[DavidR]

"Maxwell Studio doesn't render anything"

I'm not sure its as much Maxwell Studios fault as it could be HArdware Issues with some machines, maybe some weird file issuses..

So these problems ppl have may be much related to their own personal computer setup...

What the hell are you talking about? We all have f*cked-up hardware and file systems from Uranus?!? No, this backlash is 100% NL's doing.

[iandavis]

Dude,

regarding any comment regarding "user error"

If you do basic statistical accounting here... there seems to be TWO people that I've come across that had no problem... that's roughly .5% in the positive field.

So, when it comes down to it... is it even statistically POSSIBLE that it has anything to do with our machines?

I installed maxwell RC1 on two different machines, one XP one Win2k... one athlonX2, one P4. both failed... both I was unable to actually make work, and after SEVERAL hours I simply deleted the whole mess.

edit: oh yah... I certainly will be waiting a few days and checking to see the fallout before wasting my time with RC2... if'n when it ever materializes.

Software this embrionic should never see the light of day. It's not just a frustration issue, I'd be worried about messing up thousands of users. Seen it before. DLLs, the registry, etc... it's not something to be messed with! Windows has a hard enough time just FUNCTIONING... I for one don't bloody appreciate being duped into installing software barely out of diapers on my workstation potentially interfering with my ability to earn money. Now I have to figure out why my newly reinstalled beta no longer works. Thanks NL... not only did you TOTALLY let us all down with this heap of alpha nonesense you cost us time and energy even going back to what we had before.

It has nothing to do with the reasonablility of a product taking time to develop, this was BLATANT DECEPTION! OH, RIGHT what can we expect for the FINAL at the end of December. PHAA! If the RC is any indication it will devolve into a slightly more stable and feature functional RC2.

NL... gotta join the real world... take some pointers from your competition on how to handle disaster... this osterich routine is getting way old.

sad.

[3dtrialpractice]

Well again sorry,
Im not trrying to argue with anyone, i know ppl are mad,

I have 3 licenses...

ALL THREE NOW I have INSTALLED and they ALL work with out crashing..

The preview render works, the render button works, Renders images.

there have been others Users not just 3 that RC is working for them...

BUT YES, there are lots of bugs in it, I havent had it crash yet, but Ive read posts that it freezes when trying to change the basic weight map, so ive steered clear of altering these.

ALL I can say, IS that I completely removed uninstalled and DELETED my OLD maxwell folder, then installed RC1 rebooted, and it works, loads, runs renders, on all three machines.

My only reason to comment to the last few posts was that there was a call for a "class action Lawsuite"
Thats my primary work, I do work for Trial- work for trial lawyers and other clients like the FBI and CNN.... and from what ive seen Its definatly NOT a cause for class action law suite...

Im SOOO SOO SORRY that your's havnt worked. But my only suggestion was that NL did not purposfully put out a app to SABOTAGE your work, yor carreer, or the previous working BETA...

My suggestion was, that there may be Hardware conflicts at play here...

and as far as interfering with your ability to make money,,, Yes maxewell is a great extra tool, BUT like MIKE VERTA has screamed all over these posts since alpha days,,,, DONT USE SOFTWARE IN DEVELOPMENT FOR PRODUCTION...

Everyones been warned, Even me, Ive had tons of problems in productin even with beta/alpha,, sometimes i got lucky and HAD NO problems and was able to use Maxwell in production, and others,, i GOT screwed, and had to stay late and render in maya software and MEntal ray... IT was my decision to take that risk... DONT be mad at NL becasue you thuohgt that all would be easy and each upgrade was gonna be better than next,, the history hasnt supported that, some releases we got, esp the last maya plugin for me was a STEP back, the previous release of that plug let me assign multiple shaders to the same object, the Latest plug for maya crashes when I try to assign multiple shaders to one object,, I had to tough it out, and make do.

So WE MUST ALL GET in the REAL world, NOt just netlimit, WE LIVE in a WORLD were S**T Happens... to expect that each release would be fine and Dandy IS NOT living inthe Real world...


