Hello!

You know, I really swear by iClone, and recommend it to everybody, but the crashes, coupled with being unable to load a work in progress if you saved it too many times, have caused me to lose some off my best animations. My latest problem is a sci fi animation I just completed, and though it runs great in iClone, it immediately crashes the program when I try to export. The common thread I think I'm seeing, on the occasions when this happens, is that I have incorporated some nice free content (usually clothing or an animation move) into the work. Maybe that's why it's free! Still, a warning would have been nice. It has also been my experience, that with animations in which I really have to go through frame by frame to change something like lighting or character position, those are the ones that, one day, when I try to call it up to continue working on it, suddenly won't load. Because of this, I sometimes end up in a situation where I can't save anymore. I already ran into the aforementioned inability to load, so now I'm working on a version I saved slightly before that point, but knowing I cannot save anymore. So I do a ton of work, without saving or shutting down my computer, finally complete the thing, try to export, and the program crashes! I lost two of my best animations this way! Any hints or clues? Is this just life as an iCloner? Check out my animation on Youtube: MrWmJCarey.

Bill Carey

Hi Bill,

it really depends on what the circumstance was during the crash.

For example, one known issue is when you double click something too fast - iclone doesn't show that it's processing something behind the scenes ,and re-clicking an action to happen faster (which we all do! ) will make it crash. This event can happen when a drive falls asleep in your system, and iclone is waiting for the drive to start up, but the user kept clicking in hopes to speed things up...boom.

Other issues that can cause crashes are things like bad video card drivers or corrupt drivers, bad drives, bad 3D models - never heard of a motion crashing iclone though - but certainly not ruling it out - I've downloaded motions that were actually models with a bvh tag lol- that will make iclone cross-eyed - google warehouse with it's occasionally strange models will do it too.... then there's also where people load up the scenes to the brim with models and information.....the quirk in that is that iclone won't tell you "Dude, yer getting carried away, calm down!!" ....but it will have a bad reaction when you try to reload the project after the first save - and iclone is stuck trying to load several million poly's in one shot - it happens!!

First thing I'd say - is cover yourself with good workflow habits, especially on important projects. Make it a point to save your file in a sequential fashion every x amount of moves ...
so you'd have file names like file 01.iproject, file 02.iproject file 03.iproject ....

then make sure your drivers and os is uptodate - Nvidia is infamous for sending out drivers that treat their users like guinea pigs testing out new features ......then you have Microsoft trying to figure out ways to secure us and spy on us , while wrecking other drivers in the process ....the list goes on and on.....

So the best practice in this case, is to go down a checklist of "what could possibly cause this" - starting with the most sensible answers - updates and workflow habits.....

If the crash happens a lot, try to keep notes of what you were doing, and what items you were using at the time of the crash......and post about it on the forum with any specifics that can be investigated .....more often than not, other users experienced the same thing ...and found reasons why and resolutions / work arounds.

There really isn't a straight forward answer to this because ...first - computers crash ...that's just part of computer life - we simply try to keep it at a minimum......and 2nd ...iclone uses every resource in your system extensively ....that's bound to open a can of worms when you try to work fast on a loaded project. Then add to that older computers running new technology...fun fun fun! lol

I hope this helps, and please keep us posted ....crashing software is something we all experience ...and Peter says that IC6 has an autosave feature to help prevent lost work.

Cheers

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Thanks for all the info, Planetstardragon! Puts things in perspective a little. Of course, when a program crashes, and you lose 50 hours of work, your first thought isn't, "This happens to lots of people." It's more like, "God, how could you do this to me?????!!!!!!!" You just have to take what you learned from that 50 hours of work, and use the whole thing as motivation to make an even better animation. It's not like you have any choice!

The solution would be for Reallusion to incorporate an InstantSave Feature that automatically Saves Edits every few seconds, giving the options of Continue with same Project, Open another Project or Open a New Project, when iClone closes Unexpectedly.

A request that's been made by many Users many times since at least iC3.

A Feature that's been available with many NLE Programs for many years, even in £54 Programs.

One would expect a PRO Program to have this now, basic expected Feature. It hasn't

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Hi!(^^)/

> IClone Crashes Upon Exporting
In my experience, Iclone5 crashes by output in MP4.
IC5(64bit) may be different, but this trouble occurs many times by my IC5.51(32bit).
So I use IC5 for AVI/WMV exports and use PowerDirector10 for MP4 conversion.

Hi..

Sorry to hear of your crashing problem.

As you may be aware, iClone does not set limits on the number of objects that can be added to a project as every users computer will be different. However it is very important to ensure that your projects remain at a manageable level to avoid stability issues.

We always recommend that you save your project often and always to a new file. Never overwrite the same project file when working on it. This way you will always have a working version of a project to drop back to in the event of problems like you have experienced here.
 
If you have a 64bit operating system, please always try using the 64bit version of iClone5 to open and render large projects. The project size can be much larger in the 64bit version without affecting stability.

Very large projects should be split into smaller parts whenever possible. This will allow you to manage the projects easier. Once rendered, you can edit the various videos together to complete the final product as normal.

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

iClone6 will include an auto-save feature that will allow you to restore your project in the event of a crash.

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

That's good news, Peter

Looks like iClone's come of age, then

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Well, just for closure purposes (I always need closure), here is how the situation ended up. Thanks to pointers from forum members and support staff, I actually learned a few things. Hopefully this doesn't push any old stuff out of my brain, or I may wake up tomorrow morning to find that I don't know how to tie my shoes! After some suggested trial and error, I determined that I am, in fact, able to export in .wmv format. All of this time, I have consistently exported in .avi format. I shall probably never find out why that is no longer an option, but so long as I can export, I am happy. The only practical difference I am noticing, between .avi and .wmv, is that the screen is wider with the latter. The only other comment I'd like to make, is that choosing whether to open 64 or 32 bit is a little strange with the icons as they are, because it isn't readily apparent which is the 32 and which is the 64 bit. Just sayin... Anyways, thanks for the help everyone!

Bill Carey
"MrWmJCarey" on Youtube

"william.carey30 (12/15/2014)

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Well, just for closure purposes (I always need closure), here is how the situation ended up. Thanks to pointers from forum members and support staff, I actually learned a few things. Hopefully this doesn't push any old stuff out of my brain, or I may wake up tomorrow morning to find that I don't know how to tie my shoes! After some suggested trial and error, I determined that I am, in fact, able to export in .wmv format. All of this time, I have consistently exported in .avi format. I shall probably never find out why that is no longer an option, but so long as I can export, I am happy. The only practical difference I am noticing, between .avi and .wmv, is that the screen is wider with the latter. The only other comment I'd like to make, is that choosing whether to open 64 or 32 bit is a little strange with the icons as they are, because it isn't readily apparent which is the 32 and which is the 64 bit. Just sayin... Anyways, thanks for the help everyone!

Bill Carey
"MrWmJCarey" on Youtube"

1) 64Bit Shortcut Desktop Icon has; (64 Bit) included.

See Screenshot:

2) 64 Bit WMV (VC-1) Export File Format is High Definition. Most people have HD Widescreen Monitors these days. So, select an HD Resolution in the Drop-down. 720p is the most common for Upload to Youtube & Vimeo.

3) Setting your Export File to 720 Resolution will automatically set iClone Viewport to the same Resolution. Setting your Monitor Resolution to the same Resolution, makes for easier Editing.

iClone's Edit Realtime Render Engine, dictates that what you see in Edit Playback, is what you see in the Final Export to File.

Screenshot:

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      REALLUSION FORUM ANNUAL PINHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECTS.

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