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UltraScenery - new territory [Commercial]

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  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 9,471

    Thanks a lot. I just can't stop right now.

     

  • SevrinSevrin Posts: 6,308

    I'm not sure if this is an issue that's come up with 4.15, but there something weird going on with transparency.   I was having some issues with opacity adjustments in combination with volumetric props, so I wanted to see what the deal was with leaves.  

    I brought an atmospheric prop in from Render Studio 2.0, and that didn't work at all. 

    After removing the prop, there was still some strangeness, mostly visible at the top left corner and on the right, halfway up the image, but also elsewhere in this Iray render.

    For reference, here is a Viewport render in Texture-shaded

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249

    In DS 4.15.0.2 Public Beta I have seen issues with shadows being generated by leaves that were cut out by the Cutout Opacity mask. I posted about it in the Public Beta forum thread. Maybe you saw that message. I think the only reason I hadn't noticed in UltraScenery is that the grass and stuff break up the shadows on the ground. The trees I used in my test were UltraScenery Oaks, and UltraScenery uses a Cutout Opacity mask to hide the leaves for winter trees. I haven't tried any kind of volumetric props.

  • Doc AcmeDoc Acme Posts: 1,153

    Are there any resources for cattails?  Plant type, not feline.  Couldn't find anything in a Store search, here anyway.

     

  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,119
    edited January 2021

    Doc Acme said:

    Are there any resources for cattails?  Plant type, not feline.  Couldn't find anything in a Store search, here anyway.

     

    Try this.

    https://www.daz3d.com/pond-builder-base

    Post edited by Fishtales on
  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 9,471
    edited January 2021

    Another UltraScenery made with the custom height map.

    image

    SnowRoc002.jpg
    1920 x 1200 - 644K
    Post edited by Artini on
  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 5,693

    Think you need some DDT, it's covered in unpleasant looking spiders.

    Regards,

    Richard.

     

  • MelanieLMelanieL Posts: 7,396

    Fishtales said:

    Doc Acme said:

    Are there any resources for cattails?  Plant type, not feline.  Couldn't find anything in a Store search, here anyway.

     

    Try this.

    https://www.daz3d.com/pond-builder-base

    If you are a keen USC-er you may already have this: https://www.daz3d.com/ultrascenery--ecologies-volume-2 - called bullrushes but pretty much the same thing.

  • SevrinSevrin Posts: 6,308

    barbult said:

    In DS 4.15.0.2 Public Beta I have seen issues with shadows being generated by leaves that were cut out by the Cutout Opacity mask. I posted about it in the Public Beta forum thread. Maybe you saw that message. I think the only reason I hadn't noticed in UltraScenery is that the grass and stuff break up the shadows on the ground. The trees I used in my test were UltraScenery Oaks, and UltraScenery uses a Cutout Opacity mask to hide the leaves for winter trees. I haven't tried any kind of volumetric props.

    Yeah, I did see that one, and it was something I hadn't noticed before.  Just one more thing...

    I was curious though if any Ultrascene users had noticed this with the TAO leaves, because it doesn't look great.  And why the volumetric props are behaving like this is a mystery to me.  Possibly related?  IDK.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249

    Sevrin said:

    barbult said:

    In DS 4.15.0.2 Public Beta I have seen issues with shadows being generated by leaves that were cut out by the Cutout Opacity mask. I posted about it in the Public Beta forum thread. Maybe you saw that message. I think the only reason I hadn't noticed in UltraScenery is that the grass and stuff break up the shadows on the ground. The trees I used in my test were UltraScenery Oaks, and UltraScenery uses a Cutout Opacity mask to hide the leaves for winter trees. I haven't tried any kind of volumetric props.

    Yeah, I did see that one, and it was something I hadn't noticed before.  Just one more thing...

    I was curious though if any Ultrascene users had noticed this with the TAO leaves, because it doesn't look great.  And why the volumetric props are behaving like this is a mystery to me.  Possibly related?  IDK.

    Which TAO tree type is that? Or is it all of them? I haven't noticed it, but I'll try to look specifically for it. 

