BuzzLightyear

Thanks Bill - it looks OK in the download, but I've got a long render going. I'll see how it loads up later. Thanks - Chip

Thanks Bill - Can you re-post the project file? I got two .fac files and a textfile (with lots of gibberish), but no project. Thanks - Chip.

Hi Bill - I'm having a hard time visualizing your "four object" test. Can you post some static images of the objects in their original positions, and what happens when you move through them? Thanks. Chip

Ola Tom - Whoops..., my error (Sorry)! I guess I didn't realize that. But as long as my purple dongle works, that's great. (I'll treat it better, now that I know it's an "extinct species". I'm very glad I have it! ;-) Chip

Final update on my Modeler question - I finally _DID_ get it to launch..., but only after plugging in my original dongle. (I was trying to get it to work with my new dongle, which is for a second copy of EI.) Apparently, the Modeler is "coded" for my original dongle only, and doesn't see the new one :-( So the solution is to plug both dongles into one machine. To be fair, I wasn't sure if the Modeler would work with a new key, and I'm actually very pleased it still runs with the old one :-) As long as we have machines that will run 10.6.8, I'm happy! Thanks for your help with the Eve Framework Tomas. Chip

Thanks Tomas for the Eve3.framework files. They solved the "eve" problem, but now when I try and launch the Modeler, I get a window saying No Hardware Key detected, and then when I abort, it says, "Sorry, the key table file could not be found in the resources folder". There is a hardware key in place (newly purchased), and the KeyTableMacX file is there. (It's the same KeyTableMacX file that works on my other Mac, with my other hardware key. Is the KeyTableMacX file specific to only one hardware key? If so, how do I generate a new KeyTableMacX file for the new hardware key just purchased recently?) Thanks for any suggestions :-) Chip

I'm having a similar problem (Modeler won't launch on second key), but I'm getting a window saying: "Unable to locate "Eve3.framework", The necessary bundle could not be found. I tried moving the EIModelerKey file and the KeyTableMacX files to the desktop, but it still won't launch. (There are actually two EIModelerKey files, one for each key. I tried hiding the old one in a folder on the desktop, but that didn't do it.) Chip

You said it perfectly, Alex- EIM really _does_ work as you would expect (99% of the time ;-), and that's it's best feature. It's intuitive, the math is great, and the tools _make sense_! There are definitely 8-10 things that would need to be fixed, if it ever returns. But it's truly an amazing first modeler software effort, and Kishore and Matt should be commended. I have an old 4-core Motorola machine, and 8-core Intel machine with 10.6.8. So I should be OK with the Modeler for some time. I've been trying to learn Maya for years (literally), and have been able to create complex models. But it's SO awkward and difficult to organize and control your files :-( Your Cobra looks amazing! Is there a high-res image posted on the EI website somewhere? Chip

As a final post to this thread, I can now absolutely say that it _was_ the "security measures" at my company that caused the Rama Slaves not to launch. I just had Mavericks installed on my secondary drive, and once again, the Slaves won't launch. But they run fine on the same machine when I boot from my other drive with 10.6.8. I always knew it wasn't Rama's fault, and I'll bet the Slaves would run fine on 10.9.2, if my machine wasn't loaded with all the file-vault/virus protection/security stuff that's been added here. (It's great fun to watch 16 Camera's crunching away on my files now :-) Chip

Last Universe 6.0 EIM Modeler? HA! Not by a long shot Mondoman:-) EIM absolutely _rocks_, and we desperately need it to be ported to the new OS. (I would pay dearly for it. Rename it Phoenix, and let it rise from the ashes Tomas! ;-) But then..., I may be biased, since I beta tested it all those years ago. I use it almost always. But when necessary, I hold my nose and use Maya. Maya's math is extremely powerful.., but the interface is right out of the 1980's (Yuck). Chip.

