Carrara 8.5 Bugs and Other Issues
araneldon
Posts: 712
DAZ expects bugs and other issues to be reported via the zendesk support system. Since we can't review or discuss such reports I think it's worthwhile to maintain a list of them here as well.
I will collect known issues in this post. Everyone is encouraged to contribute whether it is to add new issues or discuss old ones.
Carrara 8.5 readme lists known issues acknowledged by DAZ at release
Personal note: I make no guarantees as to the validity of this information. If you think something is incorrect or should not be listed here, your input is welcome.
Content Support
- TriAx content (i.e. mostly Genesis stuff) cannot be modified with vertex modeling tools? (for example to fix pokethrough)
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28496/P30/
- pokethrough is often a problem with autofitted content and is currently difficult to deal with (see previous issue)
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28959/
- crash when dragging Michael 5 and certain clothing items into scene from Content
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/428891/
- load Genesis, select Actor, check some items under Effects, get this error:
“An error occurred while executing change data component”
Not sure this belongs under Content, but I haven't seen this occur with anything other than Genesis.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/429219/
- autofit: for projection templates to be available, CMS and DAZ Studio need to be installed
and Genesis needs to be loaded once in DAZ Studio
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/430118/
- Michael 5 loads with black eyes
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/428891/
Rendering
- Carrara renders opaque shader as semi-transparent when using alpha output
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/433540/
Performance
- poor performance with replicated volumetric clouds
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/428628/
- garbage collection not happening after closing windows
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/428655/
User Interface
- issues with multiple monitors
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/428744/
- Tube Light: altering scale causes Uniform checkbox to be rechecked.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/428891/
Miscellaneous
- Carrara causes white rectangle to appear on Mac Finder desktop
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/432198/
- insufficient information provided by Carrara for troubleshooting
("An error has occurred.", "An error occurred while executing Save.")
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/429215/
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Comments
Was just checking to see if anyone has reported this issue, and saw this thread. I plan to submit a report to DAZ, but here is something I noticed with 8.5.
I was rendering volumetric clouds using a surface replicator, and noted render time was terrible. Below is the image I was generating and the Windows Task Manager. When I render a basic cloud with surface replicator, the app only uses 4 of my 8 available threads, and each of them only at about 40-50%. That's about a 20-25% use of CPU resources.
I hid the replicator, and just rendered the basic cloud. It used all 8 threads at 100%. I tried other scenes. They use all 8 threads at 100%.
I restarted my computer, quit all other apps, and tried the replicated clouds again - and got the same result. I increased the priority and had no effect. Neither available physical memory nor disk use is max'ed.
I'm running C8.5 x64 on an i7 system in Windows 7 x64 with 6Gig of memory.
FD
Garbage collection problem: After the scene (described above) completed, I closed out of ALL open work windows in Carrara - all Assemble room, model room, shader room, and render room windows. With nothing running in Carrara, the app is still using over 3.5GB of physical memory. I have no other app's running. Carrara should be releasing memory resources when windows are closed.
FD
I couldn't replicate those two issues, didn't try very hard though.
Pokethrough appears to be a rather big issue with Genesis, not so much in the default pose perhaps but in anything else. The problem with editing DSON stuff really needs to be addressed in the near future or Genesis is going to be next to useless to me in Carrara.
Multi Monitor Bug
I am unable to use multi-monitor support with my left monitor. (I also reported this bug with version 204. It worked fine in earlier versions.)
I have three monitors. The center monitor is primary. When I change the monitor selection in preferences-General, only some combinations work:
[X][ ][ ] - OK
[ ][X][ ] - OK
[ ][ ][X] - OK
[X][X][ ] - Fail
[X][ ][X] - Fail
[X][X][X] - Fail
[ ][X][X] - OK - This is the only multi-monitor combination that works.
When it fails, Carrara launches into just a black screen. I am unable to see any menus or windows. Unable to do anything except Alt-F4
I have to delete the preferences file, returning to a default config, to fix it.
Windows 7 64bit
Intel i7
AMD Radeon HD 6950
It appears to me that Carrara is unable to handle a monitor with negative absolute position, as monitors to the left of the primary are assigned by Windows.
I've managed to get two reliable crashes out of C8.5 (Pro, Mac, 64-bit); these might not occur in either the non-pro or Windows versions.
One happens when I drag Michael 5 from the Content tab (note: not the Smrt Content tab) to the stage. It asks where a particular eye texture is, I point it to the only instance of that file on my computer, and several moments of blank screen later, Carrara falls over.