  • SevrinSevrin Posts: 6,308

    barbult said:

    Sevrin said:

    barbult said:

    In DS 4.15.0.2 Public Beta I have seen issues with shadows being generated by leaves that were cut out by the Cutout Opacity mask. I posted about it in the Public Beta forum thread. Maybe you saw that message. I think the only reason I hadn't noticed in UltraScenery is that the grass and stuff break up the shadows on the ground. The trees I used in my test were UltraScenery Oaks, and UltraScenery uses a Cutout Opacity mask to hide the leaves for winter trees. I haven't tried any kind of volumetric props.

    Yeah, I did see that one, and it was something I hadn't noticed before.  Just one more thing...

    I was curious though if any Ultrascene users had noticed this with the TAO leaves, because it doesn't look great.  And why the volumetric props are behaving like this is a mystery to me.  Possibly related?  IDK.

    Which TAO tree type is that? Or is it all of them? I haven't noticed it, but I'll try to look specifically for it. 

    I'd be lying if I said I remembered, and I didn't save the scene.  I believe it was the TAO 2 Ecology with one of the Crossing features and Clear Stream water with a relatively low-contrast flat map and Ecology seed 0.

  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,028
    edited January 2021

    @barbult

    1. Is any of the UltraScenery or Tangy Apple Orchard content installed with Daz Connect? NO ... I'm staying away from that one
       
    2. Which feature and which TAO ecology are you using? any of them
       
    3. Have you tried building a scene with _No Features Tangy Apple Orchard 01, and default terrain settings, to eliminate the possibility that your selected terrain or feature are causing a problem? Some ecologies will not put trees on real steep hillsides or in water, etc. .. yes, all of them were using No Features.
       
    4.  Double check the Build tab to be sure the tree layers have the eyeball turned on. THERE ARE NO TREES LISTED IN THE BUILD LIST. Its as if they do not exist. 
       
    5. Try building without restricting the instances to a camera (choose none in the drop down).I had not had that checked in any attempt
       
    6. After building the TAO UltraScene, do the tree layers show up in the Scene pane? If so, how many instances does it say were created ( in square brackets after the tree layer name, like Beech Layer or Chestnuts Layer)? no trees are showing ...none are being built asa there are none in the build lst
    7. Can you attach a scene file? I can see if I can render any trees with your scene.   ... there are no trees to render... i get trees using other ecologies. 

      For some reason USC is not seeing the trees within TAO. I checked file location and the USC is in the same folder location as TAO - D:\Users\David\appdata\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms\ContentCluster\data\data\cloud\1_35529     (this is TAO location
      USC - D:\Users\David\appdata\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms\ContentCluster\data\data\cloud\1_67835
      It appears all the files are intact and in the correct place. I compared file structure to PINES, which works, and they are the same structure. 

       
    8.  
    Post edited by daveso on
  • Doc AcmeDoc Acme Posts: 1,153

    MelanieL said:

    Fishtales said:

    Doc Acme said:

    Are there any resources for cattails?  Plant type, not feline.  Couldn't find anything in a Store search, here anyway.

     

    Try this.

    https://www.daz3d.com/pond-builder-base

    If you are a keen USC-er you may already have this: https://www.daz3d.com/ultrascenery--ecologies-volume-2 - called bullrushes but pretty much the same thing.

    I do have that set so will explore a bit deeper.

    Tnx.

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249
    edited January 2021

    daveso said:

    @barbult


    1. For some reason USC is not seeing the trees within TAO. I checked file location and the USC is in the same folder location as TAO - D:\Users\David\appdata\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms\ContentCluster\data\data\cloud\1_35529     (this is TAO location
      USC - D:\Users\David\appdata\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms\ContentCluster\data\data\cloud\1_67835
      It appears all the files are intact and in the correct place. I compared file structure to PINES, which works, and they are the same structure. 
       

