Revision as of 04:39, 11 April 2013

Installation

Bullet doesn't load

If you see the error "initializePlugin function could not be found in plug-in (bullet)", then the bullet plug-in is not installed correctly. It should remain inside the fracture_plugins directory, since it is a plug-in to fracture, not a separate plug-in to Maya. fracture_plugins should be placed alongside the fracture.mll/.bundle/.so. Once it's in the correct directory, bullet can be loaded from under the solver globals in the Edit Simulator window. See Installing the plug-in for more information.

What do I do with the devkit folder?

You can ignore the devkit folder, it does not need to be installed to use the plug-in. The devkit is intended for developers at larger studios who wish to connect an in-house solver.

Fracture doesn't load on the Mac

If you see this error:

// Error: line 1: Unable to dynamically load : /Users/Shared/Autodesk/maya/2013/plug-ins/fracture.bundle
does not match the current architecture //

then the file is likely corrupted, and is not being identified as a 64-bit bundle. Reinstall the plug-in from the zip archive you downloaded.

Using the plug-in

There's a large pyramid when I break something

The object has to be closed, manifold (edges have no more than 2 adjacent polygons), with outward-facing normals, and no self-intersections.

The scene is slow when I rewind or locks up when I connect a large object

Increase the 'point separation' before connecting it. This is a world-space sampling distance used to convert all objects to a point-based representation. (Enable 'Draw points' to see the point cloud.)

The sim looks wrong after baking to keys, objects are far apart

Make sure the scene units are centimeters. Other units are currently not supported.

The simulation sometimes explodes using the internal solver

Set a velocity limit. Use the numeric display (before or after baking to keys) to find a sensible maximum value.

The simulation sometimes explodes immediately with Bullet

Change the shape class to btGImpactMeshShape. Sometimes bullet has problems dealing with collision between convex and non-convex objects.

I cannot animate things without the solver running

Uncheck active on the simulator globals tab.

Deformable collision objects don't work with Bullet

These are only supported by the internal solver.

Are events tied to particular objects?

No, by design events can break any number of objects, at different times and with different break properties per object. Some events may not break anything, and may only modify the dynamics properties or the custom attributes carried by objects. You can however choose to restrict events to particular objects using the object filter, or groups of objects using the object_set filter. Events are meant to be customisable. See Events and filters for more information.