OcDS SETUP v1.2.120.3430 - CURRENT

[t_3]

this is a completely new version, pls read the following carefully

IMPORTANT

• if you like to keep both, old and new plugin versions, pls refer to this post: http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 69#p170169
• this version keeps all settings and resources in a single location, in particular this is C:\Users\YourUsername\OctaneRender - there you'll find a (new) \Data folder, containing the plugin settings file, the Live DB cache database and the user preset database. also map resources (like Octane HDRI maps and IES files as well as some icons) are now located there in new subfolders).
• as the settings location (and structure) did change, you will need to enter your plugin license username/pwd once after the installation, just like when installing initially; the activation will come up right after the installer is closed; if you are unsure what to put where, pls refer to this post: http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=29942
  
  note: if you like to skip this step you may copy your current plugin settings file into a new location; from here:
  C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\OctaneRender_settings.oczdb to there:
  C:\Users\YourUserName\OctaneRender\Data\OctaneRender_settings.oczdb
  before running the installer... the "\Data" folder needs to be created anew then.
• this version uses a new format for the Live DB cache, means the cache will need to be filled up again. if you have a fast internet connection and like to fill it up all at once, you may do so by: open the Live DB entry in the Materials tab, click on any item in the Live DB materials list, do CTRL-A to select all and CTRL-SHIFT-M to copy them all into the current scene; this will download all thumbnails and settings into the cache.
• this version has a completely redone save format, it will currently not load octane scene settings from old DAZ scene files; an update which allows to migrate old scene data into the new format will get available as soon the new format is proven to be bug free.
• during the next days i'm going to post a couple of additional posts to this thread, to describe all the changes and new features...

CHANGE HISTORY

• please refer to this post: http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=30137

GET IT!

• http://render.otoy.com/customerdownload ... p_v1_2.exe
• bug reports
  general discussion
  subscribe this topic
  subscribe this forum

[SimonWM]

Excellent! Just installed with no problems. Looking forward to the new improvements.

[t_3]

1.2.120.3410 and up - general info

• this plugin version is built upon octane 1.20.3 stable and contains all respective features from the standalone. for example this means that all of the live db materials will now work. it may be possible that esp. this detail is to mildly upset some of you, since the non-stable octane version is already at 1.29 - but pls mind the "non-stable" part here. octane 1.21 and up brought a substantial change of the plugin api, and if i had tried to integrate this also while doing the rewrite, some guesses i could have jumped out of my 5th floor window already might have had become truth. this apparently is a joke (maybe not one of my best), but you may get the picture.
• upgrade path to current octane versions: work on the 1.2x upgrade of the plugin had been started a few weeks back (with low priority) and will need a couple of weeks to get ready for a public release (with high priority).
• bug fixing: there might be a slight expectation that the update cycle is now to stay at a multi-month path, but this shouldn't happen; since starting the closed beta for the new version back in last november, there were updates every ~2 weeks, and i'll try to keep this for the public release also; urgent fixes usually even more in time.
• scene format compatibility: this plugin version has not much in common with the last release apart the overall layout and labels on the ui. this also means, at least for the time being, the plugin will not load any of the settings contained in saved scenes of older plugin version. this was just necessary to provide a clean restart from the pretty limited save format of the older versions. at a point where the new format is proven to work reliable, covering all necessities, i'll add a migration module that reads in the old setups during load.
• inline help: there is a so-called "what's this" help button next to the "Open Viewport" button and another one directly in the viewport - click on it and on any ui element that presents a question mark as cursor to get some details about possible usage - this currently covers most of the plugin-specific controls and should not be overlooked to dig into some particular details in how to make best use of the ui.
  
  ps: i plan to extend or integrate this with the online user manual (once done) and to also cover usage of octane things like particular node types, meanings of values and so on.
  pps: bear with me that i write about future plans, but since i have just completed most of my back-then future plans it feels right to do so.

[t_3]

1.2.120.3410 and up - loading/saving

• octane materials:
  • user presets: any scene material can be copied into a user presets area; to do so, right click an octane material and chose "Copy to My Presets". from this point on a user preset works much like a live db material, it has its own thumbnail preview area, can be copied back into the scene by applying it to a daz surface (in the daz tree or the viewport) by drag & drop, or by replacing another current octane material by dropping it onto it.
    
    unlike live db materials user presets will also save the complete node graph (and node positions of course).
  • saving into .duf scene subset formats: the plugin supports .duf figure/material/shader/properties presets, or general scene subsets; this means as long as a .duf save file contains a daz material it will also contain its octane material counterpart (if it is linked to one at the time of saving it).
    
    loading back such a .duf file restores all octane material settings, links, etc. together with the respective daz material setup.
    
    in addition this saved data is kept, even when the plugin is not running, e.g. when the .duf is edited in a daz studio instance that doesn't run the plugin. of course the material setup can't be synced when the plugin is not active, this means that swapping maps won't be reflected in the .duf embedded octane material, unless the material in question is a template material.
• render settings and environments:
  these can be saved as user presets by using the copy dialog, and select "Copy to My Presets" while copying.
  
