Macromedia Extreme 3D 1.0/EXTREME_3D.iso/nt_info/trblshot.txt

Text File | 1996-01-10 | 26KB | 576 lines

TROUBLESHOOTING

This file provides important information that can help you solve
problems you might encounter when working with Extreme 3D.

MODELING

PROBLEM: I normally have both bold and italic choices for some of
my True Type system fonts. Why aren't they available?

SOLUTION: If you disable ATM while running Extreme 3D your bold
and italic True Type font choices will be available.

PROBLEM: With ATM installed and on, Type 1 fonts don't show up
in the text preferences.

SOLUTION: ATM is not supported on NT or Win32s. Use Macintosh
or Windows 95 operating systems to take advantage of ATM.

PROBLEM: I tried to bevel extrude a font outline and it seems to
have caused my system to fail.

SOLUTION: Your system probably hasn't failed. Bevel extruding
takes a long time. Try moving your mouse before you decide to
reboot your machine. If you can move your mouse, you can assume
Extreme 3D is working to bevel extrude the text.

PROBLEM: I extruded a line and now I can't select it with the mouse.

SOLUTION: Extruding a line results in a zero-depth polygon. When
viewed from an edge, zero-depth polygons are not selectable with
the mouse. If you create an object that the mouse does not
recognize, either change your view and select the object from its side
or use the World browser to select the object.

PROBLEM: My trim curves appear to be deleted after I perform a
trim.

SOLUTION: Extreme 3D does not delete trim curves after a trim
operation, but it does hide them. If you want to make the trim curves
visible, choose Show from the Objects menu, then choose Trim
Curves.

PROBLEM: I can't seem to trim an object that I have simplified twice.
What should I do?

SOLUTION: Polymesh objects (objects that have been simplified
twice) cannot be trimmed. Use Undo or History Backwards from the
Edit menu or Revert from the File menu to restore the defining
geometry of your object. Then perform the trim before you simplify it
twice.

PROBLEM: Shift+Tab does not move me backwards in the tool
space.

SOLUTION: Extreme 3D may not be receiving the Shift+Tab
command. If you are using a SCSI Probe utility, the SCSI Probe
Volume Monitoring Init may be intercepting the command instead.
Try turning the mounting init of the SCSI Probe utility off.

PROBLEM: I copied a model from one scene and pasted it into
another scene. After doing this, a new object called ParentofPasted
showed up in the World browser. What is it and what should I do with
it?

SOLUTION: If a cut or copy selection contains more than one object,
Extreme 3D creates a construction point that serves as a reference
for the objects' spatial relationships to each other and to the world. It
then links the objects to this construction point and names it
ParentofPasted. When the model is pasted into the new scene, you
can used ParentofPasted to place the model in the scene however
you want it. Once you have the model where you want it, you can
unlink it from ParentofPasted and delete the ParentofPasted object
from the World browser. Deleting it before you unlink the model from
it deletes the whole model.

PROBLEM: I simplified a linked model in order to deform it. When I
choose the deform tool I still get the Object Not Simplified dialog box,
prompting me to simplify it. Isn't it already simplified?

SOLUTION: When you simplify an object using the menu command
only the parent object is simplified. If you choose the deformation
tool first before you simplify your object, you can set the downtree
preference, which will pass the simplification as well as the
deformation to all child objects.

PROBLEM: When deforming linked objects, all my objects are not
deforming along the same axis.

SOLUTION: Linked models whose objects don't have the same
orientations deform not along a common x-, y-, or z-axis, but along
their individual x-, y-, or z-axes. To deform this kind of linked model,
choose the Along Working Plane's Z-Axis option from the Deform
Tools Preferences dialog box.

PROBLEM: When I change the relationship between two linked
objects so that the child becomes the parent and the parent
becomes the child, their linked behaviors don't seem to change
accordingly. The object that was initially the parent continues to
behave as the parent even after I have made it the child.

SOLUTION: Parents cannot become children of their children unless
you unlink them or reparent them to the world first.

ANIMATING

PROBLEM: The X key doesn't disable snapping for the playback
head. What can I do?

SOLUTION: The X key disables snapping for keyframe placement,
snapping of the playback head to timeline markers. You can disable
snapping for the playback head by setting the time display mode in
Preferences to seconds rather than frames. Snapping does not apply
in this mode.

