Bat4Max v2.6 HD

[SimFox 802]

it seems that you somehow misplaced some of the scripts.

Becasue of it those that are in a right place keep calling functions that couldn't be found. Specifically CPTB2MainUI.ms is missing...

To say something more precise I would need same screenshots as garoudwolf had published....

[GlobexCo 33]

Everything has been installed correctly. My 3dsmax folder is under C:\games and not C:\ but I don't think that the problem is here. I've got Windows Vista and 3dsMax9. When I open it i see this window

and this is what I can see when I click OK:

Only one view is enabled; when I click on one view, the other 3 are black

Any ideas? 

[SimFox 802]

well that is because 3ds Max isn't quite compatible with Vista... or particularly Direct3D in it...

and switching to OpenGL isn't really an option. In Max that driver had been frozen ages back and no development done on it what so ever (unlike Maya) so it wouldn't work well either.

So, to cut long story short something gonna give. Either Vista or Max...

PS you can help a little by disabling Aero. but it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem...

and the problem you're facing has nothing to do with bat, btw it just something between Max and Vista...

[Kryptowhite 9]

^That's odd...I've been using Vista for about a year now with max and i've never had any serious problems.

[SimFox 802]

well with WHAT version of Max? As I've said problem exist only between max9 and Vista... And the fault is squarely with Autodesk!

[GlobexCo 33]

So it's a problem between max9 and Vista... If I try with max7?

[SimFox 802]

yep... it works even with Max8. I wouldn't recommend Max7 cause the gap, particularly with rendering capabilities with say Max8 is just too great.

If at all possible try to get Max2008, it's already 2 versions behind so you may get passed out copy...

[GlobexCo 33]

(cough) found (cough) 3dsMax 2008. I'll try it with BAT.

I think that the problem is between Vista and BAT43dsmax and not between Vista and 3dsMax, because I used it a lot before trying to install the BAT for it.

[SimFox 802]

no, the problem is between Vista and 3dsMax9, BAT4Max is just a set of scripts and it doesn't affect the program and particularly it's interaction7integration with Operating System in any way. Trust me on that. And that incompatibility between Vista and Max9 is very well documented and been a major topic of discussion back then when it was the the latest max available. Just google it!

[GlobexCo 33]

Sorry, now I understand!

Will Windows 7 be the same as Vista (with all the problems between SimCity tools and the OS?) or the last OS compatible with all the SC4 tools is XP?

[gtaki 5]

I have a question about the "Export LODs" button

I have pressed the button, then it says "LODs exported".

But I cant find the outcome .3ds in neither gmax 3dsmax nor plugins folder. Actually where would it be?

Mine is max8 installed in {ROOT}:/Autodesk/3dsMax8/

gmax : {ROOT}:/Program Files/gmax/

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Search your computer for the .3DS format.

[SimFox 802]

gtaki:

well the script as it is assumes that GAMX (along with GMAX BAT) had been installed into default folder, namely C:\gmax\gamepacks\BAT So all the exported LODs will be there. And if you haven't installed your GMAX there(although I couldn't think of a single rational reason why that would be an option) you gonna either browse to that location from you GMAX or edit the script to include there your personal location.

GlobexCo:

most probably yes, as it is based on Vista, actually it is same Vista, just slightly modified and simplified. And I see no reason why would MS go back on it's D3D model to accommodate obsolete piece of proprietary and not common software.

[woodb3kmaster 342]

I'm following the Bat Essentials tutorial in the Omnibus, and I've finally reached the point where I can export my model. When I do (and I follow all the instructions in the first post of this thread), for some reason, only the south views show up properly in the LE; the north views are identical to the south views, and the east and west views appear to be distorted versions of the south views. Observe:

I'm using the custom rig attached to this thread, and I suspect there are missing cameras or a messed-up script somewhere in there. I say this in part because the views for all angles look identical in a given zoom level when I preview the render. As instructed, I have merged the rig "TB2_CameraLightRig_day_max9plus.max" into the scene, rather than importing it through the XRef Scene window. Is there something wrong with the camera rig, or have I made a mistake somewhere along the line? Also, since the rig I' using is apparently for day views only, should I also have the "TB2_CameraLightRig_nite_m.max" rig in my scene, or would that just mess things up further?

EDIT: See this image (too tall to include in this post) to verify that I have unpacked BATforMax in the right location.

EDIT #2: I suppose I should include some system specs: I'm using 3ds Max 9 with Windows XP Media Center Edition, 2.4GHz processor, 3GB of RAM.

[SimFox 802]

Yep it is wrong.

Good that you have pointed my attention to that thread... Those files are out of date now and will be superseded by new development.

But enough of promo talk ;-) and back to your situation.

You are correct in saying that there is something wrong with Rig (apart form light level - that was explained above).

But I'm sorry to say that this is of your own doing. This is a result of your merging Rig into the scene. at the export time you've ended up with 2 light rigs in your scene and two sets of cameras. and confused the hell out of BAT (mad it batty).

You should have merged X-reffed scene into your modeling one, not individual objects from Rig scene (that is what you have done) into it, I guess instruction assumed that people know about rig being a X-ref scene and it's relationship with main modeling scene.

Anyway new updated version of BAT (or Bat upgrade) will be ready soon, prolly this weekend It will solve all those problems. But if you wanna do something about your scene right away you can too!

All you need to do it in 3 reasonably easy steps:

1. delete the rig cameras and lights from your scene.

