[VALKAMA]

Are other mac formZ users having the issue where the buttons on the surface style parameters dialog dont work. All 3, Map style, edit, and refresh style are useless? Am i doing something wrong?

Thanks[/img]

[nachob]

That looks like maxwell files are not associated with their proper applications, mainly mxm files.

Please check by double clicking any of the mxm files in the "material database" of the Maxwell folder, it should launch the material editor (mxed) if not then you should assign all your mxm files to mxed. The procedure to do that is the following:

1-In the Finder select a .mxm file and "Get Info" on it.
2-In the info dialog select "Open with " and you should select "mxed" there.
3-Push the "Change All..." button.
4-Restart formZ and the buttons should work.

Hope it helps,

nachob

[VALKAMA]

Thanks for the reply. I tried what you mentioned but no luck. The mxm files were setup to open with mxed already. I actually have never been able to get those buttons to work so something must be wrong with my setup beyond the file association?

Just wondering if anyone else has this issue.

[VALKAMA]

According to AutoDes Sys they verified that these buttons do not work with OSX.

In addition i am also getting these problems

1. When i change a formZ texture into a preset emmiter it keeps the color of the initilal formz material.
2. When I choose studio to open up when i click maxwell render, MXCL opens every time.
3. still cant use the mapstyle, edit, or refresh style buttons.
4. i save the view i want it to render but every time it goes into mxcl it does a zoom extents
5. If i choose a simple plane as an emmiter, one side is black the other is the emmiter?

[Mihai]

5. If i choose a simple plane as an emmiter, one side is black the other is the emmiter?

Sorry can't help with the other issues, but this one is not a bug. The emitter will only emit light from the normal side of the plane.

[VALKAMA]

Thanks Mihai

I had once twisted a plane like a helix and turned it into an emitter. I thought that both sides were lit up but it probably was not.

Thanks

jason

[dkessler]

Hope this helps...

1. I can't duplicate this problem.
2. Confirmed - Studio will not launch despite being selected.
3. Confirmed - The "map style" button only seems to work when the text box (file path) is empty. The "edit" and "refresh style" buttons do nothing.
4. I can't duplicate this problem.
5. Already answered.

And to add to the list (some of which have already been mentioned)...

6. It's impossible to enter "0" CPU Threads (or "1" for that matter).

7. The "Use FormZ Sky" checkbox in m~w 1.6 doesn't work if a "site from city" is selected for the formZ sun. It only works properly if "site from longitude, latitude, and time" is used. Anyway, it would be less confusing if checking this m~w box greyed out the location/time parameters that are supposed to be overridden by formZ's sky.

8. "Sky Rotation" doesn't seem to matter if "Use formZ Sky" is checked. Perhaps this is correct, BUT...

9. FormZ's "Angle of Site North" is not recognized if it's different than the default 90 degrees. The translation of how Maxwell rotates north is counterintuitive for formZ users. In formZ, it's measured in counter-clockwise degrees from 3 o'clock. This typically means north is at 90 degrees. Maxwell's north is "up" in top view (the same as formZ's default), considered as 0 degrees site rotation, but rotation is measured clockwise. For example...a north angle of 135 degrees in formZ requires a site rotation of 315 degrees in Maxwell.

[juan]

Hi all,

2. Confirmed - Studio will not launch despite being selected.
....The "edit" and "refresh style" buttons do nothing.

Are you using OSX too? Which version? Which version of FormZ? 6.1.x or 6.5.x?

6. It's impossible to enter "0" CPU Threads (or "1" for that matter).

Ok, it's fixed for the next update.

7. The "Use FormZ Sky" checkbox in m~w 1.6 doesn't work if a "site from city" is selected for the formZ sun. It only works properly if "site from longitude, latitude, and time" is used. Anyway, it would be less confusing if checking this m~w box greyed out the location/time parameters that are supposed to be overridden by formZ's sky.

Yes, Maxwell just can extract the FormZ sky when it is set using "Longitude, Latitude and Time".

8. "Sky Rotation" doesn't seem to matter if "Use formZ Sky" is checked. Perhaps this is correct, BUT...