PROBLEM: Sometimes, keyframe snapping doesn't seem to work at
any frame resolution other than 1. What can I do if I want to make
sure a keyframe snaps to a whole frame when my time scale is set to
a value other than one?

SOLUTION: If this occurs, cut the keyframe that isn't snapping by
selecting it and choosing Cut from the Edit menu. Set the current
time field to the frame at which you want the keyframe to be. Insert a
keyframe at that time by choosing Insert Keyframe from the Animate
menu and paste the keyframe value into it by choosing Paste from
the Edit menu. Setting the current time field to a whole frame value
and using the Insert keyframe command insures that the keyframe
occurs at the frame specified.

PROBLEM: While animating in one Extreme 3D scene, I opened a
second Extreme 3D scene. Now, the changes I make in the second
scene are not entering the score.

SOLUTION: Check the animation toggle (the red button on the
animation controls).The state of the animation toggle is not saved in
the scene file. You might have turned it off while animating in the first
scene. Once you turn it off, it remains turned off until you change its
state.

PROBLEM: The values in the position fields in the score do not
correspond to values in the same position fields in the Objects
browser. Which one is correct?

SOLUTION: Both are correct. The score displays values from the
object's personal matrix; this corresponds to Parent Relative in the
Objects browser.

PROBLEM: I hid an object as part of an animated sequence, but
when I play the animation, the object does not disappear.

SOLUTION: Make sure the Animate Visibility Changes checkbox in
the Preferences dialog box is checked. The Animate Visibility
Changes preference serves two functions--it determines whether
visibility tracks are added to the score, and it draws objects in their
current visibility state at each frame.

PROBLEM: When I have my preview FPS set to 30 frames a second
and am previewing in bounding box mode, thirty frames of animation
play in less than a second. How can I do a real-time preview of my
animation?

SOLUTION: A quick way to do a real-time animation preview is to set
the Max Render Style of your window to Bounding Box or Wireframe
and render the animation as a QuickTime or AVI movie. By setting
the Start and End times to define a particular section of animation
you'd like to test, you can further speed up the time it takes the
movie to render.

PROBLEM: If I have the Objects browser open as I play back an
animation the numerical fields on the special pages of the Objects
browser do not update after the playback.

SOLUTION: Close the Objects browser and then open it again. The
values are reflected properly.

PROBLEM: I want to make the texture map I assigned to my object
animate its orientation along the object's surface. So I selected the
object's Texture Orient track in the score, set the current time field to
my end frame value and then chose Auto Rotate from the Animate
menu. I got an orientation track for my object instead of texture
orientation tracks.

SOLUTION: Select the Texture Orient track of your object and insert
a keyframe at a time other than 0 to create a Texture Orient track.
Then create dummy object and use Auto Rotate to create an
orientation track for that object that ends at the time you want the
texture map animation to end. Copy that track. Then select the
Texture Orient track of the object whose map you want to animate
and paste the copied track into it.

PROBLEM: I want to make a copy of my camera view in order to
experiment with some changes, but Extreme 3D doesn't let me
duplicate the camera view. What can I do?

SOLUTION: Make the window containing the camera view the
current window. Then choose New View from the View menu. A new
view with the same settings as the camera view is added to the
views list in the Views browser.

PROBLEM: I want to replace the camera's view with a different view,
so I copied the view I wanted, then switched to the camera's view
and pasted it. I expected this to replace the camera's view with the
pasted view but it didn't.

SOLUTION: Pasting a view does not replace the current view. If you
want to replace a camera's view with a different view, select the view
you want in the Views browser and, in the animation controls, set the
current time field to the time at which you want the camera to
assume that view. Then choose Align Camera from the View menu
and choose To View. This copies the current view to the camera
view at the current time.

PROBLEM: I watch linked my camera to an object, but during certain
moves the camera rotates in a way I don't want. How can I have
more control of the camera's orientation when it is watch linked?

SOLUTION: When watch linking the camera or any other object to
another, you can gain additional control of the watcher's orientation
by free linking it to an intermediate object (which can be hidden) and
then watch linking the intermediate object to the intended target.

PROBLEM: I animated the camera on a path which cuts between
two large objects. When I scale the view the path the camera travels
looks different.

