XSI Support Blog
This page is sort of like a blog, and serves as a general holding area for bits and pieces of information, such as answers to recent support questions.
| Table of contents |
STICKY - Googling the XSI Wiki
Did you know you can google the XSI Wiki?
- Go to http://www.softimage.com/search/default.aspx
- In the search box, type something like license server start.
- Click Search Softimage, and voila.
Sblair 05:30, 13 Apr 2007 (EDT)
New SOFTIMAGE|NET Community site
The beta version of the new SOFTIMAGE|NET (http://community.softimage.com/index.php) community site is up.
My quick take is that the main benefit of this new community site will be the Scripts, Plug-ins, Presets and Content Exchange (http://community.softimage.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12).
Sblair 03:54, 19 Feb 2008 (EST)
The case of the 32-bit XSI that wouldn't run on 64-bit Windows
Some users install both 32-bit and 64-bit XSI on 64-bit Windows XP, because they need 32-bit XSI for things like QuickTime (no 64-bit version available) or 32-bit shaders.
A user recently posted (http://groups.google.ca/group/xsi_list/browse_thread/thread/1ec653637f359a48/5ae5a80d2816c009?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=NOD#5ae5a80d2816c009) on the XSI list that his 32-bit XSI had stopped working. He had tried reinstalling XSI, deleting the user preferences, and upgraded his graphics driver, but XSI still wouldn't start; it would just freeze after the splash screen.
Running xsibatch -script or xsibatch -render gave these errors
MSG 0.n fatal 011264: ReleaseSemaphore failed - The handle is invalid MSG 0.n fatal 011308: connection to master broken. goodbye.
The "connection to master" error suggests satellite rendering was involved somehow, but he did not have satellite rendering setup (no .ray3hosts files, no raysat services running).
We tried clean booting (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_-_Clean_booting_your_computer) (to eliminate possible conflicts with other services and applications) but XSI still crashed. Process Monitor (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_with_Process_Monitor) did not show anything, except that XSI was crashing while loading a rendering dll (not surprising given the errors xsibatch was printing out).
The Solution
In the end the problem turned out to be " NOD32 AntiVirus (http://www.betterantivirus.com/catalog/eset-nod32-antivirus-home-edition-licenses-c-54_29_31.html). Thanks to Stéphane Bonnot, the R&D Manager at Tek2Shoot in Paris France, for figuring it out and providing the solution:
- Excluding xsi.exe and xsibatch.exe from Nod IMon solved both issues on my Vista64 computer : Xsi32 gui not showing up completely (blocked when about to show viewports) and xsibatch reporting a semaphore issue.
Sblair 10:58, 8 Feb 2008 (EST)
Another SPM error: can't access dongle at -SLP
The user could generate an SLP request code, but when he tried to install the license, he'd get can't access dongle at -SLP. In addition, the SLP system ID kept changing. Practically every time he generated a request code, it would come out with a different system ID.
Here's the SPM log entries:
Jan/25/08 11:42:25 NOTICE: "C:\spm\spm_keyib.exe (Ver.1.1.11 ETX )" started to install licenses. Jan/25/08 11:42:25 ERROR: "C:\spm\spm_keyib.exe": Error while checking protection system. Jan/25/08 11:42:25 ERROR: "C:\spm\spm_keyib.exe": program terminated with error(s): Error while checking protection system. Jan/25/08 11:42:35 ERROR: can't access dongle at -SLP. Jan/25/08 11:42:35 ERROR: "C:\spm\spm_keyib.exe": program terminated with error(s): can't access dongle at -SLP.
At first I thought it was probably a registry permissions problem, but it turned out to be a conflict with the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service (http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/42257/42257.html) (UPHClean).
Process Monitor showed that UPHClean was accessing the licensing registry entry used by XSI. Removing the UPHClean service resoved the problem.
Sblair 08:40, 28 Jan 2008 (EST)
Funky SPM errors
Here's some I've seen a couple of times in the last few weeks:
- Can't handle KeyDataBase file locked to SysID
- This machine has no valid SysID (dongle option required).