    @daveso This looks like a strange folder structure to me.  data\cloud\1_67835 is a Daz Connect folder. You must have double clicked on products inside Daz Studio and caused them to install with Daz Connect. That is the only way those "cloud\1_SKU# folders get created. I'm also wondering why your Daz Connect content folder is inside the cms\ContentCluster. I don't know if that is the default location or not. 

    If you accidently installed these products with Daz Connect and you also installed them with DIM, the Daz Connect version will always be used. So, to fix this I recommend that you right click on the TAO (and USC) products in Daz Studio and select Uninstall. Then go to DIM and install (or reinstall) them. AnEye4Art had TAO problems similar to yours, and this process fixed it for AnEye4Art.

    An aside: There are several ways to install Daz content and some of the names are similar and possibly confusing:

    1. Daz Install Manager (DIM) is a separate application that downloads and installs Daz content. The content files are installed into the Content Library that is specified in the DIM settings. This is the installation method that has been most reliable and trouble free for me. 
    2. Daz Connect is the name for installtion done inside Daz Studio, from the Install pane or the Smart Content pane. If you are logged in to your Daz account from inside Daz Studio, double clicking on an uninstalled product will install it. Daz Connect creates folders and files in a "cloud" folder on your hard drive. Some products don't work if they are installed with Daz Connect. Some product don't work with content that is installed with Daz Connect. File downloads are sometimes corrupted and don't work at all. This installation method has been very problematic for me and I have given up on it.
    3. Daz Central is the latest installation method that Daz has created. After hearing about nighmarish experiences of early adopters, I have avoided even trying it. I stick with DIM.
    4. Manual Download is done through your Product Library on the Daz website. You can download a zip file, uncompress it and move the files yourself. I have almost never needed to do this.
    Post edited by barbult on
  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,028

    barbult said:

    daveso said:

    @barbult


    1. For some reason USC is not seeing the trees within TAO. I checked file location and the USC is in the same folder location as TAO - D:\Users\David\appdata\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms\ContentCluster\data\data\cloud\1_35529     (this is TAO location
      USC - D:\Users\David\appdata\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms\ContentCluster\data\data\cloud\1_67835
      It appears all the files are intact and in the correct place. I compared file structure to PINES, which works, and they are the same structure. 
       

    @daveso This looks like a strange folder structure to me.  data\cloud\1_67835 is a Daz Connect folder. You must have double clicked on products inside Daz Studio and caused them to install with Daz Connect. That is the only way those "cloud\1_SKU# folders get created. I'm also wondering why your Daz Connect content folder is inside the cms\ContentCluster. I don't know if that is the default location or not. 

    If you accidently installed these products with Daz Connect and you also installed them with DIM, the Daz Connect version will always be used. So, to fix this I recommend that you right click on the TAO (and USC) products in Daz Studio and select Uninstall. Then go to DIM and install (or reinstall) them. AnEye4Art had TAO problems similar to yours, and this process fixed it for AnEye4Art.

    An aside: There are several ways to install Daz content and some of the names are similar and possibly confusing:

    1. Daz Install Manager (DIM) is a separate application that downloads and installs Daz content. The content files are installed into the Content Library that is specified in the DIM settings. This is the installation method that has been most reliable and trouble free for me. 
    2. Daz Connect is the name for installtion done inside Daz Studio, from the Install pane or the Smart Content pane. If you are logged in to your Daz account from inside Daz Studio, double clicking on an uninstalled product will install it. Daz Connect creates folders and files in a "cloud" folder on your hard drive. Some products don't work if they are installed with Daz Connect. Some product don't work with content that is installed with Daz Connect. File downloads are sometimes corrupted and don't work at all. This installation method has been very problematic for me and I have given up on it.
    3. Daz Central is the latest installation method that Daz has created. After hearing about nighmarish experiences of early adopters, I have avoided even trying it. I stick with DIM.
    4. Manual Download is done through your Product Library on the Daz website. You can download a zip file, uncompress it and move the files yourself. I have almost never needed to do this.

    i uninstalled them from DS, but they were  still both listed in DIM as installed. So I uninstalled them via DIM, and then installed. They were put into the same directories as before. In DIM, the Content Database Base is  : C:/Users/david/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms 
    As you state, within DS the DAZConnect install path is the one where the files are being installed. Not sure why they are going there through DIM and not to the psecified path. So they are being installed on D drive directory and not the C drive, but now I'm not sure either is correct. 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249
    edited January 2021

    @daveso I suspect you have DIM configured in some strange way.