The other happens when I try to drag certain clothing on certain figures from the Content tab (again, not Smrt Content). If they need me to test more figures and more clothing.
I also take some issue with Michael 5 loading with black eyes, which doesn't crash if you load him in from the Smrt Content tab—not reported on Zendesk yet, but pointed out, explained, and ignored on the forums here.
I also found some odd behavior when trying to resize a tube light: The "Uniform" button rechecks itself whenever you change one of the size settings, no matter how many times you uncheck it.
And don't get me started on Mimic for Carrara (Mac) asking you to find a file that you literally can't point to. It may work if you can do it, but can you really say it works if users either can't do it or have to do unusual, non-usery things within the operating system?
@Territan
No crashes here when loading from Content, but I'm on Windows.
I guess the Uniform checkbox resets itself because nonuniform scaling is practically meaningless with Tube lights. They are not like area lights in other software.
Windows 7,Pro 64-bit Dell Vostro 430
Intel i7-860 Quad Core Processor
4GB RAM
Service Pack 1
NVIDIA GeForce 240 (is this too weak for Carrara?)
I have this memory eating problem as well. Have done a couple of things. I moved the scratch disc allocation to my external drive and also keep my scene files there along with the shaders and textures I use for current scenes. Don't know if it helps....but tried anyways.
Turned OFF Windows Defender altogether.
Rechecked Kaspersky...for some reason Carrara's certificate status was putting in on the Less Restricted list vs the Trusted list (DAZ is on trusted...weird)... didn't know that, so moved it to Trusted. Did that eliminate some scanning maybe?
Got rid of all but most essential Start programmes.
Rechecked Task Manager...and Carrara is not eating as much memory now. Maybe 1GB vs 3GB for Carrara process.
My 100mb file opens fairly quickly (1 minute) and closing is better (2 mins)... I used to have to wait up to 5 mins for opening and closing. I delete scratch files after every file closure.
Less render freezes. I used to click Preview and get the yellow number 1 background in the little window and had to go back to Assemble room and try again for Render or else I got the Windows AppHang or AppCrash wanting to close warning. Seems to be holding for now. Fingers Crossed.
Still messing with other things.....trial and error since I don't really know wtf II am doing or what works. But am trying as am so desperate.
Things are still not right, but will come back with proper descriptions and screenshots if it all goes wrong.
SileneUK
ETA: I did NOT have these problems with beta 8.5 or with 8.1 which I initially purchased. Just since getting Pro 8.5. Was running the 32bit versions before as well.
ETA2: Spoke too soon. Render error again. Should I file a ticket? Is it me or Carrara?
It is Carrara. Getting an "Error has occurred" message is a "defect" in my experience, as it provides no details as to what happened or what you can do about it. I have gotten this before too, usually just because I move the camera angle, or other actions that should not be a problem. Sometimes, the only way out of getting them recursively is to quit and restart Carrara. Luckily (thankfully?), I have not gotten this message with C8.5 (yet).
Technical description of the problem: These kinds of messages occur because the software does not have explicit exception handling in the code. When an error (an exception such as a pointer to a location that does not exist or a divide-by-zero error) occurs, the software first looks to see if the programmer has written code to trap the error (called a handler). If so, it executes special code which usually includes special processing to correct the situation and displaying text information for the user explaining what went wrong. However, when there are no handlers for the exception, the program passes processing to a default handler (maybe written by the programmer to trap unknown exceptions). This usually results in doing something dumb, like displaying "An error has occurred." messages with an "Okay" button as the only solution.
Bottom line: You cannot be at error for this situation. This is just bad software engineering. Period. Good engineering would require the programmers consider all possible kinds of exceptions and to handle them gracefully. But this can be time consuming, which equates to $$$ for the company, and why such software conditions are perpetuated. Instead, they rely on the probability that (a) people don't stumble into creating conditions that cause exceptions, or, if so, (b) people don't get so annoyed that they stop using the app.
FD
Formal ack'd bug (Ticket #149591): Carrara 85, new scene, load genesis base, click actor, go to effect, check Aura check-box, then check Blurred object check box, delay then crashed. “An error occurred while executing change data component”
(it's sort of random what things you check, and when it crashes)
Now this.....after it seemed to have gone away...now it's back.
Haven't a clue what to do, will lose the last 15 mins work. I've been saving regularly OK, but now am truly buggered.
