7.3.1.1 Main settings

The Antialiasing combo box controls the hardware multisample anti-aliasing, if it's supported by the graphic card. The selectable values are in the 2 to 16x range (usually 2 to 6x) depending on the card features. Higher values allow to obtain better graphic quality. The Vector Antialiasing checkbox enables the hardware aliasing reduction for the lines only. Not all graphic accelerators have a full implementation of this function.

Anti-aliasing disabled	Anti-aliasing enabled

The Depth cueing checkbox enable the OpenGL fogging function in order to simulate the color variation of the objects more distant from the view point.

7.3.1.2 Axis settings

By Axis tab, it's possible to manage the Cartesian axis. They can be customized in several ways: you can change the Position (top left, top center, top right, center left, centered, center right, bottom left, bottom center and bottom right), the Style (solid and vector), the Scale %, the Width, the Resolution (available with the solid style only) and the colors of the axis and the labels.

7.3.1.3 Font settings

In this tab, you can change font parameters  used in the 3D visualization.  The font Type could be Bitmap (standard quality), True Type  (best quality) and Stroke (fastest visualization). Bitmap and True Type fonts can be changed in the Font field but Stroke font can't be modified. Bitmap fonts have fixed sizes (see Size field), while True Type and Stroke fonts have variable sizes (see Scale slider). The Resolution slider is active for True type fonts only: it allows to change the detail level (from 0 to 100%), but you must remember that high details reduce the rendering speed. When the WireGL rendering is enabled, the Stroke font type is the only available.

7.3.1.4 Stereo settings

A very interesting feature implemented in VEGA ZZ is the stereoscopic view. Different stereo modes are available:

• Active glasses

  This method offers a good experience of view but requires special hardware: a graphic card operating in stereo mode (cheap cards don't support it), a monitor supporting refresh rates greater than 100 Hz and shutter glasses (e.g. CrystalEyes by RealD Inc., NVIDIA 3D Vision).

• Anaglyph

  It is the cheapest way to have a stereoscopic view because requires inexpensive anaglyph glasses (they are glasses with polarized lens). The stereo experience is poor because this visualization method shows the scene only in gray scale or with a reduced set of color. The Anaglyph filter option allows to change the lens color in order to make VEGA ZZ compatible with a specific type of glasses.

• Side-by-side (SBS)

  It gives the best stereoscopic experience in particular if you are using head sets such as Oculus Rift and HTC vive. It is also named full side-by-side and can used with the modern 3D TV.

• Cross-eye

  The rendering method is the same of SBS, but the left and right frames are swapped.

• Half side-by-side (HSBS)
  The rendering method is the same of SBS, but a single frame is intended for both eyes at the same time with two halves on the left and right, and the entire frame for the left eye and right eye respectively scaled down horizontally to fit the left-half and right-half of the frame. In other words, the horizontal resolution is divided by two and the pixel aspect ratio is set to 1:2.
• Top and bottom (TAB)
  This method is similar to SBS, but instead to store left- and right-eye views a whole horizontally, the two frames are assembled vertically (top and bottom).
• Half top and bottom (HTAB)
  It is similar to TAB, but the vertical resolution is halved and the pixel aspect ratio is set to 2:1.

 When you switch to this stereo mode, you can adjust the Eye offset and the Shift adjust to optimize the stereo effect.

Red-cyan stereo picture (Eye offset 0,1).

WARNING:
The Matrox FSAA 16x (implemented in the P-Series graphic cards) introduces artefacts in anaglyph stereo mode. For best results, disable it in the PowerDesk HF control panel. To save the pictures, use the offline software rendering enabling the 4 or 16x anti-aliasing for best results.

Checking 10 bit pixel format, 10 bits for each color channel are used instead of 8, obtaining a smoother view (2³⁰ = 1.073.741.824 vs. 2²⁴ = 16.777.216 colors). When you enable this feature, a requester is shown asking you to restart VEGA ZZ. If after the restart, 10 bit pixel format is unchecked, it means that your graphic card doesn't support the 10 bit color mode. A limited number of professional graphic cards supports this pixel format (e.g. AMD/ATI FireGL and NVIDIA Quadro) and, in some cases, must be enabled in the control panel. Moreover, a specific monitor is also required (e.g. HP DreamColor, Eizo ColorEdge series).

7.3.1.5 Refresh settings

This tab allows to set refresh parameters useful to obtain smooth animations and fast graphic interface feedbacks. Checking Fast refresh, the main window refresh is done in a very fast mode: a copy of the scene is kept in the back buffer and when a repaint is requested, the scene is copied from the back to the front buffer without redrawing it. This procedure noticeably improve the main window refresh, but not all graphic cards support it. If you enable it and you have main window corruptions and artefacts when you translate the windows, your graphic card isn't compatible with the fast refresh mode. It's well know that this refresh mode is compatible with Matrox Graphics cards and with Microsoft and MESA 3D generic OpenGL drivers.
The Animation frame rate (fps) field allows to change the maximum frame rate used during the animations: higher values correspond to smoother animations. Please remember that you can't override the graphic card refresh rate because VEGA ZZ is synchronized to it. As an example, if the graphic card refresh rate is set to 85 Hz, you can't obtain an animation frame rate greater than 85 frame per second.
Animation timing sets the base speed used in the animations.

7.3.2 Wireframe settings

The Smooth mode beautifies the vector visualization:

Disabled	Enabled

The Multivector mode allows to view the molecule bond types (single, partial double, double and  triple):

Disabled	Enabled

The Thickness slider changes the line thickness (from 1 to 5).

7.3.3 CPK settings

You can adjust the sphere resolution (high best view more rendering time) and the dot size for dotted Van der Waals visualization.

7.3.4 Ball & stick settings

You can adjust the sphere and the cylinder resolution. You can change also the sphere scale and the cylinder radius.

7.3.5 Stick settings

For this display mode, you can change the resolution and the cylinder radius.

7.3.6 Tube settings

For the tube visualization, you can change the interpolation type (cubic or biquadratic), the spline resolution, the cylinder resolution and the cylinder radius.

7.3.7 Trace settings

For the trace visualization, you can change the cylinder resolution and the cylinder radius.