VMware and 3d max

[jeroliver]

I saw this http://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/ws_vidsound_d3d_enabling_vm.html

it didn't make mmuch sense to me.

I'm running windows XP 64 bit in VMware on a 2.8ghz quad core macpro w/ 12gb or ram and the ATI radeon HD 2600. I've dedicated 6gbs of ram to the windows virtual machine. I'm only running 3d max design 2009 (64 bit) on the windows vm. I run everything else in os X. I used to use OpenGL instead of Direct3d because I had viewport issues in 3dmax but now that VMware 2.0 was released some of the issues seemed to be fixed. However, when I select a vertice or a line it won't highlight until I move select the viewport.

What is the best configuration to get the most out of my hardware?

thanks in advance.

[admin]

I saw this http://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/ws_vidsound_d3d_enabling_vm.html

it didn't make mmuch sense to me.

This is an outdated reference to a different product (Workstation is currently at 6.5), so I wouldn't pay too much attention to it. On Fusion, to enable 3D acceleration, go to Virtual Machine > Settings > Display and enable it there. Other tips are to upgrade the virtual hardware and update VMware Tools. OpenGL is not currently hardware accelerated.

[jeroliver]

Thanks etung. I have my 3D acceleration settings enabled. I've tried it with 3D acceleration disbaled as well. In 3d max I've tried both openGL and direct3D drivers as well. So far what I've noticed is 3d accelerarion enabled with OpenGL works the best. That shouldn't be right, correct? Direct3D should be faster and update my viewports in 3dMax quicker.

I updated my vmware tools, restarted windows and vmware, switched my 3dmax display driver to Direct3D, and I still have the same issues.

When I select or move an object in a viewport (in 3dmax) I should see the object highlighted and move in all the viewports. I don't. I have to select within the viewport to make the highlight show. Sometimes I move objects in one viewport and want to see the alignment in another viewport. I can't do this with direct3d and therefore I use OpenGL. Am I missing some options??

[admin]

In Direct3D mode you'll need to disable incremental scene updates. See the fusion 2.0 release notes, search for

Viewports are not updated in 3ds Max 2009

Hope that works for you.

[jeroliver]

<!-- <font color=red>317366</font> -->

• Viewports are not updated in 3ds Max 2009.
  Viewports do not display or refresh properly. To prevent this problem, do the following.

1. Open 3ds Max, go to Customize &gt; Preferences &gt; Viewports &gt; Configure Driver

2. Deselect Use Incremental Scene Updates and click OK."

I tried this. It didn't work. The viewport was still not updating. Also, when I select a new object the move gizmo appears but the gizmo from the previous selection stays as well. So my viewport fills with gizmos. This is so friggin' annoying. I have a killer machine with loads of ram, 64bit windows and 64 bit 3d max 2009 ...but I'm forced to use OpenGL.

weak.

[Kif Davis]

Interesting. I have only tested 3DS Max 2009 32 bit on Windows 32 bit. What happens with the viewports if you install 3DS Max 2009 32bit on your WindowsXP x64 VM? (with and without the Incremental Scene Update option)

[jeroliver]

3d max 2009 forces you to install 32 bit as well. I gave it a try with 32 bit max with and without the Incremental Scene Update option, same result. I see no difference if the incremental scene update is selected or not, in either 32 or 64 but Max. strange.

If I select an object in my perspective viewport it will highlight in the perspective viewport however, a gizmo will appear on the object in the other viewports but it won't highlight untiI I move the object or select another viewport. It gets stranger though. If I select an object in any of the other three viewports the object will be highlighted in the perspective viewports but not the other three! until I move the object or move the viewport or select another viewport. Why would it update my perspective viewport but not the viewport I currently had selected? A gizmo appears but the object selection highlight doesn't happen?? So is the viewport being "updated" or not? sigh

This is driving me nuts, I'm going back to OpenGL.

Thanks for the responses.

[Kif Davis]

A few other followup items if you could. I will check this on WindowsXP x64, but I have a lot of other items on my plate this week...

1) What version of 3dsMax

2009 are you running? I see there is a Service Pack 2 available. I

have only been testing with the original release version.

2) What version of OSX are you running?

3) Would it be possible for you to install and check on a Windows32 bit VM?

In the meantime, you may want to try the Software driver in 3dsMax instead of OpenGL, under Viewport Preference -&gt; Choose Drivers -&gt; Software (should be the 1st option).

[jeroliver]

1) I'm running 3d max design 2009. service pack? for max?

2) Leopard

3) I used to use windows 32 bit and had the same problems. I only recently upgraded to windows 64 bit. I could re-install windows 32 bit but I've already installed it on another designer's computer. I'll do it if you tihink it'll help solve the issue.

"In the meantime, you may

want to try the Software driver in 3dsMax instead of OpenGL, under

Viewport Preference -&gt; Choose Drivers -&gt; Software (should be the

1st option)."

This is another strange issue. Only 3d max 32 bit shows me that option. The 64 but max has the software option greyed out.

Here's a screen shot of my direct3D settings, maybe I've missed something

http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp341/jeroliver/Picture1.png

Cheers.

