Image Map Sequence

[HoustonVFX]

Seem to be having trouble loading an image sequence into terragen.
We have the latest version at work ( a small vfx house), animation enabled etc but when I use an image map on something
and try to designate it   file.%04d.tga it just freezes up. I tried different options like file_%04d.tga and just file%04d.tga but same thing.
Didn't make any difference whether the sequence was local or networked.
As soon as I type into the image file name dialog box in terragen to change it things, it freezes up.
If I tell it in the windows explorer open file dialog box to change the string it just says 'doesn't recognise file'
Strange thing was I managed to load a sequence at home doing the same thing on a free edition.
Any ideas appreciated
Just as an aside the save as command locks up our version of Terragen  for a while as well, about 1 or 2 minutes, but it eventually manages to save...again
doesn't matter if it's local or network. Trying to change the image file names on an image map to a sequence freezes the computer for good and I have to reboot

[Matt]

Sometimes there are issues with the file dialog and %04d, but everything usually works when I enter this by hand in the parameter view.

1) Is this the Image Map Shader or something else?
2) You can disable the shader while you're typing %04d so that the Errors and Warnings window doesn't show, and then re-enable the shader when you've finished typing. If you do this, does it crash/hang as soon as you re-enable the shader?
3) What happens if you deliberately enter a normal filename (without %04d) but a filename that you know doesn't exist? Do this in the parameter view, not the open file dialog. Does the Errors and Warnings window pop up and seem to be working normally?
4) What OS are you on?
5) What frame number are you on (in the project) when you enter this?

Matt

[Matt]

Just as an aside the save as command locks up our version of Terragen  for a while as well, about 1 or 2 minutes, but it eventually manages to save...again
doesn't matter if it's local or network.

That's not good. Does this happen even if your project has no assets whatsoever on the network?

Matt

[HoustonVFX]

Thanks for the reply Matt.

First the Save as delay. This doesn't happen with a new project with no assets saved locally.
But if I go to 'save as' the same file to a valid network drive it hangs for a few minutes. I have no probs rendering with terragen to that network drive

Second the image map sequences
1. Yes the image map shader
2. Disabling makes no diff. ie still freezes. I can type 1 letter and after several minutes it might let me type another.
3. Errors and warnings show when I type non existent file name
4. On 64 bit XP...fast new machines with tons of ram
5. On frame 1 when typing

Thanks again for the help

Cheers

Hugh

[Matt]

Are these images very large (either in terms of file size or image resolution)? I wonder if your machine might be taking a while to free memory for the image that was already loaded when you type in the first character of the filename. If that's the case you might need to work with smaller proxy files for testing, and replace them with full files when it's time to render.

Is Terragen using a lot of RAM when you see these problems?

About the Save As delay. I assume the delay happens after you choose a filename and after you press Save. Is that right? A delay while you're still doing things in the file dialog would strongly suggest a problem with your network or something more general on your machine, but a delay in the actual save process is more likely to be Terragen specific. What's the size of the .tgd after you save? The only thing I can think of is that your project is pretty big (maybe with some Painted Shaders or a lot of animation?) combined with a network that isn't performing very well, or perhaps just not performing well for the particular way TG writes the data.

Matt