Maya Xgen Interactive grooming and MASH support? Tweet

[jibbles10]

On the fence about buying this Maya plugin.

Does the latest Octane for Maya support XGEN interactive grooming? What about MASH, is that supported too? I can only find spotty information in the forums regarding this...Thanks

[calus]

Does the latest Octane for Maya support XGEN interactive grooming? What about MASH, is that supported too? I can only find spotty information in the forums regarding this...Thanks

- MASH is well supported.
- XGEN interactiv is not directtly supported but when cached can be rendered in Maya as a proxy.

[philipni]

If MASH is well supported is it possible to have simple directions on how to work with?
Shaders are not rendering.
Trees are grey,
The sky is blue.
My b..ls are blowing
(little poem)

Actually how can we make proxies, instances of geometry (like trees or grass strands)? The simplest way.
The way that works with Octane?

I'm trying to find documentation but no luck there is nothing out there.
... The darkness

tnx for help
PS: I bought Octane few years ago, but decided just now to make it work. So I'm a newbie

[calus]

Regular Maya instances, particle instancer or Mash instancer are all well supported by the plugin.
But Octane won't render instancer with a non Octane material : You need to apply an Octane material to the base object BEFORE creating the Mash network.
Or, to apply the Material afterward, you need to remove the object from the instancer list, apply the the Octane material, then add the object again to the instancer list.

Also to create real proxy (like arnold standin or vray proxy) just export the base mesh as obj or alembic, then create an ORBX proxy node from the Octane menu, clic the Edit button, this open Octane UI component where you can import the OBJ or the ABC file and apply a material, close the window (this validate the change). Then you can use this proxy as regular instance this proxy as much as you want, works also with Mash and particles.

[philipni]

Regular Maya instances, particle instancer or Mash instancer are all well supported by the plugin.
But Octane won't render instancer with a non Octane material : You need to apply an Octane material to the base object BEFORE creating the Mash network............................................................................................works also with Mash and particles.

Thanx for getting back to me.
I've just tried out your method with a simple sphere, and a glossy material with some textures (marble plus gradient to give it some color).

MASH, works. I found how to switch from Object to Instances.

Creating instances to save on disk and import them later it is still an unknown procedure..
1. ORBX PROXY does not want to see or load OBJ files.
2. Assigned a ORBX material to the sphere, saved as Octane Render Scene, created ORBX PROXY imported the sphere and nothing shows in render.
3. Tried as well to rename OBJ file extension to ORBX and nothing happens.

The max result I get is to import a grey shaded proxy with Alembic...
Yesterday I've tried with a tree, same results, grey shaded (basic shader)

[philipni]

Alright...
Looks like MASH instances dont' support multiple materials assigned to the imported object.
Just trying out:

Importing, 1 patch of multiple grass leafs, 1 material assigned: No problem renders all good.
Importing, 1 Daisy flower with multiple materials assigned (4 materials assigned in total): Problem, renders nothing. (Switching MASH node from instances to geometry, and all renders ok).

Than I was trying to figure out how to use the ORBX material as it seems from the few videos and information around, that this material is made to contain multiple materials geometry etc? I'm right?
There is no way to import ORBX file (via Maya file import select ORBX? there is no ORBX... There is Octane Render Scene that create this ORBX file) except for the ORBX container that links the ORBX file created. Still there is no material that comes with the imported ORBX file.. (I guess octane materials don't auto-convert to ORBX file when exported as Octane Render Scene)

[calus]

Looks like MASH instances dont' support multiple materials assigned to the imported object.
Just trying out:

Importing, 1 patch of multiple grass leafs, 1 material assigned: No problem renders all good.
Importing, 1 Daisy flower with multiple materials assigned (4 materials assigned in total): Problem, renders nothing. (Switching MASH node from instances to geometry, and all renders ok).

on my side multi material on Mash instancer works (testing with Maya 2018.3 and the last 13.3 plugin)
can you share a sample with the issue ?

Than I was trying to figure out how to use the ORBX material as it seems from the few videos and information around, that this material is made to contain multiple materials geometry etc? I'm right?
There is no way to import ORBX file (via Maya file import select ORBX? there is no ORBX... There is Octane Render Scene that create this ORBX file) except for the ORBX container that links the ORBX file created. Still there is no material that comes with the imported ORBX file.. (I guess octane materials don't auto-convert to ORBX file when exported as Octane Render Scene)

I think maybe you are talking about "ORBX proxy" here, not about "ORBX material" (which is a different node containing only material information).

To import ORBX or OCS file in an "ORBX proxy" node just create an ORBX proxy node from the Octane menu

maya_2018-11-04_09-08-38.png (6.38 KiB) Viewed 6826 times

then click on the "IMPORT from ORBX" button:

[philipni]

@Calus

I may need to upgrade maya.
I will get back to you after that.

The ORBX PROXY procedure is not clear at all for me,
1. What do you import with ORBX PROXY? (I only have Octane scene option)
2. How do you Export for ORBX PROXY to work?


tnx

[calus]

The ORBX PROXY procedure is not clear at all for me,
1. What do you import with ORBX PROXY? (I only have Octane scene option)
2. How do you Export for ORBX PROXY to work?

You can import either an ORBX file or an OCS file,
- to create ORBX file just use File>export selected>OctaneRender scene (or OctaneRender animated scene)
- to get an OCS file just open the ORBX file in Standalone and use "File > unpack package", this will unpack the ORBX to an OCS file + an asset folder (this is like unzipping)

But most of the time I use ORBXproxy another way,
example :
- export an animated mesh as Maya builtin Alembic cache (cache menu)
- Octane menu >ORBX proxy
- Attribute Editor > EDIT button
- Edit Window > drop the ABC file in the Nodegraph Editor
- Connect out geometry ( pink pin to pink pin)
- run IPR in Maya to get feedback while you setup the Materials fot the ABC/scene node in the EDIT window.
- close EDIT window to validate the change.