I've been testing Octane Render via the Maya plugin and I've been impressed with its speed and quality so far.
I'm currently having issues trying to setup an objects/lights primary visibility. I can create an octaneLight node - set the geometry to "Plane" - change the geometry type to "scatter" then uncheck camera visibility. This will allow me to have a light source that emits light, emits a reflection but is not directly seen by the camera. This would be fine but I would also like to apply a texture to my light (procedural ramp setup or hdr texture) The only way I've found this to be possible is to use emissive geometry. This allows me to use a texture to light a scene but it does not allow me to turn camera visibility off.
This is important to me because I do a lot of studio lighting. I normally setup a light cove, bounce lights off the wall and use large softboxes for direct light. For this setup to be possible I ideally need to be able to turn my lighting cove off to primary camera visibility as well as texture my lights somehow and have control over their primary visibility.
If I've missed anything then please correct me.
Cheers
Lee