Topics

1

[Max] Bug Reporting / Unhiding a Forest object while on IR causes 3ds Max to crash

« on: 2024-01-25, 19:16:11 »

So as the title says, if you open a 3ds max scene that has a hidden Forest object, then go into IR and then unhide it while on IR, 3ds Max will probably crash.

Happening on 3ds Max 2024.2, Corona 11. I remember it happening also on 3ds Max 2023 and Corona 9.

2

[Max] Bug Reporting / Material preview not updating in SME 3dsMax 2024

« on: 2024-01-06, 15:15:57 »

So I recently updated to 3ds Max 2024.2 and everytime i open the Slate Material Editor the material shown as selected in Scene Materials is wrong. If I select another object in the scene it updates correctly. If it's the first time I open SME (and it doesn't have a material cached) and i have an object selected, it will show nothing.

It's like the SME Scene Materials (with filter selected objects enabled) doesn't update when it's closed but only if it's open.

I'm not sure if this is a Corona bug or a 3ds Max bug. Anyone on 2024.2 experiencing the same?

3

[Max] I need help! / Change Material depending on view

« on: 2023-10-21, 19:11:22 »

Ok this might sound like a narrow usecase but in my ongoing effort to make everything as streamlined as possible, I would love it if you could change material properties depending on the current camera.

Let's say you have a plaster material that renders with a nice brightness in interior shots but is overexposed in exteriors. I'd like to know if a map exists (similar to CoronaSelect) that can choose a different input depending on the camera rendering.

I know Scene States exist, but i find it really easy for something to go wrong. Another solution is to hide/unhide layers depending on the view. What I'm currently doing is have the scene-dependent objects in a layer with the camera name and turn it on when rendering for that specific view, making sure to have the objects with the wrong material hidden to that camera, but again this is not ideal.

Maybe this can be done easily by script. Let me know your thoughts!!

4

[Max] I need help! / Containers & other ways to organize bigger scenes

« on: 2023-09-05, 18:36:56 »

Hello,

has anyone tried incorporating Containers into their workflow? I tested them in a small scene and seemed to offer functionality that neither groups, xrefs or proxies do. But I'm reading they can be buggy at times (?)

I have started working with a collaborator on projects and I would love it if you had any good tips about organizing bigger scenes, or maybe a tutorial you could point me too?

Thanks

5

[Max] General Discussion / ACES/Photographic Exposure/Filmic Tone Mapping etc

« on: 2023-07-22, 16:34:41 »

Hello,

I have been using 3ds Max + Corona for a couple years now for ArchViz and I'm always trying to improve my images and experiment with different settings.

Since knowing the software alone will enable you to produce photo-realistic results but can only get you so far, I feel like I need to get a better understanding of color spaces, real-life camera parameters etc.

To narrow this down a bit, I will start by asking a few questions that come to mind:

1) What is ACES Colour space? I know that 3ds Max + Corona cannot natively work in it but it can be applied in Post through the VFB but I typically play with the value until I get a satisfying result, depending on the image. Do real-life photographers work in ACES?

2) Is it better to work with Photographic exposure turned on? I find it produces more "boring" results compared to it being turned off, less punchy images etc.

3) What is the difference between Highlight compression, Filmic tone mapping, Tone Curve etc?

I know most things are a matter of personal taste and these question may be quite broad to answer, but pointing me to documentation/tutorials would be great.

Thank you!!

6

Hardware / Threadripper 3970x extremely low frequency

« on: 2022-05-28, 13:38:03 »

Hi,

I have been getting this weird problem lately. Sometimes I turn the PC on, log into windows and the Task Manager reports a frequency of ~0,60 Ghz for the AMD Threadripper 3970x, which is also evident from a general system slowness. A restart fixes the problem.

I am using a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 CPU Air Cooler for cooling. CPU is stock, no overclocking or anything. Motherboard is an Asus Prime TRX40-Pro S.

Has anyone had any similar experience?

Thank you

7

[Max] Bug Reporting / IR sometimes fills up RAM when manipulating geometry

« on: 2022-05-13, 13:50:12 »

Hey all,

I have faced the following problem, several times across different projects. Sometimes, when manipulating some geometry while IR is running, Interactive hangs (picture stays pixelated) and RAM starts ramping up. I may be sitting at around 30-40% Ram Usage and after a while I am at 99% of 128gb RAM, with Paged file also heavily used. Clicking on STOP at this stage (even before RAM usage hits 99%) does nothing.

Specifically, I was manipulating an Editable Poly, with Chamfer modifier and an instanced UVW Modifier on top. The assigned material also had Displacement, so maybe there lies the culprit.

This one is one of those tricky bugs to solve, as it cannot be easily reproduced. Right now I am sitting at 99% RAM, waiting for 3ds max or the computer to crash, or for IR to magically stop by itself (I remember that on some occasions IR would stop after a while with a RAM Full Error, without crashing the whole program).

