GPU preview - is that supposed to be an improvement on the old one ?

[StufishIT]

Having to turn the MAX viewport into an extended viewport to see a GPU preview - as a full render instead of just seeing the effect rendered - then having to kill the extended viewport to use it normally, is possibly not a productivity enhancement?

[Svetlin.Nikolov]

Sorry, I didn't understand that.

So in 3ds Max there are two GPU previews - the extended viewport is the one that came with Phoenix 2 10 years or ago. It shows only the simulator.

A newer GPU preview is shown inside the viewport and this is by default for the past 5-6 years at least - all the fire/smoke presets on the Phoenix toolbar use it by default. You can enable that from the Preview rollout of the Simulator, by clicking the "Enable In Viewport" checkbox. You can check the docs for more info: https://docs.chaos.com/display/PHX4M...eSmoke+Preview

Maybe you are trying to do something specific? Can you share more details if I haven't answered your question above?

Cheers!