Hi Brian - On my 16 thread machine, I have 24 Gig. RAM, and each Camera takes 1 Gig. I leave the threads at 16. On the other 8-Core (8 threads), I give each camera as much of the total 8 Gig. RAM that I can, usually around 850 Meg. I now run 8 & 16 slaves all the time, and it seems rock solid to me. It takes a little setup, but the frame throughput is fantastic. I've tried using one Camera with all 16 threads, vs. 16 Camera's, and the time savings using multiple Camera's is substantial. So I max my system out with every ounce of RAM and Slaves possible, and each CPU says it's running at 99.9% capacity. (Naturally I don't disturb the system by trying to do any other operations while it's rendering. There just isn't a single CPU cycle left!) Chip

For those interested parties, I _just_ got all 16 Rama Slaves to launch, and they're happily crunching frames as I type. (I'm using an "old" 8 core Tower with 16 threads.) I wish I had some magic bullet that I could say fixed my problem. But after trying everything I could think of to get the slaves to launch, I finally installed Snow Leopard 10.6.8 on a secondary internal drive, and had to re-install EI. Just to be safe, I did the install unplugged from the net, and launched Rama and a slave to see if they ran. No problems, so I connected the network, re-set the IP addresses on 16 slaves, and let it fly. It's working perfectly. So I can't really say if the problem was OSX 10.8, or the company network I'm running on (with LOTS of security measures). But I'd put my money on the security here, and whatever other software the company installed to protect their assets. (If anyone is running Rama on a multi-core machine on 10.8 or Maverics, I'd like to hear if it works.) Clearly there's no way EI can account for the infinite ways to configure a large corporations network, with many layers of security measures in place. I've always found Rama to be bomb-proof, and it seems to be back online for me :-)))

Thanks for the input - I've been swamped and haven't had a chance to try your suggestions, but they are appreciated and I'll try them. (I'm running two 8-cores, and the one not connected to the work network runs slave camera's fine.) Quite honestly, my Rama has been bomb proof for years. I've never had to change anything, after I first set it up. I use it as a local farm on my 8-core, and it never lets me down (and cuts through frames like mad). And people are amazed to see it in action, and I always tell them how stable it is. Once I get back to finding out what the conflict is, I'll definitely post the solution. :-) Chip

Thanks Tomas- I'll get back to the problem when I have some time, and let you know if I get it fixed. I'm using my own 8-core MacPro at work as well (not connected to the network), so I can use Rama on that machine for now. Thanks for all your input :-) Chip

Thanks Brian - I'll try your approach; all good ideas. I think my real problem is that I'm on a massive network at a large corporation, with lots of security measures. Running stand-alone with a single cable connection (at home) is no problem. Who knows what kind of traps they have in their network. (My only attempt to get around it - so far - was to disconnect the Ethernet cable, and do a re-boot. But the slaves still wouldn't launch...) I appreciate your input, and was actually relieved to see your original post. At least I'm not losing my mind, and imagining the whole problem! ;-) Many thanks- Chip

This same problem was posted by bwcc in August, 2011. (See: http://www.eias3d.com/forums/topic/771-help-renderama-slave-not-launching/?hl=%2Brenderama+%2Bslave) His Renderama Slaves wouldn't launch, and it seems like they "magically" fixed themselves, after he disconnected, and reconnected, his Ethernet cable. Unfortunately, that's not working for me. (I tried pulling the cable, and re-booting. No change.) The Slave Apps appear to begin to launch (zooms out and becomes transparent), but it never appears in the dock. I can't set the address on the slaves, because they never get to the desktop. Anyone else ever had this problem?? It's never happened to me before, and it only occurred when I installed a newly purchased copy (new serial number) of EI 9.1, on an 8-core running 10.8. Thanks for any input..., I'm kinda out of options. Chip (P.S. Rama works just fine on another 8-core I'm running, and always has.)

Hi Joe- Your chain drive geometry is very similar to my Wall-E Tread animation, using the Bullet Physics Engine. Each of your chain links would be the equivalent of one of Wall-E’s long treads. They’re all driven by a single sprocket. If you check the “Making Of†section, see: http://www.eias3d.com/forums/topic/5939-wall-e-tread-motion-using-the-bullet-engine/ There’s a download tutorial that should help. Your geometry is more complicated, and it will take some tweaking of the Bullet parameters. But it should work. Good luck! (Nice model you’re animating :-) Chip

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the link Richard :-) The above link was the clip I was referencing, Steve. Chip.

