Brazil r/s v2 - build 1272 now available

Other changes since Build 1231 include:
Brazil r/s

• Enhancements
  
  
  
  • 64bit version (for 3ds Max 9 64bit) is now available.
    
    
    
    • 32bit scenes can be opened in 64bit max and vice-versa
      
    • It is not recommended, however, that you mix 32bit and 64bit renders in the same shot, as there can be differences due to floating point accuracy changes.
      
    • The latter becomes especially visible when using photons
      
    
    
  • Datascope"s render cache support is back
    
  • Added Sashimi - segmented rendering utility. This replaces the old SFDNR from Brazil r/s v1, and is similar to Split Scanlines.
    
  • Added Fovea - Brazil r/s v1 camera wizard replacement.
    
  • Added Protocolor - color naming utility
    
  • lu·mi·ni (formerly Lightdude)
    
    
    
    • added photon controls
      
    • added dialog resizing behavior
      
    
    
  • Scripts in general
    
    
    
    • will now re-open where they were last closed across max sessions as well.
      
    • last-used settings behavior implemented for sashimi, protocolor, dupefacescheck, and the render settings i/o
      
    • Now display SplutterFish Tooltips for any control. Currently in effect for all scripts that appear in a Dialog class window. Double-click the sfTooltip, or use the macro script in the SplutterFish category, to configure.
      
    
    
  
  
• BugFixes
  
  
  
  • Bug 1421 - BZ2 shadow maps not right with 3d motion blur
    
    
    
    • it's no longer artifacting in the shadow itself, but the shadow map is -not- motion blurred. This in turn can lead to artifacting in any motion blurred geometry receiving the shadow. These two should not be confused.
      
    
    
  • Bug 2008 - pixiedust bug (high intensity specks from a combination of elements)
    
  • Bug 2015 - mit-net filtering startup default values incorrect
    
  • Bug 2017 - glossy reflections returning env background when they shouldn't
    
    
    
    • Note that the cause for this 'bug' was a previous behavior change. These are the behaviors as implemented over time so far:
      
    • 1. return black. That's what we did before, and that resulted in the darkened edges in e.g. spheres/etc. Not good. So we changed it (so long ago I can't find a build number) to
      
    • 2. act as if the ray would be reflected again. This gave 'ghost' reflections. Very ugly. So we changed that (in Build 904) to...
      
    • 3. return the environment color. This, we thought, was probably a good idea because it means that you can override the environment to get the desired effect. Essentially you could get the same result as 1 by switching the local environment on, and setting up a black color. Unfortunately, as is obvious by your post, this isn't ideal either. So now (Build 1245+) we're changing it to...
      
    • 4. return null. I.e. ignore that ray entirely. The down side of this approach is that at extreme glancing angles, you'll get a noisier glossy reflection. Adaptive sampling should take care of a good but of that, but there's no promises. Note that glossy surfaces, at glancing angles, tend to become more perfect reflectors - so you should really be setting up a focus map to take care of extreme glancing angles anyway.
      
    
    
  • Bug 2021 - photons: custom curve absorption crashes photon generation
    
  • Bug 2022 - custom curves: attempt to edit copied cc results in crash
    
    
    
    • This bug applied to 3ds Max 4/5 only. The custom curves should not be copyable through track view as it makes max unstable. Later versions of 3ds Max do not allow this type of subanim to be copied.
      
    
    
  • Bug 2020 - (uniformly) Scaled b2 main lights would affect photon emission. Fixed. Note: If you have any scaled b2 main lights in your scenes, this is likely to affect the visual output.
    
  • Bug 2023 - IES: zero-energy direction does not bail out lighting calculations early
    
  • Bug 2033 - B2 Ray Shadows set to Area type were being calculated as if from a point light when using a 3ds Max native Direct light. Fixed.
    
  • Fixed a potential NaN (black/bad sample) error in Skin subdermal scattering
    
  • Fixed the b2 Main Light "Affect Surface / Diffuse Transition" settings not working for area lights
    
  • Fixed lu·mi·ni (formerly lightdude) displaying the selected lights rollout despite not having any lights selected
    
  • b2 removal helper did not check for the b2 shadow map in the getclassinstances check
    
  • Fixed an issue where the lack of the scripting core would cause a plethora of macroscripts errors, due to 3ds Max creating local copies of macroscripts
    
  
  
• Other
  
  
  
  • Console: Changed the default value of 'Open on Launch' to False. This will prevent the console from opening when accessing the modifier panel, for example, on fresh installs
    
  
  

sfmgr

• sfmgr v2.1.4 for Windows Vista is now available. v2.1.3 should work as well (be sure to right-click on the executable and choose "Run as Administrator"), 2.1.4 automates the process of displaying the UAC when simply running it.
  
• Note that you should not run v2.1.4 on Windows XP as it may cause Windows XP stability issues.