[archigrafix]

I get a bug with faces that are not seen in a component.

I created a window component and inside this one a group for a room behind this window. Faces of that group are not shown. repeated this component several times and deseppearing faces are not the same in every instance of this component.
It is all about 2sided faces cause when I look at these missing faces on the other side they do appear.
It is a bug I noticed since my very first use of Maxwell. I hope my comment are understandable...

example here: look at the roof
thanx to help


Shot at 2012-07-11

Shot at 2012-07-11

[JDHill]

This is a bug in the engine, and is being looked into. The issue can affect axis-aligned mesh faces in an instance or its source mesh. So, there are three workarounds: 1) applying a slight rotation to the component, 2) changing it into a group, or 3) disabling instances. Instances can only be disabled in the Render Suite plugin, so the third option is not applicable to the Standalone plugin.

[archigrafix]

thanx to help JD
hum...it seems a really annoying issue
- rotating the component is impossible because it's a cuting component.
- component to group impossible see above
- using the suite? I will try, I have just bought maxwell full version...

[archigrafix]

JD

tested with RS and it works fine! However instances are desactivated and it many case I will get RAM problems...so Is it gonna be solved soon?
Is it a plugin bug or maxwell engine?

[JDHill]

It's a problem with the engine, so I can't really give you any estimate on it. I can tell you that a fix was put into one of the 2.7 internal betas, but it broke some other things, and so had to be rolled back.

[archigrafix]

When you say "the engine" you mean the all instance system of maxwell gets that bug???
If so, it is a big problem when working with huge files that needs lot of RAM...

[JDHill]

Yes, that's what I mean: though there are many plugins, there is only one render engine, and this problem is occurring inside the engine. Luckily, it is quite rare; it seems there is something about SketchUp -- my theory would be its low precision (0.001") -- that causes it to produce geometry which triggers the bug more frequently than geometry from other applications. I only recall having personally observed it twice, both times in SketchUp, and both times using models supplied by others. I do not yet know how to produce a file, from scratch, which triggers the problem. It was only because I received those files that I was able to report it to the core developers, and to find the workarounds I listed above.

So this is literally all I can tell you about it: that it is known, is being worked on, has been fixed once, but with bad side-effects that forced the fix to be withdrawn, and that it does have some workarounds, though you say you cannot use any except the option of completely disabling instances. Since it is rare, I have neglected to put it in the plugin bugs thread -- I'll do that now, in order to prevent questions about it in the future.

[archigrafix]

Hum!!! In my case I can tell you that this bug appears very often.
It is a fact that I intensively use "cut opening" components. I feel it must be the reason. But On the other side it is a very important tool in my workflow so I wont move from its use just because of rendering.
I hope my comments will help

[Delineator]

I'd have to agree: I use SU w/ Maxwell on a daily basis and since upgrading to 2.7, I've been fighting this bug in every single model I have. Right now I'm exploding things because a) I don't know how to make them into a group once they have been made into a component and b) disabling the instances did not seem to work at all.

Its odd, but I don't recall any major issues in the previous version that would have caused the recall of the fix (there were some issues with components/instances and emitters not working properly within them).


edit: I just had it happen with a group (a light fixture made into a group [not component], and copied over). Ruh-roh, this could really hurt workflow.

[JDHill]

The fix I am referring to was only in one internal build -- it broke other, non-SketchUp-related things in the engine. And if you have a model where this happens with instances disabled, I would like to get a copy of that model, because as far as I have observed, it can only happen to an object that is instanced.

[Delineator]

How should I go about sending it to you? (I put the same thing into a PM, but I hate the bloody delay on the outbox)

Thanks

[JDHill]

You could send it to jeremy at nextlimit dotcom, or send via dropbox, or I can give you a login for my FTP server. Just let me know what works best for you.

[Delineator]

Email with link sent to your email.

BTW, I tested a very simple scene (just boxes) with a mix of components and groups, and instancing seemed to work fine. I'm curious if something goes awry when the geometry gets too complex or perhaps its an issue with components within components within components.

[JDHill]

Okay, this is something else entirely. The issue being referenced in this thread has to do with faces disappearing from the render dynamically at render time, depending on the angle from which you are currently viewing the scene. Such a face must be part of a mesh that has been instanced, and all of its points must lie entirely within one of the three major axis planes. Even the slightest rotation of the face, its container, or one of its instances will cause the condition to disappear.

In your model, I find an instance of a bed which is simply disappearing from (or not appearing in) the export. I will take a look and let you know what I find.

[archigrafix]

very interesting topic...I keep an eye on where it is going. thanx to help JD