Ambient Occlusion number of samples

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If the Number of samples is set to 0 for the XSIAmbientOcclusion shader, Softimage 2010 memory usage will go through the roof as soon as Softimage has to render. This didn’t happen in 7.5, so it’s easy to load up an existing scene, open the Material Manager or Render Tree, and then see Softimage hang up while rendering a shaderball. That’s how this issue was originally discovered.

On a related note, here’s a JScript snippet that shows how to find all the XSIAmbientOcclusion shaders and check the samples values. 

// XSIAmbientOcclusion Class ID
var sClassID = "{FF66A9F8-BB42-480D-834D-BC5FC6E3AD23}"
var oColl = FindObjects( null, sClassID ) ;

oEnum = new Enumerator( oColl ) ;
for (;!oEnum.atEnd();oEnum.moveNext() )
{
	var oAOShader = oEnum.item() ;
	LogMessage( oAOShader.Parameters("samples").Value );
//	LogMessage( oAOShader.samples.Value );
}

No interactive network license available on Vista, Windows 7

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When you install Softimage and the license server on the same Vista or Windows 7 computer, you’ll get the “no interactive network license available” error unless you do one of the following:

  • Use the IPv4 address, not the computer name, to specify the location of the license server

    -or-

  • Install the IPv6 update for the Autodesk Network License Manager.

By default, on Vista and Windows 7, IPv6 is enabled, and when IPv6 is enabled Softimage cannot use the computer name to connect to the license server. This happens only when Softimage and the license server are on the same computer.

Autodesk Softimage Promotion

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See http://www.resources.autodesk.com/med/Autodesk_Softimage_Promotion

From the FAQ, here are some details:

From February 1, 2009 through January 15, 2010, Softimge XSI customers will have the option to migrate their existing products to the then current Autodesk Softimage products at 50% off SRP when purchased with Autodesk Subscription.

All migration purchases will be fulfilled with Autodesk network products. If standalone licenses are desired, a request to downgrade to standalone licenses should be noted on the order.

WARNING – Unknown flag (ignored) : -processing

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When you use the -processing flag, you can ignore the “Unknown flag” warning. As long as you see “License information: using [Processing]”, you know that xsibatch is using one of the unlimited processing licenses.

C:\Softimage\Softimage_2010_x64\Application\bin>xsibatch -processing-script hello.js
=======================================================
 Autodesk Softimage 8.0.201.0
=======================================================
        
License information: using [Processing]
        COMMAND: -processing -script hello.js
WARNING - Unknown flag (ignored) : -processing
# INFO : Hello World

Upgrade promos for 2010

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Owners of 7.01 and earlier can now upgrade to 2010. The upgrade promo is already available in the Americas, and should be available soon in other locations (each geographic territory has its own sales channels and schedules).

Announcements of promos like this go out through the sales channel, so you won’t necessarily see any announcement on autodesk.com. Contact your local reseller for details.

Creating tabs in the Material Manager

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The new AddUserTab command allows you to create new custom favorites tabs in the Material Manager. To use AddUserTab, you pass in a material and a comma-separated list of tab names.

var oActiveScene = Application.ActiveProject.ActiveScene;
var oMatLib = oActiveScene.ActiveMaterialLibrary;
var oMat = oMatLib.CreateMaterial( "Phong", "MyPhong" );

AddUserTab( oMat, "My Faves" );