A physical representation of the Autodesk ViewCube.
Hattip: Luc-Eric
Tangible View Cube
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Finally, a feature worth upgrading for :-)
That was the reaction of one beta tester to this.
Installing Softimage 2010
When you install Softimage 2010, you’ll have to enter a product key and a serial number. Just use the product key 00000 and the serial number 000-00000000. That will install Softimage in Trial mode. And if you need to switch to Network licensing later, all you have to do is change an environment variable.
| Product Key | Description |
|---|---|
| 00000 | Trial mode product key. Installs Softimage in Standalone licensing mode. |
| 590B1 | Softimage product key. You can choose between Standalone, Multiseat Standalone, and Network licensing modes. If you choose Network, you’ll be prompted to enter the license server name. If you choose Standalone, or if you choose Network and enter the serial 000-00000000, you’ll get the 30-day trial period. You can switch licensing methods between Standalone and Network. |
| 591B1 | Softimage Advance product key. You’ll be prompted to enter the license server name. If you use the serial number 000-00000000 you can run in Trial mode. You cannot switch back to Standalone mode without reinstalling. |
Installing your new 2010 network license
To get your 2010 license, get your 2010 serial number and then go to http://registeronce.autodesk.com.
- Save your 2010 license file in C:\Program Files\Autodesk Network License Manager.
- Start LMTOOLS.
- On the Start/Stop/Reread tab, click Stop Server.
- On the Config Services tab, change the Path to license file to point to the 2010 license file.
- Click Save Service.
- On the Start/Stop/Reread tab, click Start Server.
- Now double-check that the 2010 license is installed. On the Server Status tab, click Perform Status Enquiry. Scroll down to the Feature usage info and look for 2010 features (84000SFTIM_2010_0F for Softimage 2010, 84100SFTIMASIB4_2010_0F for Softimage Advanced 2010)
SUMATRAPATH
SUMATRAPATH is an environment variable that is defined only in Softimage. SUMATRAPATH points to the Application\bin folder in the Softimage folder, and the registry is full of Softimage entries that use SUMATRAPATH to specify the location of DLLs.
In XSI 7.01, you could check whether or not you were in Softimage with this Python code:
import os
app = Application
if os.getenv( ‘SUMATRAPATH’ ) != None :
app.LogMessage( “you’re in XSI” )
else:
app.LogMessage( “you’re not in XSI” )
However, in both Softimage 7.5 and 2010, os.getenv(“SUMATRAPATH”) returns None. At least for me it does.
XSIUtils.Environment.Item(“SUMATRAPATH”) does still return the Application\bin path, as does this Jscript:
var oShell = new ActiveXObject ("WScript.Shell");
var oProcessEnv = oShell.Environment("Process");
LogMessage( oProcessEnv( "SUMATRAPATH" ) );
Sumatra was the original code name for the product that eventually became known as Softimage XSI (the Softimage XSI name was unveiled back in March 2000).
Setting a thread limit on rendering
Occasionally I’m asked whether there is some way to limit XSI/xsibatch to just one CPU, so that while a rendering is going on, the user can use the other CPUs for something else.
XSI does have a -thread command-line switch that limits the number of threads created by mental ray for rendering.
For example, if you turn on Progress diagnostics for a scene and then render from the command line:
xsibatch -thread 1 -render "%XSI_HOME%\Data\XSI_SAMPLES\Scenes\red_jaiqua.scn" -verbose on -frames 1-3
Then you will see progress messages like this:
//.. // INFO : JOB 0.5 progr: 91.0% rendered on EXAMPLE.3 // INFO : JOB 0.7 progr: 91.3% rendered on EXAMPLE.3 // INFO : JOB 0.4 progr: 91.5% rendered on EXAMPLE.3 // INFO : JOB 0.5 progr: 91.8% rendered on EXAMPLE.3 // INFO : JOB 0.6 progr: 92.1% rendered on EXAMPLE.3 //...
In those progress messages, EXAMPLE is the computer name, and 3 is the thread number. So you can see that the render is using just one thread.
