From Carrara Studio 3.0.4: "File: C:CvsEoviaReleasesrcMCCoreSourceCommonMCException.cpp Line:44 An unknown error has occured." I've seen this error message since version CS 3.0. It happens after doing an Indirect Lighting render that I'm about to save as a JPG image. I'm not sure if it's Anything Grows/Grooves (early 2004 versions) that's been causing it, or if it's the Amapi Importer plugin (7.1 and 7.15 versions), or a combination of both. I formatted my drive and installed Windows98SE again on it. I installed just Carrara Studio 3.0.4 and Amapi Pro 7.15. I downloaded the latest Anything Grows/Grooves plugins that were released a couple weeks ago. But I haven't installed them or any Amapi Importer plugin yet. So far, Carrara Studio 3.0.4 is able to render Inderect Lighting images without crashing. Anyone know whose C: drive the error is complaining about? Is it from an Eovia app or a DCG plugin? I feel I have spent too much money on Eovia products and upgrades and plugins to be still dealing with so many bugs. I don't want to hear that Carrara 4.0 fixes everything. I wanted CS 2.1 to work. I ended up upgrading. I wanted AD 7.1 to work. I ended up upgrading. I want CS 3.0.4 to work. And I want ADPRO 7.15 to work. I have VectorStyle, Transposer, PowerPack, and other plugins. I feel I have invested enough already along this rosey path I've took. But I'm starting to think I should look for the next exit and take the Cinema4D path. I don't see many bugs mentioned about MAXON's software compared to EOVIA's buggy software when Google searching. www.shonner.com

I hope that someone from the Eovia company reads these messages. -HK

Attached Link: http://www.emell.net

Indeed Eovia should fix this. I have the same problem with one of my pics. It does not use indirect lightning but Anything Grooves. The "unkown error" occurs excactly after 44.6 % of the pic are rendered independent from the output format. All the time. This really sucks. Well, Shonner, I also dont know the reason for crashing but it sucks. I really like Carrara but before upgrading with a possible CS4 I will test the demo version with excactly this scene. If it doesnt work, well, I am also thinking about switching to C4D... -Emell-

Hello, I have this kind of error to quite often, with or without extra plugin...my machine is a DELL dimension 8300 iwth XP Pro 3Ghz proc/ 2go RAM/9800 pro My analysis of the problem if that Carrara has memory allocation problems ,let say when you use more that 1Go RAM. If you are using hyperthreading, you have this generic error. without HT activated, then Carrara tells you, crashing anyway at the SAME part of the scene, that a memory allocation error occured. The fact to use DCG plugin only add extra memory use (so it crashes sooner), but DCG plugins are not guilty :-). Eovia support reproduced the crash they told me, and told me also that it should be fixed in the 3.05. But this FU%*&%NG patch stills not there, and i start to be seriously PISSED OFF by Carrara, because they should issue at least one-off patches (or call it hotfix as u want) to correct that, as this bug is known since weeks. I bought The eovia powerpack + Transposer + Amapi Pro. But in september if things doesn't evolve seriously in a good way, i will drop Carrara to C4D too...

Hi folks,

If you do hit these kinds of errors and a DCG plug-in is involved, please pop me off an email with steps to recreate or even better, a scene that crashes. That way, I can investigate, make sure it's not a DCG problem, or fix the problem if it is. If it's not, with debugger in hand, I can often suggest a workaround.

Regards,
Eric Winemiller
Digital Carvers Guild
3D plug-ins for Carrara
http://digitalcarversguild.com

Hi Eric, Om my system, Your plugins are DEFINITELY NOT what crashes carrara with this error, because i have it with or without DCG plugins.....

i get that error occasionally...after ive rendered an animation and try saving it ill get it..its frustrating, especially when its a long render...lol...think lightwave, maya, 3ds max, cinema 4d, or truespace has a tradeup policy?...lol..

