3ds Max - Troubleshooting & General Discussion

[SimFox 802]

I assume you have 64 bit versions of both Windows and MAX, right? If so you shouldn't have problems to render any size object in MAX, really. But the limitation would most probably come from the side of BAT (GMAX one) as it would cap the max size of LODs you could do. I never tried to subdivide LODs so I have nothing to say on that matter.

Memory vise, again I assume you run 64 bit version of Windows, you should check you motherboard manual because most would have special switch in BIOS that block memory in excess of about 3,2 GB (that is done for 32 bit OS)

[Mrqs 33]

Originally posted by: SimFox I assume you have 64 bit versions of both Windows and MAX, right? If so you shouldn't have problems to render any size object in MAX, really. But the limitation would most probably come from the side of BAT (GMAX one) as it would cap the max size of LODs you could do. I never tried to subdivide LODs so I have nothing to say on that matter.

Memory vise, again I assume you run 64 bit version of Windows, you should check you motherboard manual because most would have special switch in BIOS that block memory in excess of about 3,2 GB (that is done for 32 bit OS)quote>

No, unfortunately I have 32-bit version of Windows. I had to subdivide LODs because of BAT. When I exported LODs to BAT the error=6 was displayed.  When the LODs are smaller everything in BAT goes well. I could render the main building and the rest of the model as the props.  The trouble is that BAT4MAX can't render as I described in my previous post.

[SimFox 802]

If you have 32Bit windows you wouldn't be able to use more memory then you do currently, no matter how much you'll install in you computer. And that memory limitation (caused by inability of 32 bit OS to assign enough addresses to memory slots) will also be a bottleneck in you renderings. But that is concerning "pure" max. BAt on the other had has plenty of it's own limitations and pitfalls.

It is very difficult to speculate what exactly causes your problems in BAT4MAX, if you want send me MAX file i'll take a look at it, may be I'll be able to help you... PM me.

[JakeMD 107]

With a 3ds max 9 trial version and 2 service packs later, I was able to get the Mental Ray effect that I could not get with 3ds max 8. All that time wasted!

[SimFox 802]

yep where was a major change of Mental Ray between those versions! And there is more in MAX2008 and still more in Max2009! Most changes are actually now focused around Mental Ray functionality...

That's why it really isn't worth while buying the license nowadays. If possible it is much preferable to rent it for an year. Luckily Autodesk is quite genereous towards students and for a price of 2-3 computer games you can get this product for a year!

[Tolsome 0]

I have a problem.

I'm now on the step that I test my testmodel with the hexcode: starttest-0x5ad0e817_0xb472fc36_0x70000.SC4Model

I know, this must I now tip in "Export" and click on render and it comes:

starttest-0x5ad0e817_0xb472fc36_0x70000.SC4Model can not found in (...)/Documents/SimCity4/Plugins/ >.<

But the starttest-0x5ad0e817_0xb472fc36_0x70000.SC4Model is 100 % in this Path

and I write the Path in the correct data on the correct place grrrr^^, so, 3 hours later I think I must kill someone, so please help me!

I use 3DsMax 7 and Vista.

I hope someone can help me.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

hmmm, double check everything, because if everything is really correct it wouldn't be having a problem. Make sure that the path is "Documents/SimCity 4/Plugins/" and not "Documents/SimCity4/Plugins/". "SimCity 4" should have a space in between "SimCity" and "4".

[delija21 295]

Hi guys,i've just donwloaded bat4max but i can't find deltree.exe file...where exacly is it located??? i'm using win xp

[JakeMD 107]

Its in the root directory in the BAT 4 Max.

[delija21 295]

I know about that one but there should be one in the windows directory and i just can't fint it...also there is one more thing.......i have followed every step in the instruction but when i open MAX i have just 4 rollouts(Randomize Night Windows, Randomize Window colors, Rename Objects and Exit Simtropolis Tools)...i'm missing first 4....(Export, Parameters, Preview and Batch CMD)......what am i doing wrong????

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I don't think you actually need the deltree.  I think it just deletes the output files folder.  I've never used it, my ouputs folder is pretty full, and I've never had any problems with it. 

