Re: ICE Topo grow polygon array

[Guillaume Laforge]

Some cool ref :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsMCVMVTdn0&feature=player_embedded

GetResolvedPath broken?

[Orlando Esponda]

Hello list,

Can anyone confirm that Framebuffer.GetResolvedPath() is broken? I'm
trying to get the resolved path for each framebuffer of each pass but the
returned path using this method always replace the [Pass] token by the
currentPass instead of the pass the framebuffer belongs to.

As a workaround I can change the current pass with SetCurrentPass and then
GetResolvedPath returns the correct string, But I would like to avoid this.


Thanks In advance,
Orlando.

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Re: Crowd FX Help

[Steven Caron]

ok so file size and performance aside, i need it to be abstracted cause i
dont want to have to close and reopen the scene when i want to add new
actors to the crowd simulation.

also, softimage development team has changed. here is a great opportunity
to convince them that an external API to do task like this is actually what
we want :)

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 2:19 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> Generally speaking, softimage has steered towards forcing everything
> through the SDK inside the application.  So getting a proper API to
> read/write an external file is probably not gonna happen.
>
> ** **
>
> There are a million ways to skin this cat.  Granted it’ll take more disc
> space and take longer to read a text/ASCII file than a binary equivalent,
> but that doesn’t mean it will be slow.  How data is represented can have a
> large impact towards performance.  
>
> ** **
>
> I have my own internal XML file format for the purpose of transferring
> data between versions of softimage.  The files are huge on disc and loaded
> with bloat, but they can still be read/written quite fast. 
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 01, 2012 2:10 PM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
> ** **
>
> sure, the whole ascii scene file format is desirable but that feature
> doesn't change how i want to work with crowdfx nor does it address the
> issue with updating assets that are already connected to crowdfx. i dont
> want to have to close softimage, edit my file, then re open the file in
> order to see an updated crowdfx actor or an action used by the actor. and
> since we are talking about speed, i would prefer binary format as long as
> it had a proper api to read and write that format. this could be icecache
> for all i care, as long as i dont have to create my own routines for
> reading and writing the format.
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 1:40 PM, Matt Lind 
> wrote:
>
> Basically what’s needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can
> modify not just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits
> conform to specs.  Need the same for models and other data types.
>
>  
>
> Sorely needed and is more than long overdue.
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Matt
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM
>
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>  
>
> its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage but
> also was going to be the basis for my own customizations to crowdfx to get
> around these issues.
>
>  
>
> one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading them
> back in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.
>
>  
>
> s
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be
> bummed to have to find another solution.
>
>  
>
> Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store data
> like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a live
> simulation is key."  Can you expand more about this with a little more
> details plz ?  I'm not quite sure which data and which external format you
> are referring to... sorry newb here ;)
>
>  
>
> thx a lot !
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *Luc Girard // SHED*
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>  
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* August-01-12 3:08 PM
>
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>  
>
> i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo
> and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in
> there asap to get an idea of the speed.
>
>  
>
> s
>
>  
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Hey Guys !
>
>  
>
>   I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started
> a Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.
>
>  
>
>   Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
> pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with
> our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result
> in a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (whic

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Matt Lind]

Generally speaking, softimage has steered towards forcing everything through 
the SDK inside the application.  So getting a proper API to read/write an 
external file is probably not gonna happen.

There are a million ways to skin this cat.  Granted it'll take more disc space 
and take longer to read a text/ASCII file than a binary equivalent, but that 
doesn't mean it will be slow.  How data is represented can have a large impact 
towards performance.

I have my own internal XML file format for the purpose of transferring data 
between versions of softimage.  The files are huge on disc and loaded with 
bloat, but they can still be read/written quite fast.

Matt




From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 2:10 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

sure, the whole ascii scene file format is desirable but that feature doesn't 
change how i want to work with crowdfx nor does it address the issue with 
updating assets that are already connected to crowdfx. i dont want to have to 
close softimage, edit my file, then re open the file in order to see an updated 
crowdfx actor or an action used by the actor. and since we are talking about 
speed, i would prefer binary format as long as it had a proper api to read and 
write that format. this could be icecache for all i care, as long as i dont 
have to create my own routines for reading and writing the format.

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 1:40 PM, Matt Lind 
mailto:ml...@carbinestudios.com>> wrote:
Basically what's needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can modify not 
just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits conform to specs.  
Need the same for models and other data types.

Sorely needed and is more than long overdue.


Matt





From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage but also 
was going to be the basis for my own customizations to crowdfx to get around 
these issues.

one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading them back 
in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.

s
On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard 
mailto:l...@shedmtl.com>> wrote:
Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be bummed 
to have to find another solution.

Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store data like 
this and so it can be updated without interacting with a live simulation is 
key."  Can you expand more about this with a little more details plz ?  I'm not 
quite sure which data and which external format you are referring to... sorry 
newb here ;)

thx a lot !


Luc Girard // SHED
artiste 3D
1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 
WWW.SHEDMTL.COM

prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: 
l...@shedmtl.com

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: August-01-12 3:08 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo and 
rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in there 
asap to get an idea of the speed.

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard 
mailto:l...@shedmtl.com>> wrote:
Hey Guys !

  I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started a 
Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.

  Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default pedestrian 
to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with our own actors 
as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result in a reasonable 
amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which for the moment I'm 
not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get more accustomed to the 
tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the issues ?  I don't want to get 
too deep in the process and discover I have to find another solution altogether.

Your opinions would be appreciated,

Thx !




Luc Girard // SHED
artiste 3D
1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 
WWW.SHEDMTL.COM

prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: 
l...@shedmtl.com

From: 
softimage-boun...@listpro

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Steven Caron]

@ben, yes i think alembic has a use here for crowds not for matt's
suggestion about the softimage scene file format. email me and i can send
you my thoughts on this.

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> Alembic is essentially point caching, no?
>
> May work for crowds and particles, but for us what we really need access
> to is shader parameters, partition settings, which models are referenced,
> custom properties/operators deployed in the scene, animation data, etc...
> Alembic wouldn't address that stuff.
>
>
> Matt
>
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ben Houston
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:51 PM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
>
> Is there any room for an Alembic based solution?  It isn't text but it is
> great at storing deforming meshes or animated bone hierarchies and we can
> write any type of importer or direct rendering solution.
> -ben
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Matt Lind 
> wrote:
> > Basically what’s needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can
> > modify not just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits
> > conform to specs.  Need the same for models and other data types.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sorely needed and is more than long overdue.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Matt
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> > [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven
> > Caron
> > Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM
> >
> >
> > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> > Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
> >
> >
> >
> > its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage
> > but also was going to be the basis for my own customizations to
> > crowdfx to get around these issues.
> >
> >
> >
> > one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading
> > them back in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.
> >
> >
> >
> > s
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
> >
> > Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be
> > bummed to have to find another solution.
> >
> >
> >
> > Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store
> > data like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a
> > live simulation is key."  Can you expand more about this with a little
> > more details plz ?  I'm not quite sure which data and which external
> > format you are referring to... sorry newb here ;)
> >
> >
> >
> > thx a lot !
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Luc Girard // SHED
> > artiste 3D
> >
> > 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8 T 514 849-1555
> > F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
> >
> >
> >
> > prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com
> >
> >
> >
> > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> > [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven
> > Caron
> > Sent: August-01-12 3:08 PM
> >
> >
> > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> > Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
> >
> >
> >
> > i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor
> > geo and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get
> > those in there asap to get an idea of the speed.
> >
> >
> >
> > s
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
> >
> > Hey Guys !
> >
> >
> >
> >   I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just
> > started a Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.
> >
> >
> >
> >   Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
> > pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian
> > with our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get
> > a result in a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described
> > earlier (which for the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I
> > guess I will, as I get more accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a
> NO GO because of the issues ?
> > I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have to
> > find another solution altogether.
> >
> >
> >
> > Your opinions would be appreciated,
> >
> >
> >
> > Thx !
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Luc Girard // SHED
> > artiste 3D
> >
> > 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8 T 514 849-1555
> > F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
> >
> >
> >
> > prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com
> >
> >
> >
> > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> > [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven
> > Caron
> > Sent: August-01-12 2:21 PM
> >
> >
> > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> > Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
> >
> >
> >
> > i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
> > haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i
> > did encounter but it was u

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Steven Caron]

sure, the whole ascii scene file format is desirable but that feature
doesn't change how i want to work with crowdfx nor does it address the
issue with updating assets that are already connected to crowdfx. i dont
want to have to close softimage, edit my file, then re open the file in
order to see an updated crowdfx actor or an action used by the actor. and
since we are talking about speed, i would prefer binary format as long as
it had a proper api to read and write that format. this could be icecache
for all i care, as long as i dont have to create my own routines for
reading and writing the format.

