[Maya 2016.5 Ext 2] Object In Viewport Renders Black When Scaled (Even In New Scene) [SOLVED]

daniellooartist

Issue: Whenever I create an object. It renders normally. When I scale it, the object slowly darkens until becoming 100% black

IMG: https://imgur.com/a/0wxXn

Steps Taken To Isolate problem

-Issue occurs in every scene, including even new ones.
-Only occurs with perspective camera
-Scale values are positive
-Normals in the right direction
-The issue is resolved when transforms are frozen indicating a camera or viewport issue when scaling.
-Issue disappears when changing to viewport 2.0. I would prefer to use the legacy viewer in order to reduce the probability of glitching and/or crashing

Steps Taken To Resolve
-Messed around with the near and far clip plains
-Enabled/Disabled backface culling with no difference

Solution
-Go to Preferences > Display and set rendering engine to  DirectX 11
-Use viewport 2.0 since legacy is no longer supported

Specs
Maya Version: Maya 2016.5 Ext 2 (64bit)
OS: Windows 10 Pro (Build: Latest)
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 980 X (Driver: Latest)
CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K

TTools

This may be related to your scene lighting.  Are you using Default Lighting or Scene Lights?
I was able to reproduce something similar when set to All Lights vs Default Lighting.  Try switching to Default if you haven't already.  My guess here is that your scene lights are close to the object, so when it is scaled your object eventually encompasses your lights, thereby making it turn black.  Freezing the transforms may internally help Maya understand the relationship between lights and object, which is why it corrects the problem.
The option can be set here:


If you are placing your own scene lights, then I would move them much further away from the object to ensure that they will always be "outside" of your scene objects.

One other thing I would add.  You note that you don't want to use viewport 2.0 because you're experiencing glitching and crashes.  That surprises me, as I only experienced such behavior in earlier versions of Maya when 2.0 was first introduced.  The only times I've seen reoccurring crashes with modern versions of 2.0 is if I'm working with complicated and custom DX11 or DX12 shaders.

Best of luck regardless

daniellooartist

I do not have any scene lights other than the default which is turned on.

As far as viewport 2.0. I'm a blackbox case. I experience errors no one else has even heard of every 30 minutes even though I model the standard way. It has happened with every version of I've owned on multiple devices. And before ANYONE says "you must be doing something wrong," well no freaking kidding! You don't say! Problem is no one can figure out what that something is.

Axi5

Can we get a screen recording of it happening?

daniellooartist

Video: https://imgur.com/a/dHGkr

As you can see freezing transform fixes this. But it shouldn't happen in the first place. The only thing I can think of is setting units to inches jacked it up somehow. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense but I'm kind of desperate. Also, take note that my manipulator tool is darker.

Axi5

daniellooartist said:

Video: https://imgur.com/a/dHGkr

As you can see freezing transform fixes this. But it shouldn't happen in the first place. The only thing I can think of is setting units to inches jacked it up somehow. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense but I'm kind of desperate. Also, take note that my manipulator tool is darker.

Yeah that is pretty odd!

So you have lighting enabled in the view bar? Try disabling it?

What is your graphics card and are it's drivers up to date? Also are you in DX or OpenGL? If you're on Nvidia you should probably be using OpenGL Core Profile, with AMD you might find better luck on DirectX.

As you probably know Inches does screw up Maya a bit, most people recommend keeping it at Centimeters. Anecdotally I've never had any issues with Inches but I don't need to use them too often

throttlekitty

The legacy viewport is now dead, it received minimal support for 2016. Have you checked the display prefs and changing GL profiles? Beyond that, I don't think there's much you can do, maybe use an older video card and driver.

What problems are you having in VP2.0?

daniellooartist

It's not so much viewport 2.0 specifically. I want to keep my scene as simple as possible in order to minimize my (for lack of a better term) attack surface. In other words, the more simple things are, the lower the probability of errors are. You guys average what, mabey 3 critical errors per day? I average way more than that. Again, not sure why. Probably something to do with my workflow (despite following standards), but until then I'm going to model like a paranoid Jenga player.

If VP2.0 reduces my probability of error, I will switch.

daniellooartist

For example, I clicked a shelf. A FREAKING SHELF and now Maya is REFUSING TO OPEN! This kind of crap happens all the time for me!

throttlekitty

I totally get that! Maya can be fickle and takes time to learn the ropes of what not to do, since it isn't always obvious. I guess if I were trying to persuade you, I'd say that using legacy viewport is asking for trouble these days for lacking support of current hardware standards. But on the flipside, VP2.0 can and will do more, increasing chances for some bug or another; but without delving deep into that stuff it's a bit superstitious, no?

What was the shelf thing supposed to do? Are you getting an error when opening maya or a specific scene now?

daniellooartist

I already killed the preference folder and loaded a working version. I just didn't have the time to identify the exact cause. My concerns aren't superstitious. They're precautionary. I don't know the cause, therefore I must use as few unknowns as humanly possible. It's not that I don't know Maya. I've been using it for 10 years and I'd like to think I understand the software pretty well. But I've never been able to identify the actions that cause these weird errors.

radiancef0rge

what does this say

daniellooartist

That my understanding can't be that high because I've been doing something wrong this whole time. Is that what you are implying? Me nor anyone I've worked with has been able to identify what causes this. I've model everything normally, although I'll keep ViewPort 2.0 on just so I can be as normal and expecting as possible.

radiancef0rge

nah bruh, i was asking what that says in your prefs but okay

daniellooartist

Oh. My bad. Attached images don’t show up in my desktop for some reason.

daniellooartist

To answer your question it says Viewport 2.0. Should I switch it to DX11?

radiancef0rge

it should say opengl, opengl core profile, or dx11. opengl core profile is notoriously slow. try setting it to dx11

although.. it sounds like youve got other problems than just lag based on what you posted above. 

daniellooartist

That actually fixed it. Thanks! I'm not sure how that got changed in the first place but I guess it doesn't matter. So, guys, the general consensus is that it's "safer" to switch to Viewport 2.0 in DX11 right? If so, I'll add the solution to the original thread and add a [SOLVED] tag.