[animation_man]

Does anyone know what to do with this error message and how to fix it? I am getting it while using Maxwell for C4D. When I render with FIRE I don't get any problems. Everything renders fine. However, as soon as I try to render the MXS I get this error.

RenderTest.mxs cannot be read.
Error reading MXS file. No error

[jc4d]

Hi,
Did you update the plugin and the render engine as well?

Cheers
JC

[JDHill]

This sounds exactly like a problem that was fixed in 2.7.10 -- as JC says, please ensure that you have updated both Maxwell Render and the Maxwell for Cinema 4D plugin.

[animation_man]

Yes I did. I have been rendering out another project without any problems. It seems that the issue is specific to this project.

[JDHill]

In that case, I'll need you to send me your Cinema file, so we can figure out what's happening. In 2.7.0, it occurred with a couple of Rhino users, and was caused by degenerate meshes which triggered an MXS read/write bug (that's why it works in Fire), but we diagnosed and solved it for those cases. If the file (zipped) can fit in an email, my address is jeremy at nextlimit dotcom, otherwise, I can give you FTP login info, or you can use something like dropbox.

[animation_man]

I just want to clarify. I have 2.7 not the new update. but everything is the same version and I just tried another file and I didn't get the error. So it is just this file that is having the problem.

[JDHill]

Yes, with 2.7, you could run into this in very specific circumstances. To fix it, you either need to fix or remove the geometry that's triggering the problem, or update to 2.7.10.

[animation_man]

What is a "degenerate mesh?" So I know what I am looking for. My file is 74+ meg not including the textures so it would be too large to e-mail.

[JDHill]

It just means that a mesh is defective -- it does not have a valid set of points, normals, etc. There are several ways in which a mesh could be defective; in some cases, the viewport will tolerate them; in others, the defects may even prevent a mesh from being displayed in the viewport at all. So, you cannot count on being able to identify them simply by looking.

Therefore, the best method of finding what is wrong will be to hide half the model, see if the visible half renders or not, then repeat the process with the half that doesn't render, zeroing in until the problem is isolated. It sounds bad, but by that method, I can generally find any bad geometry within a couple of minutes.