Gmask Tracer renders Black after changing default node prefs

Flame Flame Questions
1

Create a new batch

Add a Color Source

connect a GMask Tracer to the color source

Go to Node Prefs>Rendering

Set Software AA to 4 Samples

Turn on Motion Blur

Set Motion Blur Samples to 7, and shutter to .5

Go to the Node Prefs>Objects & Maps tab

Hit ‘Set Current as default’

Delete the GMask Tracer

Create a new GMask Tracer

Add a gmask from the node bin.

The gmask will render black.

Return to Node Prefs>Objects & Maps tab

Hit Revert to Factory

Hit Set Current as default

Throw away the gmask tracer

Create a new Gmask tracker

It STILL renders black

Throw away the gmask tracer and exit Flame

Relaunch flame

You should now have a gmask tracer that renders correctly, but sometimes you need to rinse and repeat to get settings back to default. Once I needed to recreate the user.

Of course it will have the default setting for anti alias, motion blur samples, and motion blur shutter, which does not match the motion blur of 99% of footage that we receive.

Obviously there’s a workaround, set motion blur and antialiasing every time. But it’s a pain to get a whole team to do this consistently, especially when this worked fine in the previous version.

Thanks!
Sam

Flame2025.1

Reported here as well…

2 Likes
2

@SamE - Hey Sam, I followed your steps, and got the same results.
When I make a new GMaskTracer node and add a gmask, the transparency of the mask defaults to 100%.
It doesn’t matter if you change it, it still renders black.
So weird.

2 Likes
3

Hey Phil,
Thanks for checking.
You can smell the issue as soon as you make a new gmask tracer and hit F4. Normally it would be white, but when you hit this bug it’s black.
If you figure out how to set usable prefs without breaking the node, please LMK.

4

@SamE - sure thing.
The weird thing is the GMask object transparency being set to 100% by default, and that changing it has no effect on the result.
I’m knee deep on something for a moment but I’ll have another look soon.
Good find!
Too bad that the good find is a bad bug…
Onwards brother.

5

@SamE - I had another quick look -

  • Create the initial GMaskTracer node and add an animated GMask that would exhibit motion blur.
  • Set the default as instructed.
  • Add a new GMaskTracer node which contains the same animated GMask
  • Everything is black and transparency is set to 100%

weird.
bug.
couldn’t find every file to diff.

6

It’s incredibly broken. Amazingly the issue doesn’t affect Action, which is basically the same node.

7

@SamE
These are the files I checked briefly:

/home/pman/flame/gmask_tracer/pref/default_setup
/home/pman/flame/gmask_tracer/pref/MaskCurrent.json
/home/pman/flame/gmask_tracer/pref/MaskDefault.json
/home/pman/flame/gmask_tracer/presets

/opt/Autodesk/.$version/menu/default.gmask
/opt/Autodesk/.$version/menu/default.timeline

/opt/Autodesk/presets/$version/gmask/default
/opt/Autodesk/presets/$version/gmask/presets
/opt/Autodesk/presets/$version/gmask/transitions

/opt/Autodesk/project/zvhgdjsoblqb_aaf_2025_1_delta/gmask_tracer/flame

/opt/Autodesk/shared/gmask_tracer/presets
1 Like
9

@SamE The case you mentioned in your post on forums.autodesk.com is not about the issue you are reporting here. The last case you opened with support was submitted in 2022 and we cannot find any case about the GMask submitted in the past week. So who submitted this issue to support?

10

Hey Fred,
It’s now in feedback…
https://feedback.autodesk.com/project/feedback/view.html?cap=5afe6c84-5cb3-447a-b36c-cbd7f0688f84&uf=c41dd9a3-64a7-43f3-9754-434e82311cd3&nextsteps=1&nextstepsf=8fbadb72-c1b4-44ad-b55e-888e3fdc17e4&nextstepsuf=c41dd9a3-64a7-43f3-9754-434e82311cd3
Anywhere else I should report?
Thanks,
Sam

11

Flame Feedback is to be used for Improvements Requests (things that are not in the application right now), not for defects.

Please follow this procedure to report an issue to the Support team: Technical support case creation procedure

12

Hey Fred,
I tried to log it, but my personal account isn’t allowed. I guess I have to make a new account for my position at Fotokem?
Or maybe someone in support can copy and paste for me?
Thanks,
Sam

13

I was able to get through to ‘Contact support’ from my work email. Pasted in description.
Case number 22711143
Please upvote!
thx,
Sam

1 Like
14

Passed to the dev team as FLME-67304.
Saving defaults is an essential aspect of getting consistency from your team. Please upvote!
Thanks for playing, especially @philm for taking the time to reproduce. Phil, you are the man.
I’ll post a link if I can find it…
-S~

2 Likes
15

@SamE - all good brother.

1 Like
16

Facing this same shit right now, its sooo annoying. Even if i come back to and old project everything goes black, even if it was already created before the new defaults set !

I think this should only apply on newer setups.

Also Flame 2025.1

17

@cristhiancordoba - we can’t rule out that CUDA may have changed some math library.
orders of operations for compositing on gpu have been known to change in the past, either preventing or permitting, transparency, reflections, refractions or other phenomena.
It’s not inconceivable that the change is not just flame software - but it most likely could be.

18

@SamE This has been fixed in Flame 2025.2 Update.

5 Likes
19

Thanks Fred!

20

Hey Sam, realise this has been fixed, but my workaround was taking the Gmask tracer node form within the MK.

1 Like