Octane for Maya status. Tweet

[calus]

This post is an attempt to centralize information about what is supported or not in the Maya plugin, to help to better prioritize the plugin development.
This is still WIP and incomplete, anyone can collaborate in this Topic or directly in the collaborative online shared document : http://collabedit.com/xyxyr
I will update this post regularly.
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[x] = supported
[/] = partial support
[!] = incorrect or broken implementation
[ ] = not implemented

Code: Select all

### Octane Core features

...
- [ ] Attribute tooltips
- [x] mesh UV sets
- [ ] Hair UV
- [!] Hair W
- [x] VDB volume
- [ ] Alembic RIcurves
- [/] Random color texture
    - [!] Instance random color
    - [x] Mesh random color
    - [x] Instancer random color
- [/] ORBX export
    - [ ] not usable with ORC out of the box
- [ ] Film region
- [ ] White balance picker
- [ ] Material picker
- [ ] Object picker
- [ ] Render sub-samples x2 x4
- [ ] OCS export
- [ ] OCS/ORBX import
- [ ] OCM import export
- [ ] OCPRJ export
- [/] Live/local DB  (limited support)
- [ ] Load/save render state
- [ ] Octane Render Cloud
- [ ] Per camera Environment
- [ ] Per camera Kernel
- [ ] Texture preview
- [ ] Group node
- [ ] Render job
- [ ] File numbering
- [ ] Skip already existing files
- [ ] Sphere primitive
- [ ] Background image
- [ ] PNG16 output format
- [ ] EXR compression types
- [ ] render passes Export from render view
- [ ] Opensubdiv per component crease
- [ ] ORBX proxy (Octane 3.07)
    - [ ] Octane viewport
    - [ ] Octane nodegraph editor
- [ ] OCCIO color management (Octane 3.08 ?)
- [ ] OSL (Octane 3.1)




### Maya features


- [!] export scene
    - [ ] Export multiple renderable Cameras as multiple renderTargets and a common geometry group.
    - [ ] Export multiple renderable Maya Render Layers as mutltiple renderTargets with optimized connection to common geometry nodes
- [!] export selection
    - [ ] don't create renderTarget node except if a camera is selected (then use selected camera setting in the renderTarget)
    - [ ] remove the "export renderTarget for selection" option.
- [x] archive scene
- [/] Command line render
    - [ ] MB tags
- [/] Batch render
    - [!] render selection (works by mistake)
- [!] Render to RenderView
- [/] Legacy render layer
    - [!] Octane Material's attributes override
- [!] Render region
- [!] IPR
    - [ ] Fix IPR brake undo
    - [ ] Fix IPR brake autokey
    - [ ] Fix IPR brake interactiv edit of animated attributes
    - [ ] detect Octane animated attributes
    - [ ] detect pfx change
- [/] Motion blur
    - [ ] MB geometry subsampling
- [!] Unload Octane plugin
- [ ] Maya tesselation
- [!] Viewport Shading and texture display
- [ ] Scripted access to translated scenes
- [!] Maya color management
- [ ] Bifrost
- [ ] XGen





### Maya Geometry Shapes

- [ ] Curve
- [ ] Nurbs surface
- [ ] Smooth Mesh
- [x] Mesh
- [ ] Legacy Fur
- [/] pfx stroke
    - [x] nhair
    - [x] Paint effect
    - [!] Toon
    - [ ] Instance
- [x] Fluid
- [/] Instance
- [x] Instancer
- [ ] particles
    - [ ] Points
    - [ ] MultiPoint
    - [ ] Streak
    - [ ] MultiStreak
    - [ ] Sprites
    - [ ] Spheres
    - [ ] Blobby surface
    - [ ] Cloud
    - [ ] Tube
- [x] Mash
- [ ] volume primitives
- [!] legacy Subdiv
- [ ] Bifrost
    - [ ] Aero
    - [ ] Liquid
    - [ ] Foam
- [ ] XGen




### Maya UI
   
   
    #### Render settings
   
    - [/] Setting tooltips
    - [!] Output image format and bitdepth
    - [!] By frame
    - [!] renumber frames
    - [!] Skip existing frames
    - [ ] Render Pass manager tab
    - [ ] Preference tab
    - [ ] Film region attributes


    #### Render view

    - [!] render selection (enabled for Batchrender by mistake)
    - [ ] render region (using Octane Film region)
    - [ ] enable focus picker (don't belong to cameraShape node)