You don't see those every day. Let's check out the actual SPM log entries:
Jan/25/08 18:37:39 NOTICE: SPMD "C:\spm\spmd.exe (Ver.1.1.11 ETX [Build 1414])" started on "ExamplePC" (Windows NT 5.1 [2600]) Jan/25/08 18:37:39 ERROR: SPM_ERROR (C:\spm\spmd.exe): Can't handle KeyDataBase file locked to SysID. Jan/25/08 18:37:39 ALERT: SPM_FATAL ERROR (C:\spm\spmd.exe) : This machine has no valid SysID (dongle option required). Jan/25/08 18:37:39 CRITICAL: fatal error: "This machine has no valid SysID (dongle option required).". Jan/25/08 18:37:39 ERROR: SPMD "C:\spm\spmd.exe (Ver.1.1.11 ETX [Build 1414])" terminated.
This is from a customer trying to start the license server after successfully installing an SLP license.
At first glance, you might think the user just has an old version of SPM: see those [Build 1414] version numbers in the log entries? But that's not the problem (the user did have SPM 1502).
The problem is C:\spm\spmd.exe. That's not the service that should be running. C:\spm\spmdib.exe should be running. spmd.exe is an older version that is for serial port dongles.
The solution: reinstall the license server service (in the License Manager, click Service > Uninstall License Server Service and then click Service > Install License Server Service).
The cause of the problem? When SPM 1502 was installed, there probably was an old spm-config.ini file on the system, with DONGLE_TYPE=SI0 and DONGLE_PORT=COM1. Based on the DONGLE_PORT, the wrong service was installed.
Sblair 03:21, 26 Jan 2008 (EST)
Search Engine Plugins for XSI
I'm always searching sites like softimage.com, the softimage wiki, and xsibase, so I find the search box in Firefox and IE7 really handy. So I created some simple "search engine plugins" for softimage.com, softimage.wiki.avid.com, and xsibase.com:
For example, to use Google to search the XSI wiki, I just switch to the XSI Wiki search engine, type in my search keywords, and press ENTER.
To install these search engine plugins in Firefox or IE7:
- Go to http://www.searchplugins.net/pluginlist.aspx?q=xsi&mode=tag&view=
- Click the I to install a search engine plugin
UPDATE Sblair 07:47, 28 Jan 2008 (EST)
I added plugins for the XSI Mailing List archive in Google groups, and for the Softimage Search box.
It turns out that using Google with "site:softimage.com" does not give the same results as typing a search string in the Softimage Search box.
Sblair 09:17, 25 Jan 2008 (EST)
Crosswalk - Making sure all workstations are up-to-date
Crosswalk is installed as a factory plug-in, which means that the Crosswalk plug-in is installed on every XSI workstation. If you try to put the latest Crosswalk in a shared workgroup, you'll get conflict errors, and because the factory plug-ins are loaded first, this means the workgroup version of Crosswalk will never be loaded. So the workstations will always be using an older version.
The Crosswalk plugin depends on another DLL: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Softimage\XSIFtk_6_0.dll. So it is not enough to load the right plug-in DLL, you also have to make sure that the Crosswalk plugin gets the right version of XSIFtk_6_0.dll.
One approach would be to use the XSI.bat startup batch file. XSI.bat could run another script to check which version of Crosswalk is installed locally. And if 2.06 is not installed, then either the script could
- copy over the latest Crosswalk DLLs
OR
- run a silent install for Crosswalk
OR
- delete the old Crosswalk DLLs (assuming 2.06 was in the workgroup, with XSIFtk_6_0.dll somewhere where the Crosswalk plugin could find it)
You can check the version of the Crosswalk DLLs like this:
var fso;
var sXWalkVersion = "6.1.2007.918"
var filespec1 = "C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Softimage\\XSIFtk_6_0.dll";
var filespec2 = "C:\\Softimage\\XSI_6.5\\Application\\Plugins\\dotXSIConverter.dll";
fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
if ( fso.GetFileVersion(filespec1) != sXWalkVersion || fso.GetFileVersion(filespec2) != sXWalkVersion )
{
WScript.Echo( "You do not have Crosswalk 2.06 installed." );
}
If the above was in a .js file, you can run it (on Windows) with wscript.exe.
Sblair 07:11, 23 Nov 2007 (EST)
XSI on the Mac
Every week or so I get a question about XSI and the Mac platform. Will XSI run on the Mac? Will XSI be ported to the Mac? When will XSI be available on the Mac? If not, why not?
