Because Autodesk VIZ heavily relies upon the graphics card in your system, many problems that you may encounter while using the program can be attributed to the video. Such problems could be slow performance, refresh delays, user interface discrepancies, and so forth.
Basic Troubleshooting Start Point
Direct3D Failed to Initialize Message
Direct3D Reports a Memory Warning
As a rule of thumb, before attempting to diagnose any problem with Autodesk VIZ, you can be more efficient in your diagnostics by resetting the display configuration to its default value. After you first install and start Autodesk VIZ, it runs by default in Direct3D mode, but if you use the Start menu > Change Graphics Mode command, you're presented with the Graphics Driver Setup dialog:
If you're configured for OpenGL, Direct3D, or Custom, choose the Software driver. By configuring for the Software driver, you can disqualify the video card or drivers if the problem you're encountering persists while running Autodesk VIZ.
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Resetting the configuration from within Autodesk VIZ.
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Open the Viewport panel and check your currently installed driver.
If it's not the Software driver, proceed. Otherwise, you can cancel and begin the diagnostics elsewhere.
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If set to OpenGL, Direct3D, or a custom driver, click the Choose Driver button.
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You'll see a message that the changes will take effect the next time you start Autodesk VIZ.
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Resetting the configuration before starting Autodesk VIZ.
If the problem does not persist, you know that you've encountered a display problem. If this is the case, check the following with regards to your video card:
Autodesk VIZ supports both DirectX 8.1 and 9. When configuring the display settings, you choose DirectX 9 and start Autodesk VIZ only to receive a message telling you that “Direct3D failed to initialize. Please make sure you have the latest version of DirectX installed.”
This usually means your card doesn't support DirectX 9 or you don't have DirectX 9 installed. Revert the Direct3D version back to DirectX 8.1 and confirm that you are running the latest version of DirectX.
You may encounter a memory warning when starting Autodesk VIZ if you've configured the program to use the Direct3D driver.
This warning dialog usually appears if you have several programs, that heavily impact the video memory of your graphics card, running and you have the Autodesk VIZ interface maximized or stretched to cover most of the display.
Your quickest options for bypassing this warning are as follows:
Many board manufacturers are building graphic cards that support multi-monitor configurations. The cards might advertise hardware features like “Dual Head” or “Multi-Head” that have two monitor ports built into them. Other manufacturers choose to handle dual configuration through video drivers that let you configure your system display in “Wide” mode. Here are the details of what you need to watch out for when configuring a multi-monitor system.
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Many newer video cards offer this hardware solution for setting up a dual-monitor system.
After installing the card and drivers, you want to follow the manufacturer's instructions for configuring your system. Configuration is done through your system's Display Properties dialog > Settings panel.
You are presented with a diagram for each monitor and you can set the resolutions independently by selecting a monitor and adjusting the screen Area slider. You will also often find utilities included with the drivers that enable special features for the graphics card.
The disadvantage to this configuration is that one monitor is a primary while the other secondary, so performing some tasks can only be done on applications positioned on the primary monitor. For instance, if you use screen-capture software, you can have that program open on the secondary monitor, but if you want to capture an image, you can only capture images of applications that are located on the primary monitor.
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The software solution to multi-monitor configuration is often found in older graphic cards that fit into your PCI slots. Each board has a single port to accept a monitor and the video drivers give you the option to configure a single display in “Wide” mode to encompass multiple displays. Also, because you have four PCI slots in your system, you could theoretically drive four monitors. However, in order for these cards to operate at the best resolutions, each card needs to have the same amount of video RAM (vRAM) installed. So, if your had two cards and one had 32 MB of vRAM and the other only had 8 MB, you can only configure to the highest resolution supported by the 8 MB card.
Display configuration is normally done through the video drivers so you have the option to configure wider screen areas. For example, instead of configuring each display individually to 1280x1024, as described above, you would treat both monitors as a single display and configure the screen area to 2560x1024 pixels.
Whenever, you start Autodesk VIZ, the user interface spans across both monitors. You find yourself constantly resizing the program to fit on one screen so you can see the programs located on the other screen.
This is usually a problem on systems that let you configure both monitors as one, in “Wide” mode. The utility software that loads with the graphic card manufacturer's drivers probably has a feature that forces programs to open across the entire expanse of the display. You can turn off this feature and programs will open in the last position and size you gave them.
After starting Autodesk VIZ, the user interface appears but you can see the system desktop through each of the viewports. This problem normally occurs if you have the display configuration set to either OpenGL or Direct3D and your graphics card does not completely support OpenGL or Direct3D.
If configured for Direct3D, you might also see this problem coupled with the “Direct3D initialization failed” message.
To remedy this problem, follow the steps outlined in Basic troubleshooting start point and configure for Software. If Autodesk VIZ opens correctly in this mode, check the video card manufacturers for updated drivers for the display mode you'd prefer to use.