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 1:40 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> Basically what’s needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can
> modify not just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits
> conform to specs.  Need the same for models and other data types.
>
> ** **
>
> Sorely needed and is more than long overdue.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
> ** **
>
> its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage but
> also was going to be the basis for my own customizations to crowdfx to get
> around these issues.
>
> ** **
>
> one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading them
> back in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.
>
> ** **
>
> s
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be
> bummed to have to find another solution.
>
>  
>
> Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store data
> like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a live
> simulation is key."  Can you expand more about this with a little more
> details plz ?  I'm not quite sure which data and which external format you
> are referring to... sorry newb here ;)
>
>  
>
> thx a lot !
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *Luc Girard // SHED*
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>  
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* August-01-12 3:08 PM
>
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>  
>
> i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo
> and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in
> there asap to get an idea of the speed.
>
>  
>
> s
>
>  
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Hey Guys !
>
>  
>
>   I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started
> a Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.
>
>  
>
>   Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
> pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with
> our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result
> in a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which
> for the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get
> more accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the
> issues ?  I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have
> to find another solution altogether.
>
>  
>
> Your opinions would be appreciated,
>
>  
>
> Thx !
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *Luc Girard // SHED*
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>  
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* August-01-12 2:21 PM
>
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>  
>
> i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
> haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did
> encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my animations were
> being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions
> again and it re wires them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to
> set data which no longer is correct since i removed added the actor and the
> IDs changed.
>
>  
>
> i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer
> on it and log all the issue

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Matt Lind]

Alembic is essentially point caching, no?

May work for crowds and particles, but for us what we really need access to is 
shader parameters, partition settings, which models are referenced, custom 
properties/operators deployed in the scene, animation data, etc...   Alembic 
wouldn't address that stuff.


Matt



-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ben Houston
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:51 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

Is there any room for an Alembic based solution?  It isn't text but it is great 
at storing deforming meshes or animated bone hierarchies and we can write any 
type of importer or direct rendering solution.
-ben

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:
> Basically what’s needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can 
> modify not just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits 
> conform to specs.  Need the same for models and other data types.
>
>
>
> Sorely needed and is more than long overdue.
>
>
>
>
>
> Matt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven 
> Caron
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM
>
>
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>
>
> its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage 
> but also was going to be the basis for my own customizations to 
> crowdfx to get around these issues.
>
>
>
> one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading 
> them back in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.
>
>
>
> s
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be 
> bummed to have to find another solution.
>
>
>
> Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store 
> data like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a 
> live simulation is key."  Can you expand more about this with a little 
> more details plz ?  I'm not quite sure which data and which external 
> format you are referring to... sorry newb here ;)
>
>
>
> thx a lot !
>
>
>
>
>
> Luc Girard // SHED
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8 T 514 849-1555 
> F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com
>
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven 
> Caron
> Sent: August-01-12 3:08 PM
>
>
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>
>
> i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor 
> geo and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get 
> those in there asap to get an idea of the speed.
>
>
>
> s
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Hey Guys !
>
>
>
>   I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just 
> started a Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.
>
>
>
>   Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default 
> pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian 
> with our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get 
> a result in a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described 
> earlier (which for the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I 
> guess I will, as I get more accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO 
> GO because of the issues ?
> I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have to 
> find another solution altogether.
>
>
>
> Your opinions would be appreciated,
>
>
>
> Thx !
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Luc Girard // SHED
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8 T 514 849-1555 
> F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com
>
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven 
> Caron
> Sent: August-01-12 2:21 PM
>
>
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>
>
> i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely 
> haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i 
> did encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my 
> animations were being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i 
> just ran get actions again and it re wires them. others i realized my 
> graph was using actorID to set data which no longer is correct since i 
> removed added the actor and the IDs changed.
>
>
>
> i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please 
> hammer on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to 
> crowdfx in the future and see it has improved :)
>
>
>
> s
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Jul

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Ben Houston]

Is there any room for an Alembic based solution?  It isn't text but it
is great at storing deforming meshes or animated bone hierarchies and
we can write any type of importer or direct rendering solution.
-ben

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:
> Basically what’s needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can modify
> not just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits conform to
> specs.  Need the same for models and other data types.
>
>
>
> Sorely needed and is more than long overdue.
>
>
>
>
>
> Matt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM
>
>
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>
>
> its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage but
> also was going to be the basis for my own customizations to crowdfx to get
> around these issues.
>
>
>
> one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading them
> back in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.
>
>
>
> s
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be
> bummed to have to find another solution.
>
>
>
> Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store data
> like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a live
> simulation is key."  Can you expand more about this with a little more
> details plz ?  I'm not quite sure which data and which external format you
> are referring to... sorry newb here ;)
>
>
>
> thx a lot !
>
>
>
>
>
> Luc Girard // SHED
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com
>
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
> Sent: August-01-12 3:08 PM
>
>
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>
>
> i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo
> and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in
> there asap to get an idea of the speed.
>
>
>
> s
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Hey Guys !
>
>
>
>   I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started a
> Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.
>
>
>
>   Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
> pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with
> our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result in
> a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which for
> the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get more
> accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the issues ?
> I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have to find
> another solution altogether.
>
>
>
> Your opinions would be appreciated,
>
>
>
> Thx !
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Luc Girard // SHED
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com
>
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
> Sent: August-01-12 2:21 PM
>
>
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>
>
> i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
> haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did
> encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my animations were
> being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions
> again and it re wires them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to
> set data which no longer is correct since i removed added the actor and the
> IDs changed.
>
>
>
> i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer
> on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to crowdfx in the
> future and see it has improved :)
>
>
>
> s
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson 
> wrote:
>
> On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:
>
> i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...
>
> @julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed
> to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild the
> scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.
>
> being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can be
> updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.
>
> Thanks Steven,
>
> I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems simply

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Matt Lind]

Basically what's needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can modify not 
just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits conform to specs.  
Need the same for models and other data types.

Sorely needed and is more than long overdue.


Matt





From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage but also 
was going to be the basis for my own customizations to crowdfx to get around 
these issues.

one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading them back 
in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.

s
On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard 
mailto:l...@shedmtl.com>> wrote:
Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be bummed 
to have to find another solution.

Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store data like 
this and so it can be updated without interacting with a live simulation is 
key."  Can you expand more about this with a little more details plz ?  I'm not 
quite sure which data and which external format you are referring to... sorry 
newb here ;)

thx a lot !


Luc Girard // SHED
artiste 3D
1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 
WWW.SHEDMTL.COM

prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: 
l...@shedmtl.com

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: August-01-12 3:08 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo and 
rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in there 
asap to get an idea of the speed.

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard 
mailto:l...@shedmtl.com>> wrote:
Hey Guys !

  I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started a 
Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.

  Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default pedestrian 
to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with our own actors 
as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result in a reasonable 
amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which for the moment I'm 
not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get more accustomed to the 
tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the issues ?  I don't want to get 
too deep in the process and discover I have to find another solution altogether.

Your opinions would be appreciated,

Thx !




Luc Girard // SHED
artiste 3D
1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 
WWW.SHEDMTL.COM

prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: 
l...@shedmtl.com

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: August-01-12 2:21 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely haven't 
seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did encounter but 
it was usually just an error i had where my animations were being improperly 
loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions again and it re wires 
them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to set data which no longer 
is correct since i removed added the actor and the IDs changed.

i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer on 
it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to crowdfx in the future 
and see it has improved :)

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson 
mailto:jul...@exch.demon.co.uk>> wrote:
On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:
i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...

@julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed to 
an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild the 
scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.

being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can be 
updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.
Thanks Steven,

I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems simply 
adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the ultra long load 
times but it quite often ends wit

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Steven Caron]

its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage but
also was going to be the basis for my own customizations to crowdfx to get
around these issues.

one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading them
back in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand.

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:

> Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be
> bummed to have to find another solution.
>
> ** **
>
> Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store data
> like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a live
> simulation is key."  Can you expand more about this with a little more
> details plz ?  I'm not quite sure which data and which external format you
> are referring to... sorry newb here ;)
>
> ** **
>
> thx a lot !
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *Luc Girard // SHED*
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
> ** **
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* August-01-12 3:08 PM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
> ** **
>
> i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo
> and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in
> there asap to get an idea of the speed.
>
> ** **
>
> s
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:
>
> Hey Guys !
>
>  
>
>   I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started
> a Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.
>
>  
>
>   Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
> pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with
> our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result
> in a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which
> for the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get
> more accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the
> issues ?  I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have
> to find another solution altogether.
>
>  
>
> Your opinions would be appreciated,
>
>  
>
> Thx !
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *Luc Girard // SHED*
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
>  
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* August-01-12 2:21 PM
>
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
>  
>
> i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
> haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did
> encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my animations were
> being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions
> again and it re wires them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to
> set data which no longer is correct since i removed added the actor and the
> IDs changed.
>
>  
>
> i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer
> on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to crowdfx in the
> future and see it has improved :)
>
>  
>
> s
>
>  
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson 
> wrote:
>
> On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:
>
> i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...
>
> @julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed
> to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild
> the scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.
>
> being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can
> be updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.
>
> Thanks Steven,
>
> I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems
> simply adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the ultra
> long load times but it quite often ends with:
>
> # ERROR : CrowdSkinningNode: 428$Access to a custom ICE node input port
> failed.
>
> Again, this only happens if I reload an existing crowd scene. The same
> model adds fine provided I don't close and reload the scene. It also works
> properly in a neutral scene on it's own...
>
> Cheers,
> Julian
>
>  
>
> ** **
>

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Luc Girard]

Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be
bummed to have to find another solution.