2. click on any of the view/zoom selectors in preview roll-outs. This will establish the link to X-reffed Rig scene.

3. You'll notice that this had been done because your active view port will change. and a Green Wireframe box will appear in your scene. This box is a key! it is a handler to which the X-reff scen is attached locally. During the export script rotate that Handler and this how views change...

Now you can merge the X-ref scene into your modeling one. To do so

1. click on File command in the menu

2. Select X-Ref Scene

3. Highlight the Rig file and click Merge button on the right hand side panel

I would also suggest to clear the check from Visible option as not to create mess in the viewports.

In case of trouble let me know!

[woodb3kmaster 342]

Thanks for your speedy reply, SimFox! After following your instructions (and turning off Final Gather and color correction, which I had turned on because of the instructions in the thread I linked earlier and those in the first post of this thread), the BAT rendered the Zoom 5 South day view and night lighting before giving me error code 6. What should I do now?

[SimFox 802]

well, first of all you can't turn off Final Gather, since it is a required for Sky to work. And about Gamma Correction.. I've strongly recommended to use it... Those instructions in that thread were generally correct. there were some issues with the setup of lights for Max versions 7 and 8, but since you're on 9 those shouldn't have really affected you.

As far as error 6 is concerned, can't say really... That is an old and very mysterious thing. The original writers of export script gave it such definition "Error had occurred somewhere" - not very precise, don't you agree? I believe that it reported when something in your geometry, materials or lights etc isn't to the script liking. and there could be a lot, cause it goes through many permutations before star rendering. It could be some grouped objects, some linked objects, some multi-materials, some modifiers etc.. Myself I had practically never see them and the only times I did were associated with type of modifiers or eternal plugins... This, however doesn't need to be exactly the cause of their occurrence in your project.

But generally keep you scene clean and well organized, limit you object count to the minimum possible, Don't build large modifier stacks, and generally try to keep plain meshes/Editable polies in your scene rather then some primitives with tons of modifiers on top.

I've solved the last problem I had with that update I'd mentioned earlier, so it could be available later tonight... It would make things easier, but not sure will help Error 6 thingie..

[SimFox 802]

Just to point your attention, if you had come to the last message of the thread, that New Let Ther Be Light utility downlod link, as well as info on and instructions are in the message #2 of this thread on page1

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Looks like I have a nice long read ahead of me, thanks for the heads up.

[Cockatoo 2,256]

Fantastic work! If your beta was anything to go on, this should be an absolute must for any BATer using Max out there.

[GlobexCo 33]

Ok now Bat4max runs great on Vista and 3dsMax2008.

What about 3dsMax7 on Vista, will work?

[Glenni 1,444]

Help O_O

Any what causes this? i keep geting it whenevr i try to press one of the buttons on the let there be light selection.

[Cockatoo 2,256]

That happened to me. I found that if I removed all other lights from my scene (night lighting: target, direct and omni ect...) then the script did what it was supposed to do -- otherwise I got that error. The way I get around it is to save my lighting in a separate scene, do what I need to do in Let there be Light, and then merge them back in. Are you using Max 7 by any chance?

Also for Simfox, strangely enough, I didn't get that problem with your beta version.

[SimFox 802]

hm...

Good that you have brought it to my attention.

My pathological aversion to actual lights in my scenes caused me to miss this issue... and because I didn't altered the delete function in any meaningful way barring add another check so it wouldn't do harm... Well that check actually doing harm now, as it too rigorous!

Now utility run that delete function every time it creates a rig, so as not to have doubles in the scene. It identifies Rig ligst as those that are linked to the TB2CameraRig dummy (it's parent) and the dummy recognized by it's name. In case of normal scene lights that are not linked to it when scripts in a very strict voice asks "what you parent name!?!! the poor light saz i don't have no parent .... and here things fall apart... parent undefined and undefined doesn't have no name!

Anyway here is a fixed version:

I'll change also STEX and RAPIDshare versions a bit later!

[Glenni 1,444]

Thanks for the quick response Fox, hopefully this should solve it.

Cockatoo:

Yep, it was 3dsmax 7.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Well, I'm glad I waited to give this a try.

Thanks for the fix Simfox.

[Evillions 552]

IS this only for 3ds max only?

[woodb3kmaster 342]

I have a compatibility question. I recently bought a new computer with the 64-bit version of Vista on it, so I thought I needed to get a 64-bit version of 3ds Max. However, the version I ended up getting is unusable unless I set my system clock to 2007. I'm wondering if I could potentially still use the 32-bit version of Max on this computer instead. Is that possible, and if so, is it something you would recommend or not?

[SimFox 802]

Evillions:

yep

Woodb3kmaster:

well, it is totally possible, but I wouldn't recommend it...

you see 64Bit offers a great more memory space for application. In 32Bit environment (both OS and application itself) maximum allowed (by default) is 2Gb and with some special tweak (but this is for the OS) is 3Gb. Not sure if the later is even working on 64bit OS.

More memory means bigger scenes, better FG and AAA setting etc, no MentalRay run out of memory windows etc... Generally MR is more stable in such environment.

So As I've said I wouldn't recommend it, but if that's your only option, then yes it will work.

[nofunk 1,933]

Hey SimFox, did I mess something up? I just installed BAT4Max 2.6 and "Let There Be Light" according to instructions... used the max 8 instructions for my gamma settings. This is what I got:

Before:

After:

By the way, thanks for all these great updates and lighting improvements!