Troubleshooting

#A message says a file did not load

Python, the code editor, LaTeX labels and the example scripts load the first time you use them. If one fails, the studio says which file and whether its server answers. On ordinate2d.com reload the page; if you run the studio yourself with python3 server.py, check that the server is still running.

#I closed the tab without saving

The studio autosaves unsaved scenes every few seconds in this browser. Open it again: it offers to restore them. A private window keeps nothing after it is closed.

#The scene explodes or jitters

• Very heavy bodies on very light ones through contacts alone: join them with a pin or weld where you can, or raise the substeps (scene Properties → Simulation).
• A rope wiggles: raise its internal friction (scene Properties → Ropes).
• Bodies overlap at the start: move them apart before pressing Play; the solver pushes overlapping bodies out forcefully.

#The simulation is slow

Many bodies in contact (a pile of hundreds of boxes) cost the most. In Sandbox resting bodies fall asleep and cost nothing (a pile, and a mechanism at rest as one piece: pins, rods, springs, gears and Ropes; a motor, a thruster, a cable or a load keeps what it acts on awake); in Research everything is simulated. Fewer substeps are faster but less accurate.

#Video export is missing a format

MP4 and WebM are made with the browser's video encoder. Current Chrome, Edge and Safari have both; where a browser lacks one the dialog does not offer it. GIF works everywhere.

#The TikZ file does not compile

The figure needs \usepackage{tikz} and \usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta,patterns} (the standalone file includes them); LaTeX labels also need amsmath and amssymb. Choose Standalone in the dialog to get a file that compiles on its own.

#Something else

Ask in the community forum: other users and the team answer there. Found a bug? Post it in the Bugs category with what you did, what you expected and what happened; a share link of the scene (File → Share) helps most.

Or write to [email protected] with what you did and, if you can, the scene file (File → Save).