[Bug] Hidden Point Caches dont deflect

[Jordan]

If you have a deflector that is point cached and is hidden it will no longer deflect properly. It also seems some other setups that are hidden do not update properly either. Cant reproduce them but some linked/ or scripted controlled objects dont seem to work either.
Im running 2.1a so it may be different in 2.1c.

Does this stem from the fact that if yo do refs.dependentNodes $ on your fume grid you get nothing? It doesnt seem to get max to update objects. (and is annoying to script with)

[sitnisati]

Hello,

If object is hidden then most probably it's not updated at all, etc..

Kresimir

[Jordan]

So is that by design? Because its pretty annoying.

[jrand]

Set your object properties to bounding box?

What are you doing/need to do?

[Jordan]

Well its just another thing you have to remember to do and if you forget to unhide an object that is a deflector and set of a hi res sim on the network you will have wasted all your time simming it.
I would understand if there was a purpose for having objects that are hidden not simulate but it dosent seem to have any purpose other than to break your sim if you accidentally have a deflector hidden.

[jrand]

Hmm, yeah, I see what your saying.

[sitnisati]

Well, one reason is that this way, you can quickly remove lots of objects from simulation easily. The other one is - if something is hidden it kind'a does not exsits in the scene.

Kresimir

[Jordan]

Well, one reason is that this way, you can quickly remove lots of objects from simulation easily. The other one is - if something is hidden it kind'a does not exsits in the scene.

Kresimir

The object is still there and deflects in the simulation, it just acts as if the point cache is turned off.
Also objects that are key framed and hidden deflect perfectly so there is some inconsistencies there.

[Bandu]

I think it's not Fume thing but poitcache itself.
Pointcache is not updating if the object is hidden, why should it actually if hidden object is not going to render?
Think what would happen if max is always loading caches for all hidden objects !!
And animated geo works cause animcurves get updated all the time, and this is more a bug than the other

[Jordan]

Just say you had a point helper that had an attachment controller and so it was following the motion of the point cache mesh. If you hide the point cache mesh should the point just stop moving? No it shouldnt, you would expect it to keep moving. The attachment controller knows its dependent on the point cache mesh so triggers the update.

The same should happen for fume, but it seems all the fumefx object dependencies are broken. You can inspect the dependents on a fume grid by using refs.dependentNodes $FumeFX and it will not report any of the objects you have added to the grid. This would seem to me (and I do not claim to know whats going on under the hood) that fumeFX is bypassing the standard max refs/dependent system to trigger updates. I could be completely wrong, or it could be a way fumeFX is coded for speed, i dont know.

All im saying is that as an FXTD working with 15 other FX artists on a job that relies heavily on FumeFX we have found that this issue has caught us out a few times and wasted our artists time. I have a scripted work around so we can work the way we want now, but I just thought id share my issue.

[jrand]

Jordan I totally see you point. I think though that it is not as simple as that, this is just a guess. I believe there are some workarounds to get fume objects to be actually fume objects.

This is one reason I believe we cannot mxs control the object speed multiplier and well the source object trackview issues in the Fume UI.

Maybe we will get more usable dependencies in the future, it would be a nice addition.

I still stick with Display as Box, Anselm and I did a shit-ton of tracked shots a while back with moderately heavy geo. We needed Point Cache and pflow updates, needless to say performance sucked either way but was way worse with the PC's as wire or shaded, almost usable as Display as Box. I think it is a good habit if you do a lot of Point Cache work.