Support FAQ :

Due to the specifications of the Maya software, we are having trouble generating render elements output for Pencil+ 4 Materials. Please use render layer functionality instead.

Yes, you can. You can group referenced LineSet nodes under one PencilLine node to render. Please have a look at the sample files under the [Line/Reference] folder for an example of a scene using references.

The reason is that the API to access 2D textures is slow. The performance should improve if the Maya API is improved in the future.

3D textures are not supported due to limitations in the Maya API. Other functionality that uses the same API as 3D textures, such as Layered Textures, also cannot be used. We will consider adding support for 3D textures if this aspect of the Maya API is improved.

Upgrading to Pencil+ 4 invalidates the Pencil+ 3 license. However, "Pencil+ 3 (Ver4 Bundle)", which is a Pencil+ 3 plugin that can be run with a Pencil+ 4 license, is included with Pencil+ 4 licenses.

You can use Pencil+ 3 with the plugin Pencil+ 3.11 (Ver4 Bundle) provided to users of Pencil+ 4.

Pencil+ 3.11 (Ver4 Bundle) is a plugin that runs using a Pencil+ 4 license. It can be used with 3ds Max 2015 / 2016 / 2017.

We only test with Backburner for validating network-rendering management.

Please contact the developers of the network-rendering management software you wish to use for inquiries regarding support for Pencil+.

Scripting is supported. You can display an overview of MAXScript properties with the function showProperties(). Use the following to show an overview of the Line properties.

showProperties(Pencil_4_Line())

You can also use MAXScript Listener's Macro Recorder to see how properties are changed when performing operations on the graphical user interface.
Please have a look at the script samples in the Tutorials section.

Pencil+ supports network rendering with Backburner. Also, there is no limit on the number of server PCs used for network rendering.
To perform network rendering, you must install the special network rendering plugin on the server PCs. For more details, please refer to the section about network rendering in the product documentation.

• The host PC must use an authorized copy of Pencil+ or acquire a valid Pencil+ license.
• The network rendering plugin can be downloaded from the “Download” section of the PSOFT User Page.
• Network rendering is not supported for [Stroke Animation/Apply in Motion Only] and [Line Animation/Apply in Motion Only].

Network Rendering Setup Diagram

•   From Pencil+ 3 to Pencil+ 4:
  Pencil+ 3 data can be converted to Pencil+ 4 with PSOFT Pencil+ 4 Converter.
  
    PSOFT Pencil+ 4 Converter
    http://www.psoft.co.jp/en/download/pencil/?id=pmc
  

• From Pencil+ 4 to Pencil+ 3:
  Data cannot be transferred from Pencil+ 4 to Pencil+ 3. Data configured using Pencil+ 4 must be used with Pencil+ 4.

It is necessary to have an authorized license of Pencil+ 4 available on the 3ds Max version where you wish to use Pencil+ 3 (Ver4 Bundle).

Please note that Pencil+ 3 (Ver4 Bundle) cannot be used without first installing Pencil+ 4.

The Pencil+ user interface can be displayed in English or Japanese. The language used automatically switches to the language of the 3ds Max user interface.

Since parameters cannot be referenced in 3ds Max, the conversion is not possible. Please install Pencil+ 3 or Pencil+ 3 (Ver4 Bundle).

Copy the plugin file matching your version of 3ds Max [Pencil+4_20xx_ntr.dlt] (or Pencil+3_ntr_20xx_64.dlt for Pencil+ 3) to the 3ds Max [plugins] folder.

Example installation path: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 20xx\plugins\

Class <***> from <*\Pencil+*_ntr.dlt> has duplicate class ID: not loading. This may be due to a duplicate plug-in path. Continue showing warnings?

If you see the error message above, it is probably because the demo or network rendering plugin was previously installed. If you previously installed the demo version, please uninstall it. If you previously installed the network rendering plugin, please move the file with a name like [Pencil+*_20**_ntr.dlt] in the 3ds Max plugins folder (see below) to another folder, or delete it if not needed.

Example path for the 3ds Max plugins folder: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2017\plugins\

To output materials without antialiasing, use the standard [Render Output] without using Render Elements. If you uncheck [Render Scene] dialog > [Render] tab > [Antialiasing], Render Elements are not output correctly due to the way 3ds Max's [Scanline Renderer] works.

Please note that Render Elements cannot be output when [Antialiasing] is off regardless of whether Pencil+ is used or not.

Pencil+ cannot handle this functionality due to the 3ds Max specifications, so this is the normal behavior.
There are similar problems when reading effects with the [Effects]'s [Merge] button and when saving the scene state. Similar problems also occur for standard 3ds Max functionality due to the fact that Max is not able to handle objects and materials in [Effects].

Pencil+ Line uses the [Pencil+ Line Merge Helper] to merge effects in order to work around this limitation in Max.

If Pencil+ is already installed on a computer and you newly install a different version of 3ds Max, you will need to uninstall and then re-install Pencil+.

Using the utility plugin "PSOFT Pencil+ 4 Converter", Pencil+ 3 data can be converted to Pencil+ 4.

PSOFT Pencil+ 4 Converter is a utility plugin used to convert materials created with Pencil+ 3 material / standard material to Pencil+ 4 materials, or to convert Pencil+ 3 Lines to Pencil+ 4 Lines.

Download the utility plugin here.

macOS and Linux are currently not supported.