Chapter 6 · Troubleshooting

6.2When Something Looks Wrong

Symptom	Where to look
The garment floats	There is no Tnpix Gravity in the Solver group, or it is disabled. Add one.
The cloth falls through a collider	The object is not in the cloth's Collision list, its row is disabled, or the list's Active box is off. The header shows how many colliders are enabled.
Changes have no effect	A Tnpix Cache above the Solver is playing from its file: turn off Play from cache. Cloth Doctor finds this.
The cloth looks frozen in the viewport	Show End Result is off while a modifier below the Solver is selected. Opening a Tnpix panel turns it back on.
A garment is not simulated at all, or stops after frame 100	The demo simulates up to 25,000 vertices in the scene, for the first 100 frames; a larger scene is not simulated and later frames hold the pose. The Solver's licence line says which. Activate a licence, or lower the density. The demo build cannot be activated: install the licensed build.
A farm task saves nothing	Read the task's log. A farm machine in the demo simulates nothing: activate it (a machine running the demo build needs the licensed build). A cache folder the machine cannot reach, or a Cache without a file, fails the task with the reason.
The farm's progress stays at 0% until the Solver group is done	The farm machine runs an older TenPix Cloth. Install the version your workstation runs on every machine.
No threads appear	Read the Tnpix Threads status: there is no Tnpix Solver below it, the Solver holds no frames yet (press Play), the cloth plays from a Tnpix Cache file, the cloth has no Tnpix Tear, or nothing has torn yet: threads appear on the frame a seam tears. For a fringe, the hem must be painted at 0.5 or more in a channel that is on the stack.
Only some of the threads show	Viewport % shows a share in the viewport (10 by default); a render makes every thread. When the status reads Thread cap: N of M threads made, raise Thread cap or widen Warp every and Weft every.
The tubes are gone	Tubes go to is set to their own object and the threads object was deleted: click Make the threads object again, or set Tubes go to this cloth.
A cached threads object renders sharp with motion blur	Its cache was saved by a version that did not number the threads. Save it again.
The TenPix Graph does not dock	It opens as a window of its own. From 3ds Max 2025 on, drag it by its title bar onto a side of the 3ds Max main window to dock it. On 3ds Max 2024 it does not dock.
A setting is greyed in the TenPix Graph	It is greyed on the panel too: the graph follows the panel's own rules. Switch on what the panel asks for first, for example Enable Plasticity before its values.
The TenPix Graph shows no settings for a modifier	It is a 3ds Max modifier, not a TenPix one: its settings are in the Modify panel.
+ Add object is unavailable in the TenPix Graph	No object selected in a viewport can join the Solver group. Select geometry that is not in this Solver group already and carries no other Tnpix Solver.
A modifier will not move where it is dragged in the TenPix Graph	The note under the pointer says why. A TenPix modifier that feeds the Solver stays above it in the graph; Post Process, Cache, Threads and Wrap stay below it; a modifier stays in the stacks of its own objects. To put it on another object, use Add.
Particle bonds show nothing	Tick the kinds to draw under Particle bonds: they are all off by default. Bonds are drawn on frames that have been simulated; play or scrub to the frame.
The cloth falls through the floor	A floor object only collides once it is in the cloth's Collision list. For an endless floor at Z = 0, turn on Unlimited ground (Z = 0) on the Solver.
The cloth stretches too much	Raise K stretch on that region's material or lower its max strain; then raise Stretch quality or Substeps on the Solver.
Jitter or shimmer	Raise Relative Damp before Motion Damping: it removes the high-frequency part without deadening the garment. Check that no pinned points sit inside a collider.
The garment is stiff and lifeless	Check compress stiffness (Standard) or Compression Stiffness (Advanced): cloth has to buckle to wrinkle.
A painted region behaves like the rest	Check that the value acts per region, that the material is bound to the region's channel by name, and that exponential membrane is ticked for K stretch and K shear. A material left at none covers only what no painted material claims.
Layers of a costume fight each other	Turn on Layer ordering with the inner garment on a lower layer, and raise hold strength if needed.
Two garments do not interact	They are in two Solver groups. Instance one Solver across both and add Self Collision.
Two garments on one Solver behave like one fabric	Their channels share a name, or their Standard materials have none. Give each garment its own channel name.
A closed shell collapses like cloth	The object has no Tnpix Volume of its own, or the mesh is not closed.
A painted region holds little volume	Its Centre is Its own middle and the region is nearly flat. Pick an object inside the region, such as a bone, as its Centre.
A Volume stops short of its Volume ratio or Pressure	The fabric's stretch limit holds the shell: the default fabric encloses about 1.15 times its rest volume at its limit. Give the shell a fabric that stretches further.
A Volume on a timeline that starts before frame 0 swells from the first frame	Rest volume from 0 is the first simulated frame. To take the rest shape later, set Rest volume from to that frame.
A sleeve's armpit stays on the body when the arm lifts	A Pin binds each point to the nearest triangle at the first frame, so with the arm close to the body the armpit binds to the body. Paint the region in a Tnpix Preserve instead: it follows the cloth's own animation below the Solver.
The cloth stretches but never tears	Under Map, check that a region is bound, then lower the Threshold below the strongest pull the status line reports. Under Stretch, lower the Stretch ratio.
A torn shell under Tnpix Wrap shows the hollow between its layers	Turn on Close the cuts (with Cut along proxy tears). The status line says how many faces close the cuts, or that the mesh is one layer; Bind again after editing the mesh.
A whole painted region tears on one frame	Spread the weakness: with Weakness min below Weakness max, each painted point takes its own weakness between them and the region tears point by point.
The Tear brush does nothing	A message names the reason: no channel selected, the modifier instanced on more than one object, or no mesh has reached it yet (show the object, or scrub a frame).
A rigid piece behaves like fabric	Rigidity is 0, which means off. Check that Channel and Threshold cover the region you painted; the pieces status line counts what the paint makes.
The wind does nothing, or blows the cloth away	A Wind at Strength 1 is about one g. Check that the row is not muted, that the Forces Strength is 1.0, that a Wind created by script has its Decay set, and that the Forces' Channel is <none> or a channel this cloth has (the status line says when it is not pushed).
Adding one cache to a whole character skips some garments	3ds Max refuses one modifier instanced across objects that depend on each other, so a garment whose Tnpix Pin follows a selected object is skipped - its own Bend is skipped the same way. Use the Cache Manager's Add, which gives each garment its own Tnpix Cache.
The first frame takes much longer than the others	A garment is listed as a collider of another, so its simulation is evaluated for the other's first frame. Later frames are normal.
Post Process breaks the mesh under a TurboSmooth	Read the Rest line: a rest taken from the rest frame is taken again when the mesh below changes. If it says the rest was not taken, click Capture rest.
The Post Process's Rest line says Rest NOT APPLIED	The mesh below has changed since Capture rest was pressed (a TurboSmooth added, a segment count edited): the rest is held, and the Post smooths without it. Press Capture rest to take the new mesh's rest, or bring the old mesh back and the held rest applies again.
The scene is slow	Look at Substeps × Iterations first. Then switch Self Collision off to see what it costs, and lower Relaxation passes before switching it back on; under Mode Advanced, lower Collision substeps first. Run Cloth Doctor.

