Topics

1

[Max] Feature Requests / Add 'Additional Outputs' to Corona Distance

« on: 2023-09-11, 18:44:41 »

Pretty simple but would be great.  Same feature you already added to Corona colorcorrect etc. where you can add 'additional outputs' but added to Corona Distance map.  I often use this map for masking off paths etc and this would really help.

Thanks for considering!
Dan

2

[C4D] General Discussion / Considering switching to C4D from Max, looking for feedback…

« on: 2023-07-31, 02:28:22 »

Hello!  I do primarily arch viz stills and short films for a handful of regular clients.  I've been in business for 6 years or so.  Prior to that I used 3ds max as an architect and prior to that I used it as a student.  So I've been on the platform since 2009 or so.

Anyhow, I have heard a number of good things about Cinema4D and I like some of the features I see.  I've also been unimpressed with some aspects of Autodesk, from client relations, to speed of development, and stability and performance in larger arch viz exteriors.  Long story short, I'm tentatively exploring the ramifications of switching platforms to C4D while staying on Corona.  I'd need to find swaps for:  Forest pack, Railclone, my current snow plugin, bercontiles, and a handful of others.  And of course I would lose the advantage of my long term experience with Max.

Does anyone have a similar experience?  Or perhaps just feedback of Cinema4D stability\performance vs 3ds Max?  I'm a one man show, so switching wouldn't be insane but I’d like to get some feedback from others before doing more than just poking at some simple scenes.

Thanks for any feedback!

3

[Max] Feature Requests / Option to pause IR re-draw until viewport or camera navigation is done

« on: 2022-09-20, 21:26:09 »

It would be awesome if there was an option (maybe a toggle in the render\system settings) that gave you the option to pause IR redraw until you were done with the walkthru camera keys or mouse stroke that is moving your target, etc.  Lots of times I want to 'drive' to various locations real quick, but I only get about 1 second in and then IR grinds to a halt, especially in a heavy scene.  So I stop IR, move my camera, and restart IR. 

I'll sometimes pilot around in other viewports that aren't locked to IR as a hacky solution, but it would be SWEET to be able to tell IR to pause on re-drawing\parsing until the walkthru keys are released.

Cheers and thanks for considering,
Daniel

4

[Max] Feature Requests / Block Lightmix auto setup from using illegal characters

« on: 2022-06-23, 21:08:58 »

Just recently had all my nodes crashing (using Pulze render manager, scene manager, max 2022 and latest DB of Corona 8.)  Tracked down the crash to a render element with an asterisk * in it.  It was created because lightmix auto setup (which we often quickly use for Draft 1 images) grabbed a layer name that had a light material assigned to it which the architect had named with a '*' in the title.

Couple of hours later and we solved it.  But might be worth blocking Lightmix setup wizard from using any characters that'll cause this kind of crash.

Thanks!
Daniel

5

[Max] General Discussion / Difference in reliability and performance between VFB IR and Viewport IR

« on: 2021-07-06, 21:51:55 »

Has anyone else noticed a difference in performance and buginess between Viewport IR and VFB IR?  Both myself and one of my staff have noticed this independently in different scenes and different computers.  Here's what we've noticed:

Viewport IR:
- Faster to update when scene changes, less lag when selecting items in other viewports, max GUI stays responsive, orbiting and panning in other viewports stays fast
- Copy to clipboard never freezes the computer

VFB IR:
- Quite a bit slower.  The only time I've found it to be as responsive as the viewport is if I don't resize it, so it's still not filling the window.  There seems to be something about resizing the VFB that causes it to slow down.  Note: this is not because it's 'bigger' than the viewport IR.  It just seems to be something about resizing it.
- Randomly geometry will not appear (objects, walls missing, etc) and I have to restart IR to get the geometry to show up.  A little nervewracking :)
- Goes into an infinite pause when copying contents to clipboard sometimes

I believe the last VFB item (crash when copying to clipboard) started with the bloom & glare progress bar was integrated a while ago.  I and others reported it and I think it was fixed for a while but it's back in the latest builds.

Just curious if anyone else has had a similar set of experiences or if it's something to do with my builds.