I also have that error sometimes. Usually a re-boot of the system is the only fix. I try to save often, but if it happens it sometimes corrupts the file. But only if i try to save after getting the error. AND, it happens anywhere in C. Which brings me to thinking that it's all based on a memory problem, as in C doesn't drop old data when you've moved forward, until it fills up the system and there's nothing left to do the requested command, and crash. emell - I would HIGHLY suggest rendering out sequenced stills instead of a video file when doing animations. Use the batch option in the render room and then if there IS a crash, you can always pick up where you left off instead of having to start over. I also, if it's crunch time on a project, or if it's the final version, restart my system, start up C and only do the batch run so that there's no 'left-over' memory problems hanging that will screw things up. After you render out your stills, drop them into Premiere or Final Cut or whatever and compile the animation there. I once did an animation render that took over 54 hours to run! I left town, did some work for a client in another city, (calling my wife every now and then to see if it was still running!) and came back to find everything ran smooth as silk by following the above steps.

From what I've seen it is a pretty generic error- the fact that it happens in the exception handler points to that too. I've gotten it with divide by zero conditions, and trying to go down links that don't exist. (ie the link returns a 0, and you go ahead and try to use it) markd

I have had some errors of this sort. I find that it is best not to save to anything but bmp or psd because errors can occur. During the time that I used Strata I found that there were far more errors that occured, moving to Carrara in terms of bugginess was a dream becuase the problems are relatively few. My main problems is: Importing an OBJ created with wings as a vertex primative, subdivde smooting it then rendering with GI and indirect light can cause a render time error that freezes the program. I found that importing the object, Saving the scene and restarting the program seems to eliminate the problem.

Even though I could not pronounce their name, I have to agree with "ayodejiosokoya" that saving the file, quitting C3 and then re-opening the file seems to cure a lot of problems. Though I admit this solution only works if you are experiencing problems you can recover from.

I have also found that C3 works a lot better all around if I turn off all virus scanning software. I also try to exit as many other programs as I can, even though the system monitor will indicate that there is more than sufficient memory to handle everything.

I still use Amapi 5.15 and when I take objects into Carrara as a3d I find that rendering errors can sometimes occur I think due to the construction . I found that the rds format seems a bit more stable for export and it preserves quads. You would probably have to convert all Nurbs surfaces to meshes then export as I doubt rds supports nurbs.

I've found alot of the errors are due to the realtime rendering. If saving the file and reopening it is fixing it then that might be the culprit. Are you using opengl? I found that there is a slowdown in the VM with opengl because of the old memory leak, which hopefully will be fixed in version 4 whenever that comes out. Also, opengl seems to have problems with certain objects, and will crash or freeze the Carrara. Make sure to report every error you get to Eovia. They are good at fixing things and helping with workarounds if you let them know. Brian brian@vizualds.com http://www.vizualds.com

Shonner, Can you try the same thing, but this time install only the DCG plug-ins, no VectorStyle, no Amapi importer. I've seen this happen a couple of other times. The first time was on the Mac and it was a corrupt preference file, reseting the preference file fixed the problem. The second was a PC, I recommended reseting the preference file and I never heard back if that was the issue or not. If it's not a preference file, I'd like to figure out which specific plug-ins are conflicting. I suspect VectorStyle may be contributing to the problem since one of my beta testers works in Amapi quite a bit and I'm sure has the Amapi importer and all the DCG plug-ins installed. Thanks, Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild 3D plug-ins for Carrara http://digitalcarversguild.com

I'm re-installing Windows98SE (to make sure the registry is totally clear of old Eovia settings) and I'll install just Carrara 3.0.4 for it and install one updated Powerpack plugin (from your site, not Eovia's) at a time and work with the program for awhile before adding another plugin. I'll let you know if one of them (or a combination of them) prevents me from saving my renders. I'm suspecting in may be VectorStyle since it hasn't been updated for 3.0.4. www.shonner.com

I get this error - and from what has been posted on the yahoo forum this is actually some kind of "General protection fault error" from Carrara. I get it simply by right-clicking in the viewport and selecting rotate, dolly or bank - it pops up immediately. (The other like zoom, move etc works OK) Use the icons on the left instead and there's no error. So it seems to me they have hardcoded something in CS3 that is not entirely consistent and that's why these "general errors" pop up. Mainly just an annoyance though, as I can click OK or cancel and continue. Originally I didn't get these errors, so maybe either a point-release 3.02, 3.03 or 3.04 or similar or add-ons. Rune

I re-installed everything except for the Amapi 7.15 Importer. Carrara 3.0.4 has been working great for over a week now. VectorStyle is working great now also. www.shonner.com