Monthly Archives: May 2011

Getting model.Mixer.CompoundContainer.mixer.normalize with the OM (or how I learned to love the SDK Explorer)

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In this video, I show a few common techniques for finding your way through the Object Model (OM) hierarchy with the help of the SDK explorer.
In summary, here are some of the most common ways to navigate an object hierarchy:

  • Object Model methods/properties, like Model.Mixer or Mixer.Transitions.
  • Parameters and Properties collections
  • NestedObjects

http://vimeo.com/23877816

Here’s the JScript from the video:

// I want to get this: "MocapMan.Mixer.CompoundContainer.mixer.normalize"

// One step at a time
var mdl = Dictionary.GetObject("MocapMan");

var oMixer = mdl.Mixer;
var oCompounds = oMixer.NestedObjects("Compounds");
var oAnimation = oCompounds.NestedObjects( "Animation" );
var oCompoundContainer = oAnimation.NestedObjects( "CompoundContainer" );
var oMixer = oCompoundContainer.NestedObjects( "Mixer" );
var n = oMixer.NestedObjects( "Normalize" );

LogMessage( n.Value );

// All on one line:
var n = mdl.Mixer.NestedObjects("Compounds").NestedObjects("Animation").NestedObjects("CompoundContainer").NestedObjects("Mixer").NestedObjects("Normalize");
LogMessage( n.Value );

// Or something a little less ... nested:
var n = Dictionary.GetObject( mdl.Mixer.FullName + ".CompoundContainer.mixer.normalize" );

Python snippets. Had to re-dispatch to get it to work.

import win32com.client

mdl = Application.Dictionary.GetObject("MocapMan")

n = mdl.Mixer.NestedObjects("Compounds").NestedObjects("Animation").NestedObjects("CompoundContainer").NestedObjects("Mixer").NestedObjects("Normalize")
n = win32com.client.Dispatch(n)

Application.LogMessage( Application.ClassName(n) )
Application.LogMessage( n.Value )


n = Application.Dictionary.GetObject( mdl.Mixer.FullName + ".CompoundContainer.mixer.normalize" );
n = win32com.client.Dispatch(n)
Application.LogMessage( n.Value )

Softimage 2012 startup crash on Ubuntu

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A customer reported that while he was running Softimage 2011 fine on Ubuntu, Softimage 2012 crashed at startup.

The problem turned out to be the microsecond character (µs) in $XSI_HOME/Application/spdl/MentalRayOptions.spdl:

	Parameter "DiagnosticMaxPixelTime"
	{
		GUID		= {0A2DA6AE-B850-4189-BE71-BD244F8938A4};	// GUID_MentalRayOptions_DiagnosticMaxPixelTime
		Label		= "Max Pixel Time (µs)";

For some reason, this causes problems on some Linux flavors, but not on Fedora.
The solution was to edit the .spdl, and remove the “(µs)” from the string “Max Pixel Time (µs)”.

Hat Tip to Sean Donnelly for the solution.

For reference, here’s the gbd backtrace for the startup crash. Note that it pretty clearly points to some problem related the spdl 😉

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x00007ffff4bd588a in CSIString::AllocBSTR() const () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libsigeneral.so
(gdb) bt full
#0  0x00007ffff4bd588a in CSIString::AllocBSTR() const () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libsigeneral.so
No symbol table info available.
#1  0x00007ffff56e59ea in SpdlValue2Variant(miSpdl_PropertyValue const&, tagVARIANT&) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libspdlparse.so
No symbol table info available.
#2  0x00007fffce5976cc in CSpdlPopulate::AddPropertyDefaults(miSpdl_Property*, CComPtr&) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libspdlpop.so
No symbol table info available.
#3  0x00007fffce597a05 in CSpdlPopulate::AddPropertyDefaults(miSpdl_Property*) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libspdlpop.so
No symbol table info available.
#4  0x00007fffce597b04 in CSpdlPopulate::AddToParamDict(miSpdl_Property*) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libspdlpop.so
No symbol table info available.
#5  0x00007fffce597baf in CSpdlPopulate::AddToParamDict(miSpdl_Section*) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libspdlpop.so
No symbol table info available.
#6  0x00007fffce598e90 in CSpdlPopulate::DoAll() () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libspdlpop.so
No symbol table info available.
#7  0x00007fffce59513b in CSpdlParser::DoParse(tagS3DSPDLPARSERINFO*) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libspdlpop.so
No symbol table info available.
#8  0x00007ffff5ea0da1 in DSCompileSPDLEx(_GUID const&, IUnknown*, char const*) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libdssdk10.so
No symbol table info available.
#9  0x00007fffca3b7600 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libmentalray.so
No symbol table info available.
#10 0x00007fffd9a9b041 in C3DActiveData::Initialize(_GUID const&) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libactivedata.so
No symbol table info available.
#11 0x00007fffd9a7f39c in C3DActiveData::Construct() () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libactivedata.so
No symbol table info available.
#12 0x00007fffca3b965e in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libmentalray.so
No symbol table info available.
#13 0x00007fffca3c6a76 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libmentalray.so
No symbol table info available.
#14 0x00007fffca3c8500 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libmentalray.so
No symbol table info available.
#15 0x00007ffff5e8eab4 in SICreateInstanceEx(_GUID const&, IUnknown*, unsigned int, _GUID const&, void**) () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libdssdk10.so
No symbol table info available.
#16 0x00007fffca38f8c2 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libmentalray.so
No symbol table info available.
#17 0x00007fffced89f50 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/librendercore.so
No symbol table info available.
#18 0x00007fffcedc4c14 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/librendercore.so
No symbol table info available.
#19 0x00007fffcedc5a2c in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/librendercore.so
No symbol table info available.
#20 0x00007fffcedc674d in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/librendercore.so
No symbol table info available.
#21 0x00007fffd30530af in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libscnmgr.so
No symbol table info available.
#22 0x00007fffd3055bbd in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libscnmgr.so
No symbol table info available.
#23 0x00007fffd3014899 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libscnmgr.so
No symbol table info available.
#24 0x00007fffd304853a in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libscnmgr.so
No symbol table info available.
#25 0x00007fffd304bc15 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libscnmgr.so
No symbol table info available.
#26 0x00007fffdf7f4b69 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libdssdkco.so
No symbol table info available.
#27 0x00007fffdf7f38b2 in ?? () from /usr/Softimage/Softimage_2012/Application/bin/libdssdkco.so
No symbol table info available.