Here's the standard answer:
XSI runs on Windows XP. So XSI will run on a Mac if you install Windows XP (eg using Bootcamp).
A number of other customers are already doing the same thing, and I have not heard of any special problems related to the Mac.
There are many threads about this on xsibase. Here's one: http://www.xsibase.com/forum/index.php?board=15;action=display;threadid=26737
Note that we test XSI on Windows XP, but we do not test on Mac boxes.
As for whether XSI will be ported to the Mac, the Customer Support team cannot comment on offical development plans or future strategy. And at this time, there is no new product or service news to share with you. However, when Softimage is ready to roll out new products, we will continue to do so as we have in the past with a news announcement and briefings for press, customers and prospects.
Sblair 05:08, 15 Nov 2007 (EST)
Is XSI multithreaded?
Most of the threads created by XSI deal with handling audio and video simultaneously. Other than that, the following are multi-threaded:
- Render Region
- mental ray
- Fx Tree
- Some operators: Cage deform, Evelope, and Lattice
Sblair 13:38, 12 Nov 2007 (EST)
Vista and the License Manager
On Vista, you must run the License Manager as an Administrator.
- Click Start > All Programs > Softimage Products.
- Right-click License Manager and click Properties.
- Click the Compatibility tab.
- Under Privilege Level, select the Run the program as an administrator check box.
- Click OK.
Now when you run the License Manager, you will be able to start and stop the license server.
Sblair 02:41, 20 Oct 2007 (EDT)
Workaround for the Aero Glass selection problem on Vista
On Vista, when Aero Glass is enabled, when you drag out a selection marquee in a viewport, the desktop shows through the selection rectangle.
Previously, the only workaround was to disable the Aero Glass theme.
But here's another workaround, which is simply to set this environment variable:
set USE_OPENGL_TRACKER=1
Hat Tip: lucer (http://www.xsi-blog.com/archives/author/lucer)
Sblair 13:24, 19 Oct 2007 (EDT)
Problems upgrading to 6.5
Problem
You installed XSI Essentials/Advanced 6.5, and then in the License Manager you did Get License > Download License, but when you try to run XSI you get:
No interactive license available
and in the server log you see:
INFO: DENIED no such version 6.5 license from SOFTIMAGE
Solution
Most likely Download License downloaded your 6.0 license, not your 6.5 license.
To check what licenses you have installed:
- Start the License Manager.
- If the server is running, click Server > Query License Server and then click Run Query.br/>
If the server is not running, click Manage Key Database and then click List Keys.
If you see 6.0 in the version column, then you did not get your 6.5 license. Please contact license AT softimage DOT com.
Example of a 6.0 license listing for Essentials:
******** List contents of KeyDataBase ******** KeyDataBase: Created: Tue Sep 11 2007 19:07:12 Last change: Tue Sep 11 2007 19:07:12 6 keys from SOFTIMAGE (key install level 166): progname version lic# beg_date end_date cpu# type #-680449364544 2.0 1000 FL XSIRender2X 3.5 1 FL XSIEntrprs 6.0 1 FL XSIWindows 6.0 1 FL XSIEss2X 6.0 1 FL XSIEssProcW 6.0 4 FL
Sblair 07:22, 12 Sep 2007 (EDT)
Not ready to upgrade to 6.5, but want to use those Advanced 6.5 batch licenses?
Some XSI Advanced customers are not ready to upgrade to 6.5 yet (for example, they are in the middle of a production).
If you are such a customer, the good news is that you can stick with 6.02 but still make use of the extra batch licenses that come with 6.5.
You can run 6.02 using a 6.5 licenses, so go ahead and install your 6.5 licenses.
Then you can use the 6.02 version of xsibatch with the extra batch licenses.
Sblair 08:33, 10 Sep 2007 (EDT)
Render Licensing in Essentials 6.5
There is no change in render licensing for Ess 6.5. It is the same as it was for Ess 6.0.
XSI Essentials will use all CPUs on the local computer, so for licensing it does not matter how many CPUs are on the computer where XSI or xsibatch is running.
So it makes sense to have as many CPUs and cores as possible on your machine; the more you have, the more XSI will use for rendering.
Essentials includes "four nodes of satellite rendering". A node is a single CPU. It does not matter how many cores are on the CPU. For example, for satellite rendering, a dual quad-core counts as two CPUs.
So again, the more cores there are, the better.
