Problem with showcase viewer 2014

[Tudor_Timotin]

Hi,

I have just started playing with showcase 2014 (I import from 3ds max Design 2013) and I have run into the following issue - once I saved the .a3s Showcase file (correctly, with textures) in the full version and want to open it in the Showcase viewer (I need that for a presentation on a different computer) I receive the following message "you are opening a file that was created in a newer version of Showcase. This could cause instability or data loss). Both the viewer and the full version are 2014. Furthermore, once the file opened, the main issue is the environment - it is not only differently mapped (as you can see in the screenshots), but it seems to have a gamma issue as well (or something similar, it's quite washed out). I don't know if there are any other errors, but even just this one is quite annoying.

I guess that for the time being I'll manage with a trial version of the full install on the presentation computer, but it's just a workaround, not a real solution.

Thanks in advance to anyone who might have a suggestion in the right direction,

Tudor

[cikho]

do you have any service pack installed in the full licensed version?

also, maybe there's an error in the file saving process, try to open the a3s file with notepad and check the first 2 lines..

it should look like this

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<scene_description align="t" cut="201211211801-414735" version="2013.01" unit="1">

this is mine which is SC2013 student version, yours should report 2014 in the version="" tag

[Tudor_Timotin]

Hi,

Thanks for that; your suggestion was spot on for the file version error - I had indeed the SP1 applied, therefore in the file I had version 2014.04. Changed that into 2014.01 and no more error message. Unfortunately it didn't solve the environment problem. I'll attach a comparison of the two ful/viewer so it becomes more obvious in a certain sense.

Thanks,

Tudor

[Tudor_Timotin]

Ok...

It's even weirder now. I installed the trial version of the full install of Showcase 2014 on the presentation computer. I then opened my file and had the suprise of having the same environment error. Apparently, for one reason or another, a customized (I changed size and position of the backgroung map and changed the texture of the base plane) version of the default "Daylight gypsum crater" won't show properly unless the file is opened in the full version that created it, on the same computer.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Tudor

[cikho]

well that's strange..

looks like all the file normals are inverted..

Z axis upside down, and environment geomtery normals pointing oustide instead of inside (you actually see the outside shape instead of the inside only)

what do you do when you save the file and copy paste it to te other program?

i usually "save scene and texture" every time i create a new one or save a new file version when i make drastical changes..

when i move files i move both the a3s and the folder..

if you save scene and texture, the program authomatically links all the file textures to the created folder, including environment textures, parameters etc..

try to check if you saved this environment properly and if it loads form the file's folder..

also, as a personal suggestion try not to have different versions of the same program on the same pc, sometimes it creates conflicts/problems with licenses or plugins.. this is not always true, but take it as an advice

i will also check what code i see in the office's workstation version of showcase we have, which is 2014.. because i'm not sure 2014.1 is correct if you have a servicepack installed.. for example, my showcase 2013 is service pack 3 or4  and still has the .1 code.. so maybe the .X represents the license type instead of the version, but iT is just a thing i want to check.. if it works on your trial without giving you other errors (for example a statemente saying file was generated in a student version) than it's ok.

the last thing it comes in my mind is the unit setup or something like that..

i noticed your viewer is in english, while the full licensed program is in french(right?)..

maybe the english version has different setups..

this is contained in the user setting folder in documents.. try deleting this folder on all your pc (MAKING A BACKUP FIRST)

You probably should have done this before installing the trial actually 😛

[Tudor_Timotin]

Hi,

Thanks again for all the time and input. Now I'm back to work and can answer fully.

- not only the normals are inverted, but it gets the mapping somewhat all wrong; besides that it doesn't apply a different texture for the base plan (which was just a plain gray .png)
- in order to open it in the other program I take the .a3s file + the corresponding folder to the new computer (I save with scene and texture before, of course) - what's bizzare it's that everything else seems in order, the other textures are correctly found and mapped
- I don't have different version of the program only 2014 as in both full install and viewer
- putting 2014.01 in the .a3s file works fine with the viewer, no more error message concerning the version on opening the file
- the install of the trial on the presentation computer was in French, the same as on my main computer. Only the viewers are in English. So when I installed the trial I had a fresh showcase folder in my documents folder - didn't work. I also tried to copy the showcase folder form the main computer to the presentation one - didn't work either
- I also tried to play in the .a3s file with the .apf definitions of the environment, with the paths as well...no luck so far

Worst case scenario I'll just put a white box as environment for now so I won't have any unpleasant surprises with the mapping 🙂

Thanks again,

Tudor

[Tudor_Timotin · Accepted solution]

🙂 - got to the bottom of it! thank you cikho for pointing in the right direction.

The culprit was indeed the new 2014.04 version created by the sp1 for Showcase. In order for the file to appear correctly (with the correct environment) and without error messages in the viewer the following two modifications need to be done:

1. change in the .a3s file (opened with notepad) in the second line - looks like this <scene_description align="o" cut="201302241917-418741" version="2014.04" unit="1"> - the version from 2014.04 to 2014.01

2. change in the .a3e file (the one that controls the environment - in my case it was DayLightGypsumCrater.a3e - it is found in your filename-files folder) the version in the second line - looks like this <environment_description cut="201302241917-418741" name="tt_rectangulaire_tournamy" align="o" editable="1" link_Rotation="0" version="2014.04" unit="1" image="DayLightGypsumCrater.png" backplate="0"> - the version from 2014.04 to 2014.01

Hope it helps,

Tudor

[cikho]

glad to have been helpful then 😄