Support for Sapphire on Autodesk Systems

How do I transfer my license?

To transfer your serial number to a new machine, first uninstall Sapphire plug-ins from your old machine. During the uninstall, select the option to register that uninstall via the web. As long as the uninstall is successfully registered, you should then be able to install your serial number on the new machine. If you own a floating license (Autodesk systems only) or if uninstalling is not possible, please click here to request a license transfer.

My serial number doesn't work. A watermark appears.

• Make sure you have run the Sapphire plug-ins installer on your workstation instead of just copying the files or imaging the disk.
• Check the shell where you started the Autodesk application and see if any useful information is printed there when you load a plugin.
• Make sure you are not running an old beta version of the software, which may have timed out.
• Make sure the date on your computer is correct.
• Make sure a different spark is loaded after the license is installed. They only re-read the serial number when first loaded or after the Autodesk application is restarted.
• If the Ethernet address of your computer has changed since you ran the installer, you can get this watermark. Try reinstalling Sapphire plug-ins and reentering your serial number and see if that helps.

Where can I find my diagnostics log file?

The diagnostics log file can be found here:
On Linux this file is in: /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_5/s_log.text
On Smoke on Mac it is in: /Applications/GenArtsSapphireSparks5/config/s_log.text

On Burn, my license doesn't work. A watermark appears.

GenArts supports two types of licenses for Burn: serial numbers (like regular Flame licenses), and RLM floating licenses. For a serial number license, see the previous question. For RLM licenses:

• Check the status of your licenses using the RLM server's web interface. From the server machine go to http://localhost:9000 or from another machine use http://servername:9000 replacing servername as appropriate. See if any useful information is shown there. To reread the license file: on the left side of the main page select Reread/Restart Servers, and then on that page click on Reread Licenses.
• Make sure the Ethernet ID in your license correctly matches that of your license server machine. Run the following command on your license server machine to find the Ethernet ID that RLM is expecting:
  
  On Linux: /usr/genarts/rlm/rlmutil rlmhostid ether
  
  On Mac: /Library/Application Support/genarts/rlm/rlmutil rlmhostid host
  
  Then make sure the Ethernet ID in your server license file is equal to that. The Ethernet ID is just after the hostname in the HOST line of the license. If they differ, please let us know the correct Ethernet ID so we can regenerate your license.
• Make sure the hostname in your license files correctly matches that of your license server machine. Run the following command on your license server machine to find the hostname that RLM is expecting:
  
  On Linux: /usr/genarts/rlm/rlmutil rlmhostid host
  
  On Mac: /Library/Application Support/genarts/rlm/rlmutil rlmhostid host
  
  Then make sure the hostname in your client and server license files are equal to that. If they differ, either correct the name in the license files, or use the license server IP address instead.
• Make sure you can "ping" the server from the client using the hostname specified in the license file. This ensures that the client can get the server's IP address from its hostname, and that there is a working connection between them. If this doesn't work, you can try replacing the hostname with the IP address of the license server in the license files.
• Check that the date on your computer is correct for both server and client.
• Make sure the port numbers used in your server and client license files are the same. The port number is shown after the hostname and Ethernet ID in the HOST line of the license. You can change the port numbers without invalidating the license, but you will need to restart the license server after they are modified. Also make sure this port number doesn't conflict with other applications that might use the same port.
• Make sure you have a working Sapphire plug-ins license on the Mac or Autodesk workstation submitting the Burn process.
• Check that the date on your Burn workstation is correct.
• If the license still doesn't work, please e-mail us a copy of the log file /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_5/s_log.text on your Burn workstation.

I don't get any GPU acceleration.

Sapphire 5 uses NVIDIA's CUDA system for GPU acceleration. It requires a recent NVIDIA card to work. Some known good cards are:

• Quadro FX 5800: excellent performance
• Quadro FX 4800: good performance
• Quadro FX 5600: acceptable performance, but may not be faster than a quad-core CPU system
• GeForce 200 series (e.g. 285) on Mac: excellent performance

Other NVIDIA GPUs may also work; anything from 2009 or later should work well. If the GPU button on the Crop/Help page says that GPU processing is disabled, your GPU may be too old, or you may have an out-of-date driver. Sapphire requires NVIDIA driver rev 185.18 or newer to support CUDA. If GPU acceleration isn't enabled, and you think it should be, please send the Sapphire log file from /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_5/s_log.text to support [at] genarts [dot] com and we will help determine the cause.

On Mac, to get GPU acceleration you must install the NVIDIA CUDA driver, version 3.1 or later. The 3.1 driver is at http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-cuda-3.1-driver.html.

Some effects do not support GPU acceleration at all. If the GPU Enable button doesn't appear on the Crop/Help page, no GPU acceleration is available regardless of your hardware configuration.

Performance is mostly determined by the number of "CUDA Cores" on the GPU card; check the NVIDIA web site for more information on your model.

