ak-ak-adak

CycleDogg, Thanks for your reply. The problem for me is, once I changed the anti-alias type to Catmull-Rom, or another type, my model would no longer show up in Lot Editor. So, I don't know what's happening with the model after rendering with the changed anti-alias settings, but it's just not happening for me. It's too bad. Because of the problem I've had with rendering in Max, I decided to shelve the models I've been working on.

kd5rax, I believe you're looking for these? Let me know if you want some indoor pics.

I beleive I found the problem I have with my model not appearing in the lot editor. Two of the four views bmp images in zoom 3 are 63 x 32 in size. They are supposed to be square, aren't they? If so, is this a bug? Here's a pic of 2 of the 4 bmp's: I created a 64 x64 black box in PSP then pasted the bmp into it, making sure to align both tops of the defective 64 x 32 files & the created 64 x 64 box. That didn't work. I believe I need to tinker with the TGI & fsh files too. Any help/advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

CycleDogg, Thank u for your reply. The problem I've encountered when I experimented with the the anti-alias in the raytracer settings tools is that my model no longer appears in the lot editor after rendering. A complete blank. I checked to see if the fsh files had the model views & they did. This is a serious stumper for me @ the moment. I'd appreciate if anyone using 3D Max could post their render settings. Thanks.

I'm having a problem getting a sharper more detailed rendering from 3D Max. If u notice the pics below, the building I'm test rendering is blur & not very detailed, and it has been rendered using 3D MAx's default render settings. I tried tinkering with the render settings but, after rendering, the building simply didn't appear in the Lot Editor. Does anyone know how I could increase the quality/sharpness? Thanks.

aothe, When u import the LODs from gmax, make sure that, when prompted to save Save it. This will ensure that the proper name is @ the beginning of those numbers/letters that make up the file name in the Sim plugin folder in docs & settings. Then go to your simcity4 plugin in docs & settings, hightlight the name, right-click for copy then paste that name in 3D max for rendering.

Ralph, Thanks. As I mentioned, the render was just a test. The model is untextured. That's why it looks the way it does. Now I have to fool around with the lighting, etc. I have a ways to go b4 I get this puppy is on the STEX. Oh, b4 I forget, the LOD export was done in draft mode. I can live with that cause the alternative is not workable, unguaranteed results after rendering in gmax for...ever! Dusk, it's encouraging to have a swift render time. Render experiments & nightliting checks can be made without spending 20 years to life redering in gmax. Notice that the render time is for a 12 x 12 lot! That means that I can begin some of the projects I've been planning, such as shopping centers with their parking lots & not the parking textures that Maxis has made available in the Lot editor, stadiums (US football/baseball). Here's an untextured Neighborhood Wal Mart that I began when the BAT first came out. This is the first render (test) of this 11 X 8 lot. It took about 2 minutes to render, about 8 minutes to export the LODs from gmax. There is a set of architectural/engineering drawings for the new ST Louis Cardinals baseball stadium available on the net. It costs $55 US to purchase, so I might do that too.

FINALLY!! I tested the my Houston arena model, untextured, no lighting, in 3D Max & Gmax successfully. In Gmax, the LOD exporting took about 14 minutes. In 3D Max, the rendering took about 5 minutes. I then made the model into a prop to see if it would turn up in the Lot Editor. It did! The lot ended up being about 12 x 12 sim tiles. The time it took to render a 12 x 12 lot is very encouraging.

Thanks for your time & help Ralphael. I am logged in as me account. It's the only one, other than mail that exists in the user accounts section in control panel. If the plugin model name wasn't correct, I would not have been able to export for rendering in 3D Max. There would have been an error message. I'm going to quit for tonight. If I can't solve the problem this week, I will throw in the towel or the gmax toilet paper. Thanks to everyone for their help.

Ralphael, I know it's all my fault. BOOHOOO!! with a few s without answers. To answer your question, no, but my loggin user name is the same as the path I entered in the proper .ini file. My 3ds models from b4 have also been erased. I statred from scratch. The models I load into 3D Max are located on a backup drive, so they haven't been touched or altered in conjunction with gmax/3D Max during the reformat. What I do is load these models then save them on my OS drive as 3D MAx & 3ds files.

Caliban, I opened the arena & the Wendy's model in the iLive reader & noticed that all of the fsh files are black. In 3dsmax's Outputfiles folder the various output bmp folders show the various pics, they look pretty good. I placed the models in 3D Max the same way I did last night, b4 I reformated my HD. The Wendy's maodel turned out OK last night. Today, same positioning, different output. Raphael, I did wait for the LODs export from gmax. They took 14 minutes. That was the good news. As per instructed: In my 3dsmax.ini file, the is PlugCFG=C:\3dsmax6\gamepacks\BAT In my BATFORMAX.ini, TempPath=C:\3dsmax4\gamepacks\BAT\Temp\ DestPath=C:\3dsmax4\gamepacks\BAT\OutputFiles\ SC4PluginPath=C:\Documents and Settings\me\My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\ DELTREE.EXE is in the bat folder.