For example, suppose you have the following:
- A dual quad-core machine that is your master machine, where you run XSI or xsibatch.
- Two dual dual-cores as your satellite computers.
Then, for satellite rendering, you will be using 8 cores on the master, plus 8 cores on the satellite slaves, for a total of 16 cores.
Sblair 07:58, 8 Sep 2007 (EDT)
Model Comparison Chart
Sblair 03:15, 3 Oct 2007 (EDT) A PDF document was recently added to softimage.com: XSI_6_x_ComparisonChart.pdf (http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/pdf/XSI_6_x_ComparisonChart.pdf)
| Adv | Ess | Fnd | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floating Licenses | Y | Y | N |
| 64-bit version | Y | Y | N |
| Polygon Reduction | Y | Y | N |
| GATOR | Y | Y | N |
| MOTOR | Y | Y | N |
| Hair and Fur | Y | Y | N |
| Syflex CLoth | Y | Y | N |
| physX Rigid Body Dynamics | Y | Y | N |
| Satellite rendering CPUs | 24 | 4 | 0 |
| Additional xsibatch licenses | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Batch processing | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Fx Tree Compositor | Y | Y | N |
| Create and edit reference models | Y | Y | N |
| Create and edit scripted operators | Y | Y | N |
| Behavior | Y | N | N |
| mi file generation | Y | Y | N |
Notes
- For rendering, any edition of XSI (Foundation, Essentials, or Advanced) will use all CPUs on the local computer, not just 2 CPUs.
- Satellite CPUs. A computer running XSI or xsibatch can use up to four satellite CPUs to help render an individual frame.
- Batch processing. The ability to run batch processing jobs on other computers. For example, by running xsibatch -processing -script. Batch processing jobs cannot do any rendering.
Sblair 03:59, 5 Sep 2007 (EDT)
Setting up a 64-bit machine for shader development
On Windows, use .Net2005 On Linux, gcc 4.1.2.
Sblair 06:53, 4 Sep 2007 (EDT)
Finding Commands you don't know about
XSI ships with over 2300 commands. Not all of them are logged in the script editor, and not all of them are documented. Here's a crude way to search for commands with certain strings in their names.
var c = Application.Commands;
LogMessage( c.Count );
oEnum = new Enumerator( c ) ;
// Search for commands whose scripting name
// contains a specific string of characters.
// The search string is specified between the forward slashes.
//
var re = /SetGlobal/ig;
for (;!oEnum.atEnd();oEnum.moveNext() )
{
var oSelItem = oEnum.item() ;
if ( oSelItem.ScriptingName.match( re ) )
{
LogMessage( oSelItem.scriptingname );
//EditCommand( oSelItem.scriptingname );
}
}
Sblair 09:59, 24 Aug 2007 (EDT)
XSI Student starts up as Foundation
This can happen when you have both a Trial license and your Student license installed. By default, XSI takes the Foundation license. However, you can force XSI to use the Student license:
- Open an XSI command prompt (click Start > All Programs > Softimage Products > Softimage 6.02 > Command Prompt)
- Start XSI by running this command:
xsi -academic
That will force XSI to use your Student license instead of the Fountation Trial license.
The XSI title bar may still say "Expires in XX days", but you are really using your Student license. The "Expires in XX days" will go away after the Trial expires.
To confirm that you are using the Student license, go in the License Manager, click Server > Query License Server, and then click Run Query.
You should see something like this:
SPM-daemon on 'localhost(mtl-p1532.global.avidww.com)': Licenses from SOFTIMAGE: License name version lic# used beg_date end_date cpu# type #-565596458793 2.0 1000 0 FL XSIAdvProcA 6.0 8 0 LNL XSIBatchA 6.0 1 0 LNL XSIASAdv2X 6.0 1 1 LNL XSIWindows 6.0 1 1 LNL XSIFndA32 6.0 1 0 08/18/07 <> 09/17/07 LNL XSIRender2X 3.5 1 0 LNL
Note the used column. If you are running the Student license, the XSIASAdv2X and XSIWindows license tokens are used.
You can change the Start menu shortcut for XSI to run "xsi -academic" for you.