SOLUTION: When animating the camera by making it a child of an
object which follows a specific path, scaling the camera view will
change the position of the camera. To avoid this, the view can be
'scaled' by modifying the view choosing Custom from the Perspective
submenu under the View menu. Keep Scale for the camera constant
throughout the animation.

LIGHTS AND MATERIALS

PROBLEM: I selected a light in the score and want to use the
Convert Profile to Path command, but it is dimmed on my menu.

SOLUTION: When you want to create a position track for a light
object using the Convert Profile To Path command, you must select
the light in the score as an object. To do this, choose Profiles in the
Object rather than Lights. This displays the light's object properties
including its position. If you select the light using the Lights filter, the
menu choice is dimmed.

PROBLEM: After I moved my spotlight object, the spotlight rendered
from a completely different position than I expected. The position
isn't the same as the light object's position. Why? Also, I can't seem
to select the light object anymore.

SOLUTION: When you selected your light you may have double-
clicked the light object. This opens the light object's geometry. With
the light's geometry open, it is easy to inadvertently drag the light
object's center point instead of the light object. Because the light
object rotates around its center point, like all other objects, the
inadvertent moving of the center point would make the spotlight
object's position different from its rendered position. You can't select
the light because the position of the light object no longer represents
its true position. To recover your light, choose Revert from the file
menu to revert to your last saved version of the file.

PROBLEM: I don't see a visible light cone even though I checked
Dustiness on the Dust Cone page of the Lights editor for my light.
Why?

SOLUTION: Check the perspective setting of your view. If it is
currently set to orthographic, change it to one of the other settings.
Dust effects don't show up in orthographic perspective because dust
effects require depth information.

PROBLEM: I have a visible light with a negative intensity that doesn't
seem to render over my background.

SOLUTION: Create a background object instead of using a
background image or color from Set Background. Link it to the
camera so it moves as the camera moves.

PROBLEM: It seems as if adding fall off for dust cones makes my
light much brighter.

SOLUTION: Adjust dust falloff to make falloff longer, and turn the
amount of dust down.

PROBLEM: I edited a material that is already applied to an object in
my scene. When I press the Preview button the preview window in
the Materials browser updates but the object in the scene does not
reflect the edits I made to its material.

SOLUTION: Material changes are not applied until the scene is
rendered. Choose Refresh from the Window menu to see some
material changes. Other material changes, such as Opacity changes,
can only be seen by choosing Final Render to Screen or by
performing a final render.

PROBLEM: In a previous session of Extreme 3D I created some
texture maps and saved them as TEX files to another directory. Now
when I open Extreme 3D these textures do not appear in the texture
selection list of the texture page of the Materials editor for texture
map materials. How do I get them to show up?

SOLUTION: Copy or move your TEX files into the Scripts/Materials
directory or folder in Extreme 3D. When you restart Extreme 3D they
will appear in the list of loaded textures.

If a material in your scene calls for a TEX file that you saved in
another location, you'll get an error message on loading the scene
saying that Extreme 3D can't find the texture map. Go to the
Materials browser and choose Select Catalog. Using the system
directory dialog box, find the name of the directory where the
textures are located and select it. The missing texture map will be
loaded into the scene.

PROBLEM: I used a full color photograph to create my bump map
and didn't get the results I expected. Why?

SOLUTION: Extreme 3D does not convert images to gray scale
when it creates a bump map from an image. It uses the blue and
green channels instead. You will get the most predictable results for
bump maps by using 8-bit gray scale. However, you can get some
very rich effects using color images if you understand how Extreme
3D converts them to bump maps. See the README for technical
information on writing a utility that converts color images to bump
maps.

RENDERING

PROBLEM: I specified a background picture for my scene, but it is
the wrong size and I am unable to scale it.

SOLUTION: When you need to scale or otherwise manipulate the
background picture use a texture map instead of the Set Background
command. To use a texture map to create the effect of a
background, extrude a rectangle big enough to extend beyond the
edges of your scene. Position the rectangle in your scene, then apply
an image to it by using one of the texture map materials. You can
then use the texture map tools, the mouse, and the keyboard to
position and scale the picture the way you want it.

PROBLEM: I rendered my file using a custom window size and
saved the file. Now all the objects are rendered in bounding box
render style in the workspace.

