Messages

1

[Max] I need help! / Re: Help: Open tone mapping settings editor from script

« on: 2023-06-13, 11:09:34 »

Thank you so much, that has worked great!

Had to change it a little to get it to work with my python script. If anyone's curious:

Code: [Select]

from pymxs import runtime as rt
parent = rt.windows.getChildHWND(rt.name("max"), (rt.viewport.getCamera().name))
tm_btn = rt.windows.getChildHWND(parent[7], "Edit...")
Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

2

[Max] I need help! / [Solved] Help: Open tone mapping settings editor from script

« on: 2023-06-12, 17:55:47 »

Does anybody know if it is possible to open a camera's tone mapping settings editor from maxscript or a macro?

This button:


Thanks!

3

[Max] I need help! / Re: Converting Physical Materials > Corona

« on: 2021-01-14, 11:09:42 »

Thanks, the Vray isn't really a work around as we don't use it.

Re rowmanns, it's great to know it's in the works but any more info re timescale would be very helpful.

It's a major issue in workflow for Sketchup>3ds Max/corona, for us at least, so I would presume a lot of others would encounter the same.

Once again unless I am missing a step that allows this problem to be avoided.

4

[Max] I need help! / Converting Physical Materials > Corona

« on: 2021-01-13, 17:22:25 »

Importing from Sketchup > Max 2021 and Corona 6.1 all materials are the Physical materials.

The corona converter seems to have no effect on these, as a temporary fix I have had to purchase an external script to do it

 http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/universal-material-converter

Has corona converter lost the ability to convert everything to corona & is the answer to purchase 3rd party scripts?

Any help / suggestions would be apricated. Perhaps I am doing something wrong!

5

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Re: Cryptomatte support

« on: 2020-08-06, 16:21:52 »

We Would love to see this implemented.

BUMPPP

6

Off-Topic / Re: Working Remotely

« on: 2020-03-19, 16:36:20 »

Yeh, that's also why you can't open sketchup over a remote desktop.

I use this bat file to disconnect remote desktop, open sketchup, reconnect and that seems to work.

@echo off
echo.
echo Remote Desktop will be temporarily disconnected . . . please reconnect after a few seconds.
echo.
pause
@echo on
REM The active session has an arrow as the first character
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
FOR /F %%A in ('qwinsta') do (
   set tempSessionName=%%A
   if "!tempSessionName:~0,1!"==">"  (
      @echo on
      tscon.exe !tempSessionName:~1! /v /dest:console
      @echo off
   )   
)
cd C:\Users\User\Desktop
start Blank.skp
@echo off
echo.
pause


Just run copy and save that as a .bat file and save a sketchup file called Blank.skp on the desktop.

7

Off-Topic / Working Remotely

« on: 2020-03-17, 22:11:34 »

Hi All,
With the current situation I think many of us may find ourselves having to work remotely.

With our kind of work this can be technically challenging so any kind of information share on this topic may help another out.

If you would like to share your setup and how it's working for you/your company and any tips to working remotely I think this could be beneficial.

Personally tested are two types of systems
Windows Remote Desktop + VPN

VPN
Draytek router setup with PPTP VPN that use the draytek smart VPN client on the user side.
Avoiding using the built in windows 10 VPN as we have found there can be varied bugs, ie sometimes the connection only starts if you go into the setting>vpn>connect instead of just connecting through the bottom right network icon on your screen

Remote Desktop
The once connected login via remote desktop connections. I have personally found that the remote desktop app from the Microsoft store seems to hold a connection better but can't prove this yet.

Some things we are working around.

The subnet our users were on was the same as our work, this causes regular interruptions to the connection. To get around this we have added a subnet mask into our VPN draytek client. If anyone requests more info re this I can do a detailed post.

Remote desktop freezes, closing and opening the connection resolves this.
In group policy we have added wait 'keep alive connection interval to 1' & automatic re connection enable
Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Session Host -> Connections

Citrix Workspace

We also use citrix virtualization to log into virtual machines and have found this can provide a lot better performance/stability but I have to say the setup is still tricky,expensive and can have problems as well. Teradici comes highly recommended if you are going along this route.

Support
Zoho Assist
For support I have found this to be a godsend, it's not too expensive and allows remote access at all times to any computer you install it on. You can remotely reboot power on ect ect as well as provide support links co workers can click on to get support at home. Obvious alternatives, anydesk/team viewer.

