New Installers for MAX10 Plugins?

[BigPixolin]

It's only a hassle if you make it one.
Un-install the plugins from max 9 and re-install them in 2008.

[Mike Truly]

That 'might' work if I was planning to move away from using MAX9 in production. Problem is, MAX10 is not ready to take over all my projects nor would I ever cripple my production safety net by removing a previous version so soon after a new release.

But thanks for the ideas.

[BigPixolin]

Well they do work with max 2008.

Max 9 was dead to me the day the 2008 demo came out.

[JohnnyRandom]

Max 9 was dead to me the day the 2008 demo came out.

Not necessarily the point is it?

Not everyone jumps to the latest version, alot of folks still using version 8 religiously because for instance Thinking Particles is taking a while to update/upgrade.

Big difference if you're upgrading one seat compared to 10-50.

Mike is merely saying he would like updated installers and I am sure many people agree, inculding myself, we all know it takes a bit of time.

So comments like "It is only a hassle if you make it one" not really helpful.

EDIT:
Mike,
Oleg is working on updated installers for particle flow tools as we speak. Guess you knew that though, read your post :)

Not sure about Sitni Sati, pretty quite over there (the forums anyway)

Rumors of Thinking Particles 3.0 nearing completion (not that I use it but thought I'd throw in what I heard)

[Mike Truly]

Thanks for that info. Good to hear they do work, but I can't uninstall the plugins from MAX9 just to get an install going into MAX10. In the past, it's never been required to do it this way. Anyway, I just heard back from TurboSquid and the new installers are being updated this week. Orbaz is also working on new installers.

As it is, it will probably take several days to install and update all systems to get fully funcitoning MAX10 workstations and farm, just wish the whole process was easier.

Thanks again.

[Mike Truly]

Thanks for that info John.

[BigPixolin]

So comments like "It is only a hassle if you make it one" not really helpful.


Critisizing someone else's comment is not really helping out and is far worst than my original comment becuase it has nothing to do with his question.
I was merley stating that it is not a hassle if you don't turn it in to one. Not a big deal please don't make it into one.

[Steve Green]

Pixolin,

your reply was pointless - it didn't offer anything to resolve the original poster's problem.

You're the one that said it was him making it a problem, which is blatantly not the case.

I suspect the majority of users don't blindly upgrade their whole pipeline without a bit more testing, and to do that they would need installers which wouldn't remove the plugins from their current pipeline.

If somebody makes an unhelpful comment, then I think the original poster is entirely justified in telling them so.

And obviously Turbosquid think that it is a problem, otherwise they wouldn't be releasing Max 2008 installers soon, don't you think?

Regards,

- Steve

[BigPixolin]

Pixolin,

your reply was pointless - it didn't offer anything to resolve the original poster's problem.

You're the one that said it was him making it a problem, which is blatantly not the case.

I suspect the majority of users don't blindly upgrade their whole pipeline without a bit more testing, and to do that they would need installers which wouldn't remove the plugins from their current pipeline.

If somebody makes an unhelpful comment, then I think the original poster is entirely justified in telling them so.

And obviously Turbosquid think that it is a problem, otherwise they wouldn't be releasing Max 2008 installers soon, don't you think?

Regards,

- Steve

How was it pointless or not helpful at all?
I posted a solution to get them installed in 2008 that works.
He did not say he did not want to abandon max 9 in his first post so I would say my answer pertaining to the original post was spot on.
I did not tell him he was causing problems. I said it was not a hassle if you don't make it one. Obviosly that statement means something else to me than it does to you.
I did not "blindly" replace 9 with 2008.
I tested it out with current and past projects, tested to see if current plugins work which they do and then once all was well I have not had a reason to use max 9 since.
Read the thread again it was not the original poster telling me my post was not helpful.

Thanks for your really helpful post.

[Steve Green]

"It's only a hassle if you make it one."