Exactly, it is correct, the sun rotation is specified by formZ to match the view.
quote="dkessler"]
9. FormZ's "Angle of Site North" is not recognized if it's different than the default 90 degrees. The translation of how Maxwell rotates north is counterintuitive for formZ users. In formZ, it's measured in counter-clockwise degrees from 3 o'clock. This typically means north is at 90 degrees. Maxwell's north is "up" in top view (the same as formZ's default), considered as 0 degrees site rotation, but rotation is measured clockwise. For example...a north angle of 135 degrees in formZ requires a site rotation of 315 degrees in Maxwell.[/quote]
I am a bit confused here..you mean when you are using FormZ sky or when you are not?

Thanks,

Juan

[dkessler]

Juan,

- The broken buttons currently are happening on OS X 10.5.1 and formZ 6.5.4, although I seem to recall this problem with previous versions.
- I thought Maxwell 1.5 was able to extract city location? No?
- The angle of site north problem I describe happens when I use formZ sky. Try my example of setting formZ north to 135 degrees and see if you can get m~w to match the sun angle.

Dan

[juan]

- The angle of site north problem I describe happens when I use formZ sky. Try my example of setting formZ north to 135 degrees and see if you can get m~w to match the sun angle.

Thanks, we will check the formZ angle right now.

- I thought Maxwell 1.5 was able to extract city location? No?

No, it has never been possible. Maxwell needs latitude and longitude parameters and FormZ sdk returns them only if the sky is set in "lat/lon" mode. In the future we will try to enhance our sdk to make it more flexible.

Finally we could reproduce the issue with buttons in OXS machines, we will prepare an update in a few days.

Regards,

Juan

[VALKAMA]

I figured out #4 on my list and i guess 2 and 3 are bugs.

I will say that the latest maxwell seems more stable than the perivous version.

I do hope that the buttons will be fixed soon as that work around adds lots of steps.

thanks

jason

[juan]

Hi,

I do hope that the buttons will be fixed soon as that work around adds lots of steps.

We have planned an update of the three versions of the plugin win32/osx/win64 for the next monday. It should fix the problems with buttons and paths in osx, the issue with the sun rotation and other problems you have reported.

Thanks for your feedback!

Juan

[juan]

Hi Valkama,

Does the updated plugin work in your system?

Thanks!

Juan

[dkessler]

Juan,

I'm not Valkama, but I'll chime in about the updated plugin...

The first button, Map Style, works as expected when there's nothing listed in the file path field. It lets you specify a file name and a place to save the mxm. If there is a file path already listed, it opens the mxm but clears out the pre-saved attributes and shows the auto-des-sys logo mapped onto the mxm preview sphere.

The second button, Edit, works great if there is a file listed in the file path field. It opens MXED as expected. If there is no file path listed, clicking the button does nothing. Maybe that's expected, but it would be better if it would be greyed out until there's something editable listed in the file path.

The third button, Refresh, still does nothing for me. If I create a new mxm or load in a pre-existing one, then edit it, I'd expect the Refresh button to represh the preview. It doesn't. If I toggle to another tab in the Surface Style Parameters window (i.e. RenderZone or Simple), then back to Maxwell, the preview is refreshed.

Oh...The Angle of Site North problem is fixed!!! Thanks for figuring out this one!

Dan

[juan]

Hello dkessler,

The first button, Map Style, works as expected when there's nothing listed in the file path field. It lets you specify a file name and a place to save the mxm. If there is a file path already listed, it opens the mxm but clears out the pre-saved attributes and shows the auto-des-sys logo mapped onto the mxm preview sphere.

If there is a file path already listed, and you press the button, it should remap the formZ style to the currrent file path and open the mxm editor. It seems to work fine here, does it fail for anyone else?

The second button, Edit, works great if there is a file listed in the file path field. It opens MXED as expected. If there is no file path listed, clicking the button does nothing. Maybe that's expected, but it would be better if it would be greyed out until there's something editable listed in the file path.

Yes, it is the expected behavior. We will look if there is a way to grey out the button when the path is invalid.

The third button, Refresh, still does nothing for me. If I create a new mxm or load in a pre-existing one, then edit it, I'd expect the Refresh button to represh the preview.

Probably the "preview" words are confusing and we must change the name. When you hit this button, the plugin should read the basic parameters (color and texture right now) of the current mxm path and transfer them to the current formZ style. It is useful when you have a maxwell material with textures and you want to see this textures in the formZ viewport, so you can texture the objects inside formZ easily. It is explained in the manual, but as you say, adding a "refresh" button that refresh the preview image would be useful, no?

Oh...The Angle of Site North problem is fixed!!! Thanks for figuring out this one!

Great

Juan