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Krakatoa MX 2.1.7 Change Log (Public Beta)

As of 2013/01/22 - Download Beta Build

Bug Fixes 

  • After several years, the problem with Krakatoa installation causing the MAXScript MacroRecorder to stop working has been localized by Autodesk engineers and 3ds Max will be fixed in the future. Armed with this new information, we were able to modify Krakatoa's code to avoid the issue, so this and future builds should not affect the MacroRecorder functionality anymore. 
  • Fixed a regression when generating CustomData Render Elements.
  • Fixed channel conversion of mapping coordinates controlling InputTexmap.

New Features 

  • A new PRT Surface object has been introduced. 
    • PRT Surface distributes particles randomly on the surface of one or more objects using either a fixed count or a distance threshold. 
    • When a single object is picked, PRT Surface can work in either Object or World Space mode. When more than one objects are picked, PRT Surface will automatically switch to World Space mode. 
    • Various channels including Texture coordinates, Normals and Tangents are acquired from the surface automatically. 
    • The PRT Surface object is supported by the Particle Data Viewer, Magma modifiers and is a valid particle source for Frost meshing.
  • A new mode has been added to the existing Krakatoa PRTCloner Modifier.
    • New Radio buttons let you select between a new default Spherical Random Distribution mode and the old Source List mode.
    • In Spherical mode, a user-defined number of particles will replace each original particle within a user-defined radius, while respecting the Scale channel of the original particle.
  • Magma Errors are now considered fatal and will stop the rendering with an error message dialog. If such an error is found, either disable the Magma modifier or fix its flow. This is to avoid incorrect / unexpected output at render time.
  • Added Decimal Precision controls to the Particle Data Viewer. In addition to the default display mode used before, floating point data can now be shown with 8, 12 or 16 decimal places.
  • The Magma Output channel format will be forced to the type (16 or 32 bit) specified in the Krakatoa Memory Channels Rollout when rendering in Krakatoa. See also Magma Editor Improvements at the end of this page for UI changes related to this feature.

UI Improvements 

  • The Source Particles section of the Main Controls rollout has been extended to a 4x4 grid and now hosts additional checkbuttons for PRT Surface, PRT Ember, a separate Phoenix option (which used to be shared with FumeFX), and more for future use.
  • The VFB Extensions have also been updated to show all source types on 16 checkbuttons in 4 groups of 4 in two rows.
  • Support for the new source types has been added to the Schematic Flow tool. 
  • Added right-click handlers to the Time,Bytes/Particle,Cached Count and Memory buttons in the bottom panel of the VFB Extensions to copy the text to the Windows Clipboard. This can be useful when collecting benchmarking results.
  • Changed the wording on the ">Limit To Number Of CPUs" to match the new name in Deadline - "Limit To Slave's Task Limit". Also added tooltips to some partitioning controls to explain their functionality.
  • Improved the class filters of the Magma (KCM) and Krakatoa Delete modifier MacroScripts.

Magma Editor Improvements 

  • An ActiveType Tool has been added to the Magma Editor.
    • It can be accessed either via the [`] key (upper left key next to the 1 key on US keyboards), or alternatively via the [Ctrl]+[SPACEBAR] combination. The previous [`] key (All Nodes Menu) is now reassigned as [Ctrl]+[`].
    • The ActiveType requires the mouse to be within the Magma Editor field to be activated.
    • Once activated, the user can enter any search string which will be automatically applied to the beginning of Node Names, Sub-string within Node Names (equivalent to *String*), within Category Names and within Node Descriptions.
    • There is no limit to the results, so typing in * shows all possible nodes in a scrollable list.
    • The top pick will be automatically highlighed and can be activated by simply pressing Enter while typing.
    • Pressing the Down Arrow will bring the cursor to the list and allows the scrolling up and down. Pressing the Up Arrow while on the top entry will bring the focus back to the text field. Single-Clicking on an entry will also create the node at the location where the tool was opened.
    • Hovering the mouse over a list entry will display the Node Description text as a tooltip.
    • The tool is modal, it has to be closed before continuing work. It can be closed by pressing [ESC] or Enter while there is no valid node found (e.g. empty search string).
    • The list entries will be colored according to the node coloring schemes.
    • All supported Channel Names are accessible, and using wildcards can sometimes be accessed faster than through keyboard shortcuts. For example, typing "M*16" will find and create the Mapping16 channel (only the first 9 channels were directly accessible through the keyboard shortcuts I>C>M>* in the old system, for Mapping10 and higher, mouse or more key clicks were necessary).
    • Additional aliases for some operators are available to speed up typing, for example "Times" is equivalent to "Multiply".
    • Float, Integer and Vector values can be entered directly in the search field and will create a respective InputValue node with that value, for example entering 123.4 will make a Float InputValue with 123.4 as its value.
    • Constants like Pi and e are also supported directly.
    • Most major (and some not-so-major) colors names are exposed. Type in "Red" to create a Vector InputValue of [1,0,0]. Type in "Color" to see a list of what is currently exposed.
    • Any global variables defined in MAXScript will also be accessible to create InputValue nodes. For example, entering "foo" will do nothing, but evaluating "foo=42.3" in the MAXScript Listener first and then entering "foo" in ActiveType will create a Float InputValue of 42.3.
    • Entering arbitrary MAXScript expressions that produce Vector, Float or Integer values will also create an InputValue node with that value, e.g. entering "$Box001.pos" will create a Vector InputValue with the position of the Box object (if available in the scene). Note that no connection will be created to its controller, only the value will be copied.
    • While the ActiveType system is not always as fast as direct keyboard shortcuts, it is very intuitive and should help explore the available nodes. In several cases, it is faster or more comfortable than the other alternatives (one-stroke and multi-stroke keyboard shortcuts, menus, depot nodes drag&drop).
  • Added "FaceSelection" channel to the list of pre-defined FaceQuery node channels. Previously, it had to be entered manually.
  • Added Debugger Decimal Precision data display controls. In addition to the old defaults, floating point values can now be shown with 8, 12 or 16 decimal places.
  • When defining the Output node's data format, the memory channel format (16 or 32) defined in the Krakatoa's Memory Channels rollout will be used and the other options will be hidden. This does not affect channels that are not cacheable by the renderer.