7.0 does not work.....

[ogdgs]

- Edit poly modifier crashes Max
- Max crashes when loading all our old Max files (due to above)
- Assemblies crash Max on render
- Boolean and other tools still move the pivot to the origin

I have reported all these things to npower and have had the following responses:

“We'll take a look at it immediately.” 23/07/10

Two months later and we still have nothing. We are stuck in Max 2009 with NP6.1.

We NEED to get to Max 2011 and NP 7.1.

We have been dedicated users or NP for 4 years now. Please can we have some priority?

Oliver

[nPower_erik]

Hey Oliver,

I am about to put up a fix that should address at least some of your issues.

1. Edit poly Modifier Crash - This does not crash but I would advise all users to use a conversion rather than a modifier for both this operation and the Editable Mesh form.

2. Max Crashes When loading old files - I have a file from a customer that had this behavior and I can open it successfully...This was definitely due to the above.

3. Assemblies Crash Max on Render - This was also due to the above. Should now be fixed.

4. Boolean and other tools still move the pivot to the origin - This remains unfixed. The problem occurs anytime we merge multiple operands that get consumed by an operation into a single node IE. Pwr_Boolean. The problem is that there is a known bug that is documented in the Max SDK. It has to do with the way a child node accesses a parent node's local transform matrix. There is a counter rotation that Max should be doing before returning that transform and it consequently alters the animation key frames in a bad way. If we don't set the pivot to the origin, we get some very bad issues in other areas.

I'll send you an email with instructions on getting you a download ASAP if you are online and don't want to wait for the links/release notes to get updated.

Erik

[ogdgs]

Hi

Thanks for the new build, however:

Edit Poly:
The problem now is that my scenes will open in max, but I can’t render on the farm as the viewer is still on 7.0 which contains the bug. When can we get an updated viewer?

Old files:
Fixed by edit poly fix

Assemblies:
is NOT fixed. I still get the same crash. Import file with assembly option on, render, crash.....

Pivot:
The pivot issue is still a problem, will you be able to fix this in the future? Could there be a workaround with scripting? to move the master pivot (the one that the materials use, not the apparent one in the viewport)? If so how would that be done?

Oliver

[nPower_erik]

Hey Oliver,

Edit Poly:
I just rebuilt the Viewers and should have the links changed on our website within the hour. 2009 might take a little longer but 2010 and 2011 will be there today.

Old Files:
Great sounds good.

Assemblies Crash on Render:
I am unable to reproduce this crash. Which version of Max are you using? Any chance you could send me a sample file?

Pivot:
This is a bug in Max. If we don't reset the pivot, then we get some nasty issues later on. If you look at my last post I go into a little more detail. Maybe if you tell us clearly what you are trying to do and how the current behavior is effecting your workflow we could help. The more details and example files the better.

Erik
(feel free to email me directly: erik@npowersoftware.com)

[ogdgs]

Hi

Am testing the new 7.1 build on Max 2011 64 bit on Vista 64. I get the assembly crash by:

New scene, import step file, choose import as assembly, F9, crash

Here are 5 step files from 4 different customers. All produce the same behaviour:

LINK in email

Please not that these are very sensitive files and must not be passed on. Please delete them once you have finished testing.

Regarding the pivot problem, here is a detailed description that I sent you on 05/05/10:

“
Boolean Pivot:
This is a bug that I have noticed before, but did not have time to report. On Boolean operation, the pivot point of the master part moves to the origin. The original pivot data of that part is lost. You can move the pivot to the centre of the part, but the true invisible pivot remains at the origin. This invisible pivot is the one that you get when you click on reset pivot. This is a problem with things like procedural 3d textures as they use this invisible pivot, not the actual pivot. If you Boolean a part that is a long way from the origin, you end up with the invisible pivot a long way from the part. You actually run in to problems like the noise shadier running out of accuracy by the time it gets from the origin to the part!!
This also causes big problems if the master part is already in a linked hierarchy, the cutting part will miss it and then the part moves to the origin. Real pain in the .....
So please, can we have Boolean pivots respecting the pivot they had before the Boolean?
“

Thanks

Oliver

[nPower_erik]

Hey Oliver,

I have added a flag that is accessible through Maxscript on our plugins. I posted the installer tonight but did not increase the version number so you will have to download from our site and reinstall.

Anyways, through the MS listener you can type npowerpivot() to access the state of the variable. Additionally, to change the value, you can type npowerpivot "true" to set the flag and it will revert some of our boolean node handling to the old style which is probably a little unstable but as long as you aren't doing any animations, you should be fine. There may be some additional risk with using it and we will be hesitant to support other issues that stem from this change. Ultimately, we have moved the pivot to the origin for our booleans as a workaround to a known existing bug in the Max SDK that improperly handles local base object rotation and transformations, which affect animations.

Anyways, I have tested it and it seems to be stable. It is not recommended but it doesn't reset the pivot to the origin. Additionally, I did not have the time to test noise modifiers so I apologize if it does not completely solve your issue.

As for the render Assemblies bug, I'll be looking into it in the near future. Its only reproduceable in Release on non Dev machines so it might take some time to track down.

Thanks much.

Erik

[peterhsieh]

We have pinpointed the issue that is making assemblies crash. What was difficult about it was that it happens on some systems but not all.

We are working on a fix for that now, and should get it out soon.

Thanks for your patience, we will update you as soon as it is available.

[nPower_erik]

Hello All,

Just wanted to let you know that we replaced the builds online for both 2010 and 2011, 32 and 64 bit, demo and release. We will try and replace the Viewers as well as 2009 next week.

Let us now if you have any issues.


Erik

[nPower_erik]

Hello Oliver,

Just wanted to let you know that the 2010 and 2011 Viewers have been updated.

This should help out your render farms.

Erik