    #### Attribute Editor
   
    - [ ] Type menu (to switch node type while keeping values and connections when possible)
    - [x] Material sample swatch
    - [ ] Texture sample swatch
    - [!] Attributes undo
    - [ ] Gradient use Maya Ramp widget
    - [ ] AEtemplates using standard Maya attribute types and builtin mechanisms
   

    #### Node Editor
    - [x] Material sample swatch
    - [ ] Texture sample swatch
    - [ ] replace Octane texture data type by Standart RGB data type
    - [ ] Fix hang when Attribute Editor is open
   
   
    #### Path Editor
   
    - [ ] Add Octane categories
   


   
### Maya shading nodes ( possible support trough OSL ? )

    #### Utilities
   
    - [ ] add double linear
    - [ ] add matrix
    - [ ] angle between
    - [ ] array mapper
    - [ ] blend colors
    - [ ] blend two attr
    - [ ] bump 2d
    - [ ] bump 3d
    - [/] choice
    - [ ] chooser
    - [ ] clamp
    - [ ] clearcoat
    - [ ] color profile
    - [ ] compose matrix
    - [ ] condition
    - [ ] contrast
    - [ ] curve info
    - [ ] decompose matrix
    - [ ] distance between
    - [ ] double switch
    - [ ] euler to quat
    - [ ] four by four matrix
    - [ ] frame cache
    - [ ] gamma correct
    - [ ] height field
    - [ ] hsv to rgb
    - [ ] inverse matrix
    - [ ] light info
    - [ ] luminance
    - [ ] mult double linear
    - [ ] mult matrix
    - [ ] multiply divide
    - [ ] particle sampler
    - [ ] 2d placement
    - [ ] 3d placement
    - [ ] plus minus average
    - [ ] projection
    - [ ] quad switch
    - [ ] quat add
    - [ ] quat conjugate
    - [ ] quat invert
    - [ ] quat negate
    - [ ] quat normalize
    - [ ] quat prod
    - [ ] quat sub
    - [ ] quat to euler
    - [ ] remap color
    - [ ] remap hsv
    - [ ] remap value
    - [ ] reverse
    - [ ] rgb to hsv
    - [ ] sampler info
    - [ ] set range
    - [ ] single switch
    - [ ] stencil
    - [ ] surface info
    - [ ] surf. luminance
    - [ ] transpose matrix
    - [ ] triple switch
    - [/] unit conversion
    - [x] uv chooser
    - [ ] vector product
    - [ ] weighted add matrix
   
    #### Image planes
   
    - [!] image plane
   
    #### Surface
   
    - [ ] GLSL shader
    - [ ] shaderfx shader
    - [ ] stingrayPBS
    - [ ] anisotropic
    - [ ] bifrost aero material
    - [ ] bifrost foam material
    - [ ] bifrost liquid material
    - [ ] blinn
    - [ ] cgfx shader
    - [ ] hair tube shader
    - [ ] lambert
    - [ ] layered shader
    - [ ] ocean shader
    - [ ] phong
    - [ ] phongE
    - [ ] ramp shader
    - [ ] shading map
    - [ ] surface shader
    - [ ] use background
   
    #### Volumetric
   
    - [ ] env fog
    - [ ] light fog
    - [x] Fluid shape
    - [ ] particle cloud
    - [ ] volume fog
    - [ ] volume shader
   
    #### Displacement
   
    - [ ] displacement
    - [ ] C muscle shader
   
    #### 2D textures
   
    - [ ] bulge
    - [ ] checker
    - [ ] cloth
    - [ ] file
    - [ ] fluid texture 2d
    - [ ] fractal
    - [ ] grid
    - [ ] mandelbrot
    - [ ] mountain
    - [ ] movie
    - [ ] noise
    - [ ] ocean
    - [ ] psd file
    - [ ] ramp
    - [ ] substance
    - [ ] substance output
    - [ ] water
   
    #### 3D textures
   
    - [ ] brownian
    - [ ] cloud
    - [ ] crater
    - [ ] fluid texture 3d
    - [ ] granite
    - [ ] leather
    - [ ] mandelbrot 3d
    - [ ] marble
    - [ ] rock
    - [ ] snow
    - [ ] solid fractal
    - [ ] stucco
    - [ ] volume noise
    - [ ] wood
   
    #### Env textures
   
    - [ ] env ball
    - [ ] env chrome
    - [ ] env cube
    - [ ] env sky
    - [ ] env sphere
   
    Other Textures:
   