SOLUTION: Choose Refresh from the Window menu to render the
workspace in the Max Render Style specified for your current
window.

PROBLEM: The models in my final render don't seem to have high
polygon resolutions. Why and how can I change it?

SOLUTION: Polygon resolution is set in the Uniform or Adaptive
smoothing dialog boxes. (Which smoothing technique you use
depends on the model and how you want it to look and behave.) It
could be that the default value for final render settings is not high
enough for your scene. Try setting the final render smoothness value
in either dialog box to 0.9. Press the Option key (Macintosh) or the
F3 key (Windows) while clicking OK or Update in either dialog box to
apply the new smoothness settings down tree to child objects. For
more about polygon resolution and smoothness settings see the
Lights and Materials and Rendering chapters in Using Extreme 3D.

(Note: To export DXF files using a higher model resolution, set the
interactive smoothness setting in either dialog box to a high value,
such as 0.9. )

PROBLEM: I rendered my animation as an AVI movie and it is very
blurry. What should I do?

SOLUTION: Re-rendering your animation using the default Cinepak
compression should result in crisper images.

PROBLEM: In the Render to Disk dialog box I chose AVI/QuickTime
and want to do a distributed rendering of my animation. But the
Submit box is dimmed.

SOLUTION: AVI and QuickTime movies cannot be rendered via
network rendering. Choose Targa Sequence to render an animation
sequence via network rendering.

PROBLEM: In the Render to Disk dialog box I chose AVI/QuickTime
with the high resolution controls. But the Render box is dimmed.

SOLUTION: AVI and QuickTime movies cannot be rendered at high
resolution. Choose Targa to render high resolution images.

PROBLEM: When I render a QuickTime file using no compression
and thousands of colors, the objects render red.

SOLUTION: If you encounter this problem, try changing either the
compression option or the color setting.

PROBLEM: When working on a Macintosh, an error message
regarding insufficient memory allocated to QuickTime appears during
a render.

SOLUTION: To fix this, you can reduce your partition size for
Extreme 3D or other applications you are currently running. Refer to
your Macintosh manual for instructions.

PROBLEM: When working in Windows 95, network drives that
Windows recognizes are not recognized by Extreme 3D when setting
up a distributed rendering path.

SOLUTION: In order to use network drives for distributed rendering
under Windows 95, the network drive must be mapped to a letter.
Refer to your Windows manual for instructions.

IMPORT/EXPORT

PROBLEM: When I export a file, Extreme 3D I get an image
rendered by the interactive renderer rather than the final renderer.

SOLUTION: Choose Final Render to Screen from the Render menu
before exporting a file.

PROBLEM: A DXF file that I imported from AutoCAD does not
include the layer information or certain line types from the original
file.

SOLUTION: You can re-create these aspects of the file using
Extreme 3D. Create new layers using the Extreme 3D Layers
browser, and edit lines as necessary.

PROBLEM: I exported a file from Extreme 3D as a Swivel 3D file. But
Infini-D 3.0 cannot import it.

SOLUTION: Export the file from Extreme 3D as a DXF file rather
than a Swivel 3D file and then reimport it into Infini-D.

PROBLEM: I imported a file that I created with Adobe Illustrator 4 (for
Windows) into Extreme 3D and got an error message "Error Reading
Metafile".

SOLUTION: Your file should work if you export it from Illustrator as
an Illustrator file rather than as a metafile.

PROBLEM: When I import a metafile from Freehand 5.0 the objects
appear as separate line segments in Extreme 3D.

SOLUTION: Save the Freehand file in Freehand format and then
reimport it into Extreme 3D.

PROBLEM: When I import a Freehand 5.0 template I get a prompt
that says "Save to stationery pad." What should I do?

SOLUTION: Extreme 3D will import the file properly if you export it as
a Freehand document rather than a Freehand template.

PROBLEM: When I attempt to export 2D geometry to Draw PICT, my
data appears to be lost.

SOLUTION: Make sure the Max Render Style is set to Wireframe in
the Window Setup dialog box before exporting 2D geometry to Draw
PICT.

PROBLEM: When I import an EPS file into Extreme 3D, I can't see it.
Why?

