(Fixed, Open) [HOU-1712, HOU-1791] Error messages

[Jim Meston]

Fixed the help issue by using following advice...

for me internal browser "broken" long tome ago if ${VFH_PATH} before ${PATH}
PATH="${VFH_PATH};${PATH}"
vs
PATH="${PATH};${VFH_PATH}"

[Gosho.Genchev]

We've contacted SideFX about the errors. From my tests, it appears this is caused by the $HOME/houdini18.0/packages/SideFXLabs.json file, and the errors only show up when the HOUDINI_PATH variable is appended back to itself.
If you use the vray_for_houdini.json package that is generated by the installer, instead of using the environment file, the errors disappear (and to be fair, they don't seem to cause any issues but anyway...).

You could use the attached json file and place it either in
1. $HOME/houdini18.0/packages (e.g. for Windows: C:\Users\Gosho\Documents\houdini18.0\packages) , or
2. $HFS/packages (e.g. for Windows: C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 18.0.391\packages )

I've also attached a video showing the process as well.
The files are here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YXm...ew?usp=sharing

// Note: Latest (post March 6-th) nightly builds contain an issue with Alembics that we're working to fix. Please use the March 6-th builds instead.

Hope that helps!

[Jim Meston]

Thank you Gosho. I have it working mostly. So I will leave as is until there is an approved installer for H18

[Gosho.Genchev]

Hey, Jim,

there is already an installer in the nightly builds for 18.0.391 which does automatically what I showed manually on the video above.

Can you please give it a shot and ping me if you hit any issues ?


Cheers!

[Jim Meston]

Will do as soon as I get a mo

[Jim Meston]

Ok I removed all evidence of vray, uninstalled etc.
Installed using installer as per your instructions.

Open Houdini. No Vray. No Vray shelf. No errors.
No hints to find bat files to launch Houdini with env vars.

Literally nothing. No hints as to what I should be doing to make it work....

[Jim Meston]

Ok success !!!

The installer was defaulting its packages path to my 17.5 install which is only there for compatibility testing.

Thanks for baring with me.

Best,
Jim

[Gosho.Genchev]

Glad to hear you got it figured out. We added the installer to simplify things but due to the way 3-rd party plugins are loaded in Houdini, there's a few things that could go wrong and it may be hard to figure out what's causing the problem. On the flip side, it makes swapping plugin versions incredibly easy by simply changing the path in the package file.

Best regards!

[Jim Meston]

Yep, one of the issues was simply that I am overloaded, and setting up machines ends up taking ages

So where is the *.json file stored? and how does Houdini get at it?

[Gosho.Genchev]

If you used the installer, it's under the Houdini install folder (For me: C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 18.0.391\packages)
V-Ray for Houdini itself is installed under C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray

Houdini knows to check this folder for any package files and includes the specified environment variables inside.

Hope that helps!

[Jim Meston]

Thanks.... so I just double checked and the help is not opening...

Is there a way to edit the json file which might address this? as per previous convos?

[DmitriiP]

try add ${PATH}; before ${VFH_HOME}/bin in .json

{ "PATH" : [
"${VRAY_APPSDK}/bin",
"${PATH};${VFH_HOME}/bin"
] },

[Jim Meston]

Boom. Thank you !! Works perfectly. I was scanning through the json file for that, but my eyes just ended up swimming after a while.

[Ambrozie]

Hi everyone,

deleting the H18 folder from Documents solved the issue for me.

Cheers, Ambrozie

[Jim Meston]

Can someone fix this issue. It is a really simple fox as pointed out by DmitriiP

try add ${PATH}; before ${VFH_HOME}/bin in .json

{ "PATH" : [
"${VRAY_APPSDK}/bin",
"${PATH};${VFH_HOME}/bin"
] },

I just installed the latest build and the problem is still there.