3ds Max 2021
Corona RC5
Windows 10 latest updates
RTX 2080 Ti 462.59
3990x and 3970x, depending
128gb ram or 64gb ram, depending

6

Hardware / Trying out an m.2 quad card with 4xNVME and Raid0

« on: 2020-10-16, 21:28:32 »

I'm planning on using four m.2 NVME drives (1tb 970 Evo Plus) in Raid0 for some high speed storage in Windows Server 2019 across 10gbe.  Mostly well-backed up assets and scenes, I'm confident in the NVME's and my backup routines for this type of data to be stored there.

The mobo is Asrock Taichi x399, it has 3 m.2 slots.  I also have a couple of PCIE actively cooled m.2 quad cards, both of which were included with some recent trx40 boards.  They support up to PCIE4 but the x399 board is PCIE3.

Right now I've got them all on a PCIE 3 slot with the m.2 quad card set to 4x4x4x4 set in the bios.  It's created with windows Storage Pool Raid0 (software raid) and ReFS as the format, I hear it's better than NTFS.  The only downside is you can't boot from it but I don't care about that since I'm booting of a simple SSD on sata3.  Obviously the 10gbe will be the bottleneck, but hey...why not go for as fast as possible :)

I'm attaching the crystal disk mark results.  The Q8T1 seems great (!) to me.  The Q1T1 random seems a bit low though.  Any of these numbers seem way out of range or screwed up?

Is putting all 4 of the drives on a PCI card a mistake?  I have 3 on-board slots to use, which means I could just put 1 nvme drive on the quad board.  That said, I just like the simplicity of one storage pool on one PCI card, and also it is actively cooled with a fan and large heatsink which is nice.  The Taichi motherboard m.2 slots are not cooled nor do they have heatsinks.

Anyway, just trying to gut check this setup before I dive too deeply into it and build it into my workflow on my new file server. 

Thanks for any feedback.
Daniel

7

General CG Discussion / Saving large Max files over network

« on: 2020-09-18, 19:33:27 »

Hi all,

We are restructuring our network and have moved to 10gbe, which has allowed us to move pretty much everything to a central server without any real speed loss.  One issue we've run into though is now that we're trying to save our .max files to a network location, we start to get 'Error writing to files' as they near 500mb and we try to save the scene.

Does anyone have any solutions to this?  I notice the Max help files basically just say 'yeah sometimes things get screwed up, Max isn't a Network based piece of software so no guarantees.'  Paraphrasing of course :)  Do folks mostly just store assets over the network but then keep your project folders local?

Thanks for any tips or shared experiences!
Daniel

8

[Max] I need help! / Viewport framerate reduced by over 1/2 when IR is running on simple scenes

« on: 2020-09-04, 18:35:04 »

Hi all,

I'm not sure if it's a windows update, a driver update, or the latest Corona but I've noticed a BIG drop in viewport performance when IR is running even on relatively simple scenes.  I don't recall this happening as much even just a month or so ago.  I just tested a couple scenes and am seeing drops from 30fps with IR not running to 10-13fps just with IR running.  Very chunky and slow interaction.  Not using forestpack or floor gen.

I've tried updating my nVidia drivers (latest studio...should I be using game ready?), tweaking # of threads used, disabling windows firewall, setting exceptions for real-time threat, turning off all exploit protection, etc.  I'm starting to wonder if this is QT related or else something to do with the latest Windows cumulative update (2004.)

System specs:
3990x (not OC'ed, ram tested with XMP on and off same results)
128gb ram
2080 Ti
Max 2020
Corona 6 stable
Logitech MX Master 2S wireless mouse
Wired keyboard

Thanks for any insights, my last resort will be to try an older or newer max version or an older Corona version....but none of those feels like a 'solution.'

Cheers,
Daniel

9

Hardware / 10gbe Synology NAS a good solution for a file server?

« on: 2020-08-03, 17:33:55 »

Hi all,

We are looking at getting a remote worker who has access to our assets drive.  Right now it's just one of our local machines and all the other machines access it either through a mapped drive letter or sometimes UNC.  The downside there is if that machine reboots the others lose the path, etc.  So we're looking at a more professional\permanent solution which we see as being either:

1 - Synology NAS with 10gbe card,  SSD drives and the easy VPN access that comes with it
2 - A dedicated file server built by us running windows 10 with either SSD or NVME, 10gbe and then some kind of extra VPN service for remote access

Right now it seems to me like the NAS is a good solution because of the built in remote access.  We currently use the Drive remote access service with another Synology NAS we have which serves as our project repository and runs 7200rpm physical drives and it's flawless.  It integrates nicely with Windows explorer for home access and we've never had a glitch.  In fact it beats the hell out of onedrive and sharepoint for not having 'weird glitches.'  Coming up with a VPN type solution for option #2 seems fraught with mishap and effort, but I might be overestimating that.

