XoliulShader 2 and 3DS MAX 2013
Hello
So I've tried installing XoliulShader 2 in 3DS MAX 2013 x64, apparently everything went well till I tried to actually use it.
When I was trying out the presets, on some of the cube maps, it was asking me to input the map, a sign that the maps were not copied where they were supposed to be.
Then I tried looking for the files myself, and surprise....no xoliul related files were found in the 3DS MAX folder, not even the .fx files.
But this was odd, because in the 3ds max material editor, I could clearly see a xoliul shader material which had no trouble loading...
I tried uninstalling the shader via the .mzp file but it doesn't work, max just hangs, the only way to remove that "shader" was to run the uninstall script. Reinstalling it did not work, got the same result.
Of course I looked around polycount and other forums for a solution to this or someone that was in a similar situation, but I did not find any.
I'm using Windows 8 64-bit.
Any suggestions?
P.S. Before you suggest solutions from the "Troubleshooting Installation" section in the shader's help file, let me tell you that this is not the case.
EDIT: I know that 3DS MAX 2013 is supported but not recommended, as this is the version that I have right now, I'm trying to make it work in this one, if it won't work, I'll most likely get 2012 solely for this.
EDIT2: Installed 3DS MAX 2012 and its the same problem, no xoliul files in the 3ds max directory, shader appears fine but it asks for paths to different maps/etc. I think I need to perform a manual installation but I didn't find any instructions anywhere.
So I've tried installing XoliulShader 2 in 3DS MAX 2013 x64, apparently everything went well till I tried to actually use it.
When I was trying out the presets, on some of the cube maps, it was asking me to input the map, a sign that the maps were not copied where they were supposed to be.
Then I tried looking for the files myself, and surprise....no xoliul related files were found in the 3DS MAX folder, not even the .fx files.
But this was odd, because in the 3ds max material editor, I could clearly see a xoliul shader material which had no trouble loading...
I tried uninstalling the shader via the .mzp file but it doesn't work, max just hangs, the only way to remove that "shader" was to run the uninstall script. Reinstalling it did not work, got the same result.
Of course I looked around polycount and other forums for a solution to this or someone that was in a similar situation, but I did not find any.
I'm using Windows 8 64-bit.
Any suggestions?
P.S. Before you suggest solutions from the "Troubleshooting Installation" section in the shader's help file, let me tell you that this is not the case.
EDIT: I know that 3DS MAX 2013 is supported but not recommended, as this is the version that I have right now, I'm trying to make it work in this one, if it won't work, I'll most likely get 2012 solely for this.
EDIT2: Installed 3DS MAX 2012 and its the same problem, no xoliul files in the 3ds max directory, shader appears fine but it asks for paths to different maps/etc. I think I need to perform a manual installation but I didn't find any instructions anywhere.
Replies
I tried running the .mzp from max via Run Script but still no luck, it says that the shader was installed succesfully in "$userscripts" but i'm getting the same problem as before.
Even if I load the map thats asking for I'm getting an error.
I think it has something to do with Windows 8....but I can't say for sure.
What I can say is that i'm sure there is a way to fix this.
I've tried everything I could think off...
1. Loose windows 8. From what i read it rarely performs faster than windows 7, and when it does, it either isn't by much, or you're in a web browser. JMO. I haven't read through the entire Shader thread (as i hope you have) to see if Win8 is even supported. If you have 2013 running on Win8, and one isn't recommended and the other isn't supported entirely, I'd imagine you'll have problems.
2. Instead of insisting the people of polycount help you, In a rather rude way, You might consider an alternative renderer in the meantime while you wait patiently for replies. You could try Maroset. Trial is free, and that would get you into seeing your normals/maps in real time, and give the nice people of poly count 30 days to help you figure out the shader before its a pressing issue for you again. Sense time is apparently of the essence.
.02
1. Have you even tried windows 8? Its basically windows 7 with an extra interface. This has nothing to do with the compatibility between max and windows 8. I've read on the shader thread and people are experiencing my problems in windows 7 as well. But as always, once the issue is fixed, people don't post how they did it, hence the ambiguation.
2. Rude way? I seriously doubt I was rude in ANY way. This is a forum, not the senate. I did what everyone else does. Tried to find a solution on my own, after which you make a thread on the forum on which the developer of the said "product" is active, in hopes of getting a response straight from the source.
Cheers.
-Shader works fine
-When you try to apply the preset it asks for the cubemap wich it can't find (had the same problem here when I tried it, takes 2mins to fix).
What I can see/think what has happened:
-I remember something about laurens changing the install path because some people asked for it (something to do with priviliges on work pc's).
Just a very simple search on your C:/ with the term "Xoliul" would have given you the path where the shader is installed.
(or maybe it's just a W8/3dsmax thing that it gets installed somewhere else).
Now, this isn't a problem in itself, but it seems like he didn't update the paths for the presets to the new folder.
If you create the preset, it goes to the folder where it expects the cubemaps to be.
Solution:
-Unzip the .mpz with winrar (yes you can do that) and place the cubemaps manually where the shader expects them to be, and create the folders necessary)
-Copy the cubemaps from where it got installed (again a simple search on your c drive will point where it got installed, somewhere in Appdata)
-Don't use the presets (they aren't all the usefull anyway, much better to go trough some of the tutorials Laurens made and understand what the settings do).
so where it needs to go
Max folder/Scripts/XoliulShaderUI/cubemaps/
just create the "XoliulshaderUI" and the cubemaps folder inside of it yourself.
It doesn't just "not find" the cubemaps, even if I point it where the cubemaps are, it gives me an error. But thats just the tip of the iceberg.
After installation, I did a search for "xoliul" in the 3ds max directory and it didn't find ANYTHING. No fx files, no scripts, nothing.
However, inside 3ds max, the shader exists.
I will try your solution right now and post the update.
UPDATE 1: It installs the script in
C:\Users\Justin\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2013 - 64bit\ENU\scripts
It appears everything is there. I copied the cubemaps to maxroot/scripts/xoliulshaderui/cubemaps/
Wich is why I said "search for "xoliul" on your C:/"
Anyway, with that "fix" I posted it works fine here.
So to iterate:
-Go to your max folder -> Scripts -> Make a XoliulShaderUI folder -> a cubemaps folder in there and put this stuff in there:
Thank you very much for your support. This was not mentioned anywhere in the shader thread, at least I didn't see it.
As joeri pointed out, to remedy the dozens of of problems people had with admin rights, I had to move all the files out to AppData. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to fix all the presets and some of the referencing code yet.