- Click Start > All Programs > Softimage Products > SOFTIMAGE XSI 6.02
- Right-click XSI Advanced
- Click Properties
- In the Target box, add -academic to the command line, so that it looks like this:
C:\Softimage\XSI_6.02\Application\bin\XSI.bat -academic
Sblair 03:17, 22 Aug 2007 (EDT)
XSI 6.5 Questions
- Q I'm a new customer. When I buy Essentials 6.02 before Sept 6, do I need to buy maintenance too in order to qualify for 6.5?
A No, you do not have to buy maintenance to qualify for the Essentials 6.5 upgrade. But it might be a good idea because then you will be covered for technical support and any other upgrades released during your maintenance period.
Sblair 09:33, 7 Aug 2007 (EDT)
XSI 6.5: What about Foundation?
Foundation stays at 6.02 for now.
Note that 6.5 and 6.02 binary scene files are compatible.
The next major release of XSI will include a major release of Foundation .
Sblair 08:05, 6 Aug 2007 (EDT)
Testing whether a startup crash is UI-related
To test whether XSI can run without its UI, you could put this script in a file named test.js:
var sPath = Application.InstallationPath( siFactoryPath );
var sScene = XSIUtils.BuildPath( sPath, "Data", "XSI_SAMPLES", "Scenes", "dog.scn" );
OpenScene( sScene, false );
oEnum = new Enumerator( Application.ActiveSceneRoot.Children ) ;
for (;!oEnum.atEnd();oEnum.moveNext() )
{
var oSelItem = oEnum.item() ;
LogMessage( oSelItem.fullname );
}
And then run this xsibatch command from an XSI command prompt:
xsibatch -script test.js
The script loads one of the sample scenes installed with XSI, and then prints the names of some of the objects in the scene hierarchy. You should see something like this:
>Loading: C:\Softimage2\XSI_6.02\Data\XSI_SAMPLES\Scenes\dog.scn...
//INFO : 4034 - Loaded scene was created with build number: 3.51.2003.1208 - compatibility version: 350 OpenScene("C:\\Softimage\\XSI_6.02\\Data\\XSI_SAMPLES\\Scenes\\dog.scn", false, null);
//INFO : Camera_Root
//INFO : light
//INFO : Aibo
Foundation and the ModTool users cannot run xsibatch, so you cannot use that approach.
Instead, what you can do is ask the user to edit the default layout.
Foundation
- In a text editor, open the file
C:\Softimage\XSI_6.02\Application\layouts\Default.xsily
- Change line 81 from this:
<frame name="vm" type="View Manager" primary="false" toolbar="own"> </frame>
to this:
<frame name="vm" type="explorer" primary="false" toolbar="own"> </frame>
- Save the file
- Try to start XSI.
ModTool
- In a text editor, open the file
C:\Softimage\XSI_6_Mod_Tool\Addons\ModTool\Application\layouts\Mod_Layout.xsily
- Change line 74 from this:
<frame name="vm" type="View Manager" primary="false" toolbar="own"> </frame>
to this:
<frame name="vm" type="explorer" primary="false" toolbar="own"> </frame>
- Save the file
- Try to start XSI.
Sblair 07:23, 6 Aug 2007 (EDT)
XSI 6.5: 36 Nodes of mental ray Rendering Power
On softimage.com, it says that XSI Advanced 6.5 includes 36 Nodes of mental ray Rendering Power (http://softimage.com/products/xsi/whats_new.aspx).
The number 36 is calculated like this:
- Six "master" machines that each have two CPUs (which gives 12 CPUs)
- A master machine is a machine running xsibatch or XSI. With Advanced, you have five xsibatch licenses and one interactive XSI license. The interactive license can run either XSI or xsibatch. So with XSI Advanced 6.5, you can run have six render nodes running xsibatch,
- On a render node, xsibatch actually uses all local CPUs. So if you had 6 render nodes that were all quad-CPU machines, you would have 24 CPUs.
- 24 satellite CPUs
- Each master machine can have four satellite CPUs.
However, on a "master" machine, xsibatch and XSI use all local CPUs, not just two.
So if all your master machines are quad-CPU machines, then you get 48 CPUs.
