FAQ
How to UV-pack existing UVs?
Once you have unwrapped your objects in Flatiron, and you wouldlike to repack them nto a new UV channel, you need to collapse all your UV modifiers created by Flatiron. After that, all objects have fixed, assigned UVs and you can use “Pack Existing” to pack them into a new UV Channel.
“Pack existing” after you have used organic or hard surface unwrap does only pack the original UVs, not the new created.
What is the difference between Flatiron, Unwrella and UV-Packer?
Which 3ds Max versions are supported by Flatiron?
Flatiron is compatible with Autodesk 3ds Max from version 2015 up to the current version. If you are running an older 3ds Max but still wish to use Flatiron, please contact us.
Which renderers are supported by Flatiron?
Flatiron supports the following 3ds Max renderers:
- V-Ray
- Mental Ray
- Corona
- Redshift
- Final Render
- 3ds Max Scanline
Does Flatiron work with Unreal Engine and Unity?
Flatiron is perfectly compatible with the Unreal Engine, Unity, and any other realtime engine currently in use.
Please check out our tutorials on this topic:
Can Flatiron render multiple render elements at the same time?
Yes, if 3ds Max can render multiple render elements, so can Flatiron.
What is the difference between an Artist and a Studio License?
Can I use Flatiron on multiple computers?
You can install and use Flatiron on as many computers as the number of single seat licenses you purchased. It is very simple to deactivate the license on one machine online and activate it on the other.
Can I move Flatiron from one computer to another?
Yes. If you wish to move your license from one machine to another, simply start 3ds Max and deactivate Flatiron. Then install Flatiron on the new machine and reactivate it. For more information you are welcome to check our documentation.
Alternatively, you can contact us and we can deactivate your license for you.
Can I get an update for my very old Flatiron license?
Yes, we only sell permanent licenses. Regardless of when you purchased our products, you are always entitled to the newest version as well as any future updates. Simply log onto our licensing system and download the newest (or previous) version.
Can I trade my Unwrella / UV-Packer license for a Flatiron license?
Yes, if you wish to switch from any of our other licensed plugins to Flatiron, that is possible. Simply contact us.
Are there any special deals for students / universities?
Yes, we offer special EDU licenses to students, educational institutions such as schools and universities, and their staff. Simply contact us for details.
Why do I get incorrect results when using the ‘Single Pass’ option?
Flatiron offers you the choice between two different texture baking modes: Single Pass baking (default) and Multi Pass baking. In Single Pass mode all picked objects are baked at the same time into the texture during a single render job. In Multi Pass mode the individual objects are baked in separate render jobs.
In most cases Single Pass is the preferred method because the required time for baking is significantly smaller while yielding the same results. But depending on the individual requirements and the utilized renderer there can be situations where Single Pass yields unexpected render results and Multi Pass might be the preferred solution. Refer to the chapter ‘Texture Baking Modes’ in the Flatiron User Manual for more details.
Why are my baked textures too dark or have the wrong color?
This happens when gamma correction is enabled in your 3ds Max preferences and the Flatiron bitmap output is not set to the correct gamma value.
Solution: Override the gamma settings of the bitmap with the real 1.0 value or turn off your gamma settings.
Why is the baked map completely black?
Check your selected bake element. Not all bake elements are compatible with all renderers.
For example V-Ray does not support the default render elements that the Scanline renderer and Mental Ray use.
Instead, V-Ray brings its own render elements. Just pick those instead of the default render materials when you use V-Ray.
Using a V-Ray element with another renderer will fail accordingly.
Why are some objects unwrapped unproportionally?
Some of the objects on an unwrapped map are much larger or smaller than they should be when considering the mesh surfaces in the scene. This is most likely the result of objects being imported from another application (AutoCAD, Maya, etc.). During the import the vertex scale was not set properly or the objects were rescaled by changing world space sizes.
To fix this, simply select the objects, go to the “Utilities” panel and press “Reset X-Form”. This will set the object scaling to uniform defaults.
The same problem can be observed by applying a fractal noise texture to the objects: noise will look small on some and large on other objects even though they have similar sizes.
Why do bake results with V-Ray differ from the camera view render?
Make sure that you are not using the V-Ray Virtual Frame Buffer with color and gamma post processing. These effects don’t work with texture baking.
Also make sure that you are not using the light cache. Light cache works great in camera view but deliver suboptimal bake results. You should instead switch to irradiance map or brute force for global illumination.
Why are maps not automatically merged during network rendering?
Flatiron will initiate the merge when it receives the message from the Backburner manager that the render job is completed. If Flatiron loses the connection due to network issues or because the 3ds Max instance from which the job was sent is closed it can never receive the message and will not complete the merge.
In these cases you can use the button ‘Manual Merge’ to complete the job when the network render is done. For more details about this, please refer to the chapter ‘Network Rendering’ in the Flatiron user manual or contact us.
Why do I receive an ‘Error code 126’ message?
Receiving an error message ‘Error code 126 – The specified module could not be found’ when you try to start 3ds Max with Flatiron indicates that you do not have Microsoft DirectX9c installed on the computer you’re trying to use Flatiron on.
You lay have DirectX10 or later installed but this does not automatically include version 9c. DirectX9 and DirectX10 can be installed next to each other on the same computer. You will not ‘downgrade’ or lose any DirectX10 capabilities by installing DirectX9c.
You can download Microsoft DirectX9c from the Microsoft download center here.