You don't think that's an unhelpful comment?

Your solution means removing functionality from 9 - I can hardly think of anyone who would do that. I would imagine that Mike would have already dismissed that as an option.

I don't see how you can judge whether Max 2008 ready for a switchover this quickly. I would certainly want to keep Max 9 around for a good deal yet before I switched.

I was using 8 until the second SP arrived for 9, and that was several months after the release of 9.

- Steve

[JohnnyRandom]

Heh, I am still using max7&8 for the simple fact a few plugs I've got were never updated.:sad:

Still waiting for a couple to get updated to 9 let alone 10 (assuming their 100% compatible)

[Steve Green]

I know what you mean.

I need to find out what's happening with Vehicle Sim - the site's up but none of the links seem to work these days.

One of the downsides of plugins I guess.

- Steve

[BigPixolin]

"It's only a hassle if you make it one."

You don't think that's an unhelpful comment?

That was not my entire reply.
IMO it can be helpful. He was asking a question in which the answer would come from past expirence. It was my expirence that upgrading to 2008 was not a hassle at all. Just giving my opinion on the matter, sorry it did not meet your high standard of helpfulness you put into each and every one of your posts.



Your solution means removing functionality from 9 - I can hardly think of anyone who would do that. I would imagine that Mike would have already dismissed that as an option.


I personaly know exactly 32 people who did just that. I'm sure there are thousands more.

I don't see how you can judge whether Max 2008 ready for a switchover this quickly. I would certainly want to keep Max 9 around for a good deal yet before I switched.

I'm not running into any problems with 2008. I don't see why people get so nervous with switching over I've never had problems with this. I'm more anxouis about implementing new features than worring about things that may not happen at all.
I did not un-install max 9 and shred the disc. It's still there.


I was using 8 until the second SP arrived for 9, and that was several months after the release of 9.


Great:thumbsup: Everybody has different workflow and needs.

[JohnnyRandom]

OT

Not a big deal please don't make it into one.

LOL:D

[BigPixolin]

OT



LOL:D
:applause: Yeah please don't make it a big deal let me do it. LOL:)

[TAVO]

we are using 2008 already in production and our three main plugins work fine with it, i personally think that you can switch to it without problems, as BigPixolin said, to us max 9 was dead the day we installed 2008, still no crashes :scream:

[Steve Green]

Well, after being stung by bugs in the last couple of releases of Max, I'm more cautious than you are.

The reason for not switching over wholesale is pretty straightforward, what if a showstopper bug, say file corruption arose?

OK, you could switch back to 9, but then you would have to migrate any existing projects back to it as well, which may not be straightforward either.

Or... say a client wants a change to a project that was done in 9. I, personally would tend to keep old versions of Max (and plugins installed) so that I could load legacy scenes. Newer versions of Max are not perfect at loading old scenes - errors happen, or they may use legacy plugins which didn't get a recompile.

Yes, these are what-if scenarios, but they've both happened to me so that's why ditching a release a week after a new release wouldn't even be an option to me.

There are very good reasons not to do the switch so hastily

IMHO obviously.

- Steve

[soulburn3d]

It's also very common on big productions to stop upgrading software until your next show. While it seems counter intuitive, at a certain point, it's faster to work around things you know are broken than it is to discover new things that are broken. It's difficult to finish a film when the landscape underneath you is always changing. And this doesn't go only for max, this goes for any software.

- Neil

[Mike Truly]

Easy folks... didn't mean to instigate strife.

While everyone's workflows ARE different, I would never abandon a previous release and it's plugins for my projects... but thanks for the suggestion.

In any event... it's completely unnecessary.

Here's an update. The MAX9 plugins appear to be compatible with MAX10 (for the most part) and a new TurboSquid installer is NOT required (although it's being developed). I had copied over all plugins, plugins directories and (I thought) all relavant DCPFLICS files. Turns out, there was one file (TSregisternow.dll) that was not obvious, that I had not copied over. The instant I did so, MAX10 started without complaint and the plugins seem to work now.