    - [ ] layered texture
   
    #### Lookdevkit nodes
   
    - [ ] simplex noise
   
    #### Lights
   
    - [ ] ambient light
    - [ ] area light
    - [ ] directional light
    - [ ] point light
    - [ ] spot light
    - [ ] volume light
   


### Arnold shading nodes (possible trough OSL ?)

- [ ] aiStandardSurface
- [ ] aiStandardHair
- [ ] aiStandardVolume
- [ ] Utility shader set
- [ ] Arnold lights



### Third party Maya plugins (need to implement comunication skills in JimStar)

- [ ] Ornatrix
- [ ] peregrinLab Yeti
- [ ] Golaem
- [ ] FumeFX
- [ ] Phoenix FD



[dsyee]

Thanks for this, calus, it's helpful.

Some of these things don't seem necessary to me, like many native Maya shaders that should typically be replaced by Octane shaders, and utility nodes that have Octane counterparts. But others, especially core Octane functionality and general bugs/instability, seem pretty important.

Curious, when you say no Xgen, do you mean just archives, or is hair also not supported? (It's been a while since I've tried to render hair/fur with Octane.)

[Goldorak]

Thank you Calus

[calus]

Some of these things don't seem necessary to me, like many native Maya shaders that should typically be replaced by Octane shaders, and utility nodes that have Octane counterparts.

Right, I tried to be as exhaustive as possible in the document,
it's not about what should be supported, it's more like a map,
to have the big picture of what is supported or not and hopefully will help to better prioritize the development.

That being said, supporting directly the Maya builtin materials for example could be really useful in many workflows,
and really it's not hard to implement, it's just a render-time material converter, all production renderers in Maya do that.
Also the builtin Maya shading nodes are used for important Maya builtin features:

First example : the "triple shading switch" node is used by Maya when painting textures on meshes with the same material,
this is the mechanism in Maya to get a Material to use different textures depending on which mesh the material is applied.
The other Octane plugins support this feature trough their own mechanism, it's not supported in Maya just because the Switch nodes are not supported...

Second example : the Maya "projection" node,
It would have been way more clever to support this node instead of implementing the clunky "camera mapped" feature in Octane image texture node.

There's many other examples like this, I won't go trough all Maya shading nodes to explain them.
When a feature is implemented in the plugin the rule should just be to support first the Maya builtin mechanism for this feature.
I think the problem is there's no developer in Otoy knowing how to use Maya...
So we end up with some limited hacky features trying to reinvent the wheel instead of using properly the builtin Maya mechanisms.

Curious, when you say no Xgen, do you mean just archives, or is hair also not supported?

XGEN is not supported at all.

[Renart]

Thank you very much Calus for doing this.

Hopefully it will inspire the dev team
I'm jealous of Redshift when I see how good and quick they are with fixing stuff, update and request...

So much potential with this great render I hope they're gonna invest more dev and make the maya plugin the best.

I managed to convince my co-workers to buy some licenses but it's not good enough for them to be used everyday yet.

[Rikk The Gaijin]

Can OTOY hire Calus as lead project manager for the Maya plugin? He seems to be the most competent person on the matter.

[dsyee]

Is UV tiling supported in 3.x? I saw you had a script to do something like it, but I'm wondering if it's natively supported (i.e., multiple files through a single image texture node).

Also, does the 3.x plugin use the "new" (i.e., more than a year old) naming conventions from standalone, like "Grayscale Image" instead of "Float Image"?

[Goldorak]

I am very greatful for Calus' feedback and guidance on these forums.

[calus]

Is UV tiling supported in 3.x? I saw you had a script to do something like it, but I'm wondering if it's natively supported (i.e., multiple files through a single image texture node).

No, Multi Tile UV workflow is still not supported natively by Octane Core,
but anyway this is just some file name conventions
and there's already a Maya builtin feature for that which should be used by the plugin and deal with that at render-time the same way I do it in the UDIM script.
The plugin should also just support the Maya builtin "File Texture" node.

Also, does the 3.x plugin use the "new" (i.e., more than a year old) naming conventions from standalone, like "Grayscale Image" instead of "Float Image"?

No, labels, default values and limits from Octane Core are still not all respected.

It's very easy to go trough all attributes' labels/values in Octane Standalone and to compare them with the Maya plugin,
I asked Bikram many times to take care of this but for some reason this is just ignored.





I have updated the list in the first post with more details.

[Refracty]

Otoy should hire Calus at least as a freelance consultant.
He is doing a great job, focusing on the priorities without excuses.