Here's an update: First of all, I had to reformat my HD & reinstall the programs. Good news, the Houston arena took 14 minutes to export all the LODs from gmax. Thanks for the info on this thread Vlakhaas. I waited for any changes to take place& they happened. Bad news, Once the arena was rendered in 3D Max, I placed the SC4Model file in the prop section of the Plug-in Manager. Then I opened the Lot editor, sized a lot to 14X14, retrieved the arena prop & placed it on the lot, but it doesn't even show on the lot. It's blank. I even re-did my Wendy's model & placed it in the Lot editor & the same thing happened, a complete blank. See below. Anyone have a solution? Could it be due to the model placement in 3D Max? Thanks guys.

Rapahel, The arena is almost an exact size as the actual arena in Houston, since I used actual arch drawings as reference. Oh well. Caliban, I even tried exporting in draft mode & it still froze @ 13% & it showed a not responding in the Windows Task Manager. Ralphy, I'll give it try.

Ralphael, Nothing worked. I refited the LODS and exported the 3ds file again. My virtual memory is set @ the following for 1gig RAM : Initial size = 1536, Max size = 3072. What about if I increased my ram to 2 gig? I could either buy another 512mb of 2100 RAM or buy a 2 gig stick, although the former is the cheaper avenue & would increae my ram to 1.5mb. Is the problem with gmax program itself?

Raphael, I tested my Houston arena model. When I imported the LODs in gmax then tried to export, it would freeze @ 13%. That's disapointing. Is there a solution to this freeze @ 13% problem? The LOD cube (or whatever u call the cube that represents the drawings's volume) is rather large. Would further development of the 3D MaxBat towards complete independence from gmax fix this problem for larger models?

YEAH!!! HURRAY!!! Thumb's up! Right on!! Rapheal et al, The 3D MaxBat Ver 2 worked in 3D Max! I test-rendered an unfinished/untextured Wendy's restaurant building & site plan. Total rendering time in 3D Max was 0.880467 minutes (almost 1 1/2 minutes). Very fast. By the way, does anybody have the deltree for Windows XP or knows where it is located? I'm unable to make other renderings cause I keep getting a message to place deltree.exe in the Bat folder. Here are some pics. (note: I assumed the drawing corner is placed @ coordinate 0,0 but that doesn't seem correct because it was off. Based on how it turned out in the final rendering & in the lot editor, I'm assuming that the drawing's center should be placed @ coordiante 0,0)

Raphael, I was going to spend $500+ (but not over $1,000) on a workstation video card. I may buy a 1 or 2 gig Ram stick. The place where I bought my computer sells them. 1 gig sticks range from 2700s to 4400s. 2 gig sticks are 3200s & 3700s, with the latter priced @ about $1,000. As for testing, I'm going to try & test a Wendy's site lot dwg I've been working on (building and parking lot), this weekend. I may get a 1 or 2 gig Ram stick tomorrow.

Thanks for the info Ralphael. I already commited. Maybe I should have consulted with u guys b4 purchasing. Here's what I bought: Antec Performance II Series SX1040BII case 200gig hard drive with SATA connection (very fast transfer) AMD Athlon 3200 (64bit) Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard Add to that what I already had: 1 gig of 2100 DDR RAM ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card Acom Series 160 gig External hard drive Ralpael, would the ATI 9800 be sufficient? Also, when u mentioned top of the line Nvidia, I'm assuming u don't mean the Quadro series, do u? Thanks for the info guys.

No Vlakhaas, I didn't buy the 64 bit AMD to improve rendering time. But thanks for the info, though. A workstation CAD graphics card, in part, is required to improve rendering time. As I mentioned already, I'm seriously considering the purchase of an intermediate level workstation CAD graphics card, like a PNY Quadro Video Card 128MB DDR. I was told that the combination of processor/motherboard (bus speed, etc) & the type of video card, amongst other things, determines the performance of various tools, such as rendering, within a CAD program like 3D max.

Sorry ralphael, I haven't been able to test your script. I'm in the process of purchasing an AMD 64 bit computer @ the moment. I'm in the store as I write, killing time while it's being prepared. I am seriously consiering the purchase of an intermediate level workstation graphics card. once this happens,look out! stay tuned...

Ralphael/cycledogg et al., I've had recent computer problems, so I was unable to test. I'm also considering building a new computer with an industrial strength graphics card specific for cad. I will begin testing as soon as possible. ?: Are u guys going to develop your BatforMax/(possiblyViz) even further as to include most, if not all gmaxBAT utility functions?

RalphaelNinja, That's great! Looking forward to your next release!! rubik3, Looking forward to seeing your 3D Max &/or Viz models, notably the Twin Towers! I'll try & test with Viz also.

RalphaelNinja & co, With your 3D Max BAT, I may revive my Houston Toyota Arena project cause it's encouraging to know, from what I've read, that rendering time is improved dramatically with your BAT! I've also been working on a Wendy's Restaurant building/lot also. It's too bad your 3D Max BAT doesn't work in 3D Studio Viz, which is an offshoot of 3D Max. Nevertheless, you & many others here @ Simtropolis have dramatically improved Simcity 4 in almost every aspect, & I thank you all for that! So, please don't waver from your pansionate quest for continued game improvements & modifications.