 

Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store data
like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a live
simulation is key."  Can you expand more about this with a little more
details plz ?  I'm not quite sure which data and which external format you
are referring to... sorry newb here ;)

 

thx a lot !

 

 

Luc Girard // SHED
artiste 3D

1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025   WWW.SHEDMTL.COM

 

prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 

 

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: August-01-12 3:08 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

 

i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo
and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in
there asap to get an idea of the speed.

 

s

 

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:

Hey Guys !

 

  I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started a
Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.

 

  Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with
our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result in
a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which for
the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get more
accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the issues ?
I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have to find
another solution altogether.

 

Your opinions would be appreciated,

 

Thx !

 

 

 

 

Luc Girard // SHED
artiste 3D

1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
T 514 849-1555   F 514 849-5025 
 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM

 

prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 

 

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: August-01-12 2:21 PM


To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

 

i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did
encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my animations were
being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions
again and it re wires them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to
set data which no longer is correct since i removed added the actor and the
IDs changed.

 

i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer
on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to crowdfx in the
future and see it has improved :)

 

s

 

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson 
wrote:

On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:

i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...

@julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed
to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild the
scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.

being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can be
updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.

Thanks Steven,

I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems simply
adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the ultra long
load times but it quite often ends with:

# ERROR : CrowdSkinningNode: 428$Access to a custom ICE node input port
failed.

Again, this only happens if I reload an existing crowd scene. The same model
adds fine provided I don't close and reload the scene. It also works
properly in a neutral scene on it's own...

Cheers,
Julian

 

 

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Steven Caron]

i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor geo
and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get those in
there asap to get an idea of the speed.

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard  wrote:

> Hey Guys !
>
> ** **
>
>   I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started
> a Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.
>
> ** **
>
>   Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
> pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with
> our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result
> in a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which
> for the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get
> more accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the
> issues ?  I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have
> to find another solution altogether.
>
> ** **
>
> Your opinions would be appreciated,
>
> ** **
>
> Thx !
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *Luc Girard // SHED*
> artiste 3D
>
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM
>
> ** **
>
> prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven Caron
> *Sent:* August-01-12 2:21 PM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Crowd FX Help
>
> ** **
>
> i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
> haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did
> encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my animations were
> being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions
> again and it re wires them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to
> set data which no longer is correct since i removed added the actor and the
> IDs changed.
>
> ** **
>
> i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer
> on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to crowdfx in the
> future and see it has improved :)
>
> ** **
>
> s
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson 
> wrote:
>
> On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:
>
> i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...
>
> @julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed
> to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild
> the scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.
>
> being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can
> be updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.
>
> Thanks Steven,
>
> I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems
> simply adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the ultra
> long load times but it quite often ends with:
>
> # ERROR : CrowdSkinningNode: 428$Access to a custom ICE node input port
> failed.
>
> Again, this only happens if I reload an existing crowd scene. The same
> model adds fine provided I don't close and reload the scene. It also works
> properly in a neutral scene on it's own...
>
> Cheers,
> Julian
>
> ** **
>

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Luc Girard]

Hey Guys !

 

  I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared !  I just started a
Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1.

 

  Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default
pedestrian to test and build my sim.  I plan to replace the pedestrian with
our own actors as soon as they are ready.  Will I be able to get a result in
a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described earlier (which for
the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I guess I will, as I get more
accustomed to the tool) ?  Or is it simply a NO GO because of the issues ?
I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have to find
another solution altogether.

 

Your opinions would be appreciated,

 

Thx !

 

 

 

 

Luc Girard // SHED
artiste 3D

1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025   WWW.SHEDMTL.COM

 

prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com 

 

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: August-01-12 2:21 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

 

i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did
encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my animations were
being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions
again and it re wires them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to
set data which no longer is correct since i removed added the actor and the
IDs changed.

 

i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer
on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to crowdfx in the
future and see it has improved :)

 

s

 

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson 
wrote:

On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:

i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...

@julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed
to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild the
scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.

being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can be
updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.

Thanks Steven,

I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems simply
adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the ultra long
load times but it quite often ends with:

# ERROR : CrowdSkinningNode: 428$Access to a custom ICE node input port
failed.

Again, this only happens if I reload an existing crowd scene. The same model
adds fine provided I don't close and reload the scene. It also works
properly in a neutral scene on it's own...

Cheers,
Julian

 

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Steven Caron]

i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely
haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i did
encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my animations were
being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i just ran get actions
again and it re wires them. others i realized my graph was using actorID to
set data which no longer is correct since i removed added the actor and the
IDs changed.

i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please hammer
on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to crowdfx in the
future and see it has improved :)

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson wrote:

> On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:
>
>> i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...
>>
>> @julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i
>> needed to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to
>> rebuild the scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a
>> halt.
>>
>> being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can
>> be updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.
>>
>>  Thanks Steven,
>
> I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems
> simply adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the ultra
> long load times but it quite often ends with:
>
> # ERROR : CrowdSkinningNode: 428$Access to a custom ICE node input port
> failed.
>
> Again, this only happens if I reload an existing crowd scene. The same
> model adds fine provided I don't close and reload the scene. It also works
> properly in a neutral scene on it's own...
>
> Cheers,
> Julian
>

Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer

[Steven Caron]

cheers!

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:26 AM, Brent McPherson <
brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com> wrote:

> The pickbuffer doesn't have the information but intenally we could look it
> up on the mesh more efficiently than you can using either the geometry
> accessor or polygon arrays in the SDK. (both of which don't seem to be very
> efficient)
> --
> Brent
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
> Sent: 01 August 2012 18:18
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer
>
> i didn't realize the pickbuffer in ogl could provide that or maybe it was
> a convenience function the sdk would provide over the standard ogl pick
> buffer?
>
> regardless, i will bring this up as a suggestion.
> s
>

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Julian Johnson]

On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote:

i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...

@julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i 
needed to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs 
to rebuild the scene. but even in a simple scene 
eventually screeches to a halt.


being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it 
can be updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.



Thanks Steven,

I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems 
simply adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the 
ultra long load times but it quite often ends with:


# ERROR : CrowdSkinningNode: 428$Access to a custom ICE node input port 
failed.


Again, this only happens if I reload an existing crowd scene. The same 
model adds fine provided I don't close and reload the scene. It also 
works properly in a neutral scene on it's own...


Cheers,
Julian

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Guillaume Laforge]

Yes Steven you are right. This 'hypothetical' fix was not for SP1...


From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:09 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...

@julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed to 
an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild the 
scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.

being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can be 
updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.

s
On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 7:12 AM, Guillaume Laforge 
mailto:guillaume.lafo...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
Hello Julian,

It sounds like a known bug reported by Steven Caron about  extreme slowdown 
when adding new actor sources.
It was fixed in 2013SP1 (several optimization in the scene graph validation and 
topology update were done).

Are you on SP1?

Thanks,
Guillaume

-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Julian Johnson
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 9:50 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Crowd FX Help

I'm struggling with extreme slowdowns and erratic actions in CrowdFX.
Specifically, when I reload a scene and then try and add new actor sources a) 
the new actor source takes ages to load and b) often the new source's 
animations are somehow corrupted with either a weird animation cycle, 
stuttering or a permanent static pose. These same cycles work fine in solo 
scenes.

If I recreate the scene from scratch everything works fine but as soon as I 
quit and reload it seems like from that point onwards I can't really add/remove 
actors or change actions without some of the behaviours above. I think it seems 
worse with actors that have been unloaded and reloaded (using Get From Scene).

The only solution I can think of is to script the building of the whole scene 
from scratch each time. Has anyone else experienced this or found any 
workarounds?

Julian

<>

RE: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer

[Brent McPherson]

The pickbuffer doesn't have the information but intenally we could look it up 
on the mesh more efficiently than you can using either the geometry accessor or 
polygon arrays in the SDK. (both of which don't seem to be very efficient)
--
Brent

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: 01 August 2012 18:18
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer

i didn't realize the pickbuffer in ogl could provide that or maybe it was a 
convenience function the sdk would provide over the standard ogl pick buffer?

regardless, i will bring this up as a suggestion.
s
On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 1:32 AM, Brent McPherson 
mailto:brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
Sounds cool Steven!

Feel free to log suggestions for the tool SDK with support.