I could share the file with you, but I doubt you will be able to reproduce this. One suggestion would be to integrate a failsafe (maybe Corona 8 has this?) where IR would stop when Ram gets full under such circumstances (and not under usual scene load).

[3DS Max 2021, Corona 7 hotfix 2]

Thank you and have a nice day!

EDIT: I submitted a request along with a minidump [Ticket Id #38405]. 3ds max has not crashed, it's just frozen while I generated the minidump. I'm going to murder it now, after half an hour of waiting

8

[Max] I need help! / Lighting changes drastically during Interactive

« on: 2022-02-24, 18:51:18 »

Hi guys,

I am working on a small interior scene and I'm facing the following problem: each time I move something during Interactive rendering (small prop objects even, not lights), the scene lighting changes drastically, as if i had gone from +2.0 exposure to zero.
Unfortunately i cannot provide the scene, but i hoped someone had a solution to this.

Thanks!

9

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Device or Resource Busy Error at the beginning of Render

« on: 2022-01-31, 20:31:23 »

Hi,

Lately I have been getting this error, either when starting a production render or IR. It happens about once every 2 days, randomly. Pressing Render again starts rendering with no problems.
I am reporting this because sometimes I let it render several images overnight, and this would stop everything.

The error appears after the Parsing scene... phase, and before displacement and GI calculation. I am running corona 7 hotfix 1 and 3ds Max 2021.
I saw on the forums that this is a recurring bug, but I didn't find a solution. Unfortunately I can't provide the scene, but I am willing to provide as much information as possible, if the dev team wants any additional help.

To start, the scene has lots of Forest objects, displacement and a ton of Corona proxies. Poly count is ~50 million and file size about 4gb. Rendering uses about 50 to 70% of 128gb Ram (4 sticks) and is done on a AMD 3970X.

Let me know if you have any hunch regarding this bug, or If you need any additional info.

Have a nice day!

10

[Max] Resolved Bugs / 3DS Max freezes indefinitely at "Cleaning up" rendering phase

« on: 2022-01-25, 14:43:03 »

Hi all,

Recently I have been getting program freezes at the cleaning up phase, after rendering and denoising is done, that require force closing 3ds max. It has happened in 2 different projects so far.
From my limited tests it seems to be rather consistent, and after some experimenting (and looking inside the forums) I found that it happens when the Post tab is active inside the VFB, and/or possibly when Bloom and Glare is enabled.
Switching to the Stats tab eliminates all freezes, even when Bloom and Glare remain enabled.

I am using Corona version: 7 (Hotfix 1)
Build timestamp: Aug 11 2021 10:54:31
and 3ds Max 2021.

From the forums I got the impression that this was a bug that has been fixed, but it seems it is still there.

Thank you

11

[Max] I need help! / 3ds Max hangs while selecting objects through the Layer Manager

« on: 2022-01-13, 18:55:49 »

Hi everyone,

I have the LayerManager always docked at the side to keep the scene as tidy as possible. The problem is that selecting objects through the layer manager takes a considerable amount of time more than making the same selection from the viewport. Say I have isolated 20 objects that are the contents of one layer. Selecting everything through the viewport is instantaneous, but going Layer>Select child nodes or click-shift click through the manager takes like 6 seconds, which can easily take a minute or more for the more populated ones.

The total number of scene objects is easily in the thousands. I am using 3ds Max 2021. Do you have the same problem?

Thanks!

12

[Max] I need help! / 3ds Max Application Error - Corrupted file on Save

« on: 2021-12-15, 13:31:48 »

Hi guys,

we all know how 3ds Max scenes like to get corrupted some times (maybe once-twice per project for me). So far I have been lucky in recovering most of the contents through merging the latest file or Autobak into a new scene, although usually at the cost of several unused materials or Render settings.

These previous times it's due to some geometry/Editable poly that got corrupted, but right now I am dealing with a file that gets corrupted everytime I save it. I can merge all contents into a new scene and continue working on it but if I save it and then try to reopen, I get the same Application error all over again.

I have tried to delete the ENU folder with no success, so I would like to know If you are aware of any other reason why a 3ds Max file might get corrupted. Also, when merging this file into a new scene I am getting the error I have attached.

Thank you

13

Hardware / 3970x RAM Upgrade - 3200 or 3600mhz

« on: 2021-11-24, 12:38:54 »

Hi guys,

First of all sorry if there are similar topics to this one already discussed, feel free to merge them if if you like.

Somehow I have managed so long using 64gb of RAM (full ram popup is a docked window at this point) but it is time to upgrade!
I am using a 3970x on an Asus Prime TRX40 Pro and want to go for 128gb (4sticks of 32gb). I  would like to know if the difference between 3200 and 3600 frequency or CAS Latency would be something noticeable, in Render times or overall system stability, or if I would rather go for a budget option.

For example, the following kit from Gskill seems like a nice pair of 32gb sticks, 3200mhz with CL16-18-18-38, currently going for around 300€ (so 2 of those).

https://www.gskill.com/product/165/184/1571733948/F4-3200C16D-64GVK

Thank you and have a nice day!

Harry