[Louisch]

Hello JD and All,

I just installed the new plugin and everything works fine except support for instances (which is really the new option I was eagerly waiting for).

I simply can't activate the option. All other options on the same panel can be turned on and off, but the ‘Export Blocks as Instances’ check mark just can't be activated.

Any suggestion ?

Thanks,

Louisch

[JDHill]

Looks like you found a bug in the logic for the yes/no switch there. Here's something you can use to get around it for the time being:

- close Rhino
- go to your Documents and Settings (Users on Vista) folder
- do a search for a file named 'user.config'
- if you find more than one, the one you're looking for will be somewhere under a folder related to Rhino (probably named Robert_McNeel_&_Associate)
- open the file, it's just a simple text file formatted in XML
- find an entry named 'ExportAbsoluteCoords' and change its value to False
- if you don't find an entry by that name, add one using this text:

Code: Select all

    <setting name="ExportAbsoluteCoords" serializeAs="String">
        <value>False</value>
    </setting>

Now when you start Rhino, you should be able to toggle the yes/no switch for exporting blocks as references.

JD

[Louisch]

Hello JD

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Unfortunately, I don't have a single file named "user.config" anywhere on my computer. I also did a search for the string 'ExportAbsoluteCoords' and couldn't find a file with that string in it either.

It looks like I might have to wait for the official patch for this problem.

Thanks anyway. I really appreciate all the effort you're putting into the Rhino plugin.

Louisch

[JDHill]

Well, if you feel like trying again, you would have to make sure the search included hidden files and folders, I think. It may not already have 'ExportAbsoluteCoords' in it - it's not possible for me to predict whether it would or wouldn't.

Cheers,

JD

[Louisch]

Hello again JD,

Unfortunately, no such luck. I couldn't find any matching hidden file either.

Do you have any idea when an official patch might be available?

Thanks,

Louisch

[JDHill]

No, I'm not exactly sure. I do know - if the plugin remembers things between sessions, then you have a user.config file somewhere. On Vista, it would be:

C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Local\Robert_McNeel_&_Associate\DefaultDomain_Path_3mvfig5knqgwivlu1qwgn3qabnz1s0rr\4.0\user.config

On XP, it should be more like:

C:\Documents and Settings\[user_name]\Local Settings\Robert_McNeel_&_Associate\DefaultDomain_Path_3mvfig5knqgwivlu1qwgn3qabnz1s0rr\4.0\user.config

Sorry I can't be more specific, but these locations are not hard-coded in the plugin or installer.

[Louisch]

Hello JD,

Finally. Victory!

Only after I did a search specifically for 'Local Settings" did the 'Robert_McNeel_&_Associate' folder appear (and only in the Search window, otherwise it was completely invisible). From there, all sub-folders were visible as well as the user.config file.

I didn't find the 'ExportAbsoluteCoords' string in the file, but I implemented your short code modification, and it worked!

Thanks for your invaluable help with this problem,

Louisch

[JDHill]

Great. Sorry about the trouble...that user.config file has given me issues before - in the future, I'll change how preferences like this are stored.

JD

[valerio]

Hi Jeremy,

In Rhino, how they work the instanze?
you can explain with an example

Thanks
valerio

[JDHill]

Hi Valerio,

If the plugin option 'Export Blocks as Instances' is enabled, any Rhino blocks will be exported as instances. So an example would be:

- make a cube
- make it into a block
- copy the block a few times
- render

One of the blocks will be a real mesh - all the others will be instances.

Due to the problem in this thread, you will need to manually edit the 'user.config' file as described above before the plugin will allow you to enable 'Export Blocks as Instances'.

Just let me know if you have any other questions.

JD

[Polyxo]

Hi Jeremy,
could you maybe shed some light on assigning material when using blocks as instances? I made the switch work with the proposed workaround (on xp), things do render but it seems that now materials can only be altered inside the source file or via InPlaceBlockEditor, right? Or is there some way to make use of your (normal) powerful block-material assignment methods also with instances? Can (true) instances of one and the same block show different materials?

Thanks, Holger

[JDHill]

Hi Holger,

The material should be determined as normal with blocks, and the fact you're exporting them as instances should have no bearing. You would need to use 'by parent' if you wanted to have different materials on different instances of the same block:

- create 3 objects
- set their material to 'by parent'
- block them
- copy the block 3 times

At this point, you should be able to:

- render using the layer material for each block
- set each block to 'by plugin' by assigning a material to each

As the drag-drop mechanism does not seem to 'see' blocks when you drag materials over the viewport, you need to pre-select the desired block, right-click the material, and choose 'assign to selected'. On the other hand, you may 'cook' the materials into the blocks:

- create 3 objects
- drag a material onto each
- block them
- copy the block 3 times

Apparently, you should not be able to change how these objects render - the are set to 'by plugin' (this happens when you assign the material) inside of the block. You could assign a material to the block, but it would not change the state of what is contained within it. You should be able to modify them with InPlaceBlockEditor, but I have never installed that plugin, so I can't comment on how it works.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions and I'll try to address them.

JD

[Polyxo]

I see, now we need this by parent workflow again.
Excellent, everything seems to work now. I'm only curious why Rhino still needs so much of memory - more that 1.3 gb for 3 block objects (ok I took an array of 1000 Rhino-logos for my test...).

[Polyxo]

One more thing - do you see an option that block instances material mapped in the fashion you just descibed keep their material after the block has been exploded?

[JDHill]

I'm not sure I understand. If you use the first method, when you explode the block, the pieces inside should use the layer material - that's apparently what 'by parent' does when something is not in a block. If you use the second (i.e. assign material before creating the block) then when you explode the block, the pieces are still 'by plugin', since that's what they were when you created the block - they should use the material which was assigned before the block was created.

Is that it, or have I missed your meaning?