hi,
i tried simulating an explosion and there`s nothing visible in the sim box. it renders ok. turn on mesh works, no voxels/ticks visible (whatever they are called ?)
ok so it`s gpu preview `enable in viewport`. i have to turn it off for the dots to appear. is that normal ? I have a quadro 4000.
thanks
anthonyh
Yes that is normal 
i guess it wasn`t on by default in previous builds ? i don`t remember it doing this in the nightlies. seems like it shouldn`t be on by default if you can`t see anything or is my system now considered obsolete.?
anthonyh
The GPU viewport preview is supported for Max 2015 and newer. Are you using older version by any chance?
nope, 3dsmax 2016 sp3 with vray 3.40.03 and new phoenix. gpu preview tickbox on = no dots visible , off = working.
anthonyh
I’m still on the last nightly build and when you use a preset it automatically uses GPU Viewport preview, which always disables the voxel preview when enabled. Waiting on getting an upgrade to 3 
there`s lots of lovely new icons to see. the activeshade preview looked good although i only tried it once !
The dots won’t be visible if the GPU preview is on but the fluids should be visible and your grid shouldn’t be empty.
Can you attach a screenshot so we can see what the problem is?
the grid isn`t empty it only looks it in the viewport. after simulating it renders ok, but the dots aren`t visible in the viewport until the gpu tickbox is turned off. so maybe it`s working as intended ? it seems strange to me to have a default where you can`t see anything but if that`s what is meant to happen then ok i suppose ?
if you stil lneed a screenshot let me know.
anthonyh
Hmm are you simulating water by any chance or some other liquid? If that is the case - their materials are transparent.
no, i`ve tried an explosion preset and clouds preset only so far. no liquids yet. it sounds like it`s working as intended ijust wasn`t sure what the intention was 8) ?
for me at least, as a default i should be able to see the simulation preview without turning an option off (imo). also i`m assuming `gpu preview in viewport` option allows seeing the gpu preview inside the grid instead of using the extended viewport like in the new features video (which is damn cool) ? if so then it doesn`t work for me. minimum requirements maybe ?
anthonyh
Yes you guessed it correctly it should allow you to see the preview inside of the gird with no need for the extended viewport. The clouds preset is using opacity maps and it takes time to show up - but the explosion should be showing. May be it’s your GPU. Are you using the latest drivers? If you turn on the extended viewport preview are the fluids showing up there?
re: clouds, yes i noticed they gradually generate although i thought they weren`t working at first. the extended gpu viewport seems to work fine although only if the simulator is selected, it disappears if not selected. as for drivers, not using the latest but not that old either.
i`ll try latest quadro drivers and see.
There is an option for the preview to show only when the Simulator is selected and it is checked by defualt - the reason is that in heavy scenes and heavy simulations will slow down the preview greatly.
if you mean the `cell preview/only if selected` it`s turned off already. it`s the extended gpu viewport preview that disappears if you don`t have the simulator selected. the cells(dots) are still visible in another viewport.
anthonyh
Oh, totally missed the part for the extended viewport - this will work only when the Simulator is selected - it’s in the to do fix that.
We really have to fix that - can you give us more info on your video and also which viewport renderer you are using in Max? Anything special about the viewport - shaded, realistic, etc? Also, if there is Remote Desktop involved, anything GPU might or might not work..
Is there a plan/is it possible to make GPU preview in previous to 2015 Max version. It really useful feature and I am stuck with 2014…
Max itself can’t do it, sadly…