SpaceNavigating 3D Studio 2008

[croniq]

Hello

I just recieved my SpaceNavigator PE today - and ofc I love it

But..

I have a few issues in 3d studio 2008. I've read through the forum and one of my problems have been addressed, but the solutions are not working for me =/

1st issue:

When maximizing the perspective viewport in d3d mode I get those weird "lags" whenever I stop rotating the view using the SN.
(looks like the 3Dx plugin is creating a temporary camera when navigating, and deleting it when stopping)
I've tried turning on "Redraw Scene on Window Expose" as one user suggested - but that didnt do the trick.
The only solution I have found, is to create a free camera, match it's position to perspective view and then switching to camera view.
This resolves the lag issue, but also creates an "undo issue" - because now, when I move around, my undo list is getting flooded with "Camera move" actions. :S

So thats that..

2nd issue:

This one could be related to my other hardware, but I doubt it.

When moving around using the SN, it seems incremental, as in - the camera moves smoothly for 1-2 seconds, freezes for

[croniq]

Okay, seems like issue #2 is somehow related to the boundingbox of a model.

When slowly zooming into the object, with the translation slider set to minimum, the stuttering starts just about where the boundingbox begins.

Occurs on large high-poly meshes consisting of many objects.

I have no idea if this is related to the plugin or 3ds itself..

Issue #1 is still killing the workflow =/

[mbonk]

Hi croniq,

Is there anything in particular we need to do to reproduce your issues, or do they both also occur even with a teapot in the four port view?

You are not by any chance autosaving every 2 seconds?

Markus

[croniq]

Hi mbonk

Sorry about that - I knew I forgot to write something in the post - just couldnt figure out what

Issue #1 is easy to recreate:

Just create a few object (size and polycount doesnt matter) - go to perspective view, maximize the viewport and navigate around using the SN - all is well as long as the SN is recieving input - but the second I let go, the scene freezes for a few seconds while the temporary camera is being deleted.

It -only- happenes in maximized viewports. Oo

Is the plugin camera re-reading the entire hirarchy when switching back and forth from 3ds perspective view?

My d3d driver does however seem to have problems with maximizing and minimizing viewports in 3ds (usually hangs the system for a second or two while switching) - and I have the latest drivers.

Maybe I just need some new hardware...


Issue #2: is a bit harder to recreate.

The scenes where this occur are scenes where many objects have been merged into one large mesh (fx. a lowpoly city/outpost [80k poly] consisting of 50+ objects, 1500 meters across, 500 meters high).

These scenes are made for realtime 3d games and simulations - so they should be fairly easy on the machine (not a whole lot of textures and geometry).

The SN settings are set to default, and the plugin transform/rotation sliders are set to minimum.

It's not a big deal really, but fx. being able to slide fluidly across a landscape at low speed without stuttering would be nice.


Oh - and my autosave is set for 5 min - hurray for the stabillity of 3d studio x)


Thanks for looking into this

[mbonk]

Hi croniq,

My d3d driver does however seem to have problems with maximizing and minimizing viewports in 3ds (usually hangs the system for a second or two while switching) - and I have the latest drivers.

Currently I cannot reproduce this, but: your comment is interesting as that is exactly what the plug-in is doing: it switches to a 4 viewport layout and back again when the viewport it is navigating in is maximized. It needs to do this because of the way 3ds max swithes to a certain view type.

Could you send me a scene which is stuttering or point me to one available as a sample somewhere.

Markus

[croniq]

Hiya Markus

Thanks again for taking the time to look into this

The maximizing problem, where the system hangs for a few seconds has been persistent for some time , ever since max 8 I believe - so this is not related to your plugin/driver - just wanted to make that clear

As for issue #2 - I think I have narrowed it down to the camera focal point.

Fx. if you navigate the perspective view using the SE and then start scrolling the mousewheel to zoom in - the camera reaches a point where it cannot zoom in any further (because of the focal point) - this makes the movement with the SN stutter, since I believe some values are becomming far to small for SN to registrer (just guessing here).

I'll send a file for you to probe, if I can somehow send it directly to you?

[croniq]

Hi again

I just wanted to tell you that both issues are not present while running in OpenGL mode - sadly that means no dx shader support for my models =/

But at least everythhing is running smoothly now =)