Editing Dimensions In Big Tree Crashes...

Altair Forum User

I have a fairly complex bottle model that I need to go back and edit the original ellipses used to create it. If I drag with the mouse (not very accurate) I can get the bottle to update correctly further down the tree, however if I try and type in new dimensions for the ellipses then Evolve crashes every time? Is there a setting I can try or some way of getting the software to allow me to edit without a crash? Its very frustrating how often evolve seems to crash when there's a complex tree (say 10-15 further steps). Perhaps a memory setting?

 

 

Thanks

Roger

 

ArjunA_22390

Hi Roger,

 

Can you describe the workstation and OS information for us please?

 

We haven't seen Evolve crash easily with 10-15 steps. It could be a memory issue. Try to reduce the View Detail by going to the View menu or using CTRL+SHIFT+D. A lower detail puts less strain on memory but does not compromise your model integrity. Its only visual effect.

 

Thanks,

Darren Chilton_21533

Hi Roger,

 

Would it be possible to send us the file to have a look where Evolve is getting tripped up?  If so, please indicate the ellipse that you are trying to edit (if it is not obvious).

 

My Secure Dropbox : https://ftam1.altair.com/dropbox/~Nk0x4J

 

Thanks,

Altair Forum User

Hi Darren & Arjun,

 

I've uploaded the model file to Darren's dropbox. If you open it you'll see 3 objects. the dark blue one is the main bottle model, the light blue one is an instance that's then offset smaller by 3mm to make the 'inner surface' of the bottle. The purple one is an instance of the light blue one that is offset again by 0.15mm to make the 'liquid' of the bottle. The liquid has this tiny offset so that when I come to render, it intersects the glass and renders properly. I'm exporting the whole thing to MOI as a step file and converting to obj to then take into Modo for rendering. (MOI is far and away the best nurbs-to-mesh converter on the planet). 

 

So, this is my usual process for bottle modelling. Normally I do it all in MOI3d as its so fast, but I really really want to like Evolve so I forced myself to use it this time... The initial modelling went ok once I got the blend at the 'shoulders' to work  and I can even get the volume of the liquid to calculate properly so 2014 seems to have updated that! Cool.

 

Anyway, you can see there are two indentations made by booleaning out two spheroids (named sphere#1 & sphere#2 in the world browser). My first issue that Arjun was responding to was that when I tried to round the edge of the boolean it was a bit close to the blend surface of the shoulders and crashed if the round radius crossed over it. You can make this happen by selecting one of the spheres and moving it up a bit so the round crosses into the blend. Crashes every time for me. Also, notice how dog slow everything is to move/edit etc, even with such a small 'tree'. takes minutes for every movement to update...

 

The next issue comes when I try to edit the ellipse that starts the shoulder blend ( named Ellipse#3); I need to tweak this to get the volume of the bottle correct, which must be 75cl (and there will be a 70cl version adapted from this). If I highlight the ellipse and go into edit mode I can select the large or small axis radius point and move it with the mouse (incredible slowly) and things do update, however I really need to just type in new dimensions in the dialog. As soon as I try to do this Evolve crashes every time?

 

I'm on a late 2012 iMac with 32Gig RAM and only Evolve running. 

 

Is there any way to tell evolve not to start updating the objects further down the tree until you've finished your edit? So I could do all my tweaks then hit go and it would update. Its just so slow now its actually quicker to delete the later objects and rebuild them each time than wait for Evolve to catch up...

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Roger

Altair Forum User

As an addendum to this issue, I've got around the slowdown problem by deleting the two instanced objects. This lets me edit the main one in near real-time, then I can just regenerate the instances and remodel them. Which is faster in the long run.

 

Cheers

R

Darren Chilton_21533

Hi Roger,

 

Thanks for sending the file.  You have already found the work-around I was going to suggest.  

 

Currently instances are creating long recalculation times.  Hopefully we will be able to make them more efficient in the future.  

 

We are also planning to add the capability to disable the automatic construction history recalculation in the near future.  

 

I have also sent your file to our developers to investigate and fix the crash you are getting when typing in the dimensions.

 

Thanks,

Darren Chilton_21533

Hi Roger,

 

I just realized I was using a really old build of v2014 by mistake when I was testing your model.  So I just check it again with the current release build (3959) and even with the two instances still in construction history the recalculation time is 8 seconds.  And I'm not seeing any crashes, even when typing in the dimensions.  I'm on a two year old MacBook Pro, 16gb RAM with a load of hardware sapping applications running, so I would expect your computer to be comparable in speed.  

If you are not using 3959 you can download it from our website and use your existing serial number and license file.  Let me know what you find.

 

There is an issue with typing in dimensions for the Half Axis perimeters where the Z value of the point is not staying on plane and causes the ellipse to tilt, but you can edit the X and Y dimension for End Point #1 and #2 to achieve the same result in the meantime.

 

Hope this helps.