I had ideas for adding methods to the pickbuffer to get surface position, 
normals etc but I am not directly involved with this anymore...
--
Brent

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: 31 July 2012 21:39
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer
thanks, i am going to use the fps counter for now ...

i made some progress last night... i am caching the pickbuffer properly now and 
can reuse it, its a single view only now and just compares a CTransformation i 
get off the view camera. removing snap reduced the lag a fair bit. the reason 
to use the snap was to get the hit position on the surface. while not complete 
i changed to use the polygon's vertices average position and their average 
normals to setup a CPlane which i then intersect the world ray with. i am not 
checking to see if i am inside the triangle yet but even this saves me 
considerable time and effort in making my own intersection routines. i haven't 
got my brush orientation perfect yet but i think that's just a matter of 
wrangling my oglRotate calls.

fun stuff!
steven
On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Brent McPherson 
mailto:brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com>>>
 wrote:
The longer a tool takes to process an input event the less events that gets 
generated by the window system so you would have a bigger distances between 
mouse move events. (which could lead to gaps in brush spacing in a paint tool 
etc)

I guess you really want to measure mps - mouse events per second. ;-) The fps 
counter should work because when interacting the tool generates a redraw after 
each mouse event but you would need to try it to be sure.
--
Brent
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: 31 July 2012 20:59
To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer
@brent, can i use softimage's fps counter to do speed testing? does that 
counter represent the entire ogl rendering pipeline?

no biggie if not, i just didn't want to have to make my own profiling/fps 
counter.

s
On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 3:09 PM, Steven Caron 
mailto:car...@gmail.com>>>

Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer

[Steven Caron]

i didn't realize the pickbuffer in ogl could provide that or maybe it was
a convenience function the sdk would provide over the standard ogl pick
buffer?

regardless, i will bring this up as a suggestion.
s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 1:32 AM, Brent McPherson <
brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com> wrote:

> Sounds cool Steven!
>
> Feel free to log suggestions for the tool SDK with support.
>
> I had ideas for adding methods to the pickbuffer to get surface position,
> normals etc but I am not directly involved with this anymore...
> --
> Brent
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
> Sent: 31 July 2012 21:39
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer
>
> thanks, i am going to use the fps counter for now ...
>
> i made some progress last night... i am caching the pickbuffer properly
> now and can reuse it, its a single view only now and just compares a
> CTransformation i get off the view camera. removing snap reduced the lag a
> fair bit. the reason to use the snap was to get the hit position on the
> surface. while not complete i changed to use the polygon's vertices average
> position and their average normals to setup a CPlane which i then intersect
> the world ray with. i am not checking to see if i am inside the triangle
> yet but even this saves me considerable time and effort in making my own
> intersection routines. i haven't got my brush orientation perfect yet but i
> think that's just a matter of wrangling my oglRotate calls.
>
> fun stuff!
> steven
>
> On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Brent McPherson <
> brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com> wrote:
> The longer a tool takes to process an input event the less events that
> gets generated by the window system so you would have a bigger distances
> between mouse move events. (which could lead to gaps in brush spacing in a
> paint tool etc)
>
> I guess you really want to measure mps - mouse events per second. ;-) The
> fps counter should work because when interacting the tool generates a
> redraw after each mouse event but you would need to try it to be sure.
> --
> Brent
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com> [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
> Sent: 31 July 2012 20:59
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >
> Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer
> @brent, can i use softimage's fps counter to do speed testing? does that
> counter represent the entire ogl rendering pipeline?
>
> no biggie if not, i just didn't want to have to make my own profiling/fps
> counter.
>
> s
> On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 3:09 PM, Steven Caron  car...@gmail.com>>>
> wrote:
> well the CGeometryAccessor is a dump of everything too, but its just
> float/long data arrays instead of full fledged classes. at least i could
> cache this data easily without loops...
>
> should be a fun exercise, which is available here for anyone who is
> interested...
>
> https://github.com/caron/SimpleBrush
> On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 2:58 PM, Brent McPherson <
> brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
> I would say use the GeometryAccessor but I have probably used the SDK less
> than most of you guys. ;-).
>
> One thing that always bugged me about GetPolygons and related geometry
> calls is that they return an array of *all* the polygons in the object so
> it is a really inefficient way to access a single polygon when you know its
> index.
>
> l_polymesh.GetPolygons().GetItem(l_compIdx);
>
> GeometryAccessor seems designed to address this shortcoming.
>
>
>

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Steven Caron]

i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong...

@julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i needed
to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs to rebuild
the scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a halt.

being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it can
be updated without interacting with a live simulation is key.

s

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 7:12 AM, Guillaume Laforge <
guillaume.lafo...@autodesk.com> wrote:

> Hello Julian,
>
> It sounds like a known bug reported by Steven Caron about  extreme
> slowdown when adding new actor sources.
> It was fixed in 2013SP1 (several optimization in the scene graph
> validation and topology update were done).
>
> Are you on SP1?
>
> Thanks,
> Guillaume
>
> -Original Message-
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Julian Johnson
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 9:50 AM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Crowd FX Help
>
> I'm struggling with extreme slowdowns and erratic actions in CrowdFX.
> Specifically, when I reload a scene and then try and add new actor sources
> a) the new actor source takes ages to load and b) often the new source's
> animations are somehow corrupted with either a weird animation cycle,
> stuttering or a permanent static pose. These same cycles work fine in solo
> scenes.
>
> If I recreate the scene from scratch everything works fine but as soon as
> I quit and reload it seems like from that point onwards I can't really
> add/remove actors or change actions without some of the behaviours above. I
> think it seems worse with actors that have been unloaded and reloaded
> (using Get From Scene).
>
> The only solution I can think of is to script the building of the whole
> scene from scratch each time. Has anyone else experienced this or found any
> workarounds?
>
> Julian
>
>

Re: ICE Topo grow polygon array

[Chris Marshall]

Cool!!

On 1 August 2012 17:32, Rob Chapman  wrote:

> and here is where I got to with this - kind of a kung fu practice dummy :)
>   am going to try and apply Stephen Blair's tutorial 'make points into a
> circle'
> http://xsisupport.com/2012/02/06/using-vector-subtraction-to-move-a-point-onto-a-circle/
>   before
> extruding.
>
> Also doing it this way does not need Alok's C++ compound to delete
> duplicates from selection - it just extrudes the lot anyways :)
>
> cheers
>
> Rob
>
>
>
>
>
> On 1 August 2012 17:12, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>
>> Chris,
>>
>> extrude polygon island is inside the compound of apply extrude polygon
>> along axis :)   I tried it anyways from your suggestion by bypassing the
>> merge polygons and plugging directly into integer array - it sort of works
>> with low numbers of random selection but breaks dramatically with higher
>> numbers, thanks for the pointer though!
>>
>> best
>>
>> Rob
>>
>>
>>
>> On 1 August 2012 16:48, Chris Marshall  wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Rob,
>>> I was having the opposite problem with extruding polygons, wanted
>>> individual ones to extrude but it was always merging them. Are you using
>>> Apply Extrude Polygon Along Axis? If so it might be worth trying the
>>> Extrude Polygon Island compound.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 1 August 2012 16:35, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>>>
 Thanks Chris

 kind of looks like a hedge made out of eels :)  so Got it working my
 end (sort of) on a simple example Ice Modelling tree that randomly selects
 a percentage of polygons and then extrudes them., If I use the above
 technique on my random selection indices it selects the surrounding
 polygons as described, adds them to the 'array' but it extrudes each
 polygon independently.   I wonder if its possible, for each initial random
 polygon, to grow the selection but merge the growth into one polygon and
 make a new array out of these merged polygons for the extrusion?

  Im getting context problems when trying to connect my array of
 integers into the polygon index (this is how my setup worked for the apply
 extrusion)  so in essence I need to repeat, for each polygon in my first
 array to feed the 'Apply merge polygon' with an integer array of the
 surrounding polygons and make a new array out of these to feed to the
 repeat extrusion...this is not so easy to do is it when trying to grasp
 the idea of selection arrays inside of ICE modelling, I kind of know what I
 want to do but have no way of achieving it yet without a lot more practice,
 further painful trial and error and hopefully some more Ice modelling hints
 ;)

 cheers

 Rob



 On 1 August 2012 15:03, Chris Marshall wrote:

> Here's the video! :-)
> https://vimeo.com/46750915
>
>
> On 1 August 2012 11:28, Chris Marshall wrote:
>
>> Hi Rob,
>> The Test Polygon Index and Test Vertex Index nodes are both set to
>> Integer Array.
>> I added a Filter node after the second IF and ran the Test Vertex
>> Index result into that, which removes everything set to -1, but then
>> realised this could all be simplified anyway, see the attached. And a
>> sample output of how running the result through some extrude nodes, in a
>> loop, can give an interesting result.
>>  Chris
>>
>>
>> On 31 July 2012 17:27, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>>
>>> Nice one Chris, sort of following cluelessly and trying to rebuild
>>> something similar - quick question - what are the Test nodes testing 
>>> mode?
>>>   Is Element, Integer Array or Comparison?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Rob
>>>
>>
>>
>>

Re: ICE Topo grow polygon array

[Chris Marshall]

ok, no worries. I just wish there were a few more examples that could be
taken apart and put back together, just to see how these things work. It's
so hard to know what'll work when there are so few examples available.