AGAIN.. I TOTALLY FEEL YOU man,
BUT DON GIVE up on NL

ONE day, maybe your right NOT in december BUT ONE day, DAMN MAXWELL WILL JusT be Kickin it all over,
WE just wont believe we could ever live without it, but for now tough times...

Real world dictates: It always gets worst Before it gets better!
just wen stuff couldnt seem to get worst it will get worst, and then it will get better...THAT is the real world.


Again Im not arguing and I totally understand I too was hoping to download RC1 yesturday, Work all weekend and show my boss kick ass renders on Monday from RC1.... But now, Im rendering my project for monday in maya SOFTWARE.. and you know what would have been nice to have the pretty maxwell pics, But I didnt TELL my boss to expect pretty maxwell pics on monday, I stayed quiet and wanted to see what would happen, So he's not expecitng maxwell RC1 pics, and the pics i'll have will be great for him and the client, cuz hes already seen the Maya software Previs of it, and Has approved what it looked like in those previs pics, so he wont be disapoiinted, Wont be SUPRISED either like i hoped, but that would have been gravy on top, now we'll just make due...

So make due, be paitent, and try not to get mad anyomore...
sorry

[3dtrialpractice]

My only reason to comment to the last few posts was that there was a call for a "class action Lawsuite"
Thats my primary work, I do work for Trial- work for trial lawyers and other clients like the FBI and CNN.... and from what ive seen Its definatly NOT a cause for class action law suite...

Well, I *am* a lawyer and I wouldn't be so sure. Don't know much about EU law, but I suspect breach of contract is more or less the same.

YES, you would Definatly know better than I, I'm just a kid and only know what they tell me, and try to do what would graphically help lawyers stories, I HAve no law degree, so If this qualifies as breach of contract, which contract did we sign with nl?

But my questionis, did we sign a contract?

All ive seen is the agreement that we hit Ok upon install, and does that Bind NL to a contract? Its more to protect them, says that if it does damage to our computers etc, its not their fault, right.

plus, since RC works for some users that is why I thouhgt this would not qualify for a lawsuit..

I culd see maybe that if everyone 100% that Tried to install this and it didnt work there would be a problem, but it does work for a good number of ppl.

I just dont know.
This is my first experience with developing software.
HONESTLY i couldnt be more exited, Its Exiting to have these issues, It will make it that much more worth it when Maxwell finally works 100% knowing all the stuff we had to go throught, its a rollercoaster , It has its ups and downs, strikes and gutters (as the DUDE from Big lebowski would say). we just have to wait for new info to come to light.

patiently waiting
-L

[3dtrialpractice]

[quote= This is why I now do 3D for a living instead of practicing law. [/quote]

Well Adam, I am SO glad youre doing 3D now, because I have really enjoyed your work, your renders are great, and you bring good ideas and discussion to the forum. - i love the renders in your gallery, the one of the attic with the rusty metal beams and the chairs on springs, the render of the emmyish gold statue, and the render with the colored glass ceiling lobby. your work is great.

once RC maxwell is up and running, and that cinema4D plugin gets ironed out and in your hands, I cant wait to see your future renders!

thanks for the quick explination, and your great input/renders here in the forum.

-L

[Sheik]

I decided to install even after seeing all the posts. I changed the environment paths, made a copy of the licence and checked there is one in the root also. Also did the reboot. I can import a model but I don’t get a preview or render, and I can’t save. It doesn’t crash, it just doesn’t do anything. I have tried to find something I missed, but there are just so many posts out there already. What do I do next?
I hope 1.0 will not be released in December 2005.
Sheik

[Joss]

trust me, it is not supposed to read tons of posts to *eventually* have something working in a software for which you spent $$$
I have no time. I must product not to joke.
This is more like a pre-alpha test. And we are the testers.

You knew what are you doing, isnt'it? You knew, that product doesn't finished yet, and in your contract with NL NO DATE OF RELEASE SET.
Then why you spent these money on it, and plan some work based on it?