[Kif Davis]

I am assuming you are running the latest version of Leopard, 10.5.5?

Ah-ha, I now see that 3dsMax Design 2009 is not 100% the same as 3dsMax 2009... That might explain why we are seeing different behavior. I'll grab the trial version of Design and see if I can reproduce the problem here. Not sure what to tell you about the Software option being greyed out, the x64 version might only support hardware acceleration?

As for other options, one difference I do see is I have the "Redraw scene on Windows Expose" option unchecked. It shouldn't make a difference, but I am curious if toggling that option makes any difference on your end.

[jeroliver]

Yep, I run all apple and windows updates as soon as they're available.

Tried the "Redraw scene on Windows Expose" option on and off, I didn't see any difference.

[jeroliver]

Is anyone in here using max with display driver Direct3D without issues? If so, could you post your display driver settings?

I've been posting in 3d max forums as well regarding OpenGL and Direct3D display drivers in VMware. No luck. It seeems that the 3d community has tried and given up on VMware as a solution to using 3d max on a Mac.

"I had a play around with VMWare and Max and concluded boot camp was the

only way to go. Buggy graphics, limited to two cores when rendering and

random crashes. It's a waste of a good PC."

[Kif Davis]

Thanks for the detailed information, I was able to reproduce this problem in both 3dsMax Design 2009 and regular 3dsMax 2009 on both Windows 32 and 64 bit. Looks like there are still some situations where the viewport doesn't refresh correctly. What's strange is that View-&gt;Redraw Viewport does not work, but resizing the 3dsMax window does force a correct refresh. In addition, this seems to be limited to using Wireframe or Bounding Box as the rendering method for the viewport. If you select Hidden Line, Flat, Facets, Smooth or Smooth + Highlights, it seems to refresh correctly. I don't see any problems with viewport refresh when running 3dsMax 09, and I'm investigating the differences between the two.

So the suggested workaround are:

1) Use method other then wireframe to render viewports

2) Use 3dsMax09 if possible

3) Run in software/opengl mode. Note: 'software driver' option is also greyed out when running the x64 version, so that's probably a limitation of 3dsMax x64.

[jeroliver]

Cool. I'll try different viewport option (i.e. other than wireframe) I'll also install Max 2009 (not Design) and see if there's any issues on my end. Please hit up this thread again if you find any solutions. Boot camp is not an option for me.

[Kif Davis]

Please note, you will see the same behavior with 3dsMax 2009 and 3dsMax Design 2009. It is the older 3dsMax 09 (version 9) that should work correctly in wireframe mode.

[jeroliver]

Well, it's been over a year since I posted this issue.

VMware has not seriousy addressed the issues with using 3d max and DirectX Drivers. OpenGL is the only option because the viewports don't update properly with DirectX. yet every release there's some sort of "DirectX support, blah blah blah". I'm curious to see some of these high end video games run smoothly while I can't draw a simple box in 3d max.

So, I saw that VMware fusion 3.0 was released and thought maybe these issues had been resolved. Nope, not only does DirectX not work still, my 3d max crashes on start now unless I use DirectX, which is totally not an option.

Yay!!

[jeroliver]

yup, definitely a fusion 3.0 issue. I re-installed 2.0 and 3d max works again. ...great.

[wila]

Hi,

First off, I do not work for VMware so cannot help you.

But as you just bought VMware Fusion 3, you do have 30 days of support included.

If I was you, I would open a support ticket with VMware, you'll have much more chance of getting it addressed as just complaining about it not working properly in the public forums.

I agree with you that 3D Max is one of the things I would expect to work and be tested over some games as it is one of the graphics intensive applications used for design.

You forgot to mention what windows host OS version you are using. If it is windows Vista or 7 then be aware that there are TWO graphics drivers and that the non default one still has better capabilities and performance but it lacks aero support.

Hope this helps,

--

Wil

_____________________________________________________

VI-Toolkit &amp; scripts wiki at http://www.vi-toolkit.com

[jeroliver]

Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like it was your problem. It was my fault for installing 3.0 just before a project's 11th hour. Thanks for the tips, I'll see what VMware can do for me and post any results in this thread.

I'm using windows XP 64bit.

cheers.

Jeremy

[jeroliver]

OK, I figured I should give an update on this in case anyone actually uses 3D max in VMware Fusion.

I upgraded to WIndows 7 and VMware Fusion 3.1.1. (My mac specs are posted earlier in this thread. I'm still on OSX 10.5)

I had been using XP 64-bit for the past two years. I couldn't use DirectX and had to use OpenGL though. but besides that it was smooth. I was reluctant to upgrade becauseof past experiences and what I've read on here.

I had emailed VMware's support and suggested they could come by my

office and see my setup considering I'm right next door to their office.

A product developer was interested to see 3d max's performance in the Virtual environemnt and stopped by on his lunch. This was hellpful and informative. One thing I took away from the meet n greet was that whether I was using DirectX or OpenGL in 3dmax had little or no effect on performance.

Anyways, windows 7 was glitchy as hell. we switched the windows theme to basic. Otherwise 3d max was super slow. But it seems to be ok except for the odd screen refresh glitch here and there.