[JDHill]

Hello all,

Here is a preview of the next minor update:

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• Maxwell for SolidWorks
  Version 2.0.6 Release Notes
  
  
  Version 2.0.6 of the Maxwell for SolidWorks plugin is a minor bug-fix update which introduces a few new features.
  
  
  Changes
  
  • added support for per-output-file auto-naming
  • added a new Motion Study Animation feature for rendering Motion Studies
  • texture editor now shows texture aspect ratio in Real Scale mode
  • the ‘Absolute Coords’ option is no longer necessary and has been removed
  • minor changes made to accommodate Maxwell 2.0.3.0 release
  
  Fixes
  
  • imaging control was calculating brightness before inversion
  • in some cases, the wrong material could be exported for some entities
  • re-worked export code prevents mated entities showing up in odd locations in Studio

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And here are the links:

- For SolidWorks x86
- For SolidWorks x64

Please do not share these links, since I am hosting them myself until an official release.

The biggest changes here have to do with the removal of the Absolute Coords switch; the export code has been completely rewritten, and should no longer have a problem with entities which are mated being exported in odd locations/orientations. As Absolute Coords required alot of math, the new code also runs faster, and furthermore, allows the use of Instances in many more situations; Instances could not be used in conjunction with the Absolute Coords option, since by definition, the job of Absolute Coords was to pre-transforming all mesh geometry into absolute x/y/z space.

Also, please feel free to post in this thread if you run into any issues -- while this should be ready to go, I am shifting over to a more public strategy for testing releases, where I will make updates available to existing users before releasing them on a broader basis. That gives you the option of having earlier access to newer features and fixes, while at the same time letting new builds get a much wider scrutiny before their official release. I tend to see that as a win-win, since it lets you choose whether you value the benefits of early-adoption, or whether you prefer to wait until releases go public.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts about this strategy -- if it turns out not to be a good idea, we can always go back.

Cheers,

JD

[NicoR44]

Hi Jeremy,

Seems that when I render directly via SW all instances are now exported and rendered, except when I use "export to MXST" in that case lots of parts are not exported (see screen shot)
Also, when checking "Multi-Materials" (great option btw!!! ) gives a crash in a large scene (like my Wall-E) rendering a single part goes well (see screen shot)






I hope this helps

[JDHill]

A couple of things:

1. Maxwell 2.0.3 has a crashing bug with instances of objects which have multi-materials
2. are you sure the instances are not exported? They are not shown in Studio by default

For (2), you probably need to right-click the instances panel and adjust the instance display settings.

[NicoR44]

You're right Jeremy, setting display proxy to 100% shows them all
Would be great if multi mat is fixed in the next update

[NicoR44]

Hi Jeremy,

It seems that applying materials on surface level is extremely slow, on both my 8core 64 bit as my 2core 32 bit machines, sometimes I have to wait about 10 minutes before I can resume, and sometimes SW hangs al together.

Also is there a way to clear a surface or part material?

a lot of the time when I select surfaces and apply a material not all surfaces that the material are applied to can keep that material, the colour is changed, but when I select that surface the material isn't highlighted and also not rendered.

And a wish, it would be very very handy to be able to apply materials on feature level.

Thanks and sorry to be a nag

[JDHill]

While it can be a little slow to assign materials in a complex model, it definitely sounds like something isn't working correctly there. I have some pretty large assemblies that I test with, and I've not seen anything like you describe. How large is your assembly, if you zip it up -- could I take a look at it?

Also, how does this change if you disable viewport materials in the plugin? (that's the red button at the left-hand side of the database manager's toolbar). With them disabled, the plugin won't ask SolidWorks to change the color/texture of its entities.

On the question of some surfaces not 'taking' their assignments, are you sure they are loaded into the session? Entities must be resolved (i.e. not 'loaded lightweight') for the plugin to be able to attach data to them.

On the questions of removing materials and of assigning materials to features, have you become familiar with the Object Properties page in the plugin's Scene Manager? There are some pages in the manual (p22-24) which describe how this works -- basically, if you want to assign to a feature, you should either select the feature in the Feature Manager, or select one of its faces and click the 'Up' arrow in the plugin's Object Properties page to get to the face's parent feature.

[w i l l]

Hold on... you've included 'added a new Motion Study Animation feature for rendering Motion Studies'... surely this is quite a big deal! I'm trying it now.

[w i l l]

The Motion Study animation seems to be rendering out the same frame for each image.

[JDHill]

It works fine here -- what does it look like in your viewport when you use the Preview button in the Motion Study Animation window?

[w i l l]

No worries... it's a problem with my camera! Nice update... thanks for sorting that out!!

[RobMitchell]

The Motion Study animation seems to be rendering out the same frame for each image.

No worries... it's a problem with my camera! Nice update... thanks for sorting that out!!

I'm now having this problem, but haven't fixed it. Do you remember how you did it, Will?

If I initially hit Preview it shows the animation OK, it seems to Export OK too. But although the frame numbers change when it loads each MXS, it seems to be the same fixed frame each time. Then sometimes a box pops up that says "Invalid Motion Study duration: 0", despite the fact it's longer than 0 seconds and it managed to export frames the first time I pressed it (even if they were all the same).

These issues happen in both Assembly Motion and Physical Simulation option.

[JDHill]

Could you post a specific set of steps (as simplified as possible) for duplicating the error, and also, the version of SolidWorks you are using? The plugin simply takes your requested motion study, and then requests SolidWorks to move through it using the specified step duration.

[RobMitchell]

Could you post a specific set of steps (as simplified as possible) for duplicating the error, and also, the version of SolidWorks you are using? The plugin simply takes your requested motion study, and then requests SolidWorks to move through it using the specified step duration.

Sure. I created a floor model, a bowl and one sphere (all solid bodies, not surface) and imported them into an assembly. I imported the sphere a few more times, then set up a camera (locked) and entered the Motion Study tab. At first I tried an explosion-type animation using the Assembly Motion features (literally just set a keyframe on the default layout, then another keyframe with the bowl moved along slightly) and it just rendered the same frame each time.

I then tried a physical animation with the exact same setup. Gravity was turned on, contact was applied between all objects and it was set up so that the sphere's would fall into the bowl. Again when exporting, it seemed to generate the correct amount of frames but it would render the same thing over and over.

I'm using SolidWorks 2008, Maxwell 2.1 and 64-bit Windows XP.

I can send the scene if that'd be any help. Although I only have the physical simulation still saved.

Thanks!

[JDHill]

I am still not able to duplicate this behavior, so if you be willing to set up and send me (jeremy at nextlimit dotcom) the simplest assembly possible (literally, just a cube moving from one place to another, which does not preview/export properly for you) that would be good, since I don't have SW2008, and the issues you are having don't seem to make much sense here yet. I would at least like to confirm whether or not this might be related to the SW version.

[RobMitchell]

I am still not able to duplicate this behavior, so if you be willing to set up and send me (jeremy at nextlimit dotcom) the simplest assembly possible (literally, just a cube moving from one place to another, which does not preview/export properly for you) that would be good, since I don't have SW2008, and the issues you are having don't seem to make much sense here yet. I would at least like to confirm whether or not this might be related to the SW version.

Ok, cool. I sent off a quick animation to you just now.