do this, go to the View menu>Preview Options... command and select Wireframe.
2. You may also want to set your Rendering Quality (in the Render menu) to "Good" or "Better" rather than "Best".

1. For saving rendered images:

Make sure you are using the Save Image tool in the File menu and that you have adequate disk space to save the image at the desired resolution. For web pages, you will want to select either JPEG, GIF or PNG File Types.

2. For saving rendered animations (movies):

Make sure you are using the Make Movie tool in the Animation menu. Once a movie (either AVI or animated GIF) is generated, the movie plays back in a window and a dialog box gives you a choice to Save or Delete the movie. If you want to save the movie to disk, be sure to select the Save button.

3. Once you have saved your image or animation in step(s) 1 & 2 above, launch your web authoring tool to paste these graphics file(s) into your web page(s).

1. Use the Right mouse button to click on the working area (the square in the middle of the screen).
2. Select Working Area. You can either type in a custom size or select a predefined size, under Common Dimensions.

1. Select the Save Image tool in the File menu.
2. Select the output file type then change the Image Size option to the desired resolution.

1. Use the Set Background tool located in the Render menu to set the background color in the Working Area of your 3D IMPACT! project so that it matches the background color of the web page in which the GIF image or movie will be inserted.
2. Select Save Image in the File menu (if you are saving a GIF image) or Make Movie in the Animation menu (if you are saving an animated GIF movie or Sequenced GIF files). Select the Options button and do one or both of the following:

1. Turn on the transparent background.
2. Turn on the blend edges with current background.

1. Select the Save Image tool in the File menu.
2. Select the output file Type as Targa (.tga) and the Format as 32-bit (RGB+8-bit alpha).
3. You can also change the Image Size option to the desired output resolution.

Pending.

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How do I contact Technical Support?

Crystal 3D IMPACT! does not include free technical support. Please note that the Pro version, Crystal 3D IMPACT! Pro does include 30 days free technical support from the first date of contact.

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