Sblair 06:50, 6 Aug 2007 (EDT)
Diagnosing Wrong SYSTEM ID errors
This error shows that an ETX license installed, but DONGLE_TYPE=SLP in the SPM config file:
******** Generating key request code ********
SPM_FATAL ERROR (C:\spm\spm_keyib.exe) :
Wrong SYSTEM-ID for SPM license keyfile "C:\spm\spm-kf"
KeyDataBase: mtl-p1532 -12001C2F0273--ETX !=
SysID: mtl-p1532 -01C7C3244C1E--SLP
This error shows that a license is already installed, and you are trying to install a license that is for for a different dongle.
********** Installing license keys **********
SPM_FATAL ERROR (C:\spm\spm_keyib.exe) :
Wrong SYSTEM-ID for validation code:
KeyDataBase: dongle_host -0013A5C520050615531248-SI0 !=
validation code: dongle_host -001BAC5120050113531248-SI0
- KeyDataBase = ID of the installed license (it is the same ID that is the generated request code)
- validation code = ID from the .keys file
Sblair 06:42, 6 Aug 2007 (EDT)
Making an HTML button in NetView
<html>
<head>
<title>My Example NetView Page</title>
<script>
var g_xsiapp = null;
var g_app = null;
var g_xsiutils = null;
var g_xsifactory = null;
window.onload= onLoadHandler;
function onLoadHandler(){
try {
g_xsiapp = new ActiveXObject('XSI.Application');
g_app = g_xsiapp.Application;
g_xsiutils = new ActiveXObject('XSI.Utils');
g_xsifactory = new ActiveXObject('XSI.Factory');
}
catch ( e ) {
alert( "This page needs to be viewed in NetView" );
}
}
function onClickedHandler()
{
g_app.LogMessage( "Hello World" );
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<input type="button" value="Say Hello" onClick="onClickedHandler()">
</body>
</html>
Sblair 04:20, 26 Jul 2007 (EDT)
Scripting views
A poster on xsibase was asking how to move, resize, and close a toolbar through scripting.
When I tried to find the info on how to close a view, I found that the index and the search were not much help. When I searched for "view close*", the page I wanted was hit number 18. That's not good. What's missing from the SDK reference pages is the human touch: indexing. Like this:
views
- creating 1 (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/sdkdocs/Layout_CreateView.htm) 2 (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/sdkdocs/OpenView.htm)
- closing (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/sdkdocs/View_State.htm)
- minimizing (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/sdkdocs/View_State.htm)
- maximizing (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/sdkdocs/View_State.htm)
Anyways, here's a quick overview.
First, you can create toolbars (and other views like the Explorer) using the View object:
var layout = Desktop.ActiveLayout; layout.CreateView( "NewToolbar", "myToolbar" );
The above opens the toolbar named "NewToolbar". XSI searches the user, factory, and workgroup locations and opens the first toolbar it finds with that name.
If you want to open a specific toolbar, use CreateViewFromeDefinitionFile instead:
var sToolbar = "U:/My Workgroup/Application/toolbars/NewToolbar.xsitb"; var oToolbar = layout.CreateViewFromDefinitionFile( sToolbar, "myToolbar" );
Positioning and sizing a toolbar is pretty simple too:
oToolbar.Move( 50, 50 ); oToolbar.Resize( 400, 200 );
A view has three states (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/sdkdocs/siViewState.htm): normal, minimized, and closed.
// Minimize the toolbar view
setViewState( "myToolbar", siMinimized );
// Restore (maximize) the toolbar view
setViewState( "myToolbar", siRestore );
// Close the toolbar view
setViewState( "myToolbar", siClosed );
function setViewState( sView, state )
{
try {
desktop.ActiveLayout.Views.Item( sView ).State = state;
} catch ( e ) {
LogMessage( "Cannot find view named \"" + sView + "\"", siError );
}
}
Sblair 08:20, 29 Jun 2007 (EDT)
Access is denied errors during satellite rendering
Problem
When you satellite render a scene that uses workgroup shaders, you see errors like this on the master computer:
' ERROR : LINK 1.n error 191007: cannot load \\server\workgroup\Addons\BA_Shader_Collection\Application\spdl\..\bin\nt-x86\BA_texture_cell3d.dll, Access is denied. ' ERROR : LINK 1.n error 191029: failed to link library on host render_slave_01
Solution
Check the logon account used by the raysat service on the render slave.
Either the logon account does not have the required permissions, or the logon account is the Local System account.
By default, the raysat service uses the Local System Account to log on. The Local System Account does not have access to network resources like shares and mapped drives. The raysat service has to use a logon account that has credentials (name and password).