:( SileneUK
I'm having the exact same problem, except I can't get it to work at all in full screen mode with three monitors connected - even if I tell Carrara to only use two of them. I have to physically disconnect one of my three monitors before 8.5 will work in full screen mode.
I filed a bug report with all the details already. The frustrating thing is that this setup worked perfectly (and still does) with Carrara 8.1. They changed something in 8.5 that broke multi-monitor support. But based on the discussion I've been having with them in my report on Zendesk, it sounds like they want to sweep it under the rug by claiming multi-monitor means two, in spite of the fact that the Carrara preferences dialog happily lets you select more than two. :( I've been using it this way for years, with several different hardware setups (all nVidia based) and it always worked flawlessly before.
As for the details, here is the first part of what went into my bug report (I can post the screenshots later if anyone is interested):
I have a setup with 3 monitors which worked very well for Carrara 8.1 (see Carrara_8-1_Full_Screen.png). However, with Carrara 8.5, most of the screens are black except for a small strip about 1/8 the width of my center monitor. When I first enter full screen mode, all screens go black except for the strip which appears on the left of my center monitor (see Carrara_8-5_Full_Screen_Before_Minimize.png). If I click on the Carrara icon on the task bar to minimize the window, then click again to restore it, the visible strip moves to the right side of my center monitor, but Carrara is no longer displayed at all on the two side monitors - the gray background is my desktop (see Carrara_8-5_Full_Screen_After_Resore.png). If I then click the little box at the top right of the window to exit full screen mode, Carrara 8.5 displays correctly in windowed mode (see Carrara_8-5_Windowed.png).
My PC's specs are:
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, service pack 1 (with all current patches)
Intel Core i7 960 @3.2GHz
20GB RAM
Graphics cards: Two GeForce GT610 with 2GB Video RAM (on each card for a total of 4GB)
nVidia Driver version 320.49 (had same problem with previous driver 311.xx)
Center Monitor: Asus PA248Q Resolution: 1920x1200 (connected to one video card by itself)
Side Monitors: Acer X223W Resolution: 1680x1050 (both connected to the same video card - two DVI outputs)
IMO, this is a good example of something that is an "issue" and not a "bug". If they only design and test for 2 monitors, then formally, its not a bug. (even if it happened to work, and it lets you type in a higher number)
That being said, it does not mean it should not be listed here as a user issue, and we can all see if we can come up with a workaround, if we can replicate.
So as an example, if we added to the top: "Mutli-monitor >2 support not working on all platforms"
Maybe a workaround would be to use Synergy, to use some other open source monitor manager, etc...or maybe it just doesn't work, and we would like it to be fixed (i.e. "No known workaround") Then it's just good feedback for Daz.
:)
Had Genesis head selected, unchecked "Display Wireframe When Attached", got the same error and UI is mostly unresponsive.
I cannot be absolutely positive, but I have a theory. The thing is... I really don't want to urge anybody to unnecessarily obliterate their files only on my hunch... okay? Promise? I don't want to mess anyone up... but here goes;
I used to have such problems in the beta 8.5, but an earlier build than 204 or 172. Since then I have removed everything Genesis and reinstalled everything fresh, this time using the DIM so that uninstallers were assembled for each installation of each separate item - something that I think is absolutely imperative for Genesis related items. I don't recall getting "An Error Has Occurred... " since. Whether this is truly the issue or not... I am making a leap here in saying... I really think so.
Again. You may want to look a bit further first before jumping on this bandwagon - especially if your Genesis location folder is home to a lot of other content.
I went with the DIM default (Local Drive > Users > Public > Public Documents > My DAZ 3D Library) installation location for absolutely nothing except for Genesis and anything Genesis related. So that's what I set as my Daz Studio main library as well, since I don't use DS for anything but Genesis. This gives me a singular installation directory for Genesis and all Genesis related products, and only for Genesis and all Genesis related products. I did this because, if anything needs to be precise, and needs to be kept up to date and, and this is what "I" feel is the most important: it need to be free of older, unused files, it's Genesis. So having this solitary location allows me to obliterate the entire thing, should I so desire, and easily start fresh. And this has given me a happy relationship, so far, with Genesis.
