Roadmap for the maya plugin Tweet

[k.a.schubert]

Update
Got a new version for next week, with automation buttons for basic nodegraph creation and one for connecting fluids.
Cameras connect automatically now as well, at least for the cases I know about, but more can be added.
A fix for the IPR crash, leaving only a bug that is with Maya (switching from octane to maya software while the node editor is open, same with mental ray) and Autodesk has received a ticket for it.
Integration with Maya 2016.5 and 2017.
Some cosmetics for node attribute names and color slider UI.



Hi folks,

lets talk about where the maya plugin is going and how fast.

I am doing a lot of refactoring at the core of the plugin right now.
This is mostly about switching from an approach, where all nodes, attributes and UI are hardcoded to a modern version,
where all nodes, attributes and their UI are generated from the octane api, which offers all information needed.

Furthermore this leads to a node graph which resembles the standalone node graph more closely,
so it will be easier to work with, knowing the standalone.

Examples for that are the rendertarget, renderpasses and kernel nodes, which at the moment are all put into one node
and accessable through the Render Settings menu in maya.

These will be single nodes and the nodeeditor/hypershade can be used to build a nodegraph with them,
just as in standalone.

Since these changes are necessary, but structural, my work at the moment focuses more on them, than on the implementation of 3.0 features,
so these will be released later than in other plugins.

But all updates in the nodes (new attributes) will come naturally with the new system and once the code is more structured, 3.0 features are easier to implement.

For releases this means there will be a version 2 update with the new system and later on a version 3 with the new system.

I plan to have a first version ready within the next month, fingers crossed!


I know there is a lot of frustration with the maya plugin
and I'm doing everything I can to resolve this,
so stay with me.

Best,
Kai

[itsallgoode9]

Awesome, thanks for the update Kai keep on truckin'

[calus]

I am doing a lot of refactoring at the core of the plugin right now.
This is mostly about switching from an approach, where all nodes, attributes and UI are hardcoded to a modern version,
where all nodes, attributes and their UI are generated from the octane api, which offers all information needed.

Hi Kai and thanks for this detailed explanation.
So basically you are doing an almost completely new plugin (internally) , this is huge !!!
( Curious to see how much of the old code will still be there in the end )
I'm very excited by the automatic "one to one" Octane node/attributes to Maya node/attributes approach.
Definitely the way to go for Maya.

[prodviz]

Hi Kai

Thanks for the update.

This is exactly the kind of info that we need here. Brilliant, cheers.

Glad to here the work is going well.

Look forward to more updates and the releases.

Cheers.

[Refracty]

Thank you for the update Kai.

[Slimshader]

Sounds great!

[Jolbertoquini]

Great! hope see soon some results about that.

[nedan]

if you ask me, things would be rather in the style of Maya. What would it mean if each developer imposes his own style? Old users would lose time to adjust and it may prefer something that is more convenient and similar to what they are accustomed. Additionally I believe that compatibility problems can occur and this it shows already in delaying the appearance of the new version. Sorry to say, I could be wrong, but Redshift seems increasingly more appealing and I'am not the only one.

[gah5118]

personally i prefer using standalone due to its robustness and speed of changing things around... always hated maya's system for materials. I own the current plugin for maya, however due to it functioning more like maya, it sits on the shelf. Integration of the node system would be excellent. I would imagine that it could be integrated/programed in a way that you could have the choice of using octanes more robust, flexible, and dynamic node editor or using the native old maya system.

one concern i have however, if the nodegraph is implemented, is how would the material inputs for the objects populate?

for example, the products I render consist of anywhere from 12 parts up to 500 parts (computer systems, monitors, and other computing electronics).

the way I currently handle this and make things manageable is assign materials in maya to what i need to (nothing in particular, just quickly throw different blinns at everything as placeholders). when i bring it into octane standalone I have the nodes I need and nothing more. On the other hand, when i export as alembic and populate material nodes based off of the objects, its unusable since there is a string of hundreds of nodes. Point being, I hope that the plugin will be able to do like stand alone does and not populate per object, but per assigned shaders.

[mverta]

Yes this sounds like the plugin will no longer be working in Maya's native environment, like Maya does. If so, I personally find this disappointing. I find plug-ins which seem to seamlessly be a native part of the host program are, by definition, instantly more user friendly and intuitive.