On 1 August 2012 17:12, Rob Chapman  wrote:

> Chris,
>
> extrude polygon island is inside the compound of apply extrude polygon
> along axis :)   I tried it anyways from your suggestion by bypassing the
> merge polygons and plugging directly into integer array - it sort of works
> with low numbers of random selection but breaks dramatically with higher
> numbers, thanks for the pointer though!
>
> best
>
> Rob
>
>
>
> On 1 August 2012 16:48, Chris Marshall  wrote:
>
>> Hi Rob,
>> I was having the opposite problem with extruding polygons, wanted
>> individual ones to extrude but it was always merging them. Are you using
>> Apply Extrude Polygon Along Axis? If so it might be worth trying the
>> Extrude Polygon Island compound.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 1 August 2012 16:35, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks Chris
>>>
>>> kind of looks like a hedge made out of eels :)  so Got it working my end
>>> (sort of) on a simple example Ice Modelling tree that randomly selects a
>>> percentage of polygons and then extrudes them., If I use the above
>>> technique on my random selection indices it selects the surrounding
>>> polygons as described, adds them to the 'array' but it extrudes each
>>> polygon independently.   I wonder if its possible, for each initial random
>>> polygon, to grow the selection but merge the growth into one polygon and
>>> make a new array out of these merged polygons for the extrusion?
>>>
>>>  Im getting context problems when trying to connect my array of integers
>>> into the polygon index (this is how my setup worked for the apply
>>> extrusion)  so in essence I need to repeat, for each polygon in my first
>>> array to feed the 'Apply merge polygon' with an integer array of the
>>> surrounding polygons and make a new array out of these to feed to the
>>> repeat extrusion...this is not so easy to do is it when trying to grasp
>>> the idea of selection arrays inside of ICE modelling, I kind of know what I
>>> want to do but have no way of achieving it yet without a lot more practice,
>>> further painful trial and error and hopefully some more Ice modelling hints
>>> ;)
>>>
>>> cheers
>>>
>>> Rob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 1 August 2012 15:03, Chris Marshall wrote:
>>>
 Here's the video! :-)
 https://vimeo.com/46750915


 On 1 August 2012 11:28, Chris Marshall wrote:

> Hi Rob,
> The Test Polygon Index and Test Vertex Index nodes are both set to
> Integer Array.
> I added a Filter node after the second IF and ran the Test Vertex
> Index result into that, which removes everything set to -1, but then
> realised this could all be simplified anyway, see the attached. And a
> sample output of how running the result through some extrude nodes, in a
> loop, can give an interesting result.
>  Chris
>
>
> On 31 July 2012 17:27, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>
>> Nice one Chris, sort of following cluelessly and trying to rebuild
>> something similar - quick question - what are the Test nodes testing 
>> mode?
>>   Is Element, Integer Array or Comparison?
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Rob
>>
>
>
>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Chris Marshall
>> Mint Motion Limited
>> 029 2002 5762
>> 07730 533 115
>> www.mintmotion.co.uk
>>
>>
>>
>


-- 

Chris Marshall
Mint Motion Limited
029 2002 5762
07730 533 115
www.mintmotion.co.uk

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Stephen Blair]

Hi

You don't need to be on support to report a bug.
http://wp.me/powV4-1Z3


From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Guillaume Laforge
Sent: August-01-12 12:10 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help

Too bad :(.

If you've got access to support, please send a repro scene!

Did you try to delete the simulated ICETree and then re-generate all the 
actions (from the Apply Action in the CrowdFX Actor Proxy PPG) ?
It would re-create a new simulated ICETree and so could fix the problem (but 
you will need to re-do any edit you made in the original Tree...).

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 11:37 AM, Julian Johnson 
mailto:jul...@exch.demon.co.uk>> wrote:
On 01/08/2012 15:12, Guillaume Laforge wrote:
Hello Julian,

It sounds like a known bug reported by Steven Caron about  extreme slowdown 
when adding new actor sources.
It was fixed in 2013SP1 (several optimization in the scene graph validation and 
topology update were done).

Hi Guillaume,

Thanks for the quick response. Yes, we're on SP1 (build 11.1.57)...and the 
slowdown is quite dramatic.

Cheers,
Julian

<>

Re: ICE Topo grow polygon array

[Rob Chapman]

Chris,

extrude polygon island is inside the compound of apply extrude polygon
along axis :)   I tried it anyways from your suggestion by bypassing the
merge polygons and plugging directly into integer array - it sort of works
with low numbers of random selection but breaks dramatically with higher
numbers, thanks for the pointer though!

best

Rob



On 1 August 2012 16:48, Chris Marshall  wrote:

> Hi Rob,
> I was having the opposite problem with extruding polygons, wanted
> individual ones to extrude but it was always merging them. Are you using
> Apply Extrude Polygon Along Axis? If so it might be worth trying the
> Extrude Polygon Island compound.
>
>
>
> On 1 August 2012 16:35, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>
>> Thanks Chris
>>
>> kind of looks like a hedge made out of eels :)  so Got it working my end
>> (sort of) on a simple example Ice Modelling tree that randomly selects a
>> percentage of polygons and then extrudes them., If I use the above
>> technique on my random selection indices it selects the surrounding
>> polygons as described, adds them to the 'array' but it extrudes each
>> polygon independently.   I wonder if its possible, for each initial random
>> polygon, to grow the selection but merge the growth into one polygon and
>> make a new array out of these merged polygons for the extrusion?
>>
>>  Im getting context problems when trying to connect my array of integers
>> into the polygon index (this is how my setup worked for the apply
>> extrusion)  so in essence I need to repeat, for each polygon in my first
>> array to feed the 'Apply merge polygon' with an integer array of the
>> surrounding polygons and make a new array out of these to feed to the
>> repeat extrusion...this is not so easy to do is it when trying to grasp
>> the idea of selection arrays inside of ICE modelling, I kind of know what I
>> want to do but have no way of achieving it yet without a lot more practice,
>> further painful trial and error and hopefully some more Ice modelling hints
>> ;)
>>
>> cheers
>>
>> Rob
>>
>>
>>
>> On 1 August 2012 15:03, Chris Marshall  wrote:
>>
>>> Here's the video! :-)
>>> https://vimeo.com/46750915
>>>
>>>
>>> On 1 August 2012 11:28, Chris Marshall wrote:
>>>
 Hi Rob,
 The Test Polygon Index and Test Vertex Index nodes are both set to
 Integer Array.
 I added a Filter node after the second IF and ran the Test Vertex Index
 result into that, which removes everything set to -1, but then realised
 this could all be simplified anyway, see the attached. And a sample output
 of how running the result through some extrude nodes, in a loop, can give
 an interesting result.
  Chris


 On 31 July 2012 17:27, Rob Chapman  wrote:

> Nice one Chris, sort of following cluelessly and trying to rebuild
> something similar - quick question - what are the Test nodes testing mode?
>   Is Element, Integer Array or Comparison?
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob
>



>>
>
>
> --
>
> Chris Marshall
> Mint Motion Limited
> 029 2002 5762
> 07730 533 115
> www.mintmotion.co.uk
>
>
>

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Guillaume Laforge]

Too bad :(.

If you've got access to support, please send a repro scene!

Did you try to delete the simulated ICETree and then re-generate all the
actions (from the Apply Action in the CrowdFX Actor Proxy PPG) ?
It would re-create a new simulated ICETree and so could fix the problem
(but you will need to re-do any edit you made in the original Tree...).

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 11:37 AM, Julian Johnson wrote:

> On 01/08/2012 15:12, Guillaume Laforge wrote:
>
>> Hello Julian,
>>
>> It sounds like a known bug reported by Steven Caron about  extreme
>> slowdown when adding new actor sources.
>> It was fixed in 2013SP1 (several optimization in the scene graph
>> validation and topology update were done).
>>
>
> Hi Guillaume,
>
> Thanks for the quick response. Yes, we're on SP1 (build 11.1.57)...and the
> slowdown is quite dramatic.
>
> Cheers,
> Julian
>

Re: A good "Cap All Holes" script?

[Alan Fregtman]

My function fails in a scenario like this because it thinks the boundary
edges are one hole, as they are connected.

When I have some time I'll try to revise it.