I'm reading all these comments about sueing NL, and laughing - which arguments you will use in court? "They promised us, and didn't kept their word"? Lol...

I have tried to find something I missed, but there are just so many posts out there already. What do I do next?

You have to read forum more carefully, there's a lot workarounds here.

[Mihai]

Sheik, could you post a screenshot of your environment variables?

[MetinSeven_com]

DONT USE SOFTWARE IN DEVELOPMENT FOR PRODUCTION...

I guess Next Limit's biggest problem is that their "beta" was actually an alpha and their "release candidate" is actually still an alpha, while a release candidate should be ready for production use.

It seems that Next Limit has seriously underestimated what they've started and reached way too high by simultaneously trying to develop a revolutionary stand-alone render engine and a dozen of different plug-ins with a relatively small team in an unrealistically short amount of development time.

I guess this bad situation Next Limit has maneouvred itself in is the reason why we're mainly being answered by Mike and Tom since several months.

I also think that only a totally honest and open communication might save Next Limit from receiving even more rotten tomatoes from its users.

[cnevians]

Alpha = CRASH permanently ...

Beta = Crash sometimes... but it's for erase mistake coding...
and implent new function
so not USED in PRODUCTION ...

RC = Used in production ... for burn CD software.. 2 monts after maximum ..

so actually RC1 is NOT A REAL RC version

so some explanations from Next limit is welcome ...
code and update hard is the good way ...

[DavidR]

Well again sorry,
Im not trrying to argue with anyone, i know ppl are mad,
My only reason to comment to the last few posts was that there was a call for a "class action Lawsuite"

I didn't call for a lawsuit, but suggested that NL might have opened themselves to that risk by changing MR so much for what is supposed to be beta. I guess it hinges on what "beta" means, and my understanding is that beta means feature-locked and focussed on bug-fixes/compatibility/stability. I was expecting an enhanced 1.2.2, launchable from Max, which already stretched the definition past what some might find acceptable, but this RC1 is clearly a new, separate product, like when a product claims to be "new and improved"
I have (almost) no sympathy for people who rely on beta software for production, but if someone has found previous MR versions reliable in production, they have a reasonable expectation that subsequent versions work as well. I'm no lawyer, but I know that the case could hinge on definitions of "reasonable expectation" and "beta", and it's hard to imagine how NL could defend themselves. I love previous MR, and hope that the next fix will make me happy again, but I really hope NL takes all this to heart, and includes us in future beta testing, rather than exclusion until release. For my money (4 licenses) I expect my opinion to affect the direction of development, and I want to be in the loop from beginning to end.

[Xlars]

To get a clean install (I did not deinstall Maxwell Beta first time) I now have done a total de-install and clean up (deleting directories etc.). And then reinstalled again. Paths corrected and license files copied. And now I can not start the render from Max.

I suspect that I need to tell Windows how to open a .mxs file (ie. change the Open With settings for such a file type)? If I right click eg. MikesTest.mxs and look at the Properties, then no program is assigned to it? How does that look in your system?

Command line rendering eg. "mxcl -mxs:MikesTest.mxs o:MikesTest.jpg -d -th:0" from a prompt works fine

Thanks

[Sheik]

I am making progress on the installation, sort of…
I didn’t un-install the beta before installation. There was a licence.txt file in the Maxwell root, but I noticed it is not same as the licence.dat. After copying the dat file I pointed to it from the help menu in Studio. I can now save files, and rendering crashes, that is my progress.
There are two versions of the Path variable. I tried both:
C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell\mxcl\ (I can start a render in studio from the render button, but it crashes directly, no previev).
C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell\;C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell\mxcl\ (render doesn’t start, no preview)
Is one rigt? Do I need to reboot after every change?

I hope NL can send an update on Monday with some of the obvious bugs fixed. Some of us are still struggling with installation …
Sheik

[max3d]

Sheik,
Could it be that on your Finnish system 'Program files' has a different name? If so, than you have to adjust the path and root line with your version of it.

[cnevians]

i restart windows xp pro here...
and that running good ...

so restart ... good idea ...