Thanks to Don Gray on the Area forum who suggested this to me.

Thanks to all!

[Steve Green]

Thanks for the info Mike.

Does it require a new authcode, or does the DCPFlics ignore that it's for a different version and work straight away?

Regards,

Steve

[Mike Truly]

Steve,

It worked immediately. No dialogs have popped up, etc. so the DCPFLICS seems to be using all the MAX9 authcodes.

Once you know it can work, and copy over all the files, your good to go.

[Steve Green]

Great, cheers

I'll give that a go later.

Thanks,

- Steve

[TAVO]

yes i think it all depends on the work you are doing, we do mostly Archviz, and the last projects didn't take more than 2 weeks, so we have the chance to try 2008 right away and it works fine for us, as Steve said you have to think if you need to make changes to old projects with old versions and of course, plugins working with those versions.

[BigPixolin]

Our project life cycle is only a few days. We already started and finished projects in 2008. And again no problems here.

[Airflow]

Well that explains it.
Imagine your project cycle was 3 months, or a year. Then you would not be so quick to ditch max9.

[SoLiTuDe]

lol we're still using max8 quite a bit. :shrug:

[mixermanic]

Can I just resurrect this thread to ask a question of Mike.

You say you copied the plugins over? Is that essentially just copying the plugins folder over? What about the MaxScripts that come with some plugs?

Is it better to do that than rerun the installs, just pointing to the Max 2008 folder?

Thanks! :-)

Martin

[Mike Truly]

If the installers are available, I would use those. I know the DCPFLICS stuff can sometimes be a problem to get working... I would recommend running the installers to make sure everything is kosher in that regard.

But in my case (before all installers were available), first I made a backup of Plugins, Scripts, UI, Plugcfg, etc. Then I copied over the Plugins folder (and all sub-folders... I keep all my plugins in individual sub-folders) then I copied over all the Scripts folders (and sub-folders), then I also carefully investigated the UI>Macroscripts and other folders for any files related to the plugins and copied those over too.

Because I have to install this stuff on many machines, I typically get my main workstation working well, then copy the folders to all the other render systems and edit the plugin.ini to make a special rendernode version that doesn't try to load something that would be only loaded on a workstation.

But depending on how many machines your dealing with, running the installers are probably the best way to go.

Good luck!

[mixermanic]

Thanks Mike. I'm only doing 1 machine.

I'll rerun the installers for as much as I can - I mainly use Sitni Sati and a couple of Cebas plugins.

Cheers,

Martin

[Bobo]

Thanks Mike. I'm only doing 1 machine.

I'll rerun the installers for as much as I can - I mainly use Sitni Sati and a couple of Cebas plugins.

Cheers,

Martin

In case you were wondering, to run Krakatoa on Max 2008, just copy the Krakatoa entry from the Max 9 plugin.ini into the Max 2008 plugin.ini, for example
Krakatoa=C:\Program Files (x86)\Frantic Films\Krakatoa\3dsMax9\x64
for the 64 bit version.

[mixermanic]

Haha you must have read my mind! I was about to email you or Scott :D

How would one install it on a computer with no Max 9 on? I have just Ghosted my base setup onto a spare hard disk to test 2008 and have only installed 2008 on it?

Cheers!

Martin

[mixermanic]

Incidentally - the Sitni Sati stuff is running beautifully (based on just loading a couple of the provided example files) on 2008 x86.

Now onto Cebas, and the loathsome IP-Clamp :D

M

[mixermanic]

How did I know the ONE plugin I use above all others (PSD Manager) won't install...

The install app seems to think that 2008 is a lower version than 9. Which is useful.

finalRender and ScalpelMax installed ok though.

AARRGGHH!