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 11:22 AM, Grahame Fuller  wrote:

> I believe this is the issue that Joey was referring to. You's need to
> somehow consider the "hole islands" rather than the polygon islands.
>
> gray
>
> -Original Message-
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Stefan Kubicek
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 04:37 AM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: A good "Cap All Holes" script?
>
> Are the difficult scenarios you mention not ultimately a non-manifold
> geometry problem?
> This reminds me on the "Any tips to fix non-manifold vertices in Soft?"
> thread as of June 26th.
>
> We came up with:
>
> "A vertex is non-manifold if more than two of its adjacent edges
> do not share their second vertex with any other of said adjacent edge's
> second vertices."
>
> Or as Martin Chatterjee put it slightly differently:
>
> "I'd check if a vertex has a neighborPolygon that does *not *share an edge
> with any of the
> other neighborPolygons"
>
> According to this it should be possible to identify problematic vertices
> and split the capping process up on a "per island" basis.
>
>
>
>
> > Back several years ago I spent quite a bit of time trying to develop a
> > "Fill Hole" script similar to Maya's. Beware this activity when using
> > something automated.
> >
> > I ran into immense difficulty trying to develop a method for sealing
> > winged holes. In general holes which are an island upon themselves are
> > easy to fill. That means that if a quad hole has an adjacent  poly
> > present at each  edge and more importantly each vertex, totalling 8
> > polys surrounding the quad hole, the hole is extremely easy to fill. I
> > succeeded quite well at accomplishing an automated script to fill all
> > holes on a mesh in one click.
> >
> > The problem however is if any hole has another adjacent hole present at
> > a shared vertex (oxymoron? since you can't really share vertices for
> > something that technically is a void), but separated by two polys winged
> > at the vertex, its extremely difficult by conventional standards to not
> > identify the two holes that are winged as a single hole.
> >
> > If memory serves me right  even Maya had an issue with this as you could
> > delete a single poly on a mesh and if the sphere was selected as an
> > object running Fill Hole would automatically seal all valid holes.
> > However if their were two holes and they were adjacent, or winged at a
> > vertex, Maya was smart enough to know how to avoid the situation and
> > would prevent the winged holes from being filled with a single poly.
> >
> > The point is, its fairly easy to to write a script to fill the hole, but
> > it must be smart enough to prevent the winged holes from becoming a
> > single poly, which is very very bad. If you have a script that was
> > written to do this task, test it on an example with winged holes before
> > you proceed. You won't regret the extra effort.
> >
> > Incidentally this tool is not impossible to write, but as a script or
> > plugin it requires special information about the topology be available
> > for the user to query. In my experience XSI  did not provide enough
> > vertex, facet and edge info to give the developer enough information to
> > easily script a bulletproof fill hole tool.
> >
> > Joey Ponthieux
> > ATOL Experiment Specialist
> > LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
> > Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
> > NASA Langley Research Center
> > 15 Langley Blvd B1268 R1051
> > Hampton, VA, 23681
> > Phone: 757-864-6754
> > EMail: j.ponthi...@nasa.gov
> > 
> > Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and
> > do not represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
> >
> >
> > On 2/13/2012 1:12 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:
> >> Sweet! Thanks, Mr.Core! ;)
> >>
> >> On 2/13/2012 11:47 AM, Oleg Bliznuk wrote:
> >>> Hi Alan,
> >>> you can also do it with a little bit modified "cap holes" compound via
> >>> ICE, we are using it in ImplosiaFX
> >>> http://clip2net.com/s/1ABrt
> >>> -Oleg
> >>
> >
>
>
> --
> ---
> Stefan Kubicek   Co-founder
> ---
>keyvis digital imagery
>   Wehrgasse 9 - Grüner Hof
>1050 Vienna  Austria
>  Phone:+43/699/12614231
> --- www.keyvis.at  ste...@keyvis.at ---
> --  This email and its attachments are
> --confidential and for the recipient only--
>
>

Re: ICE Topo grow polygon array

[Chris Marshall]

Hi Rob,
I was having the opposite problem with extruding polygons, wanted
individual ones to extrude but it was always merging them. Are you using
Apply Extrude Polygon Along Axis? If so it might be worth trying the
Extrude Polygon Island compound.



On 1 August 2012 16:35, Rob Chapman  wrote:

> Thanks Chris
>
> kind of looks like a hedge made out of eels :)  so Got it working my end
> (sort of) on a simple example Ice Modelling tree that randomly selects a
> percentage of polygons and then extrudes them., If I use the above
> technique on my random selection indices it selects the surrounding
> polygons as described, adds them to the 'array' but it extrudes each
> polygon independently.   I wonder if its possible, for each initial random
> polygon, to grow the selection but merge the growth into one polygon and
> make a new array out of these merged polygons for the extrusion?
>
>  Im getting context problems when trying to connect my array of integers
> into the polygon index (this is how my setup worked for the apply
> extrusion)  so in essence I need to repeat, for each polygon in my first
> array to feed the 'Apply merge polygon' with an integer array of the
> surrounding polygons and make a new array out of these to feed to the
> repeat extrusion...this is not so easy to do is it when trying to grasp
> the idea of selection arrays inside of ICE modelling, I kind of know what I
> want to do but have no way of achieving it yet without a lot more practice,
> further painful trial and error and hopefully some more Ice modelling hints
> ;)
>
> cheers
>
> Rob
>
>
>
> On 1 August 2012 15:03, Chris Marshall  wrote:
>
>> Here's the video! :-)
>> https://vimeo.com/46750915
>>
>>
>> On 1 August 2012 11:28, Chris Marshall  wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Rob,
>>> The Test Polygon Index and Test Vertex Index nodes are both set to
>>> Integer Array.
>>> I added a Filter node after the second IF and ran the Test Vertex Index
>>> result into that, which removes everything set to -1, but then realised
>>> this could all be simplified anyway, see the attached. And a sample output
>>> of how running the result through some extrude nodes, in a loop, can give
>>> an interesting result.
>>>  Chris
>>>
>>>
>>> On 31 July 2012 17:27, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>>>
 Nice one Chris, sort of following cluelessly and trying to rebuild
 something similar - quick question - what are the Test nodes testing mode?
   Is Element, Integer Array or Comparison?

 Cheers

 Rob

>>>
>>>
>>>
>


-- 

Chris Marshall
Mint Motion Limited
029 2002 5762
07730 533 115
www.mintmotion.co.uk

Re: Crowd FX Help

[Julian Johnson]

On 01/08/2012 15:12, Guillaume Laforge wrote:

Hello Julian,

It sounds like a known bug reported by Steven Caron about  extreme slowdown 
when adding new actor sources.
It was fixed in 2013SP1 (several optimization in the scene graph validation and 
topology update were done).


Hi Guillaume,

Thanks for the quick response. Yes, we're on SP1 (build 11.1.57)...and 
the slowdown is quite dramatic.


Cheers,
Julian

Re: ICE Topo grow polygon array

[Rob Chapman]

Thanks Chris

kind of looks like a hedge made out of eels :)  so Got it working my end
(sort of) on a simple example Ice Modelling tree that randomly selects a
percentage of polygons and then extrudes them., If I use the above
technique on my random selection indices it selects the surrounding
polygons as described, adds them to the 'array' but it extrudes each
polygon independently.   I wonder if its possible, for each initial random
polygon, to grow the selection but merge the growth into one polygon and
make a new array out of these merged polygons for the extrusion?

 Im getting context problems when trying to connect my array of integers
into the polygon index (this is how my setup worked for the apply
extrusion)  so in essence I need to repeat, for each polygon in my first
array to feed the 'Apply merge polygon' with an integer array of the
surrounding polygons and make a new array out of these to feed to the
repeat extrusion...this is not so easy to do is it when trying to grasp
the idea of selection arrays inside of ICE modelling, I kind of know what I
want to do but have no way of achieving it yet without a lot more practice,
further painful trial and error and hopefully some more Ice modelling hints
;)

cheers

Rob



On 1 August 2012 15:03, Chris Marshall  wrote:

> Here's the video! :-)
> https://vimeo.com/46750915
>
>
> On 1 August 2012 11:28, Chris Marshall  wrote:
>
>> Hi Rob,
>> The Test Polygon Index and Test Vertex Index nodes are both set to
>> Integer Array.
>> I added a Filter node after the second IF and ran the Test Vertex Index
>> result into that, which removes everything set to -1, but then realised
>> this could all be simplified anyway, see the attached. And a sample output
>> of how running the result through some extrude nodes, in a loop, can give
>> an interesting result.
>>  Chris
>>
>>
>> On 31 July 2012 17:27, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>>
>>> Nice one Chris, sort of following cluelessly and trying to rebuild
>>> something similar - quick question - what are the Test nodes testing mode?
>>>   Is Element, Integer Array or Comparison?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Rob
>>>
>>
>>
>>

RE: A good "Cap All Holes" script?

[Grahame Fuller]

I believe this is the issue that Joey was referring to. You's need to somehow 
consider the "hole islands" rather than the polygon islands.

gray

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Stefan Kubicek
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 04:37 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: A good "Cap All Holes" script?

Are the difficult scenarios you mention not ultimately a non-manifold geometry 
problem?
This reminds me on the "Any tips to fix non-manifold vertices in Soft?" thread 
as of June 26th.

We came up with:

"A vertex is non-manifold if more than two of its adjacent edges
do not share their second vertex with any other of said adjacent edge's second 
vertices."

Or as Martin Chatterjee put it slightly differently:

"I'd check if a vertex has a neighborPolygon that does *not *share an edge with 
any of the
other neighborPolygons"

According to this it should be possible to identify problematic vertices and 
split the capping process up on a "per island" basis.