Whether your GPU is faster than your CPU also depends, naturally, on your CPU speeds. If you have a fast 8-core Intel i7 CPU, for instance, it may outperform most GPUs from 2009 or earlier. Performance will also depend on the effect you're using; some LensFlares, for instance, are much faster on the GPU than on equivalent CPUs.

All my GPU renders are failing.

A CUDA card is detected (GPU is enabled), but all GPU renders fail immediately.Add the following line to /etc/modprobe.conf and reboot:

• options myri10ge myri10ge_pat_idx=1

Can v4 and v5 be installed at the same time?

Yes, Sapphire v4 and v5 get installed in different directories, and can be on your system at the same time. You can continue using v4 as usual even after installing v5. However, please be aware that the names of the sparks are the same in both versions, which can lead to some confusion, and sometimes the older version may continue to be used unintentionally.

How can I load old v4 setups into v5?

An 'update_setups' script is provided that automatically converts your setups from Sapphire v4 to Sapphire v5. For detailed information on how to use this, check the on-line docs installed with the software on your local Autodesk machine: /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_5/docs/general-info.html#update-setups.

You can alternatively install both Sapphire v4 and v5 on your system at the same time. This allows v4 setups to simply be loaded and used as before. However, in this case be aware that the names of the sparks are the same in both versions, which can lead to some confusion, and sometimes the older version may continue to be used unintentionally.

In Batch, I get warnings saying "FrameNo out of bounds (API Bug)."

This is a known issue with invalid Total Frame Number values being given to sparks. It can occur when the Batch frame length is increased after creating some spark nodes, and the warning often starts after frame 100. The warning sometimes also incorrectly mentions 'VST Audio Spark'.

The workaround is to edit each spark node, and change the end frame number in the spark's timeline to be greater or equal to the end frame number in your Batch timeline.

This behavior should be improved in Flame 2007.

In Batch, there is garbage or noise in the image.

In some Autodesk releases, there is a memory management problem in Batch that can cause corruption or noise in the resulting images. This seems to occur more often when two or more sparks and one or more action nodes are used in the same Batch tree. A temporary workaround is to separate the action nodes and the sparks into independent batch trees. It is also recommended that you have at least 2GB of memory. Adjusting the Memory token in Autodesk's config file to allow for more memory buffers might also help in some cases.

On Smoke, I get a crash when exiting the soft sparks editor.

This is a known issue which should be fixed in Autodesk's 2007 versions. A workaround is to make sure you are not on the last frame when you exit the editor.

All Sapphire plug-ins give a "CAN NOT LOAD" error.

This can occur if Sapphire plug-ins are not installed properly, or they were copied over from another machine instead of being installed at all. The solution is to just re-install from http://www.genarts.com/support/downloads/sapphire/autodesk.

One Sapphire plugin aborts when first loaded, although the others work fine.

You may have a corrupt setup file for that spark. Type these commands to a shell, but replace "LensFlare" with the spark name that is not working. (The setupch file only exists in some cases.)
% cd /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_5
% mv S_LensFlare.spark.setup bad.setup
% mv S_LensFlare.spark.setupch bad.setupch
and then try loading the spark again. If this fixes the problem, please e-mail us the bad setup files so we can inspect them.

How can I uninstall Sapphire plug-ins?

To uninstall Sapphire 5 on Linux: open a shell window, type su to become root, and then type:
rpm -e genarts-sapphire-sparks5

To uninstall Sapphire 5 for Smoke on Mac: /Applications/GenArtsSapphireSparks5/Uninstall Sapphire

To uninstall Sapphire 4 on Linux: open a shell window, type su to become root, and then type:
rpm -e SapphireSparks4

My license doesn't work. A watermark appears.

• Make sure you have run the Sapphire plug-ins installer on your workstation instead of just copying the files or imaging the disk.
• Check the shell where you started the Autodesk application and see if any useful information is printed there when you load a plug-in.
• Make sure you are not running an old beta version of the software, which may have timed out.
• Make sure the date on your computer is correct.
• Make sure a different spark is loaded after the license is installed. They only re-read the key when they are first loaded or after the Autodesk application is restarted.
• If the Ethernet address of your computer has changed since you ran the installer, you can get this watermark. Try reinstalling Sapphire plug-ins and reentering your serial number and see if that helps.

Where can I find my diagnostics log file?

The diagnostics log file can be found here:
/usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_4/s_log.text

On Burn, my license doesn't work. A watermark appears.

For Burn on 64-bit Linux:

• Make sure you have installed a serial number, and are not trying to use a FlexLM license. FlexLM licenses are not supported on 64-bit Linux.
  If you have recently upgraded from 32-bit to 64-bit Burn workstations, please contact license@g enarts.com. to request a transfer to serial number licenses. Please be sure to include your company name, the number of Burn workstations you have, and your license server host ID.