M

[Bobo]

Haha you must have read my mind! I was about to email you or Scott :D

How would one install it on a computer with no Max 9 on? I have just Ghosted my base setup onto a spare hard disk to test 2008 and have only installed 2008 on it?

Cheers!

Martin

Install as usual.
When you are asked to pick a 3dsmax.exe, you pick Max 2008 and it will tell you it does not have a folder for it. So the Plugin.ini will NOT contain the path to krakatoa, but krakatoa itself will be in the installation folder.
Find the plugin.ini and add the line Krakatoa=... with the path to the correct Plugin folder (that contains the DLR file).

Done.

Same applies to Vista - Krakatoa 1.0 tries to write to plugin.ini in the Max root folder, but Vista does not allow it. You have to edit the plugin.ini in your local settings.

Krakatoa 1.1.0 should fix this - since you are on the beta, please try to install that and see if it works with 2008 and/or Vista.

[mixermanic]

Thanks Bobo! :)

[mixermanic]

Right... PSD Manager update for anyone interested.

I did an install of Max 9 on my laptop (I want to keep my shiny new machine shiny and new with only 2008 on) - didn't activate or anything (didn't need to start it up).

I copied the root directory, installed PSD Manager in the normal directory, and used a fab shareware tool called Beyond Compare to compare the folders.

Thus, PSD Manager adds:

everything in: <maxRoot>\cebas\psdmanager

CebasAbout.dll in <maxRoot>

psdmanager_16a.bmp and psdmanager_16i.bmp in <MaxRoot>\ui\ame

psdmanager_16a.bmp and psdmanager_16i.bmp in <MaxRoot>\ui\icons

The plugin.ini lines that are added are:
[Directories]
PSDManager=C:\PROGRA~1\Autodesk\3DSMAX~1\cebas\PSDManager
[Help]
psd-manager Reference=C:\PROGRA~1\Autodesk\3DSMAX~1\cebas\PSDManager\psdmanager.chm
(edit to suit your system)

Also, registry keys are added:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\cebas]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\cebas\FloLiMa]
"HostIP"="127.0.0.1"
"HostPort"="3140"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\cebas\PSDManager]
"SlaveMode"="0"

(I'm assuming the IP and Port need editing to suit. I only use a local install so I use the defaults for IP-Clamp)

Uninstall reg keys are added too, but I'm not bothering about those.

Now I'm going to see if it works on my 2008 system :D

This doesn't get you out of having to install it on a Max 9 system, but someone may find it useful so they don't have to go around sifting through directories...

Cheers!

Martin

PS: I originally used a WISE install unpacker to unpack the install exe (I have no guilt about doing this because the cebas protection is in IP-Clamp, not the install file...) and it works, but only for the files. There were no reg keys or plugin.ini edits...


EDIT: Yep, seems to be working perfectly in 2008! :thumbsup:

[mixermanic]

One further update before I go to bed (6am here) :)

Bobo - the latest Krakatoa seems to be working perfectly, thank you. I'll get more into it tomorrow, but it seems fine!

Vue 6 xStream (6.50) - Seems to be working with Mental Ray (see image 1 - don't laugh, it was just a quick test :p ) To be honest, there are enough problems with xStream though that I can't see myself using it much. When it works it's amazing, but that is rare.

Vehicle Studio 1.7 CTE - again, same problem as PSD Manager. Managed to do the same as before and it seems fine in 2008. Only using the demo so can't confirm whether the licensing works...

V-Ray 1.5 is all working (image 2 - an afterburn test scene). Render output was: "0 errors, 0 warnings".

SoftImage CAT 3 seems to be fine. Need to do more testing though.

Loving it all so far.... :thumbsup:

Cheers,

Martin



Vue 6 xStream & Max Primitives (Mental Ray):
http://www.designersounds.co.uk/vuetest.jpg


Afterburn 3.2a Test Scene (V-Ray 1.53):
http://www.designersounds.co.uk/abtest.jpg

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