> Back several years ago I spent quite a bit of time trying to develop a
> "Fill Hole" script similar to Maya's. Beware this activity when using
> something automated.
>
> I ran into immense difficulty trying to develop a method for sealing
> winged holes. In general holes which are an island upon themselves are
> easy to fill. That means that if a quad hole has an adjacent  poly
> present at each  edge and more importantly each vertex, totalling 8
> polys surrounding the quad hole, the hole is extremely easy to fill. I
> succeeded quite well at accomplishing an automated script to fill all
> holes on a mesh in one click.
>
> The problem however is if any hole has another adjacent hole present at
> a shared vertex (oxymoron? since you can't really share vertices for
> something that technically is a void), but separated by two polys winged
> at the vertex, its extremely difficult by conventional standards to not
> identify the two holes that are winged as a single hole.
>
> If memory serves me right  even Maya had an issue with this as you could
> delete a single poly on a mesh and if the sphere was selected as an
> object running Fill Hole would automatically seal all valid holes.
> However if their were two holes and they were adjacent, or winged at a
> vertex, Maya was smart enough to know how to avoid the situation and
> would prevent the winged holes from being filled with a single poly.
>
> The point is, its fairly easy to to write a script to fill the hole, but
> it must be smart enough to prevent the winged holes from becoming a
> single poly, which is very very bad. If you have a script that was
> written to do this task, test it on an example with winged holes before
> you proceed. You won't regret the extra effort.
>
> Incidentally this tool is not impossible to write, but as a script or
> plugin it requires special information about the topology be available
> for the user to query. In my experience XSI  did not provide enough
> vertex, facet and edge info to give the developer enough information to
> easily script a bulletproof fill hole tool.
>
> Joey Ponthieux
> ATOL Experiment Specialist
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
> Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
> NASA Langley Research Center
> 15 Langley Blvd B1268 R1051
> Hampton, VA, 23681
> Phone: 757-864-6754
> EMail: j.ponthi...@nasa.gov
> 
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and
> do not represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
>
> On 2/13/2012 1:12 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:
>> Sweet! Thanks, Mr.Core! ;)
>>
>> On 2/13/2012 11:47 AM, Oleg Bliznuk wrote:
>>> Hi Alan,
>>> you can also do it with a little bit modified "cap holes" compound via
>>> ICE, we are using it in ImplosiaFX
>>> http://clip2net.com/s/1ABrt
>>> -Oleg
>>
>


-- 
---
Stefan Kubicek   Co-founder
---
   keyvis digital imagery
  Wehrgasse 9 - Grüner Hof
   1050 Vienna  Austria
 Phone:+43/699/12614231
--- www.keyvis.at  ste...@keyvis.at ---
--  This email and its attachments are
--confidential and for the recipient only--

<>

Re: A good "Cap All Holes" script?

[Alan Fregtman]

Good tip! Thanks Nic.

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 4:07 AM, Nic Groot Bluemink <
nicgrootbluem...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Neat, thanks for the share Alan!
>
> A little suggestion - personally I like using the OpenUndo/CloseUndo with
> a try-except structure like so:
>
> xsi = Application
>
> xsi.OpenUndo("somefunction")
> try:
> dostuff
> except:
> pass
> finally:
> xsi.CloseUndo()
>
>
> This way, any errors that may occur while doing stuff will always be
> undoable. Of course, you can handle your exceptions more cleanly than in my
> crude example :p
>
> -Nic
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:
>
>> Hmmm, last second improvement: this one's got OpenUndo and CloseUndo to
>> pack all the actions into one undo step...
>>
>> xsi = Application
>> def capMeshHoles(mesh, freezeModeling = True):
>> '''Caps holes in given mesh.'''
>> originalSelection = xsi.Selection.GetAsText()
>> boundaryEdges = [ e for e in mesh.ActivePrimitive.Geometry.Edges if 
>> e.IsBoundary ]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> xsi.OpenUndo("Cap holes in %s" % mesh.FullName)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> if len(boundaryEdges) > 0:
>> xsi.SelectGeometryComponents(boundaryEdges)
>> oSel = xsi.Selection(0)
>> xsi.DuplicateMeshComponent(oSel)
>> xsi.SelectAdjacent(oSel, "Point")
>> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
>> oSel = xsi.SetSelFilter("Vertex")
>> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
>> if freezeModeling:
>> xsi.FreezeModeling(mesh)
>> xsi.Selection.SetAsText( originalSelection )
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> xsi.CloseUndo()
>>
>>
>> return mesh
>> # 
>> capMeshHoles(xsi.Selection(0))
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 11:01 AM, Alan Fregtman 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I have made my own Python function since creating this thread long ago.
>>> In the interest of sharing:
>>>
>>>
>>> xsi = Application
>>> def capMeshHoles(mesh, freezeModeling = True):
>>> '''Caps holes in given mesh.'''
>>> originalSelection = xsi.Selection.GetAsText()
>>> boundaryEdges = [ e for e in mesh.ActivePrimitive.Geometry.Edges if 
>>> e.IsBoundary ]
>>>
>>> if len(boundaryEdges) > 0:
>>> xsi.SelectGeometryComponents(boundaryEdges)
>>> oSel = xsi.Selection(0)
>>> xsi.DuplicateMeshComponent(oSel)
>>> xsi.SelectAdjacent(oSel, "Point")
>>> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
>>> oSel = xsi.SetSelFilter("Vertex")
>>> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
>>> if freezeModeling:
>>> xsi.FreezeModeling(mesh)
>>> xsi.Selection.SetAsText( originalSelection )
>>>
>>> return mesh
>>> # 
>>> capMeshHoles(xsi.Selection(0))
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Malcolm Zaloon wrote:
>>>
 Hi Oleg!

 I´m wondering if can you provide the download link again for modified
 "cap hole" compound?
 the old link is broken...(404 file not found)

 Thanks in advance! :)


 On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 1:47 PM, Oleg Bliznuk  wrote:

> Hi Alan,
> you can also do it with a little bit modified "cap holes" compound via
> ICE, we are using it in ImplosiaFX
> http://clip2net.com/s/1ABrt
> -Oleg
>



 --
 __
 Malcolm Zaloon - Lighting TD - XSI Generalist
 Quote:
 "Everything can be interconnected and will update according by
 interface"

>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Technical Pretty Picture Making Person
> Kettle 
>

RE: Crowd FX Help

[Guillaume Laforge]

Hello Julian,

It sounds like a known bug reported by Steven Caron about  extreme slowdown 
when adding new actor sources.
It was fixed in 2013SP1 (several optimization in the scene graph validation and 
topology update were done).

Are you on SP1?

Thanks,
Guillaume

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Julian Johnson
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 9:50 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Crowd FX Help

I'm struggling with extreme slowdowns and erratic actions in CrowdFX. 
Specifically, when I reload a scene and then try and add new actor sources a) 
the new actor source takes ages to load and b) often the new source's 
animations are somehow corrupted with either a weird animation cycle, 
stuttering or a permanent static pose. These same cycles work fine in solo 
scenes.

If I recreate the scene from scratch everything works fine but as soon as I 
quit and reload it seems like from that point onwards I can't really add/remove 
actors or change actions without some of the behaviours above. I think it seems 
worse with actors that have been unloaded and reloaded (using Get From Scene).

The only solution I can think of is to script the building of the whole scene 
from scratch each time. Has anyone else experienced this or found any 
workarounds?

Julian

<>

Re: ICE Topo grow polygon array

[Chris Marshall]

Here's the video! :-)
https://vimeo.com/46750915


On 1 August 2012 11:28, Chris Marshall  wrote:

> Hi Rob,
> The Test Polygon Index and Test Vertex Index nodes are both set to Integer
> Array.
> I added a Filter node after the second IF and ran the Test Vertex Index
> result into that, which removes everything set to -1, but then realised
> this could all be simplified anyway, see the attached. And a sample output
> of how running the result through some extrude nodes, in a loop, can give
> an interesting result.
> Chris
>
>
> On 31 July 2012 17:27, Rob Chapman  wrote:
>
>> Nice one Chris, sort of following cluelessly and trying to rebuild
>> something similar - quick question - what are the Test nodes testing mode?
>>   Is Element, Integer Array or Comparison?
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Rob
>>
>
>
>

Crowd FX Help

[Julian Johnson]

I'm struggling with extreme slowdowns and erratic actions in CrowdFX. 
Specifically, when I reload a scene and then try and add new actor 
sources a) the new actor source takes ages to load and b) often the new 
source's animations are somehow corrupted with either a weird animation 
cycle, stuttering or a permanent static pose. These same cycles work 
fine in solo scenes.


If I recreate the scene from scratch everything works fine but as soon 
as I quit and reload it seems like from that point onwards I can't 
really add/remove actors or change actions without some of the 
behaviours above. I think it seems worse with actors that have been 
unloaded and reloaded (using Get From Scene).


The only solution I can think of is to script the building of the whole 
scene from scratch each time. Has anyone else experienced this or found 
any workarounds?


Julian

Re: A good "Cap All Holes" script?

[Stefan Kubicek]

Are the difficult scenarios you mention not ultimately a non-manifold geometry 
problem?
This reminds me on the "Any tips to fix non-manifold vertices in Soft?" thread 
as of June 26th.

We came up with:

"A vertex is non-manifold if more than two of its adjacent edges
do not share their second vertex with any other of said adjacent edge's second 
vertices."