References:
Sblair 06:22, 25 Apr 2007 (EDT)
Using .NET forms in XSI
Problem My .Net form is created as a main window, and as soon as the form loses the focus, the form disappears behind XSI. I want the form to behave like an XSI window.
Solution
When you create your form, set the TopMost property to True. In Visual Studio, click the form, and then in the property tab, set TopMost to True.
Note that the dll that gets generated for your form must be copied %XSI_HOME%\Application\bin.
Create a cpp Custom command in XSI. This command will be responsible of getting the form and displaying it. The _Execute callback should have the following:
TestNamespace::TestFormLibrary::TestForm *l_pTestForm = new TestNamespace::TestFormLibrary::TestForm(); // Modeless (use ShowDialog for a modal dialog) // l_pTestForm->Show();
Sblair 00:43, 25 Apr 2007 (EDT)
Moving the SPM License Server to a different computer
Q: How do I move the SPM License Server to another computer?
A: To move your license to a new license server computer:
- Install the SPM License Server on the new license server computer.
- You can install SPM using the XSI Setup program, or you can download a standalone SPM Setup from http://www.softimage.com/downloads.
- Plug in the dongle and go through the New Hardware Wizard to install the dongle driver.
- Click No, not at this time.
- Click Install from a specific Location.
- Click don't search I will choose the driver to install.
- Select USB iButton holder for SPM
- Click Next.
- Click Finish.
- Save the .keys file on the new license server computer. The .keys file is usually in the C:\spm folder on the license server computer. If you cannot find your .keys file, you can download it from http://www.softimage.com/CustomerPortal.
- Start the License Manager and install the license:
- Click Manage Key Database.
- Click Install Keys.
- Click the .keys file and click Open.
- If you get an error, click Rename Key Database and try again.
- Start the license server
Q: After you move the SPM License Server, how do you update the XSI workstations to use the new license server?
A: On each XSI workstation, you need to set the SPM_HOST environment variable.
You can either set SPM_HOST to the name of the license server -OR- Set the SPM_HOST variable to nothing, and give the license server computer an alias in your DNS Server database. The primary license server would be aliased spmhost0.
To set SPM_HOST:
- Start User Tools (click Start > All Programs > Softimage Products > SOFTIMAGE XSI 6.0 > UserTools).
- In the list of Configuration Files, click Setenv.bat (Environment Script).
- Click Edit File.
Scroll down until you see the lines that look like this:
rem License servers specified from the setup rem set _SPM_HOST=
Change the line that sets _SPM_HOST to this:
set _SPM_HOST=license_server_computer_name
where
license_server_computer_name
is the name of your license server computer
Note
- Instead of User Tools, you can use your favorite text editor to edit %XSI_HOME%\Application\bin\setenv.bat.
Sblair 09:49, 20 Apr 2007 (EDT)
Render Options - Changing the output file format for a pass
Q: How do I change the output file format from .pic to something else, like .tga?
A: Here's how to override the default for a specific channel. To set the defaults for all passes go to Render Manager > Globals > Preferences.
In 6.01:
- On the Render toolbar, click Render > Render Manager.
- Under the pass properties, click the Output tab.
- Under Render Channels Output, click in the Format box of a channel.
- Click Edit.
A picture is worth a lot of words:
Sblair 05:10, 20 Apr 2007 (EDT)
Render Options - Subregion rendering?
You use the Pass Crop Window settings to do subregion rendering (http://softimage.wiki.avid.com/xsidocs/md819727.htm#Xmd819154).
Sblair 02:09, 8 Apr 2007 (EDT)
Render Options - Copy Region Size?
I saw this question asked on the XSI list (http://www.softimage.com/community/discussion_groups/Archives/xsi.archive.0703/msg01741.htm):
What happened to the Copy Region Size button that was in the old Render Options?
It's gone. Now you copy the region size to the pass crop from the Render Region Options.
- Click Regions > Active Viewport Options.
- Click Set Pass Crop from Region.
This sets the Pass Crop Window parameters like Width, Height, and Offset X and Y.
The Pass Crop Window parameters allow you to do subregion rendering.
Don't use Regions > All Options, you cannot set the pass crop from there.
Sblair 06:26, 7 Apr 2007 (EDT)
Copying passes between scenes
- Connect to the SDK Example Workgroup.