For your other problem, I had the same problem, and could never fix it.  Try reinstalling to Program Files.  This will change some of the paths you need to edit in the instructions.  This also means that you can't really use the automatic features, and you'll have to follow the manual instructions, plus make some other accommodations.  You'll need to recreate the folder structure for the C drive (so you need to make a bunch of folders until you have recreated: "C:\3dsMaxX\gamepacks\BAT\Outputfiles"), and when you export something, you'll need to copy and paste the output files from the Program Files location to the C location.  Then you need to open the .bat file of the BAT you exported, which is at gamepacks\BAT\ in notepad, and you need to edit the paths (using edit>replace) to point to the C drive location.  After this you'll double click on the .bat file and the rest is according to the manual instructions.

This needs to be done if 3ds max is installed in Program Files, because the .bat file can't deal with files that have spaces in their path, and since "Program Files" has a space in it, that location can't be used.  To get around this you move the files to a location in the C drive.

If this doesn't make sense I can try to explain it better.

[delija21 295]

Jason thanks for your explanation but i know very little about this stuff so if you could please explain it a little bit better

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I guess for now, try reinstalling it in Program Files, and see if you can get the other menus to appear there.

[delija21 295]

It's good now,i have all the menues but now i'm missing Logarithmic Exposure Control in the pull down menu??

[patriots_1228 51]

I am having a very annoying problem with rendering.

My building is okay from some views

and then some it aint....

[The_sanderson 6]

"Threads that are listed here will be listed by their thread title.

. 3D Studio Max BAT Version 2 Released!! (Original BAT4Max Development & Troubleshooting Thread)"

In:https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=37&threadid=87434&enterthread=y

(...)

. [Tutorial] Gmax to 3ds Max

The links of both are with error and i very want to do and read all these two topics,but i cant find them.

Can anyone help me?

And,please,update all the links.

Thank you all.I´m starting using 3dmax and i really will be very happy to know some differences of it and gmax,and put my under construction BATs to 3dmax files,and,if possible,render with it.

Thank you!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Patriots:  It looks like LOD related problems.  Is your LOD right?  Also, make sure that your LOD/building is centered on your scene before exporting.  I'm not sure, but I think that's what it might be.

The_sanderson:  Yeah, the links there got messed up from when the site was down a few weeks ago.  I haven't gotten around to fixing them since I haven't gotten around to finding the threads again.  Unfortunately you'll have to either use the search function of the forum (which doesn't work very well/at all), or you'll have to manually browse the forum.  They are all located here in the BAT - Open Discussion.

But I can answer some of your thoughts here.  3ds Max is the non-free version of Gmax.  Gmax is a stripped down version of 3ds Max, so in all ways, 3ds Max is better than Gmax.  The set up that lets you get your 3ds Max made buildings into the game is kind of convoluted, and there can be errors, but once you have it ironed out it works fine.

[The_sanderson 6]

Vry thanks!

I found the 3D Studio Max BAT Version 2 Released!! (Original BAT4Max Development & Troubleshooting Thread) ,but where i can download it?

Have just comments to reado.No links to download

[Jasoncw 11,840]

BAT4Max can be found in the Modds & Downloads section of this site. The link is at the very top of the site on the blue bar. It might take a little while to find in there.

[patriots_1228 51]

hmm...I am using the refit LODS button, and it is perfectly centered. Perhaps I should try custom LODS? although, if it were an LOD problem, wouldn't it be cut off from every zoom and every view, not just certain ones?

[The_sanderson 6]

Thank you!

I dont know why the search dont work in this time,because if it works,i didn

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Patriots:  Manually make sure that the LODs are correct (unhide all).  Each rotation could be different, depending on how the building fits inside the LOD.  And each zoom has its own LOD.  It sounds like this isn't the problem though, but yeah, double check anyway.  Have you tried making a new .SC4Model and re-exporting?

The_Sanderson:  I don't know where it is, unfortunately you'll just have to browse the forum until you find it. 

When you find it though, post the links here so that I can fix the links in the first page.

[autoVino 26]

Patriots: I think it may be your lighting rig, since the shadows in the view that you did post are going the wrong way... try rebuilding it (make sure that the "south" view is looking up from the bottom right on the top view... that is when the cameras are in the "south" position make sure that they are in the botom right of the model when looking from the top.)