If you were to use -thread 4, then four threads are created:
// INFO : JOB 0.5 progr: 91.0% rendered on MTL-P1917.5 // INFO : JOB 0.7 progr: 91.3% rendered on MTL-P1917.7 // INFO : JOB 0.4 progr: 91.5% rendered on MTL-P1917.4 // INFO : JOB 0.5 progr: 91.8% rendered on MTL-P1917.5 // INFO : JOB 0.6 progr: 92.1% rendered on MTL-P1917.6
Softimage 2010 licenses and previous versions
A network license for Softimage 2010 will allow you to run either 2010 or 7.5. To run 7.01 or 6.5, you still need to get an SPM license.
Here’s the license definition for a Softimage Advanced interactive license (the interactive license is the license that allows you to run an “interactive” session of XSI.exe). A Softimage Advanced license file will also contain similar PACKAGE and INCREMENT blocks for each of the 5 Batch licenses.
PACKAGE 78900SFTIMA_F adskflex 1.000 COMPONENTS="84100SFTIMA_2010_0F \
78800SFTIMA_7_5F" OPTIONS=SUITE SUPERSEDE ISSUED=12-Aug-2009 \
SIGN="12B2 E17F D7D2 604D AF1E 76A4 688B 89CB 6DBD 5597 16B6 \
4116 E855 ABB0 D2F9 01AE EDB9 7B92 9BF8 D829 EF4D E6B7 0EBD \
F95A 7752 0C2F 95DB F9D9 0B9A 27CE" SIGN2="1276 FD9E A12B 86D7 \
B9E5 F193 9CB0 8528 21A6 101C 949F 4CAD 4666 0D72 6D9D 022F \
5EC7 5534 4E20 A90F B6CB D5D4 F4BF 5067 1E6A DCE5 77A2 5EF0 \
8F36 D066"
INCREMENT 78900SFTIMA_F adskflex 1.000 12-aug-2010 5 \
VENDOR_STRING=nfr:non-extendable SUPERSEDE DUP_GROUP=UH \
SUITE_DUP_GROUP=UHV ISSUED=12-Aug-2009 BORROW=4320 \
SN=123-12345678 SIGN="0D0A 0F72 76F6 9F14 54C3 AC05 86A4 5F12 \
F113 C64D 37B1 F513 A7EE 024E A81A 0C44 8B01 7A7C 08BB C3EE \
143A E9F6 BAD0 A736 B6AB 2A9F B258 3AFF 8C46 3758" SIGN2="1373 \
0191 3AE8 2D3C 68F4 DE7B 1536 7A16 D3EB 1AE1 8B4D 1F4B 2F6A \
7AA6 7017 0112 E9B6 67D7 3841 C05A 236B AA1F AE77 DA89 AD3D \
C208 9603 826B 7E0E 50D8"
Notice the highlighted components. Those are the actual licenses:
- 84100SFTIMA_2010_0F is the Softimage 2010 license for XSI.exe
- 78800SFTIMA_7_5F is the Softimage 7.5 license for XSI.exe
Searching the XSI Mailing List Archive on Google groups
A month or so ago the Google groups search really went downhill. All of a sudden my search results starting coming back empty or near empty. And I’m not the only one to notice.
For example, searching the XSI Mailing List Archive for dual monitor finds 2 results, and I know there are others.
Searching Google Groups for dual monitor xsi_list gives better results.
Legacy licensing support
Here’s another important Softimage URL on autodesk.com:
www.autodesk.com/softimagemanualactivation
If you’re having problems with your XSI 7.01 (or 6.5 or 6.0 or 5.11 or 4.2 or …) license, you can contact the Softimage licensing team through this Web form. For example, if you reinstall your OS and you need a new SLP license, then use that web form.
Unlimited xsibatch processing
As of Softimage 7.5, you get unlimited batch processing. Before, you got 8 Processing tokens with Advanced and 4 with Essentials.
Batch processing is where you run “xsibatch -processing -script”. Batch processing can includes things like exporting .mi2 files, exporting rib files, baking, committing, asset management, custom render management/submission, dynamics, … anything in a complex pipeline that requires automation and remote processing, but not rendering. (Ref: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=4870718&postcount=10)
eX-SI 