Symptom

Where to look

The garment floats

There is no Tnpix Gravity in the Solver group, or it is disabled. Add one.

The cloth falls through a collider

The object is not in the cloth's Collision list, its row is disabled, or the list's Active box is off. The header shows how many colliders are enabled.

Changes have no effect

A Tnpix Cache above the Solver is playing from its file: turn off Play from cache. Cloth Doctor finds this.

The cloth looks frozen in the viewport

Show End Result is off while a modifier below the Solver is selected. Opening a Tnpix panel turns it back on.

A garment is not simulated at all, or stops after frame 100

The demo simulates up to 25,000 vertices in the scene, for the first 100 frames; a larger scene is not simulated and later frames hold the pose. The Solver's licence line says which. Activate a licence, or lower the density. The demo build cannot be activated: install the licensed build.

A farm task saves nothing

Read the task's log. A farm machine in the demo simulates nothing: activate it (a machine running the demo build needs the licensed build). A cache folder the machine cannot reach, or a Cache without a file, fails the task with the reason.

The farm's progress stays at 0% until the Solver group is done

The farm machine runs an older TenPix Cloth. Install the version your workstation runs on every machine.

No threads appear

Read the Tnpix Threads status: there is no Tnpix Solver below it, the Solver holds no frames yet (press Play), the cloth plays from a Tnpix Cache file, the cloth has no Tnpix Tear, or nothing has torn yet: threads appear on the frame a seam tears. For a fringe, the hem must be painted at 0.5 or more in a channel that is on the stack.

Only some of the threads show

Viewport % shows a share in the viewport (10 by default); a render makes every thread. When the status reads Thread cap: N of M threads made, raise Thread cap or widen Warp every and Weft every.

The tubes are gone

Tubes go to is set to their own object and the threads object was deleted: click Make the threads object again, or set Tubes go to this cloth.

A cached threads object renders sharp with motion blur

Its cache was saved by a version that did not number the threads. Save it again.

The TenPix Graph does not dock

It opens as a window of its own. From 3ds Max 2025 on, drag it by its title bar onto a side of the 3ds Max main window to dock it. On 3ds Max 2024 it does not dock.

A setting is greyed in the TenPix Graph

It is greyed on the panel too: the graph follows the panel's own rules. Switch on what the panel asks for first, for example Enable Plasticity before its values.

