Blast Code Frequently Asked Questions

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General Questions:

1.
What is the best way to cut the damage geometry into another mesh?
2.
When transparent damage geometry is cut into another mesh, I can see the outer edges of the geometry. How can those edges be turned off?
3.
The cracks in the mesh are revealed when I bend or deform the damage mesh. What can be done to prevent this?
4.
What are the ideal explosive settings when being used as a collider?
5.
Manual installation of Blast Code Trial on Mac OSX.
6.
Manual installation of Blast Code Trial on Windows.

Answers:

1. What is the best way to cut the damage geometry into another mesh?

Create a cube which matches the dimensions of the damage geometry mesh. Use this cube in a boolean difference operation with the mesh to be cut into. First, select the mesh you want to cut into, then select the cube, and finally perform the Polygons > booleans > difference operation under the modeling menu.



2. When transparent damage geometry is cut into another mesh, I can see the outer edges of the damage geometry. How can those edges be turned off?

The DamageEmit node's BorderFlag attribute is used to turn on and off the outer edges.



3. The cracks in the mesh are revealed when I bend or deform the damage mesh. What can be done to prevent this?

In some cases, low resolution meshes do not contain enough points and polygons to create smooth surfaces when deformed. Use the Quad mesh type to create a mesh consisting entirely of evenly spaced quads and triangles.



4. What are the ideal explosive settings when setting up as a collider?

Open the explosive attribute editor and set the following:

*
Push Flag: enable
*
Blast Envelope: Maximize entire ramp. Set Position 0.0 to 1, and position 1.0 to 1.

When using slabs, you may also want to enable the Edge Delta Flag under the Primary Debris Attributes.



5. Manual installation of Blast Code Trial on Mac OSX.

The procedure describes the manual installation of Blast Code when the automatic installation method fails. Be sure to have administrative privileges when loading.

1. Run the BlastCodeInstall_Trial12.pkg install package as normal. At minimum it should decompress the distribution, and create a BlastCode1.2 folder at the location of your choosing.

2. Check the BlastCode1.2 installation folder for an lservrc file. Copy this file to the /Applications/Alias folder. Create the folder if it does not exist.

3. Check the BlastCode1.2 installation folder for a BlastCode1.2_module file.The module file tells Maya where to find the Blast Code distribution. Create one if it does not exist:

* Open a text editor and enter the following: + BlastCode1.2 1.0 Path_To_BlastCode_Folder

* For example, if the BlastCode1.2 folder is located at /Home/User/BlastCode1.2 type the following:

+ BlastCode1.2 1.0 /Home/User/BlastCode1.2

* Save the file as BlastCode1.2_module

4. Copy the BlastCode1.2_module file to the correct location:

* Start Maya and open the script editor. Enter the following:

getenv MAYA_MODULE_PATH

* Maya will return a list of folder names. These are the locations Maya will search for the module file. Copy the BlastCode1.2_module file to any of the folders listed. Try more than one if necessary.

* Restart Maya.

5. In Maya, open the Plug-in-managers (Window > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager) and find the ~/BlastCode1.2/plug-ins folder. Load the plug-in by checking the loaded check box next to the bctrial1.2_mayaX.lib file. You should not need to browse to it. Browsing to the folder location will not load the plug-in properly.

6. The trial version of Blast Code comes with a 15 day trial license. Sentinel errors will occur when the trial license expires, or if the trial has been loaded on the machine previously.

7. If problems persist, please contact: support@blastcode.com



6. Manual installation of Blast Code Trial on Windows.

The procedure describes the manual installation of Blast Code when the automatic installation method fails. Be sure to have administrative privileges when loading.

1. Run the BlastCodeInstall_Trial12.exe install package as normal. At minimum it should decompress the distribution, and create a BlastCode1.2 folder at the location of your choosing.

2. Check the BlastCode1.2 installation folder for an lservrc file. Copy this file to the ~/MayaX.X/bin folder. This is located where you installed Maya.

3. Check the BlastCode1.2 installation folder for a BlastCode1.2_module file.The module file tells Maya where to find the Blast Code distribution. Create one if it does not exist using the following method:

* Open a text editor and enter the following: + BlastCode1.2 1.0 Path_To_BlastCode_Folder

* For example, if the BlastCode1.2 folder is located at C:/ProgramFiles/BlastCode1.2 type the following:

+ BlastCode1.2 1.0 C:/ProgramFiles/User/BlastCode1.2

* Save the file as BlastCode1.2_module

4. Copy the BlastCode1.2_module file to the correct location:

* Start Maya and open the script editor. Enter the following:

getenv MAYA_MODULE_PATH

* Maya will return a list of folder names. These are the locations Maya will search for the module file. Copy the BlastCode1.2_module file to any of the folders listed.

* Restart Maya.

5. In Maya, open the Plug-in-managers (Window > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager) and find the ~/BlastCode1.2/plug-ins folder. Load the plug-in by checking the loaded check box next to the bctrial1.2_mayaX.mll file. You should not need to browse to it. Browsing to the folder location will not load the plug-in properly.

6. The trial version of Blast Code comes with a 15 day trial license. Sentinel errors will occur when the trial license expires, or if the trial has been loaded on the machine previously.

7. If problems persist, please contact: support@blastcode.com