- Select the passes you want to import, and then click File > Export > Export XSIA.
Select a folder and enter a name for the XSIA file. For example, via scripting:
SelectObj("Passes.White_Matte", null, null); XSIA_Export("Passes.White_Matte", "C:/My Documents/White_Matte_Pass.xsia");Then, create a new scene and run this script to import the White Matte pass:
var xsia = XSIA_GetXSIAObject(); xsia.ReadFromFile("C:/My Documents/White_Matte_Pass.xsia"); LogMessage(xsia.passes.count); for(var i=0;i<xsia.passes.count;i++) { xsia.passes(i).BuildInScene(); }
Or you can do it manually. In XSI, open the properties for a pass and save a preset. The preset includes the partitions and overrides. Then, in the other scene, create a new, empty pass and load the preset.
Sblair 05:08, 6 Apr 2007 (EDT)
How to a convert pic to QuickTime from the command line?
http://www.xsi-blog.com/archives/103
Sblair 07:13, 12 Mar 2007 (EDT)
Compression format not directly supported by Mental Ray
When you open a scene you get this error:
' INFO : 4000 - ??\StringFileInfo\040904b0\ : Compression format not directly supported by Mental Ray ' Forcing "Load In Memory" mode instead passing the path to Mental Ray
This is not an error message, it is just a notification message (INFO).
See this thread for an explanation of the INFO message: http://www.softimage.com/community/discussion_groups/Archives/xsi.archive.0701/msg00932.htm
Sblair 07:07, 12 Mar 2007 (EDT)
No-dongle licensing
Activate XSI on two computers If you are a Foundation or XSI Student/Teacher customer, then your license allows you to activate XSI on two different computers. So, for example, you can activate one copy on your desktop computer and one copy on your laptop.
No dongles allowed Foundation 6.0 and XSI Student/Teacher 6.0 cannot be activated on a dongle.
Sblair 08:46, 9 Mar 2007 (EST)
Running 5.x with a 6.x license
You can use your XSI Essentials/Advanced 6.0 license to run XSI 5.11.
After XSI crashes, it asks if I want to recover the scene, and then crashes whether I click Yes or No
Try this:
- In Windows Explorer, find the Project folder where you were saving the scene (the Project folder is where the XSI folders are: Actions, Audio, Backup, ..., Pictures, Render_Pictures, Scenes)
- In that Project folder, there is a "system" folder. It is a hidden folder so you may need to change your Folder Options to be able to see it (in Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options, click the View tab, and then select the "View hidden files and folders" option).
- Delete the folder "system\username\CrashBackup" (the actual folder name depends on your user name)
Then try to start XSI again.
Checking if a model is a reference model
You can check the "referenced_model" parameter. Here's some JSCript that shows how.
// Get selected model
var oModel = selection(0);
// Check if it is a ref model
if( getvalue( oModel + ".referenced_model" ) == true ) {
logmessage( "referenced" );
}
else
{
logmessage( "not referenced" );
}
Ref: http://www.softimage.com/community/discussion_groups/Archives/xsi.archive.0606/msg01127.htm
Sblair 08:26, 9 Mar 2007 (EST)
Navigating the XSI data hierarchy
A first try at showing how to access anything you see in the explorer.
See also TUT: Scripting 101
 |
// cube
// For this example, I cheat and use the selection list
SelectObj("sphere", null, null);
var oX3DObject = Selection(0);
// cube > Polygon Mesh var oPrimitive = oX3DObject.ActivePrimitive;
// cube > Polygon Mesh > Geometry
var oGeometryOp = oPrimitive.NestedObjects("Geometry");
// cube > Polygon Mesh > Geometry > U Subdivisions // Two different ways to do this: var oSubdivu = oGeometryOp.Parameters( "subdivu" ); //var oSubdivu = oX3DObject.Parameters( "subdivu" ); // cube > Polygon Mesh > Geometry > Cube // "cube.polymsh.geom.cube" aka "cube.cube" var oCube = oX3DObject.Primitives(0);
// cube > Polygon Mesh > Geometry > Cube > length
var oLength = oX3DObject.Parameters("length");
//var oLength = oCube.Parameters("length" );
// cube > Polygon Mesh > Clusters var oClusters = oX3DObject.ActivePrimitive.Geometry.Clusters; |