  important - how to use these two types - first for a comparison: a live db material has a preview thumbnail, to use it, it needs to be copied into the scene. a material user presets works the same way - to make use of it, it needs to be copied into the scene first. so...
  
  since a preview for render settings and/or environments is rather impossible to show through a thumbnail, i have included a very special preview mode: if you select any of the saved settings/environments, it will be immediately applied to the current scene, means you will see the effect right when you select it from the dropdown box. but since a preset is a preset is a preset, you can not edit it, nor is it a true part of the current scene - until you again copy it into the scene using the copy dialog - just like with live db mats and octane mat's user presets. to doubtlessly make this visible, a preset is grayed out when just selected. so this is no error.
  
  the idea is that you can build up a bunch of different presets for particular needs, using different render kernels, imager setups and so on, or different moods from respective environment setups, then, working on a new scene quickly click through them until you find something appropriate, that would be a good starting point for the current scene, copy it into the scene and tweak it if needed.
• possible actions on saved presets of any sort: a preset can't be directly edited (as written above), but it still can be renamed or deleted (and of course copied into a scene). for render settings and environments it is in addition possible to edit the notes that are saved with each preset.
• general info about the preset save format:
  all user presets are saved into a file named OctaneRender_presets.oczdb in the known ...\WinProfile\OctaneRender\Data folder. the presets are loaded during startup and are available within their usual locations (render settings/environments dropdown boxes, preset group in the mat tab/octane mats tree), means you don't need to explicitly load or save them - just copy a scene item of theses sorts as preset and copy it back when needed. this also means that you can easily make backup copies of precious settings, by just backing up this folder or the particular file respectively. you can always use previous versions of saved presets, even temporarily, to get back things that you might have accidentally deleted.
  
  the save format is completely version independent - it should work with any of the plugin versions up from now, no matter if there are new features added to octane or the plugin.
• saved node values/image menu entries:
  every single octane node contains a small button next to the value entry field, that allows to:
  • save often used values for this particular node type connected to a pin with a particular meaning. i.e. you can save maxsamples values that you often use independently from render settings, image gamma values, ...
  • in addition the menu keeps the initial value of a node (= the value when the node has been created) and the value it had right before it gets changed (by user input).
  • and last but not least you can "memorize" a single value to restore it later.
  apart from node values a similar approach is used for the image menu; you can save often used maps into a "presets" area in the image menu; apart from that the image menu keeps 30 last visited folder locations and 30 recently loaded maps at hand also.
• saving the whole scene: this is of course straight forward; internally the plugin uses about the same way to save materials as when saved to .duf user presets, and it saves the rest (= render settings/environments/animation & misc. scene setup) into a hidden daz scene node, that will be read back during scene load. this approach should also allow to have a daz scene keep all the octane settings, even when the scene is loaded and saved without the plugin being active. it is not as straight forward as i'd like it to be, nor the most easy way to do it, but the only way i have found to keep everything completely and persistently embedded in the daz scene file.
• merging scenes: still a rather complex task, but since the plugin now uses the same approach to load back materials from .duf presets as it uses for a whole scene materials' setup i expect to see no more problems in doing this (leaving out yet undiscovered bugs).
• saving stuff for the standalone or to exchange with other plugins is about to come as soon i have shifted to the latest octane api, to as much extent as octane allows. pls don't ask me for a date as it probably will just make everybody unhappy again. i'm going to start a new thread covering this api shift next weekend and start posting regular updates (believe it or not) about the progress.
• a note about live db materials: if you right-click a live db mat, or just press DEL when one is selected, it is now indeed going to be deleted... of course not from the OctaneLive server, but just from the cache. and it will stay that way until you clear the live db cache (there is a new button in the preferences tab to do so), and tell the plugin to explicitly bring back previously deleted live db materials.
  
  the idea is to have the possibility to clear out a little bit of clutter that the live db has collected over the years, or just to remove live db mats you won't ever need.
  
  in addition you can choose to explicitly re-download particular live db mats by right clicking them and select "Reload..." - just in case a downloaded material was broken because of transfer issues.

[t_3]

...
that's it for today; given the numbers on my list, there are around another 30 points to cover, 'am going to continue later; means in another couple of hours. a few keywords:

- drag & drop options
- templating
- instancing support
- enhancements to geo graft render results
- improvements in daz auto fit handling
- the new input module (sliders, value inputs)
- new viewport options (including autosave)
- node graph editor enhancements
- material and node preview rendering
- image menu and external image editing
- the new color swatch
- keyboard shortcuts

ps: i have created another thread for general discussion to keep this one rather compact (at least until i'm done with additional descriptions): http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=38119

[t_3]

one last one for tonight:
if you have dl the installer prior the date/time of this post, pls dl once again
there is a small fix regarding the resize feature in the textures tab...

[PizmoSF]

This is so cool! Thank you it's beautiful! LOVE IT!

[larsmidnatt]

OMG YAY YAY YAY, going to install now.

[t_3]

btw, there is a new space to watch:
http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=38166

but keep an eye on here also, as i am not yet done with further instructions/explanations...