Backups for each Scene Saved

Sets the number of backup scenes to be saved and kept per day in the project’s Backup directory. If Additional Backups (Days) is zero, this is the total number of backups to keep.

Additional Backups (Days)

Sets the number of days for which to keep backups. This allows you to restore a backup from a previous day, no matter how many times you saved a scene during the current day.

Load Last Sequence at Startup

Loads the last saved scene when starting up.

Create Scene TOC (Table of Content) File

Saves certain scene information in a separate XML-based file, including external files (textures, models, actions sources, etc.) and render pass parameters. You can modify these values externally with a text editor, and the changes are applied when you reload the scene. The TOC file has the same name and location as the scene file, and has an extension of .scntoc. When you turn this option off and save the scene again, the existing TOC file is given the extension .scntoc_Obsolete and is not used.

Enable Autosave

Saves the current scene to the autosave.scn file in the System/username folder of the current project at regular intervals.

Autosave Interval

The frequency of automatic saves in minutes.

Enable AutoImport

Turns on the AutoImport feature so you can import a project list from a file on your hard disk or the network whenever you start XSI.

Enable AutoExport

Turns on the AutoExport feature, which automatically saves your project list when you exit XSI.

Auto Import/Export File

The path and file name for your AutoImport/AutoExport file.

Add New Projects to the Projects List

Controls the behavior when you open a scene from a project that is not in your project list:

• Always Ask. Prompts you whether you want to add the project to your list.

• Always Add New Projects. Automatically adds the project to your list.

• Never Add New Projects. Does not add the project to your list. You can still add projects manually using File > Project Manager.

Sort Projects by

Controls how projects are listed in the Project Manager:

• (none) simply lists projects in the order in which they appear in the defaults.xsiprojects file.

• Name sorts projects by name.

• Origin groups projects according to whether they are listed in the defaults.xsiprojects file in the factory, user, or workgroup location.

Use UNC Paths when saving files

Uses UNC paths (e.g., \\machine\directory) instead of drive letters (e.g., Z:\directory) for the project list, recent files lists, and scene TOC files.

Installation (Factory) Path

Displays the directory path where XSI was installed. This can be a shared location if XSI is run from a network, or local to each machine. This field is read-only.

User Path

Where your user information is saved such as preferences and other custom files.

Sample Project Path

Displays the directory path where the XSI_SAMPLES project is installed. To add this project to your project list, from the Project Manager click Add Project and navigate to the specified path, or click Scan Disk to find and add it automatically. The XSI_SAMPLES project is similar to a system database in SOFTIMAGE|3D. This field is read-only.

Current Project Path

Displays the location of the current project. This field is read-only.

Workgroup(s)

Sets a path for shared presets, scripts, plug-ins, and so on.

Multiple workgroup paths must be separated by semi-colons (;). If elements with the same name appear in more than one location, the first location listed has priority. The first workgroup listed is the default path for new elements, and is path that is used when you choose Workgroup Application from the Paths button in the browser. You can disable a path without removing the string by putting an exclamation mark (!) at the beginning. You can reference environment variables in the string using the Linux syntax, for example:

$wglocation

Manage Workgroups

Opens the Plug-in Manager and activates the Workgroup tab.

Drag & drop models at cursor location in 3D views

Places imported models at the position of the mouse pointer, instead of at the scene center, when you release the mouse button. This option applies when dragging and dropping models from views like the browser or NetView.

Enable Crash Recovery

Attempts to detect a crash and save a version of the scene if possible. It may be useful to turn this option off so that the system can produce a core dump file that allows you to debug plug-ins more easily on Linux.

Load Recovery Journal File

The path and file name of a scene that stores a journal of models that loaded successfully when opening a scene.

Activate this option only while you are trying to recover a scene that crashes when loading. To activate it, enter the name and path of a file that will store progress information as XSI loads the scene. You must restart XSI after activating it before it takes effect.

Deactivate this option once you have recovered as much of your scene as possible. To deactivate it, simply clear the box contents.

When this option is on, XSI writes to the file when it begins to load a model within the scene, and again after it loads the model successfully. If XSI crashes while opening the scene, when you try again XSI notes the name of the model that did not load successfully and skips it. If several models in the same scene are corrupt, you may need to repeat this until the remainder of the scene loads successfully.

In addition, some corrupt clusters and cluster properties such as texture UVs are automatically fixed. When this occurs, the cluster’s full name is logged to the command history.

Disable All Geometry Operators on Load

Automatically disables all operators in modeling, texturing, and weight painting stacks when opening a file. If a scene crashes on load, you can activate this option before opening the file and then re-enable operators until you find the problem. Delete the problem operator, then save the scene and reload it with this option off. Do not continue working with this option turned on; it is a debugging tool only.

Detect corrupted polygon meshes and clusters upon load/freeze

Checks polygon meshes and clusters for corruption when loading scenes or models and when freezing.

If cluster corruption is found, it is fixed automatically and the names of the clusters are logged to the command history. You should check these clusters to make sure that they still contain the same components and properties (texture UVs, vertex colors, weight maps, and so on) that you expect. There might be additional cluster corruption that you can find and fix by freezing all or part of the operator stack, because corruption is not detected in unfrozen data.

If mesh corruption is found, the indices of the illegal components are logged in the command history and you are prompted to hide the mesh (to avoid potential crashes when drawing the corrupt mesh structure). You can attempt to recover your work by extracting all polygons to a new mesh object and then freezing the new object. If you can freeze the new mesh successfully, then the corruption has been repaired and you can delete the original mesh. Otherwise, you can try to recover part of your work by extracting the uncorrupted polygons (leaving out an area around the corrupted components) and then freezing. Unfortunately, some corrupted meshes cannot be recovered.

Skip loading of floating objects

Disables the loading of objects that are not owned by scene elements when a scene file is opened. This option should be activated only when instructed to do so by qualified support personnel. It may result in data loss, so always make a backup of your scene files first.

Disable cycle checking when applying animation operators

Suppresses checking for evaluation cycles when creating constraints and expressions. This may be useful for avoiding unwanted warning messages in some types of rigs where cycles are desired. Note that cycle checking is always performed when applying topology operators, connecting weight maps, and moving operators.

Records user and time information in deltas

Records information about the user and time when storing modifications to referenced models in deltas.