Screenpaint artifact in 4.3.1929.1 on Nvidia 330M, Win7

General Picture - animating now to life itself(tm)
Member of Content Wizards

iClone 4 exhibits a strange artifact along the borders of color patches in an avatar texture, when there is a translucent plane in front of the avatar. See attached screenshots and diagram.

The edge of the color patch can be either rimmed with bright or dark pixels, depending upon the Z-depth relationship between the avatar texture and the translucent plane.

It looks as though the render engine gets confused about whether color-patch edge pixels should be combined with the translucent screen.

This bug limits my ability to fake toon shading.

General Picture - animating now to life itself(tm)
Member of Content Wizards

Hi,

I sent a message to the support email posted while the forum was down yesterday, but got no reply. So, I'm posting a copy of the message here with an update.

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I downloaded and installed iClone 4.3 EX yesterday (ed: read 'yesterday' as September 28th) and, starting this morning (ed. September 29th), I'm having a problem. I don't know if I did something unusual or not, but now I have to restart iC to get a new project. There are two different scenarios I've tried so I'll describe them both...

My hardware is:
- Dell Precision 670 (dual Xeon 3.2gHz)
- 4gb ECC RAM (the ECC part shouldn't affect things, should it?)
- nVidia Quadro FX 1400 PCIe (16x, 128mb)

I don't think it's the hardware, even though the video card doesn't quite come up to spec. I was using iClone for a few hours yesterday without trouble. (ed. since reinstalling, I've again been using it without trouble)


Scenario 1) iClone EX running, nothing in the project/scene:

- I drag 0_Empty Scene into the view window
- the view window goes black with a white ground-grid
- I get an "iClone Reminder" dialog saying: "Failed to load the file. If this is a .vns file please switch to the Project page and try again."
- I click OK and get a second "iClone Reminder" saying: "Cannot load invalid data."
- I click Ok.
- the view stays black w/white ground-grid and is unresponsive (pan, zoom, etc. don't work). As far as I can tell, iClone is locked up.


Scenario 2) iClone EX running, (this happens whether I have anything in the project/scene or not):

- I click on New Project
- the view window goes black with a white ground-grid (same as the first scenario)
- I get an "iClone Reminder" saying: "Loading of user custom default project failed."
- I click OK and get a second "iClone Reminder" saying: "Default project restored."
- the view stays black w/white ground grid and is unresponsive (pan, zoom, etc. don't work, same as Scenario #1)

Regarding scenario #2, I don't think I have created any custom projects, none that I'm aware of, anyway. Could I possibly have created one without knowing? The only thing I've done that seems out of the ordinary is that I've installed all content in My Documents\iClone\ and My Documents actually points to the root of a separate hard drive.

The only cure for either scenario is to restart the app.

I'm evaluating iClone with an eye toward buying it, but this morning I haven't managed to do very much evaluation. I had hoped, if I decide to buy, to take advantage of the package offer made to EX users, but the expiry is tomorrow (Sept. 30th) and I'm not sure now I'll be able to make a proper assessment by then, especially if it takes a few days to solve this problem. Until I saw that the offer expires tomorrow, I had hoped to have the full 15 days to make the evaluation, because that offer just sounds so sweet.

Will you guys be making a similar offer later?
Is there any way to extend the expiry time of the offer so I have time to clear up this problem and still make an evaluation?

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Update: I uninstalled iClone 4 EX, scrubbed the registry, and reinstalled using only default folders for content. Whether it was the reinstall or using default folders that cleared things up, I don't know.

I would like to avoid any future problems along this line, though. Does anyone know what might be causing this?

I'd still like to have more time to make my assessment. That special offer runs out at midnight tonight and won't have time to find out if iClone and its companion packages will do what I need them to do.

- Ron T.

Hi,

If you wish to contact Reallusion Support you should always use the link below. By doing so your support request will be registered on the system and you will have a tracking number to follow up on. Support will also be able to advise you on any special offers you may be interested in if you need extra time.

http://www.reallusion.com/CustomerSupport/User/QForm.aspx

Thanks.

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

Hello i have a problem with one project which ask 1.7 gb of RAM and than application is crashing...Especially under windows 7 64 bit...However it works under xp service pack 3 32 bit, but ask same volume of memory and crash after i`m changing size of textures from 1024 to 2048..I have now 6 Gb of RAM and 2Gb of video memory on PAlit sonic GTX460...Of coarse project works if i`m using 512 on 512 size of texture, but i would like to use at least 1024...Please advise something for iclone 4.3 and such sort of machine( i use to have asus 260 gtx and 4 Gb and than i`ve change config and hope that 2 gb of video can help)!!???Cheers.
p.s. oh and Iclone says "out of memory" before crash and project has about 330 - 350 mb size

iClone skin color change only works the first time. Once the skin color has been applied, no other iSkin can be selected or applied until I switch to another section of the Avatar editor (Persona, Hair, Upper Body, etc.) and then switch back to Skin. Then a second skin color change can be made, but if I want to change it a third time, the same switching procedure must be followed.

This happens with G3 characters Benny, Dylan and Jana from a 'cold start' of iClone. I didn't try it with any others.

My system:
Dell Precision 670 (3.2 gHz, dual Xeon)
4 gb RAM
nVidia GT220 PCIe (16x)
Windows XP (SP3)

Software:
iClone 4.3.1929.1 Pro

- Ron T.

Hi. Just noticed that when I use the iCar Mechanic Tool Kit the wheel dummy's no longer rotate. To date they have always work perfectly. I checked some of my earlier assembly's and found one prop save as a prop which the wheels did rotate and three props saved in seperate  projects files did not. I tried another quick assembly of a new prop and no rotation. I downloaded again today in case something was corrupted but no joy. Any suggestions? Any one else having the same problems? Can someone try their Mechanic Tool Kit and see if it works for them? Thanks in advance. I've not done a Forum search so apologies if this has been covered.

:cool: gizmo

Just an update on the above. I've gone through all the iCars I've made up in the last six months. (About eight). Some of the cars, regardless as to whether they were saved as props or in project files, work as they should. However about half now do not work. With these models I looked in the timeline and a Command asking the 'Spring' to move is present but no commands generated for the wheels. Why not . . . I've no idea because they worked previously.

Whats really wierd is that an original build does not work, yet two props which I simply re textured from the original and saved, do work!

I re downloaded the kit yesterday but still no luck on rebuilding my old props or with new props. I re downloaded again today because yesterday I forgot to delete the old Dramascripts and was hoping that may help. It did not. If I try to import a Dramascript from the newly downloaded files and ask the iCar to move by right clicking I get 'Error adding move command'.  So I'm at a loss and tired, so I'm giving up for today. Any help would really be appreciated. I do not need urgently but I REALLY hate it when something like this does not want to work. Cheers.

Edit: I found a work around. I just deleted a 'working' props body and wheels and saved the Spring and wheel dummies as a seperate 'working' prop. I can now load any chassis and wheels onto the new working prop, adjust wheel positions to suit and voila. But I'd still like to get to the bottom of this. Again any help or advice, Reallusion, Peter or any other, would be much appreciated. Ta.

:cool: gizmo

Update on my update: It all Works! I came home today and tried to assemble a working iCar. No good. After a while I noticed that the fan in my Nvidia card was working hard, for no good reason. So I rebooted as I usually leave my computer on 24/7.  Assembled the car again and everything is hunky dory. (OK). So apologies if I gave anyone a scare and for my whinging.

:cool: gizmo

Hi Gizmo.. Glad to hear everything is ok now. Thanks for updating your situation. :)

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com