For Burn on 32-bit Linux:

• On your Linux workstation, open the file /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_4/s_license.text and check that your license was entered there and saved properly. Make sure there are no spaces after any backslashes. Cutting a pasting from an e-mail copy of your license is the safest way to enter it.
• Check the Burn console for messages. If you see a FlexLM error "The hostid specified in the license file does not match the hostid of this system" please check the lmhostid of your machine and if necessary send us the correct one. If you don't know how to find the lmhostid you can just send us a copy of your Autodesk Burn license itself, which can usually be found in /usr/local/flexlm/licenses/DL_license.dat.

For Burn on 64bit or 32bit Linux:

• Make sure you have run the Sapphire plug-ins installer on the Burn workstations instead of just copying the files or imaging the disks.
• Make sure you are not running an old beta version of the software, which may have timed out.
• Make sure you have a working Sapphire plug-ins license on the Autodesk workstation submitting the Burn process.
• Check that the date on your Burn workstation is correct.
• If the license still doesn't work, please e-mail us a copy of this log file /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_4/s_log.text on your Burn workstation.

Can v3 and v4 be installed at the same time?

Yes, Sapphire v3 and v4 get installed in different directories, and can be on your system at the same time. You can continue using v3 as usual even after installing v4. However, please be aware that the names of the sparks are the same in both versions, which can lead to some confusion, and sometimes the older version may continue to be used unintentionally.

How can I load old v3 setups into v4?

An 'update_setups' script is provided that automatically converts your setups from Sapphire v3 to Sapphire v4. For detailed information on how to use this, check the online docs installed with the software on your local Autodesk machine: /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_4/docs/general-info.html#update-setups.

Important note: if you want to apply this update_setups script to entire directories including non-Sapphire spark setup files, please be sure you have Sapphire version 4.04 or greater. (Versions 4.03 or earlier of this script could incorrectly try to process non-Sapphire spark setup files.)

You can alternatively install both Sapphire v3 and v4 on your system at the same time. This allows v3 setups to simply be loaded and used as before. However, in this case be aware that the names of the sparks are the same in both versions, which can lead to some confusion, and sometimes the older version may continue to be used unintentionally.

I can't find the S_Lens spark.

In v4 the S_Lens spark was renamed S_Distort.

In Batch, I get warnings saying "FrameNo out of bounds (API Bug)."

This is a known issue with invalid Total Frame Number values being given to sparks. It can occur when the Batch frame length is increased after creating some spark nodes, and the warning often starts after frame 100. The warning sometimes also incorrectly mentions 'VST Audio Spark'.

The workaround is to edit each spark node, and change the end frame number in the spark's timeline to be greater or equal to the end frame number in your Batch timeline.

This behavior should be improved in Flame 2007.

In Batch, there is garbage or noise in the image.

In some Autodesk releases, there is a memory management problem in Batch that can cause corruption or noise in the resulting images. This seems to occur more often when two or more sparks and one or more action nodes are used in the same Batch tree. A temporary workaround is to separate the action nodes and the sparks into independent batch trees. It is also recommended that you have at least 2GB of memory. Adjusting the Memory token in Autodesk's config file to allow for more memory buffers might also help in some cases.

When using S_Wipes I get corruption at the bottom of the frame.

This is a known Autodesk issue that occurs with some sparks in the Desktop module with certain resolutions and certain framestore configurations. It should be fixed in Autodesk's 2007 releases. The workaround is to either use the spark in Batch, or slightly animate an angle or other parameter, which will cause the corrupted buffer to be recalculated every frame.

On Smoke, I get a crash when exiting the soft sparks editor.

This is a known issue that should be fixed in Autodesk's 2007 versions. A workaround is to make sure you are not on the last frame when you exit the editor.

All Sapphire plug-ins give a "CAN NOT LOAD" error.

This can occur if Sapphire plug-ins are not installed properly, or they were copied over from another machine instead of being installed at all. The solution is to re-install.  Download files are available for Linux here: http://www.genarts.com/support/downloads/sapphire/autodesk-v4-linux or for IRIX, here http://www.genarts.com/support/downloads/sapphire/autodesk-v4-irix.

One Sapphire plugin aborts when first loaded, although the others work fine.

You may have a corrupt setup file for that spark. Type these commands to a shell, but replace "LensFlare" with the spark name that is not working. (The setupch file only exists in some cases.)
% cd /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_4
% mv S_LensFlare.spark.setup bad.setup
% mv S_LensFlare.spark.setupch bad.setupch
and then try loading the spark again. If this fixes the problem, please e-mail us the bad setup files so we can inspect them.

How can I uninstall Sapphire plug-ins?

To uninstall Sapphire 4 on Linux: open a shell window, type su to become root, and then type:
rpm -e SapphireSparks4

To uninstall Sapphire 4 on IRIX: open a shell window, type su to become root, and then type:
versions remove Sapphire_Sparks4_64
or if you installed the 32-bit version:
versions remove Sapphire_Sparks4_n32

To uninstall Sapphire 3 on Linux: open a shell window, type su to become root, and then type:
rpm -e SapphireSparks

To uninstall Sapphire 3 on IRIX: open a shell window, type su to become root, and then type:
rm -r /usr/discreet/sparks/sapphire_3.0