    1. Open DIM.
    2. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner. 
    3. Select Basic Settings.
    4. Take a screenshot of the Basic Settings  window.
    5. Post it here (as long as you don't thing there is sensitive information in it).

    This is what mine looks like. Yours would not be identical, of course. Do you have some strange Content Base Path (the one shown right under Content Database Path)? 

    Screenshot 2021-01-23 00.08.17.png
    566 x 345 - 30K
    Post edited by barbult on
  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,028
    edited January 2021

    barbult said:

    @daveso I suspect you have DIM configured in some strange way.

    1. Open DIM.
    2. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner. 
    3. Select Basic Settings.
    4. Take a screenshot of the Basic Settings  window.
    5. Post it here (as long as you don't thing there is sensitive information in it).

    This is what mine looks like. Yours would not be identical, of course. Do you have some strange Content Base Path (the one shown right under Content Database Path)? 

    OK ..mine appears to be pretty much defaults ...  

    DIM directories.jpg
    574 x 358 - 67K
    Post edited by daveso on
  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,028

    @barbult ... I have to say I have been having problems with my DS install for a long time. Its why I totally deleted everything..all directories, content, everything ..even went into the registry and deleted all references to DS and DIM. Then reinstalled via DIM. I let it choose its own directory structure ... but it still doesn;t work overall, but I think some of the paths within DIM advanced are different than with Basic. 

    I think I need a full default directory list for DS and DIM and basically start over agian or something. 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249
    edited January 2021

    @daveso Huh! Not what I expected to see, based on what you've reported so far. 

    OK, lets keep digging:

    First we'll ask DIM to show where your Tangy Apple Orchard files were installed:

    1. Open DIM
    2. In the search box near the upper right corner, type Tangy Apple Orchard
    3. It it was installed by DIM, you should see a number (probably 2) in the Installed tab header. If so, Select the Installed tab. If not, DIM did not install those products.
    4. Assuming you found Tangy Apple Orchard on the Installed tab, hover your mouse (do not click) over the product name Tangy Apple Orchard DS. A little box of info will pop up. Look at the Tags area. It should say Daz Studio 4.5+ and Connect Available. If it also says Connect Installed, that means that you didn't get it uninstalled from within Daz Studio. That would be bad and we will need to deal with that.
    5. Look at the bottom of that box of text where it says Installed To: That should say C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library, according to your DIM settings. If it is anything else, something I don't understand is happening.
    6. Do these same things for UltraScenery - Tangy Apple Orchard to check its tags and Installed To location.
    7. Now right click on the Tangy Apple Orchard name in the DIM Installed list and select Show Installed Files.
    8. When the list of file hyperlinks opens, click on one. It will open a window to the location of the actual installed file. Is it in a subdirectory of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library or some other place?
    9. We are done with DIM for now.

    Now we will ask Daz Studio where it is looking for content files:

    1. Open Daz Studio.
    2. Go to Edit/Preferences, or hit F2 key shortcut.
    3. In the Preferences window, select the Content tab at the top.
    4. Click the Content Directory Manager... button near the bottom of the Content tab page.
    5. The Content Directory Manager window will open. Click the triangles next to CMS Cluster Directory, Daz Connect Data, DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats to expand them and show all the mapped directories.
    6. Take a screenshot and post it here. We need to compare the directories that Daz Studio is looking at to the directories that DIM is installing files in.
    7. You can cancel out of the Preferences windows so you don't accidently make any changes for now.

    (FYI, I won't be available much tomorrow Jan 23.)

    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249

    daveso said:

    @barbult ... I have to say I have been having problems with my DS install for a long time. Its why I totally deleted everything..all directories, content, everything ..even went into the registry and deleted all references to DS and DIM. Then reinstalled via DIM. I let it choose its own directory structure ... but it still doesn;t work overall, but I think some of the paths within DIM advanced are different than with Basic. 