Granted, I am very much away from Carrara and my workstation right now. Sadly. Very Sadly. So I am unable to be testing much when I do get the chance - as I have much to do on other fronts. However. DIM can be scorned and I'm not saying that it has to be used for anything else. But unless you enjoy picking through the zip when you get an update and comparing it to what was installed from the previous installation of the same product, and making absolutely sure that the last install didn't add more files or even different files than what you now have, the DIM is a great, and simple answer to keeping this remarkable Triax system running as it should. Why? Because it truly manages what it places and where it places it. It knows what to uninstall, and when. It just does a great job of removing what was installed for the product to be updated, and gives you a fresh copy of the latest files, and nothing more - except the necessary information to allow it to do that again the next time.
It is my belief that this is the utmost importance with Genesis. And it will be important through the entire history Triax. When it gets improved... yeah... that's what you want installed. That's what updates are all about. I do know that, what really made me decide to fix everything, was that I had two Genesis presets in the same folder. This was a while ago for that one. But what that was are two different file extensions of the same name. Like I was saying, when I installed the update, I didn't uninstall first as I was in the habit, from operating my multiple runtimes, of not making uninstallers from the Bitrock installers. Now, with the zip format - it's even easier to not uninstall than ever before. And this can be bad.
That's why I completely uninstalled everything in my DIM 101 video Babble Session. I wanted my entire DAZ 3D collection to have the same flexibility.
Wait. Remember what I said up top?
I don't want anyone obliterating their stuff and wrecking things under my advice... heavens no!
But if such a thing is anything as easy as the way my setup is, and you can do so quickly and easily, I would say that a good fresh install of DS and all Genesis stuff might just remove that error message. Might.
Everybody that I've ever discussed this sort of topic, one-on-one with, stores things differently than one another when it comes to runtimes and DS content. I happen to be trending toward using Daz Studio Pro along with Carrara. So I think this helps me in being able to keep a fresh, new Triax system installed. I installed Daz Studio 4.6 Pro, both latest and the public beta, freshly using the DIM. During the process I allowed the DIM to set the default installation path - because I happen to like the location so far. It worked well for me because it's completely isolated from the rest of my storage habits, which makes it less likely to catch an accidental mis-drop of files.
DAZ Studio Pro being kept up to date by the DIM alone will give me an excellent version of Genesis and Genesis 2, the DAZ Horse 2... the Triax. I also get the Genesis Essentials for both Gensai and the M5 and V5 Pro Bundles to install, from the purchase of Carrara 8.5 Pro, along with all of the Genesis products I've bought. Having DS Pro's default library already set by the DIM, installing all of this stuff to that default location is a wise choice. So anything and everything Genesis is all installed to one location - whether default or custom.
At this point it's important to add:
Once you have Genesis and it's products isolated and installed by DIM, be ever vigilant to never add files to this path manually... ever!
If you chose to not use the DIM at all, I would strongly suggest saving all of your zip installation files so that you can compare the last install closely with the first. PITA, I know... but that's why DAZ made DIM.
(In both posts, I didn't mean to single out Silene here - it just recites the problem, so I used it as a quote)
(In both posts, I didn't mean to single out Silene here - it just recites the problem, so I used it as a quote)
Hi Dart, Thank you for using me...PLEASE use me... not fussy, just need help.
And thanks to all who are posting. FD I agree... aren't the engineers looking into this?
When I uninstalled DS 4.6 and C8.5-Pro and then reinstalled.... I let DIM do all. So the Carrara specific content like Howie and Phil stuff went to their homes in C's content files in the Carrara programme folders. DS 4.6 content went to their DAZ Library in Public Docs. This included Genesis of course. Are you saying I should be putting other DS content in a different set of folders? Sorry to be confused. I do not even open DS anymore as when I used to, I could not even access M4 or V4 and some other things I paid for, like Homo Erectus.
Anyways....in Carrara.... I had created morphed out Genesis characters over the summer and up to yesterday for my Neanderthals and they had been saved to my Carrara browser Objects under New Models to be available as the basis for any new clan members in current or future scenes. I have also saved backups of them to a secluded area on my external hard drive in case of a crash. (Along with textures, but not shaders as I assume I will always have access to the shaders but might lose my custom textures for clothing, etc.)
Scene files, like the one posted above, I save to a file I created named Carrara 8.5 with its location over on my external hard drive. My DAZ temp scratch files are over there, too, next door in another folder. I did not want to have them on the C hard drive in the DAZ Library in Public Docs. Didn't see the need and didn't want the hard drive clogged up. I USED to have my .car scenes in a DAZ.8.5 folder in Documents...but decided to go to the external drive this time to save space on the C hard drive. It has worked great until last night!!!
