Are the LODs too big?

JP Schriefer · February 19, 2016, 01:36:23 PM

I think I have a big problem now. I finished the daytime version of Maracanã and tried to export it with automatic LODs just to see it in game, however Gmax won't export them, it just gets stuck in the first view and hours later shows me the message of Export Failed, error 6. Does anybody knows if there's a way to render it yet?
Thanks in advance.

Girafe · February 19, 2016, 01:40:48 PM

Send me your LODs, we will check if I can render them.

MushyMushy · February 19, 2016, 01:47:15 PM

I'm not an expert on this, but I do remember from an older thread that gmax has limitations on how big the LOD can be and that going over the limit caused the Error 6. I think I remember someone saying it was a "general error" code so I assume that means it could apply to a lot of things, not just the LOD size limit. I'm not sure. That thread only mentioned limitations on the Z axis, but I personally suspect it affects all three axis. This is why super tall skyscrapers are exported in multiple pieces. That was the problem the person on that thread had: the building was too tall so they had to slice it in half (they never did, as far as I know they dropped the project).
I'm basing my conjecture about it affecting the other axis on the Beijing Olympic Stadium released a long time ago (it's called the Bird's Nest, isn't it?) . That stadium was quite large and the person exported it in two pieces that were lined up in the LE. I can't think of any reason they would do that other than LOD size limitations (they didn't post the two parts as separate downloads so it wasn't a file size issue). If I remember correctly your stadium is also very large, so perhaps the size of the LODs is the problem?
This is all conjecture, though.

JP Schriefer · February 19, 2016, 01:55:44 PM

Alright, which version is your Max? So I can make it compatible.
Btw, I did the automatic LODs because I was just going to test, so it's just a big parallelepiped and that's my concern, if the problem is happening even with a simple LOD I'm afraid about the custom I want to do =/

Mushy, I do know about the problem with Skyscrapers, nice to know about Beijing Stadium. It may be the same problem indeed. Thank you!

Girafe · February 19, 2016, 01:59:33 PM

3dsmax 2012 is fine.

Just checked and I can export a cube of 100m in HD

JP Schriefer · February 19, 2016, 02:17:03 PM

Well it's "a bit" bigger, with ~550x350 meters

Here it is:

Girafe · February 19, 2016, 02:28:53 PM

Are you sure about the attachment

Anyway 500m, it s way too big,

For SD, I can export a cube of 200m.

JP Schriefer · February 19, 2016, 02:32:14 PM

LOL I'm sorry. I fixed the attachment there.

Girafe · February 19, 2016, 03:40:17 PM

I cannot export, they are too big

JP Schriefer · February 19, 2016, 03:48:56 PM

Yeah =/
So I believe the problem is what Mushy said indeed. I tried to export a LOD with half of the size and it also didn't work. I think I'll have to divide the stadium in 4 pieces + the ramps.
Do you think just making the other pieces not visible to camera is enough to export each piece? Cause if I did each one separated from the rest of the model I'll surely have illumination and shadows inconsistencies.

MushyMushy · February 19, 2016, 05:46:20 PM

I could be wrong, but I think just making the other parts invisible to the camera will work. The Beijing stadium still has proper shadows and such so even though it's split down the middle so I suspect that's how it works. I think the only problem is with the LODs and not the rendered model itself since the LODs are handled by gmax and the building's actual render I'd handled by 3DS.

mattb325 · February 19, 2016, 08:37:29 PM

It should be fine to just cut the LODs through the building. With the Griffith Observatory, I did this for foundation area as it was so complicated and I needed the shadows to appear correctly and it did it with no issues.

One word when attempting this if you are dividing your area into 4 LODS, then allow those LODS to overhang so you can join them seamlessly: eg 550m/4 = 137.5m, I would make the LOD 138m or 139m so you can line everything up in the LE

JP Schriefer · February 19, 2016, 11:16:15 PM

So I did some tests with that small appartment building I'm doing to be faster than trying with Maracanã. To make them invisible and export the LODs I've to be really careful to the settings, while if I just cut the LODs as Matt said the prop will be "messed", I mean, parts from outside of the LODs will appear, however that's not a problem because the other prop will fit the 'messed' parts anyway. At least that was what I got testing in both ways.
So I think the problem is solved, if I have issues when trying to export Maracanã this way I'll come back

Just a last question, I also need to do a very small buiding as a BAT, right? Because I need to have a building in the lot anyway.
Thank you very much for your help, guys.

MushyMushy · February 20, 2016, 08:21:37 AM

You could either make one of the pieces a building or yeah, make a tiny "dummy" building to hide under the stadium pieces. I think making a very small building like you said is the better route.
I'm excited to see this stadium getting closer to completion! It's probably one of the most grand ones I've seen for the game.

JP Schriefer · February 20, 2016, 02:32:34 PM

Actually it is that size due to the ramps, without them it's about 350x300 meters. I'm going to try to export the daytime version in a few minutes, I hope it works :p