Issues with GroundWiz Planter

Please check the online version of this manual for the latest update: http://groundwiz.gugila.com/man/gw_manual.html


Resolved / Fixed issues:


If GroundWiz and 'Power Translator' by LEC are installed, 3ds Max could crash when user opens Asset Browser.
This problem also appears with other plugins that have import feature, are placed in plugins folder and 'Power Translator' (PT) is installed. PT could cause 3ds Max to crash if GroundWiz is loaded after PT plugin. A simple workaround is to make PT load after all other plugins by moving its files from plugins directory to a newly created folder and adding path to this folder to 3ds Max settings via menu 'Customize / Configure System Paths / 3rd Party Plug-Ins'.


Does GroundWiz Planter work/render with all versions of mental ray under 3ds Max / VIZ?
Since version 1.600, GroundWiz supports 3ds Max versions 7, 8, 9 and 3ds Max 2008, 3ds Max 2009, 3ds Max 2010 and also VIZ 2007, VIZ 2008. It will also work with all the mental ray versions supported by the previously mentioned applications.


When adjusting pivot point or material on the scene object that is also used by Planter, changes are not registered by Planter.
This is a normal behavior of the Planter. Use Replace feature when those changes are made. Also read GroundWiz Planter Technical Overview / How Planter handles objects.


Planter doesn't let me change or control its material. Who created 'GW Planter Auto Mat' material?
This material is created and maintained by Planter. You should always let Planter use this multi-material and not assign another one. Please read GroundWiz Planter Technical Overview / Material Handling.


Default Scanline is very slow when rendering many objects.
Default Scanline is slow when rendering many overlapping objects (especially if transparency is used). Ray tracing renderers should be much better at it - use them if available.


Does GroundWiz Planter support V-Ray proxy objects?
GroundWiz Planter supports V-Ray proxy objects and many other 3rd party objects since version 1.203 through the use of 'Instancing Object shader'. Primarily this shader was added to allow V-Ray users to use V-Ray Proxies for planted objects. This way it is possible to plant tens of thousands of highly detailed trees and render billions of triangles. Since version 1.500, 'Custom Object shader' is also used to render ArchVision RPC and mr Proxy objects.


How many plants can GroundWiz Planter handle / render?
Planter can handle 10 million and more plants at interactive working speed. When those plants are to be rendered, each rendering engine might have different limitations on the number of triangles and objects that it can process. For that reason, 3 shaders were created.
The following limitations apply to 32 bit 3ds Max versions:
Standard shader will allow approximately 10 million triangles in the view to be rendered and Native mental ray shader can render 200 to 300 million triangles (depending on the renderer settings) while 'Custom Shader' allows programs like V-Ray to render even a couple of billions of triangles by using V-Ray Proxies. When using 'Custom Shader', there is, however, much more limit on the number of plants that can be planted. Read more about it here.
With 64 bit 3ds Max versions memory limits are more relaxed. However, the basic rule still applies : the more you render, the longer it will take.


When rendering a scene with V-Ray, objects far away don't appear although they are shown in the viewport.
If 3ds Max / VIZ units used are very small (ex. millimeters) and ranges handled are too big (scene distance values go into millions) then V-Ray might have problems rendering Planter objects. In that case, V-Ray log window will display warning message: 'scene bounding box is too large possible raycast error...'. The solution is to rescale the world to some smaller size and/or switch units to something more manageable like feet or meters.


Known Problems / Limitations: We received a report that GroundWiz Planter isn't working properly with Tree Storm plugin. Specifically, rendering Tree Storm trees with Planter's Instancing shader may cause 3ds max to crash when rendering begins. We are currently investigating this problem.