unfortunately we are finding the ‘replace from local’ d5a function to not be reliable. we are exporting from rhino 8 and each time we want to update our model, we lose most of our material choices, and the z position will often change. The bounding box of our model has not changed, but yet after syncing coordinates, the model will have moved. also to our frustration, sometimes we cannot sync coordinates, as perhaps there is some hidden item in our d5a model that has no geometry and cannot by synced. i’m not sure why something with no geometry would even be exported in the first place.
i am exporting a .d5a from “object selection” and using layer 3 groups.
i love a lot of things about d5, but frankly i would like to see more effort placed on making these core features with syncing and server use more stable, instead of tossing a bunch of mediocre ai tools in for post processing.
Thanks for your feedback. I’ll be forwarding this further to our team. Additionally, please provide us with the following information:
Livesync Version
Video recording of the whole process, which shows the issue.
I did some tests on my end,
The Z value remains the same, and succeeding reloads do not change the specific value. Supposedly, after replacing from local the reload button should help in retaining the materials, but it is currently not available for models with layer structure (a known limitation).
hi Clov, thanks for your feedback. Ok I now understand that exporting d5a with the original layer structure will not allow the materials to be saved. exporting without this layer structure also seems to be solving our misalignment issue.
first of all here is a video of the problem that was happening, this is showing me replacing the same .d5a file but they both have layer structure.
now that you have explained the known layer issues, i did some other tests where i add an extra piece of geometry outside the main geometry to see if that will misalign. i try this both exporting “all” and “object selection”. in both cases, the .d5a does not move.
Opening a fresh file and doing these tests, it seems to work ok. but our file had lots of geometry, and we had two people working on this file, so i’ll have to keep testing to see if this works, as our file grows.
QUESTIONS
So if the layer structure is ignored when we export to .d5a, does the bounding box of our source file no longer matter?
Another very big issue we are having is being able to work off files from our google drive folder. here is a video showing what happens when i load our file from google drive. the d5 assets like people and plants are there, but our imported d5a files do not appear. you can see them in the layer panel, but not in the viewport. in order to get around this, we currently download the entire file locally, then re upload for another person to re-download again. This process is very clunky. would using the “teams” version of your software help us in this regard? we don’t need to work simultaneously, we just want to be able to work from a central cloud storage to avoid uploading and downloading each time.
Having these files stored in Google Drive, then proceeding to work on them while it is in the drive will have some issues (one of these issues is the one you’ve mentioned) hence, it is highly recommended to download them to your local path (purely local path) before opening them.
And zipping these file folders while being stored in Google Drive will also help in ensuring that no files will be missing.
As for your question about D5 Teams, whether it will eliminate this issue.
Yes, as long as your team is working in the same LAN Connection and the Team Library Deployment is successful, then the files can be opened on any device with your Teams Identity account.
I see. Our firm uses google drive, as we often work remotely, so a LAN would not help, and we don’t have the time to set up a NAS.
My subscription either continues or expires this week, and unfortunately this is very necessary for us as an office to have so i’m not sure what we will do. Is there any effort by your company to address this issue?
Also as far as the coordinates go, still wondering about this question:
If the layer structure is ignored when we export a .d5a, does the bounding box of our source file no longer matter? From the test in my video, changing the bounding box of exported geometry seems to have no affect on the location, and I’m wondering if that is why.
There are certainly plans in optimizing the cloud storage workflow but there’s no specific timeline as to when it will be officially implemented.
About your question, I did check the first 3 videos you’ve provided in the drive link. I noticed in the first video, your first export, you have selected Export selection, and in the second export, you selected Export all (which will export everything present in your 3d file)