Communication

Discord is actually proving to be an amazing tool to keep the office chatting and together. Easy to setup split into meeting rooms people can jump around I highly recommend this.

Slack, Zoom, Google hangouts being some other alternatives.

That's all for me now. I will post any further findings in case it can help anyone.

8

[Max] Tutorials & Guides / Re: 3ds max + Corona + Windows = Finally good performance

« on: 2020-03-12, 11:01:08 »

It would be really helpful to have some kind of automated setup to make your max/corona/windows environment work better.

9

[Max] I need help! / Re: Render Node using More Ram Than Host in DR

« on: 2019-09-19, 17:01:18 »

Did anything every come of this?

I have the same thing. Master is using 30 odd gig and node is using a lot more.

10

Hardware / Re: NAS as texture storage? What is your workflow ?

« on: 2019-06-20, 18:13:43 »

So simply put if I was you if you have two people working you can get great performance with not much cost;

2x workstations with 10Gb cards

1x storage computer wit 10Gbe- Main SSD storage Raid + HDD Raid for backup

On your storage computer hold not just your assets but all max files / projects. Store nothing locally.

Some people may do it differently but in my mind that would be a clean approach. Then if say a user needs to reboot and you are working on a shared project it can stay live as it's on the separate storage computer.   




 

11

Hardware / Re: NAS as texture storage? What is your workflow ?

« on: 2019-06-20, 16:36:13 »

Hi Maros,

In general if you are working in a team having a NAS which you work off is the ideal. You would never have any asset be it proxy,maps,3ds Max file local as this can cause problems in network rendering, work sharing ect.

The problem with NAS is the cost & speed relationship. A nas will almost never be as effective as working off a local SSD however how you balance your NAS technology with the amount of people / network requirement will determine how well it works for you.

If you are a small team of say two people I would just convert a computer to a storage 'server' with a share set up. Then your small team can all work off it's SSD RAIDand then set up internal backup to large HDD RAID and make sure it has a good networking card.

For teams larger you should look at proper NAS like synology as these are easy to setup.

Then for bigger teams or if you want top performance you will want to head towards 10 Gbit networking with a dedicated storage server managed switches ect but this has a high cost.

Overall;
No matter what solution make sure your network is solid or you will have a lot of problem with MAX & network rendering.

SSD storage is what you want to aim for preferably on a dedicated computer if working in a small team

HDD storage - use to backup your SSD storage as it's cheap

Minimum you want is a 1Gb connection to your storage.

Hope this helps =)

12

Hardware / Re: Graphics Card for Corona + 3ds Max

« on: 2019-06-19, 18:16:42 »

We always use and still buy the 1080TI. I still see many of them on Amazon ect?

13

Hardware / Re: Threadripper Builds

« on: 2019-06-19, 18:07:30 »

I would avoid liquid cooling, use Noctua. Liquid cooling may provide marginally better results but require more maintenance and tend to break sooner.

RTX isn't useful to us bar for gaming and even then not so much. I would consider the 1080 TI.

RAM wise the TR performs better with faster ram however I feel 3600 could decrease stability/ longevity of the build.

14

[Max] General Discussion / Re: 3D Studio Max 2020

« on: 2019-06-19, 16:58:30 »

I must say as much as I dislike the program as much as the next person Max 2020.1 actually shows some promise;

The Floating View ports & this -

"Large integers used as parameters of scene entities are no longer truncated when they pass through dimension conversions. E.g.: 16777217 was truncated to 16777216. MAXX-48775"

15

General CG Discussion / Re: Working remotely (reduce lag)

« on: 2019-06-17, 10:58:30 »

VPN and windows Remote Dekstop are your best alternatives before using Citrix/VMware/Teradici.

After setting up your VPN the next thing to do would be to test your network / network latency, overall unless you have a solid connection <10ms lat to your remote computer and a stable 20+MB's with two internet lines, one for internet use and one solely for your VPN/Remote connection then you will not have great performance. Lag, artifacts ect.

Also you will not be able to run programs such as Sketchup without the use of some special scripts to trick session ID ect. 

Remote Desktop is obviously a good free alternative but you will never reach the performance of paid alternatives like Citrix however these are very expensive to set up.