Lost set

[langmead]

I HAVE LOST ONE SET IN A TWO HOUR STORYBOARD, WHICH SEEMS TO MEAN THE 20 SCENES USING THE SET HAVE TO BE DONE AGAIN. ALTHOUGH I CAN SEE THE SET, IT WILL NOT PRINT. AND I SERIOUSLY CANNOT FATHOM HOW TO POST ON THIS THING, SO IF THIS IS IN THE WRONG PLACE, APOLOGIES, BUT PLEASE HELP. THANK YOU.

[jamesw]

I moved your topic to the Troubleshooting category, which seems more appropriate.

It might be a good idea for you to contact our tech support guy by phone or e-mail to get some one on one help. There's a good chance he'll need to actually see your previz file to figure out what's wrong.

But if you want to pursue it here, let me start by asking how you are trying to print (using the Print menu item or the button in the Shot Manager?) and what exactly happens when you try to print the shots in question.

Also, what OS are you using?

[langmead]

Thanks to some non-specific virus, I lost the original files and used the backup files from Windows 10 History. (I'd be grateful if Frameforge would give the option to embed the sets, pix etc, then this would not happen). Needless to say, when I put the programme and files on another computer, nothing was there, no pictures, none of my sets etc. That is very disappointing when you are about to start shooting and the storyboard is nonsense.

I have now recovered nearly everything at a great cost in time, except the first set. (I may have lost other sets but if I can get the first one back, I should be able to get the rest). The Sketchup Set (6.0.1) was reimported into Frameforge as the same name, but it does not load when I open the file. I have no idea where the replacement set has come from. Importing the original set works but overlays the other set and is not in the 'same place'. I can see the set in the gallery.

In the shot manager, the images are still of the original set, but I cannot print them - wouldn't that be useful - and both printing options give the same incorrect first set - what you see is not what you get. If I open one of the shots, I get the replacement set.

Thanks.

[jamesw]

If I understand this correctly, you were unable to recover some nonstandard additions to FrameForge's object and texture libraries.

If you open the previz file and use the menu command File > Export... > Export Non-standard Objects/Textures, you can get a report of the exact names and locations of all the nonstandard items you need. That may help you find replacements and put them where FrameForge expects.

As for the problem with a specific set object from Sketchup not loading correctly, I think you will need to contact our tech support guy, who will probably want you to send him your files.

You can print shots as shown in the Shot Manager if you use the right settings:

• Draft Quality Graphics or Print to PDF [Draft]
  
• Render all shots in the style they were snapped
  
• Do not override lighting/shadow settings

   

[ChrisB]

Hello Langmead,

I'm sorry to hear of the issues you are having. I can understand the frustation, especially if you are up against a deadline. Hopefully I can help and or provide some insight into what happened and, again hopefully, prevent it from happening in the future. Forgive me in advance if I cover old ground but I just want to make sure I'm clear on things.

OK, first item...you stated:

Thanks to some non-specific virus, I lost the original files and used the backup files from Windows 10 History. (I'd be grateful if Frameforge would give the option to embed the sets, pix etc, then this would not happen). Needless to say, when I put the programme and files on another computer, nothing was there, no pictures, none of my sets etc.

A non-specific-virus? I'll have to assume then that something malicious got into your system and corrupted/deleted/encrypted some of your files, including the working version of your previz project. In any case, it's gone or not accessible by you and so you fall back to retrieve an older copy of the file using Windows File History, correct? If this is the case, what was the time stamp of the file you retrieved from File History? What is File History configured for in terms of backup schedule? Every hour is the default but it can range from as little as every 10 minutes to as long as once a day. Any chance you retrieved an older file that lacked the work you are missing because it was backed up prior to you actually performing that work?

James comments mirror my own on this next point. You stated:

I put the programme and files on another computer, nothing was there, no pictures, none of my sets etc.

If you created/imported anything non-standard into FrameForge on the computer that had the virus and then opened a previz file, that contains references to those objects or textures, on a different computer which lacks those custom/imported objects & textures, FrameForge won't be able to find them.

You also stated:

The Sketchup Set (6.0.1) was reimported into Frameforge as the same name, but it does not load when I open the file.

It does not load? To be clear, you have a Sketchup file of a set, you can import it into FrameForge, you do so using the same name used when you originally imported it into FrameForge on the computer that had the virus issue and yet when you load a previz file that requires a set/object of the same name, you get a "Missing Object" message? If this is accurate then there almost has to be an inconsistency in the naming of the imported Sketchup object.

I have no idea where the replacement set has come from.

You lost me on this one. I thought you just re-imported it.

Importing the original set works but overlays the other set and is not in the 'same place'. I can see the set in the gallery.

Again, I'm not following. The original set? The one you lost? You recovered it now? I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean by 'overlays' or 'same place'.

In the shot manager, the images are still of the original set, but I cannot print them - wouldn't that be useful - and both printing options give the same incorrect first set - what you see is not what you get. If I open one of the shots, I get the replacement set.

This makes sense to me if you are missing objects and/or textures on this new computer that were present in the Object & Texture library of the computer that had the virus issue. Those shots you see in the shot manager are just static thumbnails, the real information is the data stored to fully recreate every shot. Camera position, height, focal length, et cetera. Every object's coordinate position, pose, scale, applied texture, opacity, specularity (and a lot more) that exists within the field of view of that camera. This is the data stored when you hit the snap shot button. Printing a shot means recreating the shot and renderingit at the specified size and in the specified format/fashion. There is another method as James so eloquently put it:

You can print shots as shown in the Shot Manager if you use the right settings:
Draft Quality Graphics or Print to PDF [Draft]
Render all shots in the style they were snapped
Do not override lighting/shadow settings

However, barring that, if FrameForge is unable to locate objects/textures (because they don't exist in the object/texture library) required to recreate and render that image then printing won't reflect what you see in that thumbnail. The same applies when re-loading a shot from the shot manager. You may see a scene in the thumbnail represented one way but when you load it, its recreating and re-rendering the shot scene. If the object & texture library lacks the files that the previz file is calling for, then they simply won't be there. Also, if the previz file calls for "ObjectA" which on your previous computer is a model of a Cadillac but on the computer you are working on now "ObjectA" is a model of an Elephant, the Elephant is what is going to be placed into the scene. Make sense?

