Launch Mode 3!

mlinde · 03-13-2003, 01:49 PM

Although the inital release is Macintosh only, I expect to have the Windows version working by March 17th, just in time for a pint of Guinness!

From the ReadMe
Using Launch Mode3:
This script saves the current scene, clears Layout, and begins rendering
the current scene in LWSN Mode 3. For more information on Mode 3, see the
section in the documentation included with Lightwave called "Rendering Without
Lightwave"

1) Select Launch Mode3
2) The panel is preset with the render options set in the scene. You can choose to
change them here. These options include the Start Frame, End Frame and Frame Step.
3) Choose an alternate version of LWSN to render with, or leave the default (LWSN.exe)
4) Choose to Render Immediately or generate a command file. If you render immediately
Lightwave will clear the scene, and launch the external LWSN application. If you
choose not to render, a command file (.bat file for Windows) is created in the
Lightwave Programs directory.

Available at http://home.earthlink.net/~mlinde/lscript.html

cremegg · 03-15-2003, 11:22 AM

A Very nice script mlinde. I have always been more interested in Mode 3 than Mode 2 but last time i attempted it i think i ran into syntax errors and gave up. My cli knowledge is much better these days and this script gave me an excuse to give it another try.

Using the script however i discovered an error and was wondering if you could help troubleshoot it for me.

I ran the script and specified to render now. After the scene was cleared, LWSN appeared and seemed to render one frame in a few seconds when it should have taken minutes. I located the frame and discovered it was just a black space which suggested that the content directory hadn't been located.

I opened the LWSN cmdline and noticed that the preference/cfg file pointer was as follows

-c"beta:Users:xxxxxxxx:Library:Prefrences:3"

xxxxxxxx being my user name.

I manually changed the '3' to 'LightWave Layout 3 Prefs' which is the name of my Layout prefs/cfg file. I then ran LWSN and the file rendered as exspected.

Could you suggest some reason as to why the Preference/cfg file pointer is written incorrectly? I tested this with a number of scenes with the same results.

roberthurt · 03-15-2003, 05:01 PM

I also just tried out this script and found the same problem. My solution was just to delete the "3" from the path and then run LWSN; worked perfectly.

This will be quite a timesaver once this glitch is quenched! And even as-is it's still very handy, handling the tedious editing bits for you... Thanks!

cremegg · 03-15-2003, 05:17 PM

When I removed the '3' to leave

-c"beta:users:xxxxxxxx:Library:Preferences"

It didn't save any frames

.

I'll do some more testing tomorrow to check.

roberthurt · 03-15-2003, 08:08 PM

How interesting... For reference, here is the content of my modified cmdline file that *does* seem to work!

-3 -c"MainDrive:Users:robert:Library:Preferences" -d "MainDrive:Users:robert:Documents:Lightwave:Scenes :Space:StarWarp.lws" 1 60 1

mlinde · 03-17-2003, 01:23 PM

I appreciate the feedback, and the self-testing. I've discovered the hard way that preference directories are a pain in the A@@ to work with. I've also updated this script, but not removed the preference file specifics. If you want to try the newer version, you can get it at the same place.

Oh, and a tip for anyone getting it to work -- map this script to a function key, like F6, and you have quick access!

roberthurt · 03-17-2003, 05:47 PM

Cool; it seems to work for me now effortlessly!

Is it my imagination, or did you remove an option to specify the specific LWSN copy to use? It's not really a problem, especially when it works seamlessly like this.

Thanks!

mlinde · 03-17-2003, 06:04 PM

I did remove the choice of a specific LWSN, that appeared to generate most of the issues users had with functionality. If I can ever get it to a satisfactory level, I'll add it back in a future release.

Good news for the Windows crew -- the windows version is in testing now, hope to have it out in the next couple of days!

cremegg · 03-19-2003, 07:06 AM

A Shock to see the 'specify LWSN node' option removed but I hadn't tried it so I suppose if it wasn't working properly then its no loss

.

The preference file pointer is being written correctly now

.

Once again nice LScript mlinde and a great time saver.

Huge Thnx