    I think I need a full default directory list for DS and DIM and basically start over agian or something. 

    I didn't see this before my previous post. Oh boy, that deleting probably caused even more confusion. I'm still interested in what you find out if you do the tests I outlined in my previous message. If you think Advanced settings contradict the Basic settings, post the advanced settings, too. If you want to stick with those default C drive settings, you'd better have a huge C drive. Content can be many gigabytes.

    Don't give up. I still think it can be straightened out, but it might be a lot of work. Or it might be as simple as setting Daz Studio Content Directory Manager to look in the directories where DIM is installing the files. It all depends on what you find out in the tests I described above.  I have to go to bed now, though. 

  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 5,693

    I have tried planting masks and a terrain map for the first time, the terrain having a flat area for the Obalisk. Think I put it too close to the river, as the ground wasn't flat. However, the planting masks worked.

    Apart from bodging where I put the Obalisk, I think it worked well. The vegetation masks worked perfectly, with a square patch clear of grass and a larger circular patch clear of trees.

    Wonderful package to play with.

    Regards,

    Richard.

     

  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 9,471
    edited January 2021

    Another UltraScenery created from the custom height map.

    Recreational Area

    image

    RecreationA01.jpg
    1920 x 1200 - 794K
    Post edited by Artini on
  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,028
    edited January 2021

    @barbult  - interesting stuff going on here. I've attached DS content manager screen shot and DIM advanced. 


    barbult said:

    @daveso Huh! Not what I expected to see, based on what you've reported so far. 

    OK, lets keep digging:

    First we'll ask DIM to show where your Tangy Apple Orchard files were installed:

    1. Open DIM
    2. In the search box near the upper right corner, type Tangy Apple Orchard
    3. It it was installed by DIM, you should see a number (probably 2) in the Installed tab header. If so, Select the Installed tab. If not, DIM did not install those products.
    4. Assuming you found Tangy Apple Orchard on the Installed tab, hover your mouse (do not click) over the product name Tangy Apple Orchard DS. A little box of info will pop up. Look at the Tags area. It should say Daz Studio 4.5+ and Connect Available. If it also says Connect Installed, that means that you didn't get it uninstalled from within Daz Studio. That would be bad and we will need to deal with that. It does say CONNECT INSTALLED
    5. Look at the bottom of that box of text where it says Installed To: That should say C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library, according to your DIM settings. If it is anything else, something I don't understand is happening.  IT DOES SAY THIS
    6. Do these same things for UltraScenery - Tangy Apple Orchard to check its tags and Installed To location.  THIS ALSO SAY CONNECT INSTALLED BUT IS IN THE mY daz3d lIBRARY LOCATION 
    7. Now right click on the Tangy Apple Orchard name in the DIM Installed list and select Show Installed Files.
    8. When the list of file hyperlinks opens, click on one. It will open a window to the location of the actual installed file. Is it in a subdirectory of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library or some other place?   IT IS IN C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library /DATA
    9. We are done with DIM for now.

    Now we will ask Daz Studio where it is looking for content files:

    1. Open Daz Studio.
    2. Go to Edit/Preferences, or hit F2 key shortcut.
    3. In the Preferences window, select the Content tab at the top.
    4. Click the Content Directory Manager... button near the bottom of the Content tab page.
    5. The Content Directory Manager window will open. Click the triangles next to CMS Cluster Directory, Daz Connect Data, DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats to expand them and show all the mapped directories.
    6. Take a screenshot and post it here. We need to compare the directories that Daz Studio is looking at to the directories that DIM is installing files in.
    7. You can cancel out of the Preferences windows so you don't accidently make any changes for now.

    (FYI, I won't be available much tomorrow Jan 23.)