I've had a similar problem, where one view is fine and the others are wierd... it's jsut that according to the camera/lighting rig, your lods are in a different position than they are in the s3d files... therefore they cannot be mapped correctly.  Or at least I think that's the problem.

[The_sanderson 6]

Jasoncw - ok.

Ill search them.

And thank you for help.

Edit : I lost my CD of windows XP.

Next month i trade the computer,and install BAT4MAX.

Lol ^^.

I have to wait.

Well,about the topics,I found all them.

Links:

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=37&threadid=85422&highlight_key=y&keyword1=%5BTutorial%5D%20Gmax%20to%203ds%20Max

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=37&threadid=52137&highlight_key=y&keyword1=3D%20Studio%20Max%20BAT%20Version%202

[patriots_1228 51]

Auto, could you take a look at my scene for me, and see if you can find the problem?

[delija21 295]

Hi guys,i have reinstalled and done it all over again,and guess what...it's working,but i have another problem now...when i open my model in game it's very dark. What's wrong with it now??? here is a pic of it

By delija21 at 2008-06-22

[Jasoncw 11,840]

When you export the building, does each render get darker and darker? If so, it could be that it is having problems making it day time again. Every night render, it gets darker and darker. I don't know how to solve that problem but I think it has been written about in this thread before.

[SimFox 802]

Delija21:

Could you tell me how exactly have you installed your Bat4Max? Had you replaced any scripts that came with original distribution?

I know of one problem that looks very similar to what you're showing here. But it was due to the somewhat misguided editing of the main export script done by one ST member in attempt to get it to work with photometric lights.

here is my post from Forces of light and the geometry of shadows thread -answer to the problem of Teemu_om:

Oh yeah!

You come to the right place, kaveri!

The issue is caused by the tinting used for night view rendering not resetting to normal day value (255,255,255) this is a result of some issues in the export script. It couldn't however be fixed without getting into script at all. All you need to do is to place at least one light into the scene. It could be somewhere far outside of your scene and be set to any low value the very presence of light will force tint to reset. However, and THIS IS IMPORTANT there are some issues that are cause by the combo of light and X-REFED MR Sky as it will fail to be taken into calculations. By trial I've found that this situation is resolved by either placing SKY into the scene instead of it being a part of the rig, or by placing LAST light into the scene in the TOP view !! Don't ask me why I know it sound really bizarre but there you have it! Since I've found the "solution" rather quickly I never went to farther investigate the problem or look for "proper" solution.

One more note.

Placing Sky into the scene (if you do it in accordance with daylight system working principals will significantly alter the look of you render. This is caused by the fact that Sky proper position isn't respected when your Daylight system is X-Refed and it resets to the top down state.

I would advise you to change the haze value of the sky (this will control the one of Sun as well at least if both are together in daylight system. Default values of 1 produce too harsh of a rendering. But that is my personal view.

Hope this is of help, if you have further questions - ask!

[delija21 295]

I reinstalled MAX to the C: so there wouldn't be any space in the path. Moved gamepacks to the MAX root directory,CPTB2Startup to 3dsmax\scripts\startup...deleted Simtropolis_tools...edited ini file,edited BAT4MAX file,the only thing i havn't done is to find deltree.exe

here is a pic of the edited BAT4MAX file

By delija21 at 2008-06-24

and a pic of the edited ini file

By delija21 at 2008-06-24

btw do i have to move ini file to the gamepacks\BAT directiry...because i didn't do it??

Also i don't think that my problem is the same as Teemu_om's because my model looks just fine while it's rendering,it's dark only in the LE and the game. Last night i have also tryed to place last light into the scene in the top view but 96% into the rendering it stopped and i got an error code "MEM 0,3 fatal 031008:can't allocate 65536 bytes" what the hell does that meen?? I have reinstalled MAX 10 times now and i think i have tryed everything i've found in the forums but nothing seems to work....btw in your answer to Teemu_om you are talking about placing SKY into the scene....i don't understand...do i have to place SKY and SUN into the scene before rendering or what???

I really hope you can help me with this because this is starting to be really frustrating

Thanks ( and sorry for my bad english)

[delija21 295]

when i render my model,do i have to check Logarithmic exposure or no exposure??