Blender instances "patch" for the unofficial exporter

[kavorka]

I just noticed that the random scale value isnt being exprorted with the exporter, is that something that is possible?

[matej]

I just noticed that the random scale value isnt being exprorted with the exporter, is that something that is possible?

Which parameter are you referring to? Everything in the Velocity panel (which influences scale in case of hair PS) should work.

[kavorka]

I was trying to use the random size parameter under physics > newtonian > random size.
Does it read from the physics panel?


I don't see any random size parameter under velocity. How do you get random size?

[matej]

I was trying to use the random size parameter under physics > newtonian > random size.

That works only for emitter PS

For hair PS, set initial orientation along normal, use the normal value to grow them and then the random parameter to randomize size. Be sure that rotation is ticked.

[ROUBAL]

I always had problems (with all previous versions of Blender) with particles with the instances exporter : I had to convert them into real object (and was limited to around 3000 particles). I tried again with the most recent exporter and got the same problem in Blender 2.69.

I tried with Blender 2.70a... and it works !

I don't know what they have changed, but on my machine, it is the first time I can export a high number of particles in one operation. I exported 150000 grass tufts in one scatter file !

The ability of exporting several particles system in one export can be dangerous : I have overwritten some already existing csv files and I had not kept the parameters... fortunately, the node in Octane had not been updated !

[kavorka]

Thanks!!!!

I finally got it all good.

@ROUBAL:
I used to have the same problem as well, anything over 10k used to crash. I didnt try any crazy number like you, but I was able to export 20k grass particles.

If we can get it to export the total number not just the visual number we can make some awesome landscapes.

Thanks Matej!!!

[matej]

I'm glad it works guys.

I'm myself doing a project right now that requires lots of particles (30k+) and it's working nicely.

As I explained, all this mess comes from Blender treating emitter & hair PS very differently. In the case of emitter PS you get straight info about exact transforms per frame. All (or most) the settings that influence transforms should work, because its Blender who calculates them. But in case of hair PS, you get local data and you must then calculate all the missing stuff yourself (like parent transforms and strand length) and in some cases not all data is accessible to you through Python.

If we can get it to export the total number not just the visual number we can make some awesome landscapes.

This might not be currently possible. I've asked on the BA forum about this and nobody seems to know the solution. I'll try to contact some of the developers personally, but the Python API regarding particles seems to be unfinished and until someone codes this support in, I cant do much. (maybe there's a way to force 100% visibility right before it exports, and then set it back, Ill check)

[ROUBAL]

kavorka wrote:
If we can get it to export the total number not just the visual number we can make some awesome landscapes.

Do you mean the Children particles ?

I always set the particles number to 100% and it works, even with 150000 particles. It just requires a long time. It seems to freeze, but really works. (I have a weak quad with 8GB of RAM). I don't use the actual object for particles export. I use a special simple object : a small pyramide with only 5 vertices. If necessary, the visual mode can be set to box to allow viewing all particles without requiring much memory.

[matej]

A small teaser

I've integrated this script into the unofficial exporter, so you can render animations with instances now. There's still some bugs to polish out. Will post it tomorrow prob.

[ROUBAL]

Wow ! Crazy animation !