Picasso96 RTG Software

Introduction:

A new graphic card software grows up in the year 1996 while Village Tronic was developing their new PicassoIV graphic card.
Picasso96 is a modular and system friendly software enviroment for many different Amiga graphics cards. It`s main intentions are to provide a solution which is as system and software compatible as possible, transparent and reliable. To be that compatible, only the really neccassary functions were patched. This results in very high level of compatibility.
Another main feature of the Picasso96 system is the ability to use serveral graphics cards at the same time, even cards of the same type.

Features:

• compatible with KickStart 3.0 (v39) and KickStart 3.1 (v40)
• high level of reliability and stability
• chunky, HiColor and TrueColor support for Intuition screens
• intelligent onboard memory management, giving an optimum of performance
• clean hierarchical design allowing for easy integration of new hardware and features
• supports multiple graphics boards of same or different type in one system
• multi-monitor support
• modern API offering interesting options for application programs
• 95% compatible to CyberGraphX, most programs using this API work without any problems
• full DPMS support through cybergraphics.library emulation (compatible with e.g. MCP, CyberDPMS)
• available for free on different web sites and the Aminet to all users
• independent from hardware manufacturer and can be licensed for any new Amiga graphics board
• constant development on improvements and bug fixes
• developers can be contacted by e-mail
• user problems can be solved by asking for help on the Picasso mailing list.

Hard/Software requirements:

• Kickstart v3.0+ (v39+) or a PC running Windows95/NT and UAE,
• Motorola MC68020 processor or better,
• about 2 MB of RAM available,
• at least one of the following graphics cards:
• Cybervision64/3D (early alpha driver, currently ZorroIII only),
• Cybervision64
• Domino
• Merlin
• oMniBus
• PicassoII
• PicassoII+
• PicassoIV
• Piccolo
• Piccolo SD64
• Pixel64,
• Retina BLT Z3, (early alpha driver),
• Spectrum,
• UAEgfx.

Recommended for optimum performance and usability:

• accelerator board using Motorola MC68040 or MC68060 CPU and local fast RAM,
• 8 MB of fast RAM,
• hard drive,
• Amiga 3000/4000 with a ZorroIII graphics board (e.g. PicassoIV),
• a descent state-of-the-art VGA monitor (Multisync) with a maximum line frequency of more than 64kHz offering resolutions upto 1024x768 in 75Hz refresh at least.

• PentiumII,
• 32 MB RAM,
• graphics board with AGP bus interface.

Currently not supported:

• Macrosystem Retina Z2 due to missing linear mapped memory access,
• Commodore A2410 due to also missing linear mapped memory access.

This requirements are mandatory because only Kickstart 3.0+ provides some features the Picasso96 Software use. The minimum of a 68020 processor is needed because the old 68000/010 doesn`t offer enough computing power to use a graphics card (larger displays need more computation - it would get unbearable slow). Therefore, parts of the code have been especially written for the MC68020+.
The above mentioned cards are those which are supported by October 1997. Others can be adapted on request soon.

Compatibility:

All programs that handle their graphics using standard system calls and do not modify the graphics memory directly bypassing the operationg system.

Direct software support for applications is available namely for:

• "Art Department Professional" by ASDG
• Photogenics by Almathera
• ShapeShifter (Apple Macintosh® emulator by Christian Bauer)
• XiPaint (24bit paint program by Thomas Dorn and Herbert Beilschmidt)

Further modules are being developed.
Programs using the CyberGraphics API or the vilintuisup.library work with Picasso96, too, e.g. CyberWindow or ShowGIF.

Distribution:

There are two way to get Picasso96:

• the AnyWare version, which is free to use and without individual user support.
• the Picasso96 Gold edition which features a printed manual and hotline/E-Mail support by Village Tronic.