Thanks for the challenge apu, I’m sure there will be plenty of soft body dynamics coming for EI in the future, so we’ll all have a lot of new “toys†to play with in Animator :-))) I look forward to them too, so we’ll all just have to stay tuned to see what Tomas and the Igors have in the works for us! Chip

Hi apu, Well…, after two days of trying everything I could think of to get the cloth to behave, I’ve learned a few things. The mesh on the dress looked great, but it just wouldn’t stop exploding. I tried another simpler mesh I made in Maya, but it also came apart. It seems to be more predictable if self intersections is turned on, but I varied everything I could, and I could never get the sim to go beyond 58 frames. On a whim today, I decided to minimize the cloth mesh to essentially a poncho (flat plane with square hole for head). After a lot of guessing at the inputs, I did finally get the sim to run for 198 frames before it blew up. The mesh was made in Maya, and EI doesn’t like the normals. (I tried a poncho made in the EI Modeler, and it looked great. But it blew up much sooner.) Clearly, SimCloth is verrry particular about the mesh used. My final results aren’t great; the intersection distance is still far away from the body, and the only reason the sim made it to frame 195 is because the arm motion pushes the cloth away from the knees at just the right time to avoid collisions. When the knees hit the cloth coming at them, that’s were I find the intersections increase, and it explodes. I really wanted to see your original cloth data on the model, but I really don’t think SimCloth is up to it. It’s a great plugin for basic cloth, but clearly it needs a lot of refinement. The math could use some work for interactions with complex geometry. The files below are super sensitive to changes in the input values, and blows up if you change gravity, stretch, damping, or just about anything else! But it’s cool to watch even as is. (If you hand keyframed the walk cycle, you are my hero! Super nice! :-) Chip PONCHO TEST.mov PANCHO TEST.zip

Well, I tried V7, V8, V9 with various cloth behavior and sizes but eventually the cloth explodes... Hmmm.., I just downloaded the files and I'll see if I can get it to behave. Chip

Hey Richard - In my experience with SimCloth, if a model "explodes" it's because the scale of the object is too small (the math goes nuts if the object vertices are too close together). I'd try scaling everything up by a factor of 10 or 15. That usually fixes the problem for me :-) Chip The cloth itself can take quite a beating but, when squeezed, it will eventually "explode". I wish I knew why...

I'd actually bet that the old 1.0 interface looked a lot like the 1.5 interface (which was the first version I used) Actually, EI 1.0 had no timeline at all; no graphical depiction of where keyframes were in time, and no time needle to drag. Every time you wanted to add a keyframe, you opened a window for each separate object, typed in a time in seconds or frames, and then moved the object (it took forever to set up…). You had no visual cue that a keyframe was added, and you had to keep all the other keyframed object keyframe times in your head! By typing in a time in the global window, the objects would all update. Then another 3D program came out (from Macromedia, I think) with a time window similar to what we have now, and Marcus Houy completely re-wrote the interface to what we see today. If the first version didn’t have an old ADB hardware key (which I had to exchange for our USB Dongles), I’d try and find a Mac II and load it up, just to get some old screen grabs. That would be a cool to see again :-) Chip

Keep `em comin EIAS pioneers and fanboys! ; ) Wow Guys, It’s amazing how this early EI stuff instantly brings us back to the days when we were all watching the industry develop out of thin air. I vividly remember when I first saw Andre & Wally-B, and Luxo Jr. for the first time. I still have tons the early clips on VHS, and I was riveted! When I got EI 1.0 Beta, I tried my first sample render, but mistakenly left the settings at 1024x768. In Renderman, it took hours (literally) to render a 640x480 image, and I groaned thinking the EI test would take forever! When the image finished in just 3-4 minutes(!), my jaw was on the ground! (And it looked BETTER than RenderMan!) After rolling up my tongue, I realized I had finally found the product that made 3D viable on a home computer, and I’ve been using it to make my living ever since. It’s great to hear from others who watched it all happen, and appreciated it as I did. Here’s to the founders of EI (wherever they are!), and especially to the current team who are working hard to resurrect the phoenix from the ashes ;-) Without them, I’d probably still be working as an engineer! Now I’m inspired to see if I can dig up any other early EI fossils I have lying around :-) Great to hear from everyone about the Good Old Days! (Anyone need an old NuVista and DiaQuest controller card?? ;-) Chip