I looked at the Task Manager. I have 4GB RAM. Task Man said I'd used over 2GB for Carrara process. Is it reaching a tipping point where it just won't render or save because of the gluttonous process eating going on? I will try today to save every few minutes, close the file, then dump the tmp files before they reach 1.5GB and see if that does anything. As said, all worked great for a few days till now. Ugh.
QUESTION: Would I be better off to uninatall C.8.5 Pro which is 64 bit and install just C 8.5 which I think runs only as 32bit?
Sorry if I missed an instruction/advice. Stuff with family illness going on so having this to keep me busy is good, but I might not be understanding something I should or shouldn't be doing.
xx SileneUK
See image. There are no choices for the type of item that is being autofitted. Is everyone else getting this? Do I need to have CMS installed for this to work?
(The figure is Genesis, the item being autofitted is denim shorts from Toolboi for M4)
I have CMS installed and working I thought.
I get this when I rarely attempt to use an item...but I thought it was because I'd morphed my GENESIS figure's muscles/statue/size out of wack with the original design of the clothing. But when I give the info requested, it just fits a normal skinny M4.
SileneUK
ETA Thanks for starting this thread. I wish Jared or someone would read/comment!
You're welcome, though there's really no need to thank me. My contributions pale in comparison to what some others have done here :)
First post updated. The categories aren't the best but it's a work in progress.
Wow, really? What the heck?
I can hardly wait to get home and test this stuff.
I truly apologize for my above advice, if it has helped you to screw things up, Silene... That's why I've posted warnings to the contrary. Before I had actually obliterated my stuff, I saved all respective folders to my Scratch Drive which, being a 6GB/s SATA, 500 GB internal drive, is what I often use it for - temporary archiving of precious files in case my experiment should go awry.
I can't check these forums as often as I'd like right now as my daughter is doing her best to die on me - trying to prevent that happening. Renal kidney failure has finally seemed to have taken it's toll on her and I think she's giving up. Well I'm not!
My heart goes out to you. My sis-in-law is in hospital here in Bristol after a massive 8 hour surgery involving liver/bile duct trouble from old op back in the 1970s. Her care is amazing, never seen so much hii-tech kit, special bed, private room all on NHS,.but recovery will take another month in hospital. Big hugs to you and your daughter, will keep you and her in my thoughts.
xx SileneUK
Sorry for hijack...
So... what you seem to be implying is that the AutoFit got broken between build 204 and the official release. I can't wait to get home and check this. I was having great success with auto-fit in build 204. From V4 to Genesis 2, that is.
I removed the mention of autofit problems from the list because to be fair it's possible that I've just been unlucky with my outfit choices. I'll post another thread about my autofit experience shortly.
Wishings of wellness to you and yours Dart.
Thanks you two. I'm sorry, too... for the hijack. I really should keep this stuff to myself.
But Thank you for the kind words.
Oh no, feel free to post. I just figure autofit as a topic is big and important enough that it deserves its own thread.
Yes, you need to have the CMS installed AND running for Auto Fit AND other things to work.
Below is the post I made to the Auto Fit thread that was just started:
Okay, I had started a thread a while back regarding C8.5 and CMS issues. That thread was about various poses that did NOT work UN LESS the CMS was running.
As DAZ has made the claim that C8.5 did NOT have to the CMS running any longer, I thought this was an important issue. As no one else posted I figured either no one was interested or I was the only one having this problem.
As with many software issues, when there is one thing that does not work, it could be an indication of other problems - as yet undiscovered.
I have just tested the Auto Fit. With CMS running – the choices for garment type DO appear. WITOUT the CMS running, the choices for garment type do NOT appear.
For my test I used the Genesis Basic Male and loaded the pants from the M4 business suit.
I really wish that DAZ would actually test their software and STOP making unsubstantiated claims about how their software performs.
anyone else seeing this issue I asked about here? http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28949/
I cannot get the original Elite bundle textures (Amy, Lana, Maya) working for Genesis. tried it on Basic Female to make sure the UV is correct (V4) but still did not work. Only if I use Ariana texture, that I can load using Poser format it works. Unfortunately the original Elite textures only shipped with Carrara native material. This is not compatible with Genesis.
Anybody has a solution to this, or is this a bug?
Is there any news from DAZ about a service pack for Carrara 8.5?
Carrara is a program, not an OS, so it may get a point release update, but not a SR. Carrara 9 is in development, so I actually doubt that there will even be a point release update at this moment in time, especially not when it is less than a month since release