Texturing topology created by ICE modeling

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It seems to me that when I apply a texture to a mesh I created with Set Topology, I have to create two texture projections. The first one ends up with an empty TextureProjection_AUTO cluster, but the second one has a good TextureProjection_AUTO cluster.

Or if I first created a weight map or a CAV and did some painting, then I’d have a complete cluster that worked when I applied a texture.

2012 Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites win Silver Edge Award

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via Computer Graphics World – CGW Reveals Its Silver Edge Awards, Names First Winners.

Computer Graphics World (www.cgw.com) has unveiled its Silver Edge Awards, a designation presented to companies whose product represents the best of show at the industry’s leading conferences and exhibitions, including Game Developers Conference, NAB Show, and SIGGRAPH.

“There are a number of products—software, hardware, or possibly something that falls into a totally different category—that cause excitement and buzz at a trade show, or have the potential to greatly impact the industry. We wanted to formally recognize these cutting-edge offerings following the industry’s most important exhibitions, naming them as a CGW Silver Edge Award winner,” says chief editor Karen Moltenbrey.

Service packs and disconnected shaders

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This post is about the latest 2011 service packs:

  • Softimage 2011 SP2
  • Softimage 2011 Subscription Advantage Pack SP1

and the “disconnected shader” issue.

How do I use the Service Pack to fix shader corruption?

The Service Pack repairs corrupted shaders, but it cannot re-connect shaders, so you will still have disconnected shaders. But the shader corruption will be removed.

To repair corrupted shaders:

  1. Open a scene or import a model.
    If a scene or model is already corrupted, you may see warnings in the history log when you open the asset. Softimage repairs the corruption while loading the asset.
  2. Save the asset to remove any corruption.
    If a scene/model is corrupted, you’ll see warnings in the history log when you save it.
    Softimage repairs the corruption while saving the asset.
  3. Load the asset again. The corruption is removed, and you can work with the scene as usual.
    Now you need to repair the disconnected render trees.
    Watch for any errors or warnings when you save the scene again.

IMPORTANT: If problems still occur when working with external material libraries, change them to be internal.

What causes the problem, and when can it happen?

  • The problem can occur anytime you do anything that requires Softimage to create a shaderdef (the internal master definition of a shader).
    For example, when you load a scene, import a model, import a mat lib, load a preset, and so on. Any action that creates a shader.
  • Shader corruption can happen in Softimage 2011 and Softimage 2011.5 (SAP) problem.
    It won’t happen in 2010 (or in 2012, 2011 SP2, or 2011.5 SAP SP1).
  • It doesn’t matter what version of Softimage was used to create the asset. The problem can happen when the asset is loaded into 2011 or 2011.5.

What does the Service Pack fix?

The Service Pack repairs corrupted shaders, but it does not re-connect shaders in render trees.

In some situations, corrupted shaders may not be repaired.

For example, if the shader definition is unknown (for example, an Arnold shader) or if the shaderdef was not persisted for the shader (can happen through the loading and saving of a scene with a corrupted shader—at some point you could have a scene that contains the shader but no shaderdef).

To remove these corrupted shaders, you can use shift-delete if delete is not working.

Why a SP instead of a HF?

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If you’re wondering why we released a service pack instead of another hot fix, here’s an explanation from Luc-Eric, our sw dev mgr:

The thinking is that the scene corruption hot fixes are important enough that you should delete other version of 2012 Softimage 2011 and just have this one. With a service pack versioned, you can tell that you have the fixes installed, otherwise there is no telling if you are you using “the good” or “the bad” version of 2012 2011, because we’re just distributing hotfixes as zip with loose DLLs and you can’t tell if you’ve installed it correctly. Hotfixes are normally for things that are important, but not absolutely essential. I think this one is critical.

edit: fixed typo in version number