limited number of PRT Loader per scene?

[Christianz]

Hi

is there a limitation regarding the number of PRT loader objects that you can have in the same C4D scene? I have 32 numbered sequences of bin-particle files from RealFlow on hard disc. So, I started to add PRT loader objects and copied them with only the pathnames to the bin sequences changed. However, it seems as I get only around 10 streams of particles rendered in viewport and picture viewer. There are no render particles limit (all 100%) and the channels seem to be recognized in all sequences.

[TylerAfx]

Did you check in the log, if all your particles get rendered?
You could enable the loaders step by step to check if there is an error.

[Christianz]

Thanks, the logs indicated that there were indeed particles loaded.
But now I think I found the problem: At the same time I also loaded the liquid mesh using the standard realflow mesh loader and there was a scale mismatch of 100x between PRT Loader particles and mesh, so I could not see those microscopic particles and they were way off the camera… I have no idea why it was not the case for all sequences, but good to remember this can happen when different plugins import these elements.

[Bobo]

Thanks, the logs indicated that there were indeed particles loaded.
But now I think I found the problem: At the same time I also loaded the liquid mesh using the standard realflow mesh loader and there was a scale mismatch of 100x between PRT Loader particles and mesh, so I could not see those microscopic particles and they were way off the camera… I have no idea why it was not the case for all sequences, but good to remember this can happen when different plugins import these elements.

When loading BIN files, we apply no scaling to match scene units settings. Since RealFlow defaults to 1 unit = 1 meter, if the size of a RealFlow Box of particles is 1x1x1 meters, it will load as 1x1x1 CENTImeters in CINEMA 4D. We cannot make assumptions about the scale of RealFlow since it gives you ways to change that scale. BUT, changing the scale in RealFlow can cause other problems (that have been reported already), like scaling the Positions but not the Velocities, resulting the Velocity vectors that are incorrect when loaded in CINEMA 4D (and not our fault).

So all you need to do in your case is apply a Scale of 100 in the PRT Loader’s “Coord.” tab. This will scale ALL relevant channels (Position AND Velocity) and it should match the geometry.

We have implemented a mechanism for automatic scaling of units (and flipping of coordinate systems) in the PRT v1.1 standard, but unfortunately RealFlow does not support that yet (2014 might). For example, exporting out of 3ds Max or Maya and loading in CINEMA 4D, or vice-versa, using Krakatoa builds v2.3 will always match units and coordinates correctly when using PRT files.