SOLUTION: The EPS file actually is there, but it's usually up to the
right of the screen out of view. This is because the position of your
artwork is relative to the "origin point" used to describe the file.

The coordinate system of a PostScript page starts at the lower left
corner of the page. This is the (0,0) origin point. If you check the
numbers given for the position of a shape in FreeHand's Inspector
palette, you'll see that all positions are relative to the lower-left corner
of the page.
When an EPS file is imported into Extreme 3D, it uses the 3D world's
coordinate system. These have the (0,0) origin point at the center of
the screen--by default, at the center of the Working Plane. This is
why the artwork appears way off in the upper right; PostScript tools
measure from the lower left corner, while 3D tools measure from the
center.

(Note: When a multipage FreeHand file is exported as EPS,
however, it uses global coordinates. This gives a common set of
references to all pages in the file. This global coordinate system
starts at the lower left corner of the pasteboard, not of the page. The
coordinates for a shape drawn on the default page will have very
high values; the shape is placed to the upper right of the origin.)

To fix this, you can use either of two techniques:

1) Export and import as before, then choose Fit to Window from the
View menu in Extreme 3D. Assuming that the working plane is in its
default visible condition, this will zoom out the view and you'll see
both artwork and working plane. Select the artwork and drag it where
you want it.

2) Or, before exporting the file from FreeHand, open the Document
page of the FreeHand Inspector and drag the current page down to
the lower left corner of the pasteboard. Now all those coordinates will
be much lower in magnitude. When you export this EPS file it will
come in very close to the center of the 3D world in MacroModel or
Extreme 3D.

PERFORMANCE

Managing Memory

PROBLEM: My Extreme 3D file won't open or when It does open it
won't render.

SOLUTION: You may not have enough memory allocated to Extreme
3D. When there is not enough memory (RAM), you can either
increase the amount of memory available to Extreme 3D or reduce
the amount needed. You can change the available memory by
closing applications and files.

Factors that increase the need for memory for Extreme 3D include
complex models or large numbers of models, many open views or
large window sizes, or the use of many keyframes. The memory
being used by objects includes shape and animation data.

Also, Extreme 3D requires more memory during the initial use of
large texture, bump, or reflection maps, for calculating transparency,
or for rendering many or complex objects or texture maps.

Macintosh Partition Size Recommendations

A partition is the RAM memory allocated to an application by the
Finder when it launches the application. A 16000K partition size is
suggested.

On the Macintosh you can also tune memory by reducing the
partition sizes of applications with temporarily low requirements.
Change a partition size on a Macintosh by using the Get Info dialog
box on an inactive application.

GENERAL ISSUES

PROBLEM: I want to delete a layer from the Layers browser. But
when I select the layer in the Layers browser and then choose Cut
from the Edit menu, Extreme 3D cuts the objects from the workspace
instead of deleting the layer.

SOLUTION: The Delete button in the Layer browser must be used to
delete a layer. Use Undo or History Backward from the Edit menu to
recover the cut objects.

PROBLEM: When I press the Help button in any Windows system
dialog box I don't get help. What should I do?

SOLUTION: Close the dialog box and press F1 or go to the Help
menu and choose Help.

PROBLEM: How do I choose the best window size for optimal
performance on my system?

SOLUTION: For optimal performance on a computer with 16 MB of
RAM, use the default workspace size of 512 x 342 and an 8-bit depth
image. For optimal performance on a larger monitor and a computer
with more than 16 MB of RAM available, use a 640 x 480 workspace
and a 32-bit depth image.

PROBLEM: Long file names that I specify when creating an Extreme
3D file on a Macintosh or in Windows 95 are not displayed in
Windows 3.1.

SOLUTION: Windows 3.1 doesn't accept long file names. If you're
going to use files in a cross-platform environment, the files should
conform to the naming conventions of the most restrictive platform, in
this case, Windows 3.1.

PROBLEM: When working with Extreme 3D on a Macintosh, if I
receive a notification that I have a mail message, it causes my
Extreme 3D toolbar to disappear.

SOLUTION: If this happens on your system, be sure to turn off e-mail
notification when working with Extreme 3D.

PROBLEM: When I print to an Imagewriter II I get a blank image.
What do I need to do so that my image prints?

SOLUTION: Use the Best setting rather than the draft setting when
printing to an Imagewriter II.