[langmead]

Hi jamesw,
Thank you for your second recommendation, which works fine and overcomes the fundamental problem.
I am having trouble with first recommendation: I get a print out of the file locations, from the reinstalled file on a different computer, which is fine, except those locations - are they really file locations? - no longer seem to exist on the original computer. I uninstalled the programme to move it to another computer, but surely the locations should be in FileHistory?
Thanks,

Rgds,

[langmead]

Hi ChrisB,
The virus everyone is in denial about, error code *69, that causes emails to fail to send. This is a red herring as far as FrameForge is concerned but it resulted in the loss of a laptop computer, courtesy of Avast. The desktop computer with the programme on was fine and the file was fine. So, now I copied the files from the FrameForge directory in the desktop to the reinstalled programme on the laptop, after getting the programme reinstated, assuming everything would be there. I also had to move the desktop programme to another desktop, which meant I had to uninstall from the desktop. I needed the programmes to make alterations. Disappointingly at zero hours I discovered all the images and sets that I had made had gone. I went back to the old desktop to see if I could find anything there. I recovered most of the material but not the one set I needed which was at location\village\unnamed Object. Is this actually a real file name or part of something else, because surely, it it has been deleted by uninstall, it would be in the Recycle Bin.

Rgds,

[jamesw]

I am having trouble with first recommendation: I get a print out of the file locations, from the reinstalled file on a different computer, which is fine, except those locations - are they really file locations?

They are relative file locations, and without object file extensions. For example, suppose the report says:

Non-Standard Object(s) Required:
stuff\cigar trimmer

Non-Standard Textures Required:
money\$100 bill.jpg

On Windows, this would mean that the full paths are probably:

C:\ProgramData\FrameForge Previz Studio\Library\stuff\cigar trimmer.3dxf

C:\ProgramData\FrameForge Previz Studio\textures\money\$100 bill.jpg

The object extension might be something else, such as .czp.

- no longer seem to exist on the original computer. I uninstalled the programme to move it to another computer, but surely the locations should be in FileHistory?

I'm not sure, I'll ask ChrisB to respond to this, as he knows a lot more about Windows than I do.

[langmead]

Hi JamesW,

As expected, but are you sure? I have a load of jpgs etc that are imported, some set files and some props, on this computer, but there is no library file, or textures file.

Curiouser and curiouser...

Rgds,

[jamesw]

As expected, but are you sure? I have a load of jpgs etc that are imported, some set files and some props, on this computer, but there is no library file, or textures file.

Do you mean you can't find the library and textures directories? This post by ChrisB says they will be in C:\ProgramData\FrameForge Previz Studio in Windows 7, 8, and 10, and I can see them there in Windows Vista too. However, the ProgramData directory may be hidden. At least on Vista, if I look in C:\ with Windows Explorer, I don't see a ProgramData directory. But if I type C:\ProgramData into the path field at the top of a Windows Explorer window, I do see its contents.

[langmead]

Okay Chrisw, I didn't notice the /ProgramData/. Unfortunately /programdata/ files are not saved in FileHistory as part of backup and they also seem to be removed, unsurprisingly, on programme uninstall. This means the missing set is well and truly gone. So I come back to: please can these objects have the option to be embedded in the saved storyboard files. Thanks for your help. Rgds,

[ChrisB]

ProgramData is normally a hidden directory. If you have that option turned off in the File/Folder View options (in the control panel) and you can see the Program Directory and there is no subdirectory called "FrameForge Previz Studio" then when you launch FrameForge, the Actor and Prop inventories would not contain anything at all. If the directory is there but the object in the subdirectory you are looking for is not, then it would appear you have lost it. As you stated, Windows File History in Windows 10 has a default configuration that does not include the ProgramData directory so you wouldn't find any help there. As to the recycle bin, I do not know. It sounds as though that computer has a lot of issues happening with it and I wouldn't want to assume anything considering its state. Regarding the object name, "Unnamed Object" doesnt sound like anything we would intentionally name something. Generally, the file name reflects the items original format file name. Example, if a have a shed I built in Sketchup which I plan to import into FrameForge, when I save that Sketchup file as Shed.skp and then import it into FrameForge, the end result is an object in my prop inventory named Shed.

[langmead]

Thanks ChrisB. Embedded non-standard objects would be the best way to go... Rgds,

[ChrisB]

Well, for what it's worth, I have put that on the list of feature requests we maintain. It has to be reviewed by the development team of course and, ultimately, it is up to the Chief Software Architect and company President to sign off on. I will update you if it is approved and makes it way into a development cycle. Again, I am sorry for the frustration you experienced as the virus problem cascaded into bigger and bigger problems. I can certainly sympathize as that most of us here have experienced that kind of bad luck at one point or another. Best of luck to you on your project and I hope you can hit your deadlines.

[jamesw]

It seems to me that, at least to a degree, this is a platform-specific problem. Apple's Time Machine backup system, unlike File History, works on an opt-out basis. That is, unless you go out of your way, all your FrameForge files will get backed up. Maybe we could investigate whether the FrameForge installer on Windows could somehow add FrameForge's data folders to the list of things backed up by File History.