     

    ds CONTENT MANAGER.jpg
    486 x 472 - 47K
    dim installation.jpg
    612 x 630 - 93K
    Post edited by daveso on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249

    @daveso This doesn't look too bad, actually, as long as your C drive will be large enough to hold all you content. The biggest problem, I think, is that Tangy Apple Orchard and UltraScenery - Tangy Apple Orchard did not get uninstalled from within Daz Studio (Daz Connect). I'll work with you tomorrow (Jan 24) to make that happen.

  • Doc AcmeDoc Acme Posts: 1,153

    All it needed was more Cattail

    As it turns out there is a difference between Cattails & Bulrushes. Thanks to a tip I was given, found one of the the latter in a collections I already had.  Good opportunity for me to give UltraScatter Pro a real test at adding to the existing scene.  I simply repurposed some of the existing maps, with some merging & smudging & it worked great!  No script editing or such.

    But, I am having an issue with Ultra Scatter Pro. The PDF says to select an object or group of objects.  With two plant items selected, I'm only getting one actually instanced.

    Was able to get the second item instanced, but manually had to enter the params & map info. If I select the instance item, I can edit & retain the original params, but see no way to add the second item I'd like instanced.

    Is there a step I'm missing?

     

    AcmeFarm mit Cattails.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 3M
  • blosseblosse Posts: 46

    @barbult

    Because of your explaining about the differences in the way Daz Central, Daz Connect and DIM work with installing things my TAO which was not working at all now works by uninstalling all of UltraScenery and all of it's addons then reinstalling all of it with DIM everything now works with TAO also. Thank you very much for your help with everyone who has any question or problem using these products in Daz studio. I knew, I had a problem but had no idea of where to start to fix it. Again thank you.

  • HowieFarkesHowieFarkes Posts: 607

    Doc Acme said:

    All it needed was more Cattail

    As it turns out there is a difference between Cattails & Bulrushes. Thanks to a tip I was given, found one of the the latter in a collections I already had.  Good opportunity for me to give UltraScatter Pro a real test at adding to the existing scene.  I simply repurposed some of the existing maps, with some merging & smudging & it worked great!  No script editing or such.

    But, I am having an issue with Ultra Scatter Pro. The PDF says to select an object or group of objects.  With two plant items selected, I'm only getting one actually instanced.

    Was able to get the second item instanced, but manually had to enter the params & map info. If I select the instance item, I can edit & retain the original params, but see no way to add the second item I'd like instanced.

    Is there a step I'm missing?

     

    Select the 2 items, create a group with them, then scatter the group. UltraScatter will then scatter each of the group's items.
  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 9,471

    Does UltraScatter works well with the terrains made with UltraScenery or is it some limits, one need to take to account?

     

  • Doc AcmeDoc Acme Posts: 1,153

    HowieFarkes said:

    Doc Acme said:

    All it needed was more Cattail

    As it turns out there is a difference between Cattails & Bulrushes. Thanks to a tip I was given, found one of the the latter in a collections I already had.  Good opportunity for me to give UltraScatter Pro a real test at adding to the existing scene.  I simply repurposed some of the existing maps, with some merging & smudging & it worked great!  No script editing or such.

    But, I am having an issue with Ultra Scatter Pro. The PDF says to select an object or group of objects.  With two plant items selected, I'm only getting one actually instanced.

    Was able to get the second item instanced, but manually had to enter the params & map info. If I select the instance item, I can edit & retain the original params, but see no way to add the second item I'd like instanced.

    Is there a step I'm missing?

     

    Select the 2 items, create a group with them, then scatter the group. UltraScatter will then scatter each of the group's items

    Ah. So NOT just selecting them as a group.  Will give that a shot next time.

  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,028

    barbult said:

    @daveso This doesn't look too bad, actually, as long as your C drive will be large enough to hold all you content. The biggest problem, I think, is that Tangy Apple Orchard and UltraScenery - Tangy Apple Orchard did not get uninstalled from within Daz Studio (Daz Connect). I'll work with you tomorrow (Jan 24) to make that happen.

    thanks ... this is super that you're willing to take the time.   As far as my C drive..no, it cannot hold my stuff. I wanted to get DS working at least before I tried to move it all to the D drive.  

This discussion has been closed.