The TenPix Graph shows no settings for a modifier

It is a 3ds Max modifier, not a TenPix one: its settings are in the Modify panel.

+ Add object is unavailable in the TenPix Graph

No object selected in a viewport can join the Solver group. Select geometry that is not in this Solver group already and carries no other Tnpix Solver.

A modifier will not move where it is dragged in the TenPix Graph

The note under the pointer says why. A TenPix modifier that feeds the Solver stays above it in the graph; Post Process, Cache, Threads and Wrap stay below it; a modifier stays in the stacks of its own objects. To put it on another object, use Add.

Particle bonds show nothing

Tick the kinds to draw under Particle bonds: they are all off by default. Bonds are drawn on frames that have been simulated; play or scrub to the frame.

The cloth falls through the floor

A floor object only collides once it is in the cloth's Collision list. For an endless floor at Z = 0, turn on Unlimited ground (Z = 0) on the Solver.

The cloth stretches too much

Raise K stretch on that region's material or lower its max strain; then raise Stretch quality or Substeps on the Solver.

Jitter or shimmer

Raise Relative Damp before Motion Damping: it removes the high-frequency part without deadening the garment. Check that no pinned points sit inside a collider.

The garment is stiff and lifeless

Check compress stiffness (Standard) or Compression Stiffness (Advanced): cloth has to buckle to wrinkle.

A painted region behaves like the rest

Check that the value acts per region, that the material is bound to the region's channel by name, and that exponential membrane is ticked for K stretch and K shear. A material left at none covers only what no painted material claims.

Layers of a costume fight each other

Turn on Layer ordering with the inner garment on a lower layer, and raise hold strength if needed.

Two garments do not interact

They are in two Solver groups. Instance one Solver across both and add Self Collision.

Two garments on one Solver behave like one fabric

Their channels share a name, or their Standard materials have none. Give each garment its own channel name.

A closed shell collapses like cloth

The object has no Tnpix Volume of its own, or the mesh is not closed.

A painted region holds little volume

Its Centre is Its own middle and the region is nearly flat. Pick an object inside the region, such as a bone, as its Centre.

A Volume stops short of its Volume ratio or Pressure

The fabric's stretch limit holds the shell: the default fabric encloses about 1.15 times its rest volume at its limit. Give the shell a fabric that stretches further.

A Volume on a timeline that starts before frame 0 swells from the first frame

Rest volume from 0 is the first simulated frame. To take the rest shape later, set Rest volume from to that frame.

A sleeve's armpit stays on the body when the arm lifts

A Pin binds each point to the nearest triangle at the first frame, so with the arm close to the body the armpit binds to the body. Paint the region in a Tnpix Preserve instead: it follows the cloth's own animation below the Solver.

The cloth stretches but never tears

Under Map, check that a region is bound, then lower the Threshold below the strongest pull the status line reports. Under Stretch, lower the Stretch ratio.

A torn shell under Tnpix Wrap shows the hollow between its layers

Turn on Close the cuts (with Cut along proxy tears). The status line says how many faces close the cuts, or that the mesh is one layer; Bind again after editing the mesh.

A whole painted region tears on one frame

Spread the weakness: with Weakness min below Weakness max, each painted point takes its own weakness between them and the region tears point by point.

The Tear brush does nothing

A message names the reason: no channel selected, the modifier instanced on more than one object, or no mesh has reached it yet (show the object, or scrub a frame).

A rigid piece behaves like fabric

Rigidity is 0, which means off. Check that Channel and Threshold cover the region you painted; the pieces status line counts what the paint makes.

The wind does nothing, or blows the cloth away

A Wind at Strength 1 is about one g. Check that the row is not muted, that the Forces Strength is 1.0, that a Wind created by script has its Decay set, and that the Forces' Channel is <none> or a channel this cloth has (the status line says when it is not pushed).

Adding one cache to a whole character skips some garments

3ds Max refuses one modifier instanced across objects that depend on each other, so a garment whose Tnpix Pin follows a selected object is skipped - its own Bend is skipped the same way. Use the Cache Manager's Add, which gives each garment its own Tnpix Cache.

The first frame takes much longer than the others

A garment is listed as a collider of another, so its simulation is evaluated for the other's first frame. Later frames are normal.

Post Process breaks the mesh under a TurboSmooth

Read the Rest line: a rest taken from the rest frame is taken again when the mesh below changes. If it says the rest was not taken, click Capture rest.

The Post Process's Rest line says Rest NOT APPLIED

The mesh below has changed since Capture rest was pressed (a TurboSmooth added, a segment count edited): the rest is held, and the Post smooths without it. Press Capture rest to take the new mesh's rest, or bring the old mesh back and the held rest applies again.

The scene is slow

Look at Substeps × Iterations first. Then switch Self Collision off to see what it costs, and lower Relaxation passes before switching it back on; under Mode Advanced, lower Collision substeps first. Run Cloth Doctor.