Or as Martin Chatterjee put it slightly differently:

"I'd check if a vertex has a neighborPolygon that does *not *share an edge with 
any of the
other neighborPolygons"

According to this it should be possible to identify problematic vertices and split the 
capping process up on a "per island" basis.





Back several years ago I spent quite a bit of time trying to develop a
"Fill Hole" script similar to Maya's. Beware this activity when using
something automated.

I ran into immense difficulty trying to develop a method for sealing
winged holes. In general holes which are an island upon themselves are
easy to fill. That means that if a quad hole has an adjacent  poly
present at each  edge and more importantly each vertex, totalling 8
polys surrounding the quad hole, the hole is extremely easy to fill. I
succeeded quite well at accomplishing an automated script to fill all
holes on a mesh in one click.

The problem however is if any hole has another adjacent hole present at
a shared vertex (oxymoron? since you can't really share vertices for
something that technically is a void), but separated by two polys winged
at the vertex, its extremely difficult by conventional standards to not
identify the two holes that are winged as a single hole.

If memory serves me right  even Maya had an issue with this as you could
delete a single poly on a mesh and if the sphere was selected as an
object running Fill Hole would automatically seal all valid holes.
However if their were two holes and they were adjacent, or winged at a
vertex, Maya was smart enough to know how to avoid the situation and
would prevent the winged holes from being filled with a single poly.

The point is, its fairly easy to to write a script to fill the hole, but
it must be smart enough to prevent the winged holes from becoming a
single poly, which is very very bad. If you have a script that was
written to do this task, test it on an example with winged holes before
you proceed. You won't regret the extra effort.

Incidentally this tool is not impossible to write, but as a script or
plugin it requires special information about the topology be available
for the user to query. In my experience XSI  did not provide enough
vertex, facet and edge info to give the developer enough information to
easily script a bulletproof fill hole tool.

Joey Ponthieux
ATOL Experiment Specialist
LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
NASA Langley Research Center
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Phone: 757-864-6754
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do not represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.


On 2/13/2012 1:12 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:

Sweet! Thanks, Mr.Core! ;)

On 2/13/2012 11:47 AM, Oleg Bliznuk wrote:

Hi Alan,
you can also do it with a little bit modified "cap holes" compound via
ICE, we are using it in ImplosiaFX
http://clip2net.com/s/1ABrt
-Oleg







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---
Stefan Kubicek   Co-founder
---
  keyvis digital imagery
 Wehrgasse 9 - Grüner Hof
   1050 Vienna  Austria
Phone:+43/699/12614231
--- www.keyvis.at  ste...@keyvis.at ---
--  This email and its attachments are
--confidential and for the recipient only--

RE: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer

[Brent McPherson]

Sounds cool Steven!

Feel free to log suggestions for the tool SDK with support.

I had ideas for adding methods to the pickbuffer to get surface position, 
normals etc but I am not directly involved with this anymore...
--
Brent

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: 31 July 2012 21:39
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer

thanks, i am going to use the fps counter for now ...

i made some progress last night... i am caching the pickbuffer properly now and 
can reuse it, its a single view only now and just compares a CTransformation i 
get off the view camera. removing snap reduced the lag a fair bit. the reason 
to use the snap was to get the hit position on the surface. while not complete 
i changed to use the polygon's vertices average position and their average 
normals to setup a CPlane which i then intersect the world ray with. i am not 
checking to see if i am inside the triangle yet but even this saves me 
considerable time and effort in making my own intersection routines. i haven't 
got my brush orientation perfect yet but i think that's just a matter of 
wrangling my oglRotate calls.

fun stuff!
steven

On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Brent McPherson 
mailto:brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
The longer a tool takes to process an input event the less events that gets 
generated by the window system so you would have a bigger distances between 
mouse move events. (which could lead to gaps in brush spacing in a paint tool 
etc)

I guess you really want to measure mps - mouse events per second. ;-) The fps 
counter should work because when interacting the tool generates a redraw after 
each mouse event but you would need to try it to be sure.
--
Brent

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Steven Caron
Sent: 31 July 2012 20:59
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: SDK : caching the tool context pick buffer
@brent, can i use softimage's fps counter to do speed testing? does that 
counter represent the entire ogl rendering pipeline?

no biggie if not, i just didn't want to have to make my own profiling/fps 
counter.

s
On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 3:09 PM, Steven Caron 
mailto:car...@gmail.com>>>
 wrote:
well the CGeometryAccessor is a dump of everything too, but its just float/long 
data arrays instead of full fledged classes. at least i could cache this data 
easily without loops...

should be a fun exercise, which is available here for anyone who is 
interested...

https://github.com/caron/SimpleBrush
On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 2:58 PM, Brent McPherson 
mailto:brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com>>>
 wrote:
I would say use the GeometryAccessor but I have probably used the SDK less than 
most of you guys. ;-).

One thing that always bugged me about GetPolygons and related geometry calls is 
that they return an array of *all* the polygons in the object so it is a really 
inefficient way to access a single polygon when you know its index.

l_polymesh.GetPolygons().GetItem(l_compIdx);

GeometryAccessor seems designed to address this shortcoming.


<>

Re: A good "Cap All Holes" script?

[Nic Groot Bluemink]

Neat, thanks for the share Alan!

A little suggestion - personally I like using the OpenUndo/CloseUndo with a
try-except structure like so:

xsi = Application

xsi.OpenUndo("somefunction")
try:
dostuff
except:
pass
finally:
xsi.CloseUndo()


This way, any errors that may occur while doing stuff will always be
undoable. Of course, you can handle your exceptions more cleanly than in my
crude example :p

-Nic

On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:

> Hmmm, last second improvement: this one's got OpenUndo and CloseUndo to
> pack all the actions into one undo step...
>
> xsi = Application
> def capMeshHoles(mesh, freezeModeling = True):
> '''Caps holes in given mesh.'''
> originalSelection = xsi.Selection.GetAsText()
> boundaryEdges = [ e for e in mesh.ActivePrimitive.Geometry.Edges if 
> e.IsBoundary ]
>
>
>
> xsi.OpenUndo("Cap holes in %s" % mesh.FullName)
>
>
> if len(boundaryEdges) > 0:
> xsi.SelectGeometryComponents(boundaryEdges)
> oSel = xsi.Selection(0)
> xsi.DuplicateMeshComponent(oSel)
> xsi.SelectAdjacent(oSel, "Point")
> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
> oSel = xsi.SetSelFilter("Vertex")
> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
> if freezeModeling:
> xsi.FreezeModeling(mesh)
> xsi.Selection.SetAsText( originalSelection )
>
>
> xsi.CloseUndo()
>
>
> return mesh
> # 
> capMeshHoles(xsi.Selection(0))
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 11:01 AM, Alan Fregtman 
> wrote:
>
>> I have made my own Python function since creating this thread long ago.
>> In the interest of sharing:
>>
>>
>> xsi = Application
>> def capMeshHoles(mesh, freezeModeling = True):
>> '''Caps holes in given mesh.'''
>> originalSelection = xsi.Selection.GetAsText()
>> boundaryEdges = [ e for e in mesh.ActivePrimitive.Geometry.Edges if 
>> e.IsBoundary ]
>>
>> if len(boundaryEdges) > 0:
>> xsi.SelectGeometryComponents(boundaryEdges)
>> oSel = xsi.Selection(0)
>> xsi.DuplicateMeshComponent(oSel)
>> xsi.SelectAdjacent(oSel, "Point")
>> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
>> oSel = xsi.SetSelFilter("Vertex")
>> xsi.ApplyTopoOp("Collapse", oSel)
>> if freezeModeling:
>> xsi.FreezeModeling(mesh)
>> xsi.Selection.SetAsText( originalSelection )
>>
>> return mesh
>> # 
>> capMeshHoles(xsi.Selection(0))
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Malcolm Zaloon wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Oleg!
>>>
>>> I´m wondering if can you provide the download link again for modified
>>> "cap hole" compound?
>>> the old link is broken...(404 file not found)
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance! :)
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 1:47 PM, Oleg Bliznuk  wrote:
>>>
 Hi Alan,
 you can also do it with a little bit modified "cap holes" compound via
 ICE, we are using it in ImplosiaFX
 http://clip2net.com/s/1ABrt
 -Oleg

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> __
>>> Malcolm Zaloon - Lighting TD - XSI Generalist
>>> Quote:
>>> "Everything can be interconnected and will update according by interface"
>>>
>>
>>
>


-- 
Technical Pretty Picture Making Person
Kettle 

Re: caching the tool context pick buffer

[piotrek marczak]

Maybe this will help, im using it in softtransform plugin:

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~gfx/Courses/2003/ImageSynthesis/papers/Acceleration/Fast
 MinimumStorage RayTriangle Intersection.pdf

From: Steven Caron 
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 8:50 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
Subject: Re: caching the tool context pick buffer

hey piotrek 

i was avoiding setting up point locators thinking they would be slower but i 
will be attempting to implement a few different methods and compare performance.

s


On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 11:41 PM, piotrek marczak  
wrote:

  There are raycast methods in xsisdk

  http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2595&p=20942#p20942