Modo Slowdown after crashes

Modo

If a program appears to crash to often Windows may apply a control Shim to monitor the app, this can cause slow operations in Modo such as UV edits.

To check if windows is applying a shim:
1. Press start and in the search type “regedit.exe” and hit enter
2. Go to this folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\FTH\State

If modo is listed in there, then a shim is being applied.

To remove the shim
1. Press start and in the search type “cmd.exe“, right click on cmd.exe and choose “run as administrator“, then press yes
2. In the command prompt type: Rundll32.exe fthsvc.dll,FthSysprepSpecialize
3. Log out of windows and back in to see the changes.

Thanks to @funk for this information.

V-Ray License Server Error 200

Rendering

I recently had a problem with the V-Ray license server on Windows returning and error -200 when I tried to render.

It turns out the error is because the VRL service wasn’t running and no amount of reinstall and reboots helped. 

Thanks to the help of friend I was able to resolve the issue by deleting a folder located at: C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChaosGroup

  1. Uninstall the License Server from the machine
  2. Then delete the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChaosGroup
  3. Reboot the machine to reset the Windows Services
  4. Install the License server, it should ask for log in data now.
  5. Go rendering!

I spend hours on this so I am so happy to have friends that could help me on this, thanks Volker!

Associate .vrimg files with Photoshop

Rendering

vrimg files are not associated with any program in Windows by default, they may be associated with the Chaos Group PD Player. Also it doesn’t appear that open with creates an association as expected therefore one may have to use the command line function ftype to achieve the desire association.

The general way to associate files using terminal commands is as follows:

  • Open cmd.exe with administrator rights (right-click on the shortcut to get this option)
  • Type ftype extfile="C:\Program Files (x86)\YourProgram.exe" "%1" where you replace the path with the executable of the program you want to use to open by default this extension (make sure to keep the "%1", this will get replaced dynamically to point to the file you’re double-clicking on) and optionally replace extfile with a name of your choice to describe the type of file you’re trying to open. Then press Enter.
  • Finally, type assoc .ext=extfile where you replace ext by the extension you are trying to associate and extfile with the name you chose above, then press Enter.

So for example to associate .vrimg files with Photoshop 2019 use the following command on a single line each in the Windows Administrator Command Prompt:

first:

ftype vrimg="C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2019\Photoshop.exe" "%1"

then:

assoc .vrimg=vrimg

You should now see the .vrimg file have the Photoshop icon associated with them. It may be necessary to reboot or restart File Explorer before the associations show. Note Photoshop can not handle vrimg files natively it requires a third party plugin, I use ProEXR which is now free.

Dell Display Manager Hotkey

Technology, ,

With the Dell Display Manager dmm.exe there are command-line parameters to allow some remote control.

They are as follows:

  ddm.exe /IncControl 10  //to increase brightness
​
  ddm.exe /IncControl 12  //to increase contrast
​
  ddm.exe /DecControl 10  //to decrease brightness
​
  ddm.exe /DecControl 12  //to decrease contrast

The default with no second figure set is 1 or 1% – so in my example I use 5 for 5% like so: 

ddm.exe /IncControl 10 5

To increase by 5%

I use the excellent Windows program AutoHotKey, which is free, to do this:

Here is my AutoHotKey script snippet:

#F2::Run "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell\Dell Display Manager\ddm.exe" "/IncControl 10 5"

#F1::Run "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell\Dell Display Manager\ddm.exe" "/DecControl 10 5"

This would assign WIN+F2 to Brighten by 5% and WIN+F1 to Dim by 5%

You can also do it with Windows natively using the built in shortcut method:

To create a shortcut using Windows native system Right click on the desktop (or where ever you want it) and chose New > Shortcut then enter the following in the Target: dialog field

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell\Dell Display Manager\ddm.exe" "/IncControl 10 5"

and choose the Shortcut you would like to use in the Shortcut key: dialog field. You will need to create two shortcuts; one for Inc and one for Dec.

It should be noted that the Dell Display Manager will need to be started and running in the background.

MODO – Morph Map Render

Modo,

When creating a Morph map in MODO it is also necessary to add a Morph Influence for the Morph – after you create a Morph for the Mesh Item – for it to show in Renders. To do this Right Click on the Map under Morph Maps in the Vertex Map List and select add Influence. A Morph Influence will be added to the Item List with a small green icon. Now the morphs  should show in renders as well as the Viewport.

Thanks to William Vaughan for clearing this one up.

Modo – Toggle Side Panels Modo Beta Layout

Modo, ,

Shortcut to toggle the Left viewport panel:


viewport.hide ?+ tag LayoutMODOXXCentrePanelLeftTabsVPTag left LayoutMODOXXCentrePanelLeftVPKey

Shortcut to toggle the Right viewport panel:

viewport.hide ?+ tag LayoutMODOXXCentrePanelTabsVPTag right LayoutMODOXXCentrePanelVPKey

N.B. These commands are one line.
Set the shortcut using the Input Editor under the System menu.