Anyway, feedback would be highly appreciated.  Thanks all!
Daniel

EDIT:  Also, the remote worker (or me, at home in other instances) wouldn't be using this as 'on-demand' assets but more as a reference.  It would be used as on-demand if working locally, so it would need to be quick enough for that in the local setting which basically serves 3-4 desktops.

10

Hardware / Expected 10gbe speed?

« on: 2020-06-03, 19:03:56 »

Hi all,

We just moved to 10gbe.  It's super simple right now, a Belkin switch and some short 6a cables.  Right now I'm seeing copy speeds around 450-500 MB a second.  This is copying large files like CXRs just as a test.

When I copy these same files locally I get about 1.2GB a second.  Shouldn't I be seeing higher than 450-500 over the network, something closer to 1GB?  There's no other load and both computers are otherwise idle, and everything is nVME. 

Right now it's just using windows 10 shared folders, so I'm wondering if there's some sort of caching or encryption going on.

Cheers and thanks for any input!
Daniel

11

[Max] Feature Requests / CoronaDistance map driven by proximity to material

« on: 2020-04-24, 05:15:32 »

Hello!

I often use CoronaDistance to do rendertime booleans, especially for things like recessed lights in ceilings.  One way I do manage my cutter object is to just go into sub object mode and create duplicate elements, that way I don't have to keep adding to the list.  Other times I just create a lot of instanced objects and add each of them to the list of objects within the coronadistance map properties.  Either way, it  starts to become a little cumbersome when it comes to coordinating\moving them around with the lights or filler objects.  This is just one example, I also use it for reveals and gaps and the same things applies when matching 'cutters' and 'fillers.'

It occurred to me today that it would be quite handy to just be able to drive CoronaDistance by proximity to an object with a certain MATERIAL.  That way I could just assign my 'cutter' object that certain material without worrying about making sure it was a sub-object, or also on the list, etc.  So you'd have a list of 'include' objects and a list of 'materials.'  Proximity to either would be seen in the same way.

I'm sorry if I'm overlooking some existing functionality or other workflow that would accomplish this same thing (or if this is impossible).  If that's the case please do let me know...otherwise, I think this would be a great feature for rendertime booleans as well as a variety of other uses!

12

[Max] Feature Requests / HDRI Load Settings Window

« on: 2020-01-07, 18:51:09 »

Hi all - Is there any way to suppress the HDRI load settings that pop up every time you use CoronaBitmap to load an HDRI?  I almost never change the settings and it takes a few seconds to load the HDRI so then I'll switch away to something else, come back and realize 'argh, the dialog is just sitting there waiting for an ok from me.'

Anyway, a minor thing but if there's a hidden setting somewhere I'd love to know about it.  Thanks!
Daniel

13

[Max] General Discussion / When does yearly SaaS license clock start 'ticking'?

« on: 2019-12-02, 20:34:34 »

Hi all,

I'm buying a year's subscription today but my monthly just renewed a couple of days ago.  I'm just curious, does the year start when I activate the license?  I'd obviously rather delay the clock starting on the year until my monthly ends (unless monthly cancellation is prorated?)

Not a huge deal, but hey...Anyway, thanks!
Daniel

14

[Max] Bug Reporting / Max 2020 Freezes with 'Copy' button in VFB

« on: 2019-11-22, 19:39:16 »

I quite frequently have Max 2020 freeze when using IPR and hitting 'Copy' in the VFB.  Is this a known issue?  If not I can try to track down a minidump, etc.  Not sure if one is being generated though, I just get the spinning wheel, it doesn't actually 'crash.'

Running Windows 10, Max 2020 and Corona 5 stable.

Thanks,
Daniel

15

[Max] Feature Requests / Open (and denoise) VRImage in Corona Image Editor

« on: 2019-06-21, 20:12:55 »

It would be great to be able to denoise VRay generated images in the CIE.  Would it be possible to make CIE compatible with VRimage file format?  Then if the right render elements were present you could denoise (and heck, apply post effects if you wanted...maybe, if light select elements were there, even...LIGHTMIX?!?)

The main thing for me is that the VRay denoiser sometimes loses detail on reflections\refractions and the Corona denoiser does a great job there.

Thanks!
Daniel